RaceBoarder

Many of the jobs that are still working are jobs that most people wouldn't have given a glance at six months ago if they were offered the job. It's not as cut and dry as people want to make it seem.

5pm or 6pm till 11pm is normal for a Friday night.

At this point it's quite clear that COVID isn't going away anytime soon.

I don't think you can conceive how much most of the populace still has. Unemployment in the US is hovering around 13%, which yes sucks, but that still means there's 87% of the working population that is still working. Many industries haven't felt any hurt from this (and may actually be benefiting financially) and most major corporations are keeping their employees on the payroll. Yes, entertainment, food sector, and small business employees are hurting, but many, many are not. Let's not also discount the fact that people that are working (or otherwise being paid) are basically forced to have zero entertainment spending right now, and thus will have a large cache saved up when things are open again. I also think you're grossly overestimating the paranoia level of most "normal" people. Once this situation, which thus far isn't much worse than H1N1 was back in 2009 (60.8m infected, 13k dead compared to 466k infected, 16k dead so far for COVID-19), is under control and business start opening back up, I imagine you'll find most people eager to get back to their routine...going to bars, movies, and amusement parks. That is, if businesses return to normal at some point over the summer. If in fact this turns into a protracted thing, with this "stay-at-home" nonsense and all "non-essential" business closed for a year or more, then of course all bets are off. However, I don't see that happening...I predict that a certain "risk level" will have to be assumed and then life will return to normal, without any such special "social distancing," "virtual queue for everything," or everyone-wearing-a mask, in place. Here's the major problem with your assessment: Those are total numbers for H1N1. COVID numbers are still growing and will continue to do so for at least a month if not longer. This is not a situation that will fix itself by June 1. As it stands, we aren't that far away from Fall events starting to come into question (NFL/NCAA Football are the biggest entities with the spotlight on them). Within our hobby, we're quickly approaching a time where seasonal parks will have to ask themselves if it's worth it to even consider opening up in 2020. Many people seem to be quite reluctant to admit that this isn't some 6 week ordeal. We need to start playing the long game here, cause COVID isn't going away.

Is this similar to how things were playing out in 2007-2009?

Either scenario is a clusterfuck. How would the park (and quite frankly, any other park in the SF chain) recover from this? SF probably has insurance policies in place. It's not going to be pleasant, but this could be manageable. There are a number of factors that will play into this so it's hard to predict.

You're probably looking at 8-10 weeks from now at a minimum. Best case scenario will be June 1. Worst case, the season is a total loss.

I wonder if any of these chains will suspend monthly payments on their passes. That seems logical, so I'm sure it won't happen....

From this point forward, Fast Lane will be what it is. Don't expect any discounts.

I wonder when these will got on the permanent discount plan, ala a SF Pass/Membership. Sure, $99 is the rack rate, but when they are selling them for $45 it's 55% off!

Money, sure, but not time. Think about how long it takes to get all the way to the entrance, hop on the tram, go to your car, drive all the way out, go to your local McDonald's, drive all the way back in, re-park your car, etc etc... At SFGAm, you are looking at 50-60 minutes one way or another. Granted I'll plan my day and work my way back towards the front of the park at some point in the middle of the day. I'll concede the fact that this park may be one of the most convenient to go off property for food (you have 6-7 chain restaurants and a few local places within 1/4 mile of the main park entrance). It's not like SFGAdv. Far from it actually. SFGAm also seems to consistently have some of the slowest moving food lines. It's rare to see your food in under 30 minutes on an average crowd day. I get the convenience factor. But I think people are starting to change their habits based upon the situation they are put in, at least at this park.

With a majority of guests being pass holders, I wonder if in-park spending is down then. Since people are "regulars" now, they don't spend on food and merchandise. For most people, they learn after a few visits how the parks work and that it's usually better to go to a fast food joint 10 minutes down the road because you save both time and money. People that are willing to spend on a day pass haven't figured that out yet.

Anyone here have experience with the Hilton Honors program? Really starting to consider the AmEx/Hilton Honors SURPASS card. Seems easy enough to get the $95 annual fee canceled out through points usage and Hiltons/Hampton Inns seem to be everywhere I need to go. Also would allow me Gold Status indefinitely. Also allows a multiplier on Gas, Grocery, and Resutraunt use, so places I'd be spending anyways.

Transformers or GTFO

is it just me or do the prices for Big Snow seem very reasonable? The package that includes all the rentals, training, and a 2 hour slope pass as low as $49.99 online seems like a good deal. I'd gladly make a full day doing Big Snow and the theme park once all 5 coasters are running. Plus Lombardi's over in NYC... It is relatively reasonably priced for a snow sports venue just outside NYC proper. There are many things going on in the snow sports world right now in regards to pricing and affordability, but this seems like the correct moves for a place like this. It'll actually be more interesting to watch what happens as we get into April and the rest of the East Coast has wrapped up their seasons. That is where the real $$$ can be made by this place if they are willing to put in proper training avenues

Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi FTW! Fight me

Your welcome. I really believed this project would be a no brainer, slam dunk success but after today I'm not sure anymore. I really hope they can succeed but hiking up the price by 30 dollars, for weekends, immediately after opening seems insane My guess is that this will be like Six Flags passes: Original Price of $80 but constant online "sales" for $39.00 (Save 50%) and $19.99 (OMG! Save 75%!!!!!!) for off-peak pricing. After the short introductory period, you will never see the original price, just like there are like 3 days/year where you actually need to pay $229 for a Six Flags pass.

The FP discount is just $5 off per person.

Got a clickbait post on Facebook stating that they have a ride themed to Reptar from Rugrats, so there is that

Well given that the racetrack hasn't had the shown configuration since 1996, I'm guessing that we can't go too in depth on these renderings

Woof!

Just do the math on Fast Lane passes and you see why they do it. $150+ each. Figure probably 2,000 of them sold on a busy Saturday. That's an additional $300,000 in revenue that cost the park probably $100 in printing the wrist bands.

It’s absolutely worth it. It sounds like a party right now. Columbus Day weekend is busy? Who knew?! Busy enough to warrant a 10pm Sunday closing instead of its normal 8pm Sunday closings during Halloweekends. What also helped crowds get exponentially bad is Ohio State being on a bye week and Michigan playing a cupcake. Columbus Day Weekend has ALWAYS been a horrible weekend to go to any park on. Read back and you'll see that year after year, people are blindsided by the fact that things are horrendously busy. It's an industry wide thing, not just Cedar Point. It's comical because it's one of those things that SHOULD be common sense among anyone who posts on a site like TPR, but it's surprisingly lacking knowledge among enthusiasts.

It’s absolutely worth it. It sounds like a party right now. Columbus Day weekend is busy? Who knew?!

Any issues would probably be based around any lubricants they use. Grease will become more viscous as it cools down, so performance can vary. Everyone thinks about the wheels and bottom of the train, but I'd be more concerned with smaller parts gumming up. Thinks like hinges in the restraint systems or parts of the train that don't generate heat. I'd wager that is probably the biggest issue faced as temps fall.