So what's going to happen next season?

[elemmac]

Highland Mountain Bike Park (in NH) is opening up today (yesterday to season pass holders). Functionally the bike park functions just like a ski mountain, so it will be interesting to see how everything goes for them. Currently you have to buy day tickets online via a reservation system (sold out for the weekend), but I don't believe there are any restrictions for season pass holders...really curious to see if they get overcrowded with pass holders.

They have some regulations...masks when inside, 6 feet apart in the lift lines, ride the lift with the people you came with only...etc.

I will say, social media was quick to pull out the pitch fork comments yesterday/this morning.

 

[MissySki]

Highland Mountain Bike Park (in NH) is opening up today (yesterday to season pass holders). Functionally the bike park functions just like a ski mountain, so it will be interesting to see how everything goes for them. Currently you have to buy day tickets online via a reservation system (sold out for the weekend), but I don't believe there are any restrictions for season pass holders...really curious to see if they get overcrowded with pass holders.

They have some regulations...masks when inside, 6 feet apart in the lift lines, ride the lift with the people you came with only...etc.

I will say, social media was quick to pull out the pitch fork comments yesterday/this morning.

That will definitely be interesting to follow! Do you bike there? What were people upset about specifically?

 

[Ski Sine Fine]

I am more concerned about the system for deciding who will be allowed on the mountain on any given day. They will have to reduce numbers but I don't like the lottery system. I would much rather a first come, first served reservation system. I'm watching to see what they do right now.

I don’t know what the answer could be, but I don’t necessarily like first-come, first-served. It assumes everyone who wants to ski has an equal opportunity to push the button when the system opens for the next ski day. You can literally try every day and not get to ski once. In that sense, a lottery system treats everyone more fairly, not giving advantage to any ability to be the first.

Reducing the number of skiers might only need to be done for weekend or holiday days. My personal experience is there are far fewer skiers on weekdays already, even at destination resorts. I think those who can ski weekdays are doing so already to avoid the crowds. Maybe a limit on how many days you can ski in a week? Limit how many hours you can ski in a day?

 

[marzNC]

Wow! I mean I think that's the way to do it if you aren't going to guarantee passholder access I guess? Yikes though, who would be able to ski all of the days most of us do if there were no season passes??? That would be outrageously expensive without massive day ticket discounts, and even then..

From the discussion so far, the big question is how to get the number of people going to Thredbo when the lifts start running in a month well below normal levels. Demand could be higher than usual since Australians are very unlikely to be skiing in N. America next January. Australia has very few new COVID-19 daily cases, meaning 15 or less in recent weeks. So there are probably more than enough people willing to book a ski vacation. Like resorts in New England within a few hours drive of large cities, lift lines are typically quite long on weekends at Australian resorts.

A-Basin had at least 4000 people hoping to get one of 600 reservations. Apparently even during late season they normally have 1000 people midweek and 3000+ on weekends. Not easy to come up with a way to cut down the numbers that much.

If you think about it from a resort's viewpoint, the people willing to pay for day tickets to ski 4-6 days for their only ski vacation of the season probably end up spending more at the resort than many season passholders. A pass holder who brings their own snacks and lunch can easily avoid spending another cent at the resort beyond the cost of their season pass. Obviously not all season passholders are like that, but . . .

 

[elemmac]

That will definitely be interesting to follow! Do you bike there? What were people upset about specifically?

I've been there a few times, but no season pass, so not a regular.

The mountain didn't really help itself by posting a photo of a group of like 6 people in line for first chair (posed photo) all pretty close together, no masks or anything.

So comments ensued like...I saw the Instagram photos, doesn't really look like anyone is socially distancing...I saw photos, no one is wearing masks in line...Calling out the mountain for not enforcing Covid policies...etc. Then of course other people fuel the fire with...if you don't like what they're doing, don't go, blah blah blah.

 

[ilovepugs]

I don’t know what the answer could be, but I don’t necessarily like first-come, first-served. It assumes everyone who wants to ski has an equal opportunity to push the button when the system opens for the next ski day. You can literally try every day and not get to ski once. In that sense, a lottery system treats everyone more fairly, not giving advantage to any ability to be the first.

