A.J.

Yeah, I think the park operators understand that they can't reasonably force a child or family member to ride alone that isn't comfortable doing so.

Here's some interesting info coming out of Denmark yesterday. Authorities are now saying that any attraction that involves heavy rotation, heavy movement, and / or guests screaming, without any form of protective shielding, can only run with a very limited capacity. That capacity is one group per cycle. This policy affects rides such as Falken, Orkanen, and Saven at Farup; Drage Kongen, Piraten, Juvelen, and Tigeren at Djurs; and Polar X-plorer and Flying Eagle at Legoland. It's unclear how this affects other flat rides as of yet, but it means that while wait times for coasters now may be unbearably long, each group will get to ride completely on their own. Here's the blurb from Farup specifically: I can't seem to find any information about this for Tivoli Gardens, but other parks in Denmark, such as Farup, Djurs, and Legoland Billund have all confirmed this on their social media channels. It's logical to assume that if I indeed missed it, Tivoli will be incorporating a similar policy, Bakken too. https://www.facebook.com/faarupsommerland/ https://www.facebook.com/djurssommerland/ https://www.facebook.com/LEGOLANDBillund/

I could see them breaking up any group that's four people or more. Three people, fine, sit together; Four people, go two and two.

Another takeaway that I'm just reading about is that they will be halting new ticket sales and resort bookings, to allow existing tickets / bookings to get their reservations. Good on them, feels like a little dog treat for those who have been biting their nails week-to-week. I would assume that the people who got their stays cancelled / rescheduled are getting some relief from that too. See here: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2020/05/plans-unveiled-for-the-phased-reopening-of-walt-disney-world-resort-theme-parks-resort-hotels-and-disney-stores/?CMP=|437908310351&keyword_id=kwd-340562299645|dc|wdw|437908310351|p|5238:3|&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7LHVtsHU6QIVGP_jBx11_At5EAAYASAAEgJy_PD_BwE&ef_id=Xsz8IgAAAGwKRQ9x:20200527165613:s

Yes, opening in mid-July is probably the most sensible thing they can do considering the circumstances. It will be interesting to see who they decide to let into the parks during that time. They mentioned some possible soft-opening measures, but they did NOT mention anything about the resorts. It makes me think that they will be relying mainly on Florida residents / day trippers, and / or passholders for revenue in the short term. There were some rumors rumbling around that they may not allow passholders to get in for free, effectively making each day a "hard ticket" event like After Hours. We'll certainly know soon! EDIT: Scratch all of that above, they just made a written statement that resort hotels will be opening on the 11th / 15th too, and that they WILL be allowing passholders to make reservations. Very interesting!

To add to this, one of the things they mentioned during the presentation was reduced capacity and abnormal seating arrangements for rides. As a reminder, here's what Midway Mayhem posted two weeks ago: I would anticipate that it will be "end seating only" for every ride in the chain with four-across seating. SheiKra, not sure.

Energylandia will be reopening on June 6. https://energylandia.pl/wydarzenia/otwarcie-sezonu-2020-w-energylandia/ Translated from Polish, as the information is not yet available in English: Here's what they're doing: Flying drones that spray disinfectant Disinfectant stations throughout the park for guests to use Temperature checks for employees and guests Masks and gloves for employees Plexiglass panels at employee points of contact Mobile ordering for food Dedicated disinfectant team Self-service ticketing for those who have not purchased online Masks available for purchase Cashless transactions encouraged Employees in each land / zone do not have contact with employees in other lands / zones Masks permitted on rides 2-meter social distancing

It's not a city thing, it's a county thing. Osceola County is enforcing required face masks in public for everyone, Orange County is not. It doesn't make it any less peculiar.

The front looks rounded... Smells like a new graphics package for Millennium Force's trains to me.

They might not be able to enforce them throughout the open areas of the parks, but they can most certainly deny entry / boarding to attraction queues, restaurants, and merchandise locations, for any guest that doesn't have their mask on. All it takes is one greeter at major ride entrances. It's no different than denying a guest entry to a ride because they don't meet a height restriction. There are solutions that don't require you to use a mobile app. Some parks, like the Walt Disney World parks, let you use your ticket or a wristband in conjunction with kiosks around the park.

