www.themeparkinsider.com: Yesterday, I wrote about the operational challenges facing theme parks as they look for ways to conform to potential new rules and conventions for protecting the health of their guests and employees once they reopen. Demands for social distancing and new hygiene standards might force Disneyland, Universal Studios and other theme parks to make a wide range of changes, including the expansion of virtual queues, new loading procedures for attractions and even new floor plans for restaurants and shops.
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It's hard to imagine Universal and Disney theme parks closed during the pandemic. Both places are made for family entertainment and fun, something that now has been shut down to mitigate the spread of the virus. This article brings up a very good point about the future of the entertainment industry and theme parks. The only way I foresee the end of this pandemic and quarantines is with a vaccine, something that could be years away. Therefore, theme parks need to consider how they will open back up to the public, while also maintaining social distancing guidelines and sanitary practices that might become the norm. With Universal, the opening of their new theme park in 2023 might present them with an opportunity to be the first theme park to adapt to the new times. With the park opening years away they have time to redesign to create cues lines that maintain social distancing, while also upgrading sanitary restrictions in the park. Hopefully the theme park designers and creative teams at both parks are coming up with ways to keep the parks open.
Yesterday, I went outside to go to a supermarket to buy essentials for the first time in three weeks. I don’t define myself as a germ phobia or a clean freak in particular, but I was surprised at how my sense of comfort changed. I just wanted to avoid any contact with others as much as possible. Now, of course, this is due to the fear of getting the virus and the development of vaccines would surely hold back the excessive fear. However, it is hard to imagine people lining up so close to one another to get on a ride and grasping the unsterilized safety bar after a year or two. I am very interested in how theme parks would adapt to new social norms after the pandemic. Just like how Broadway theatres’ decisions are becoming the criteria for all other theatres, decisions by Universal and Disney would surely affect all other theme parks around the world.
It is strange to even imagine people at theme parks right now. I’m scared just to go outside to do anything right now and the thought of people being close together, lining up to get on a ride and touching things that probably don’t get thoroughly clean really freaks me out. I don’t know I would feel about going to a theme park right after things get controlled though… I’m interested to see how theme parks change after this because it definitely will. People’s mindsets will have changed after this outbreak and theme park management and designers will have to revise their work based on changing social norms. I’m looking forward to the opening of Universal’s new theme park in 2023 and how they have dealt with these problems. It is hopeful to see Universal not leaving this issue in the backyard. Surely if Universal implements enhanced public health and safety measures in their designs, other theme parks will do the same.
This is going to be such an exciting expansion for Universal Studios. In Production Planning, we had Beth Semler speak to us, who is one of the designers on this large expansion, so she was able to tell us that this is a very time consuming project that she has worked multiple years on. She was bound by a nondisclosure agreement to not discuss any of the specifics of the project, so we had to do all of our own research, but from what I have seen so far it seems like it is going to be amazing. It is insane to see how these parks that never close ever have been closed for this long. I have a feeling that they are financially going to be fine for their long run financials once they are able to reopen, but I can see how this might postpone some large renovations like this one. I expect that this project will probably get delayed.
I feel like asking this question nowadays will get you some inquisitive looks. I do not think the world will emerge from this crisis the same it was before all this. There is no way that parents, especially of young children, will be eager to get back out there into germy amusement parks with thousands of other families immediately after this. Whether this changes the design of these new parks, I am not sure. The article is certainly right in stating that the pandemic will “change people’s sense of what is comfortable.” There is no way to understand what the new standard level of comfort will be, so how could they redesign just yet? And even if they did know, how are they supposed to accommodate a six foot distance level of comfort at a theme park? There is quite a lot of spatial and societal rhetoric that will play into this discussion when it finally must come to head in the coming months.
It’s easy for us all to think about the immediate effects of coronavirus on daily life and the entertainment industry. But, it’s interesting to think about what companies like Universal and Disney have to consider during this “off” time about the actions going forward. I had never really considered all the factors that went into play for theme park design, but this past week we had the incredible opportunity to talk with Beth Semler, who is designing for the new upcoming expansion to Universal Studios. We learned of so many departments making up the team, from designers, builders, architects, engineers, managers, etc—a much bigger scale than theatre. It’s definitely going to be a big undertaking to tackle a pandemic response budget to potentially refigure the park systems or consider re-designs. For any expansions or updates in progress, I bet it’ll be easier, but revisiting and rethinking past projects will be a big challenge I’m sure. I was really thrilled to read that Universal has kept its creative team on board instead of letting them go during this pandemic to continue working and creating—definitely a new, different, difficult task to navigate but it makes me very glad that the designers are being respected and appreciated by their employers.
The quote about how Universal doesn’t want to make this theme park a relic of the early 2020’s is a really important one. It’s true for all sorts of things, but we as a society are going to want to forget about COVID-19 as fast as we can. The whole business model of theme parks requires lots of people to be crowded into a small area. If theme parks can’t pump as many people through because of social distancing rules, then the price will have to go up. It’s up to experts to decide if theme parks are even feasible or if people could transmit the disease to each other and they shouldn’t open at all. It might make sense for Universal to continue preparing the site, and once they are finished, lay low until we have her immunity. They could spend some more time on perfecting the design for a post-covid era. Make an attempt to time out construction so the project is done just as people can go back to their normal lives. I would assume that the organization has enough money to go dormant for a small while.
I really dont like to think about how much society as a whole is gonna change after all of this. It feels like there are so many things that are gonna be permanently changed, and honestly In really liked how life was going. That being said, it will be interesting to see how many different companies and places are gonna react to this. Right now, in the thick of it, it feels like things will never be the same. I feel like there is no way people are going to feel 100% comfortable (or economically stable enough) to go to a theme park for a while after all of this ends (which may not be for a year or so). I wonder if the people who work at Disneyland and Universal are currently working on their plans for after the virus. I am sure they are since it is a source of income for them. Either way, I am not super worried about Disney's financial health, and I feel that they will come up with a way of making people feel more comfortable.
I think that this project - and others like it - will be very interesting to follow, especially in the years following the return to normalcy after this pandemic. I understand that this global crisis has put a hold on - or at least massively changed - many of these projects; not only with how they are operating now but by introducing a new constraint under which they will have to operate in the future (once realised). How theatre and the like is going to function in an immediately post-COVID world is an almost feasible thing to think about now but theme parks are a whole other beast. I, frankly, can not imagine a theme park without enormous clusters of people. While certainly not ideal, it seems as though this will almost be an advantage to the parks currently under development; for this particular Universal park - slated to open in 2023 - they will have had this whole crisis to adapt it towards standards that will undoubtedly come about after the world begins to recover from this pandemic.
I didn't even really think about the great effect the coronavirus will have on theme parks. It is honestly kind of disgusting nowadays to think about the amount of things we touch that contain people’s germs. A theme park is a perfect place for that since everyone holds on to ride handles, stands in packed lines, and there are so many interactive play spaces. It only makes sense that theme parks should be worried about how they will be affected when it is time to open up again. There are obviously people out there who don’t care and will continue like before, but the article was right that more people are going to be cautious with how they approach it. I don’t think designers should halt designs, but inteads see this as a new challenge to make their parks better in a changing world. It’s good that it is being thought about, and hopefully can be executed soon so the designs can launch, money can be made, and people can have fun again.
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