Reducing the number of skiers might only need to be done for weekend or holiday days. My personal experience is there are far fewer skiers on weekdays already, even at destination resorts. I think those who can ski weekdays are doing so already to avoid the crowds. Maybe a limit on how many days you can ski in a week? Limit how many hours you can ski in a day?

For peak days, maybe pass holders can have a fixed number of days to ski per season and then be on the lottery system? Like if I show up for 10 days during Christmas break, then any other weekends/holidays would be by lottery only? Just spitballing ideas.

 

[StayWarm]

For peak days, maybe pass holders can have a fixed number of days to ski per season and then be on the lottery system? Like if I show up for 10 days during Christmas break, then any other weekends/holidays would be by lottery only? Just spitballing ideas.

Another problem with the lottery system that just occurred to me is the likelihood that in a place like Colorado, where there are about a dozen resorts that you could reach for a day trip from Denver, people might enter lotteries at multiple resorts for the same day to increase their odds of getting in somewhere. If I managed to get in at, say, Loveland and A-Basin and Copper Mountain for the same day, would there be a way for me to notify two of those resorts that I won't be coming after all? Would the resorts have a wait-list?

It reminds me a bit of college admissions, where in the US, kids often apply to six or more schools to increase their chances of getting in *somewhere*, with the end result that admissions rates to certain schools end up being very low. In the UK, there's a centralized university application system so that students are limited in how many schools they can apply to, which helps a bit with the admissions gamification and madness. But that requires a centralized system that all or most of the universities participate in. I have a hard time imagining ski resorts doing the same.

And one more thing: How do you plan a multi-day ski trip at all if there's no guarantee of getting tickets for sequential days?

These are all really thorny challenges. I don't envy the resorts who have to figure it out, but am very curious to see what they come up with.

 

[marzNC]

Disney World and other attractions in Orlando are going to re-open starting in July. Wonder if there will be anything useful to ski resorts based on how theme parks end up managing their guests in the age of COVID-19. Disney World is starting with a clean slate. For example, they are cancelling any existing 2020 reservations for dining and starting over with different rules.

Now makes sense that golf courses were allowed to either stay open or re-opened sooner. Signing up for tee times is standard practice in order to keep groups apart. That's a natural fit for social distancing of strangers.

 

[lisamamot]

Not MA to ME, but made me think of this thread...

Some Buffoon Drove 600 Miles to Get a Haircut

That is crazy! My daughter just cut my son’s hair the other day and hubby had an appt yesterday in MA since we opened this week ...he said it was quite a process with all the regulations. My appt is in a couple weeks.

 

[Jilly]

I agree with marzNC. Disney will figure this out.

 

[lisamamot]

Now makes sense that golf courses were allowed to either stay open or re-opened sooner. Signing up for tee times is standard practice in order to keep groups apart. That's a natural fit for social distancing of strangers.

We have a golf course right near us in MA. Opening restrictions (I thought) were no carts and no parties over 4. Carts are in full use (?!) and people must be gaming the system to get their groups together too - leaving the club house but then waiting on the first tee the 15 min interval to let their friends catch up - I walk by all the time and have seen groups of 6 and 8 all on the same green together.

 

[elemmac]

We have a golf course right near us in MA. Opening restrictions (I thought) were no carts and no parties over 4. Carts are in full use (?!) and people must be gaming the system to get their groups together too - leaving the club house but then waiting on the first tee the 15 min interval to let their friends catch up - I walk by all the time and have seen groups of 6 and 8 all on the same green together.

Pretty standard golf etiquette is to only play in groups of 4, any more than that slows down the pace of play substantially. So, people who play like that are already not playing by the "rules"...not surprised to see them not following Covid rules as well.

I think most courses in NH are encouraging walking, but some are either allowing 1 person per cart, or allowing carts for members of the same household.

 

[Abbi]

We have a golf course right near us in MA. Opening restrictions (I thought) were no carts and no parties over 4. Carts are in full use (?!) and people must be gaming the system to get their groups together too - leaving the club house but then waiting on the first tee the 15 min interval to let their friends catch up - I walk by all the time and have seen groups of 6 and 8 all on the same green together.

To quote a friend: “ and this is why we can’t have nice things!“ The guidelines were put in place for a reason. We shall see what happens when they are ignored.