Six Flags just released a video detailing their measures for re-opening. See below: [fbvideonew] [/fbvideonew]

I was not fond of that looping coaster at all.

I don't think that they're "tough", but rather "expensive", to maintain. Parts availability is always an issue on older / discontinued models too. We know that European showmen and other big European theme parks continue to maintain their Top Spins, though there are still some bad apples (Walibi's comes to mind).

There's a new thing too: As far as I know this is the first time this procedure has been put in place.

Wristbands are also offered as an alternative. (X) And Disney has had clusters of kiosks in each land for you to work on your FastPass reservations without a phone since the FastPass Plus system was implemented. If parks really decide to go all-in on this, it IS going to be awkward for a few seasons. All the stuff you said, people crowding around entrances, possible lack of places to sit, that's all going to happen until each park understands what works and doesn't work for them.

Things are still touch-and-go right now for obvious reasons but I'm anticipating virtual queuing to become the norm once this all settles, and will be a huge wake up call to those parks that do not have a solid digital infrastructure. And Daniel hit the nail on the head here: The implementation of this system across the board doesn't change anything, especially for parks that never had a skip-the-line system to begin with (such as Holiday World). What it means is, instead of having Flash Pass Bronze / Silver / Gold at an upcharge, everyone will get Bronze and then the upcharge will be Silver / Gold / hypothetical Diamond or something. Theme parks will never let go of those extra perks, like Fast Lane, so long as there are people willing to pay for them. There are conversations going on in the theme park industry right now that are speculating (and debating) changes that go far beyond the implementations of virtual queuing, too.

The dates that were mentioned today are NOT FINAL as of yet and are still pending approval from the Orange County Mayor and the Governor. I get that people wanted to "break the news" but there is no news yet! When these dates are made official, Robb, Elissa, or one of the moderators will post about it.

I love it how that article explicitly noted, "not Kentucky Kingdom".

Sure, okay, but I for one would love to not have to wait underneath the awful green shade canopy outside of Haunted Mansion, or in the many halls of the Harry Potter attractions hearing the same spiels over and over, or inside the boring, claustrophobic caverns at the beginning of Avatar Flight of Passage, or the switchbacks of Space Mountain... Shall I go on? Queue-based storytelling isn't going to go away. I'll gladly eat some humble pie later if I'm proven wrong.

Oof, there's a juicy quote. Enjoy your internet cool points while you can, I'm going to go make some popcorn. I mean, in fairness, there really isn't anything to do in a regular queue as it is. With the new systems, you're merely getting to decide where you want to wait. It's okay by me because I can take the 30-60 minutes I would normally spend in switchbacks and go snap some coaster photos. Or, families with non-riding children can now stay together for longer periods of time. If these systems pick up like I think they will, it definitely will be awkward for the next few years as parks adapt with larger gathering spaces, potentially more food options, and more "places to see" throughout the park.

Get used to virtual queuing in the long haul, Holiday World is likely the first of, well, everyone to implement such a system.

Noticeable for sure but not restrictive. They have a little bit of give to them which means you don't lose out on any airtime but there's enough pressure to keep your body from being thrown around in the twisties. Lech Coaster's setup was probably the best out of the ones we did on the Europe trip (Python, Speed of Sound, Formula, Mayan, Lech Coaster). On the newer models, hands-up riding is comfortable too.

The parks are owned by the mall operators, the Triple Five Group. All the attractions are themed under license from Viacom-CBS. It's a similar relationship to Tokyo Disney Resort's, where the Oriental Land Company owns and operates the resort under license from Disney.

Did you ride Mad Mill? That looked about ten times worse.

I thought really hard about it but I'm pretty sure I made the correct decision to skip Condor. Untamed is my number one steel coaster now, it is INCREDIBLE. Walibi Holland was one of the more hospitable parks on the trip for the group for sure.