ORLANDO, Fla. — Theme-park fans have navigated through new rules, procedures and health precautions in the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ever since Disney, Universal and SeaWorld reopened their attractions last summer, devotees have donned masks, remembered to make reservations and waited in spread-out lines for rides, meals and temperature screenings.
They didn’t get to hug princesses.
While many folks powered through the obstacles, others questioned the wisdom of going at all. Fear of the spreading virus loomed, and financial reasons factored in, too. Doubters wondered if they should continue paying for a reduced entertainment, even if they thought the cuts were necessary evils.
“Once the pandemic hit, I was like, OK, I’m absolutely not going to go to a theme park,” said Alexandria Davis, who lives in Altamonte Springs, Florida. She chose not to renew her Walt Disney World annual pass.
“Personally, Hollywood Studios is my favorite park of all time,” she said. “I am having major FOMO right now.”
Aaron Batson was a Universal Orlando annual passholder for eight years before letting his pass lapse last year, he said. He agreed that changes in operations were needed under pandemic conditions, but they came at a price to him.
“It just took away from the normal enjoyment you could have at the park,” Batson, who lives in Orlando, said. “When you look at the value of ‘Is this really worth my time and effort?’”
He pointed to the changes for special events, the time spent waiting for food and queues that wind into public spaces as minuses, in addition to the monetary factor.
“Being in the hospitality industry, we took a huge financial hit for our family,” he said. Not going to the parks helps save money that would have been spent on passes and other expenses such as food and drink that come along with a park outing, he said.
When Central Florida’s theme parks reopened in June and July, some of the usual daily activities did not return, including end-of-night fireworks, afternoon parades and up-close character meet-and-greets. The attractions re-imagined these by building social distancing into some experiences.
But many stage shows have remained dark and live entertainment has been curtailed. Many in-park restaurants and stores stand closed.
At the same time, tens of thousands of Central Florida’s theme-park workers were furloughed or laid off.
“I think the key point is that they were just trying to survive,” said Adrian Jones, an Orlando-based consultant for business, sports and leisure hospitality.
There were multiple parts and factors to consider when deciding what would and would not operate as the parks reopened, he said, including available personnel, facilities and finances.
“They don’t do the fireworks, obviously, because it’ll be people standing in large groups, etc. The reality is they don’t need them. The cost of the fireworks to keep people and leave them with that last wow — it’s not there when you’ve got reduced capacity,” Jones said.
“It’s difficult decisions like that had to be made everywhere,” he said “Now, is COVID an excuse? Not really. I think it’s just the reality.”
As more vaccines are in arms and pandemic conditions become less intense, changes again will seep to the parks.
“I do think as we come out of the pandemic, there will be a tipping point. ‘Where are the fireworks? Why are we doing this? Why can’t we do that?’” Jones said. “I think the key to the parks will be to monitor that very carefully.”
Batson, who said he has alternated between Disney and Universal passes, is interested in seeing how parks handle a post-pandemic comeback.
“That will ultimately determine … which park I go back to as an annual passholder,” he said. “Is the perceived value that I paid for back then still going to be what it is now? Is that worth my time and money to do that?”
The pandemic prompted Jake Mullan, who lives near Montreal, to reconsider the value of his annual pass.
“I was already on the fence, to be quite honest with you. I was souring with Disney before that and definitely have soured even more so over this past 12 months,” he said. Rising costs on several fronts and cuts in entertainment are among his sticking points.
His pass expired a year ago, and he’s waiting to see how the vaccine rollout and travel restrictions play out, he said. Mullan and his family have tentative plans (and reservations) to visit around Oct. 1, the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World’s opening.
“I’m dramatically scaling back my visits to the Walt Disney World resort regardless, because like, everything has been pushed back in terms of openings, in terms of entertainment,” Mullan said. “The value just isn’t there right now.”
Although the parks are still operating under limited capacity restrictions, they are beginning to feel more crowded, said Tim Tracker, owner of the YouTube channel called The Tim Tracker.
“When Disney first reopened, I was in Frontierland and I took a photo. There was maybe four other people in Frontierland with me,” he said.
“I feel like it’s a little bit of pandemic fatigue to where people are like, 'It’s been going on for a year. I just gotta get out of the house.'”
Initially, his reopening videos got responses indicating that viewers didn’t want to go to parks in reduced mode.
“That’s changed recently. I haven’t seen that many comments like that,” Tracker said. “People are like, ‘Oh, this looks like fun. I can’t wait to go back now.’”
Davis, whose Disney pass expired last year, resumed her theme park trips in mid-January.
“The parks haven’t been this massive super-spreader event like I thought it would be,” she said. “I was definitely encouraged by my boyfriend, who is an avid Universal person and avid theme-park goer. He definitely convinced me that the proper precautions are being taken.”
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