 

[Ski Sine Fine]

Disney World and other attractions in Orlando are going to re-open starting in July. Wonder if there will be anything useful to ski resorts based on how theme parks end up managing their guests in the age of COVID-19. Disney World is starting with a clean slate. For example, they are cancelling any existing 2020 reservations for dining and starting over with different rules.

Now makes sense that golf courses were allowed to either stay open or re-opened sooner. Signing up for tee times is standard practice in order to keep groups apart. That's a natural fit for social distancing of strangers.

Disney already has a first-come, first-served model. I remember years ago being turned away from Disney World when we arrived around 11 am and the park was full. I agree they will figure this out.

 

[Jilly]

Golf courses around here are 1/cart, or you walk 6" apart. No one in the clubhouse, just use the washroom and they have outside access in most cases. Arrive only 20 min before your T-off time.

If they have to go to a lottery system, I'm not sure I'll participate.

 

[elemmac]

Disney World and other attractions in Orlando are going to re-open starting in July. Wonder if there will be anything useful to ski resorts based on how theme parks end up managing their guests in the age of COVID-19. Disney World is starting with a clean slate. For example, they are cancelling any existing 2020 reservations for dining and starting over with different rules.

I can see them managing a lot of the aspects of social distancing really well. Curious to see how they manage the rides themselves...if you're riding on a rollercoaster or amusement ride behind someone with Covid, how likely is it for you to catch it? You're basically moving directly into the air they just breathed out.

 

[altagirl]

I paid for a golf league before this started but have not gone yet. They are running it, supposedly one golfer per cart, pay online, no touching flags, nothing indoors is open... but after the first week there were complaints that some people weren't social distancing so I won't try it. I'll just forfeit the money and stay home. If I knew it wasn't crowded and could just go with a friend who I know takes it seriously, I would, but....

DH is planning to go lift served mountain biking in the near future though. Supposedly social distancing in line, ride the chair alone or only with people in your household. And even if you have a season pass you need to reserve a spot online in advance or there is no guarantee you'll have access because they're really limiting attendance

 

[MissySki]

I can see them managing a lot of the aspects of social distancing really well. Curious to see how they manage the rides themselves...if you're riding on a rollercoaster or amusement ride behind someone with Covid, how likely is it for you to catch it? You're basically moving directly into the air they just breathed out.

Yeah, and screaming certainly expels more spit particles than regular speaking. Will they require masks on rides?? (There’s no way I could do that on a hot humid day, mostly because I get some motion sickness and limited breathing of my own hot air wouldn’t help that any lol.) Will they sanitize each ride between users? (Imagine what that would do to wait times.. Lines get so long, how do you reasonably keep people 6 feet apart in those winding corridors?). I guess perhaps if less people are allowed into the park overall it would help all of that.

I don’t often go to amusement parks, so will be fine to skip this summer.

 

[Ski Sine Fine]

I think Disney would have sanitizer dispensers everywhere like on cruise ships, entry to rides, exit from rides. With social distancing, they might start with 1/3 normal capacity for the park and filling every other row for rides. The queue will have to be spaced out not just front-to-back but also side-to-side, so no tight switchbacks. Ventilation for indoor queues should be increased. They can issue a Mickey Mouse (or other Disney characters you like) face shield to everyone. Easier to breathe, protect the eyes, can eat with, and you can scream all you want (maybe?).

 

[marzNC]

Disney re-opened Shanghai Disneyland on May 11. Presumably learning from the experience there. The maximum capacity was set at 30% for guests. Like a ski resort with RFID, Disney can track where people are using their ticket in terms of which rides are of interest. Disney World in Orlando won't open until mid-July.

May 11, CNN
Shanghai Disneyland reopens with timed entry and social distancing
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/shanghai-disneyland-reopens-intl-hnk/index.html

The queue will have to be spaced out not just front-to-back but also side-to-side, so no tight switchbacks.

Disney World won't have any Fast Pass lanes in operation. They will use those entrance areas to help with social distancing for people in a regular line for popular attractions.

Apparently there is a theme park in the Netherlands that re-opened recently. That may be a better model for Disney than any theme park in Asia given the cultural differences before COVID-19 about wearing face masks.