 just as a preface before I actually start talking about this. I know this is probably something you guys don't want to listen to me talk about, and I wasn't originally going to do a video discussing it, but Stanford Burge suggested an idea to me, and I actually like the idea, so I took that and sort of decided to do an all-encompassing type of video, where I discuss some things maybe a lot of people aren't really thinking about when it comes to parks opening back up after this pandemic starts to settle and amusement parks do open back up. I am fully aware that there are a lot more serious things to worry about at the moment, but obviously all of us here are thinking about the parks, so I'm going to be discussing that. Also, do not ask me when I think parks are going to open back up, please. Many parks have released official statements, so refer to those. I have no idea when parks are going to open back up if they do open this year, and quite frankly, nobody else knows either. Not even the parks. So I will not be speculating about when they might open. With that being said, I'm going to talk about the impact the coronavirus pandemic will have on the parks in terms of procedures that will need to be carried out, and I think in some cases will become the new normal at many theme parks as we transition into a new normal. I think a lot of people are completely overlooking the fact that when these parks do open again, they are not going to be the same. Things are going to have to be cleaned very periodically, possibly even doing things such as wiping down trains after every cycle in order to keep everything from spreading. This is going to lead to increased wait times for all riders, even if there may not be a whole lot of people waiting. And everyone is going to have to be patient with all of these parks and work with them on that. I think things could also be implemented in terms of entering the park. People may need to be checked for temperatures and maybe some other types of screening. I'm not sure what all could really be done, but parks will be following some kind of protocol, I think, to determine that all people entering the park are not potentially spreading something infectious to the best of their ability, of course, and people may also be required to wear masks at all times, at least for this year or a certain amount of time. There's also the issue of people being within close proximity to each other. Obviously, when you're at an amusement park, you typically expect to be within only a couple feet of other people at pretty much all times. The parks will likely be implementing some strategies to combat this in any way that is feasible. Going back to ride operation specifically, this could also include, at least for this year, blocking off certain rows on trains and only allowing people in certain seats to try to keep that distance between everyone on the ride. There is also the possibility that parks will be operating for some time at limited capacity, meaning they may allow less people in at one time than usual. We have seen this demonstrated with many parks in China that have begun to open back up over the past couple of weeks where they operate at 50% capacity and are also limiting the number of services offered trying to eliminate anything for the time that may include interaction between people. I could also see spacing between people who are in lines being enforced to keep that 6 foot distance as well, and maybe also only letting a certain number of people in a queue line at any given time. This point actually leads me to something that Stanford Bridge brought up when he recommended this video idea to me. The whole pandemic is obviously having a very negative impact on almost every industry out there right now, and is something that shouldn't be taken lightly. I do think, however, that when it comes to the way things are run in the future, a lot of businesses are going to learn from this and hopefully improve their standards when it comes to keeping facilities clean. How could we see this impact amusement parks in perhaps a positive way specifically though? Well, due to these unprecedented challenges that they are all dealing with right now, parks may begin to experiment with different ways of accommodating guests out of pure necessity. What I mean is that for example, waiting in line for a ride. Most parks right now, you get in line, wait for 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 3 hours, or however long it takes depending on crowds and operations. Many of these parks offer some kind of fast pass system as an alternative for a usually pretty significant price that allows you the convenience of skipping ahead of the regular line and getting right on a ride or at least waiting in a much shorter line than the normal queue. Quite frankly, the way most of these passes are implemented is not very dynamic, and there are definite flaws to how they are typically put in place. Rather than following this strategy where you pay a large sum to hopefully be able to ride much more than normal on a more crowded day, some of these parks may want to start toying with different ways to keep certain lines down to a minimum number of people in order to keep everyone safe and healthy. Disney uses a system called boarding passes for Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, specifically with a star attraction, Rise of the Resistance. Clarify anything about the statements I am about to make as you wish in the comments, I am by no means a Disney expert. However, I think something similar to the boarding pass system could actually be beneficial to some of these parks whenever they begin to open their doors back up, and they likely will need to monitor how many people are in an area or queue at any given time. A boarding pass system would allow parks to give a certain number of people a time to come to a particular ride and wait in line before allowing the next group to enter and ride. This, I believe, could be very beneficial, seeing as I mentioned before, I think the wait times for rides may suffer during the situation because parks will, very understandably, be taking many precautions such as limiting people in a queue and cleaning vehicles more often, and even possibly blocking off a number of seats to limit the ride's capacity temporarily. I have even read where Holiday World is considering closing down rides temporarily throughout the day so they can clean the vehicles. With all of these hindrances to capacity and wait times, the parks will need to deal with these issues, I feel, and be very proactive about how they combat these problems they will inevitably face in the near future. The whole point that I'm trying to make is that just maybe this could lead to parks realizing that systems like this could be beneficial to use on a regular basis beyond this season or next, versus the current systems which sometimes don't really offer much value, as I've experienced and heard from others. Parks are going to be struggling for a very long time to try to recover from this hit financially, and I would not be expecting tons of major additions for the next couple years or so with many parks. Projects have already been pushed back, and some even cancelled, or at least put on hold temporarily. Some small parks may not be able to survive this, which is really unfortunate, especially given how the year started off as well. It's not something any of us like to think about, but it is certainly a possibility, just as it is with any business out there, not just the amusement industry. I really don't know what to say to cap this off. I just wanted to get some of my thoughts out there about what we could potentially be looking at. Whenever our favorite parks do open back up, and mainly to discuss how some of these devastating effects could potentially perhaps have a positive impact on parks down the road once things have settled down. As I stated at the beginning, I was initially not going to discuss this topic at all, as we're all tired of everything by now, and are just trying to stay sane, but I did want to address some of the positive impacts this could potentially have down the road. But of course, the absolute number one priority right now is for everybody to work together so we can get over this and get back to doing what we all love sooner rather than later. And of course, keeping everyone safe and healthy in the process is the absolute number one concern right now. That is, no doubt, the most important thing first and foremost before we start to worry about getting on the next new ride. Let me know your thoughts about any of this. Nothing has been suggested by parks about what they will do exactly when the time comes to reopen, and frankly, many of them probably don't even know at this point. Just remember to keep the comments respectful, and just stick to discussing the situation regarding amusement parks and how you think it may be handled, and keep it as positive as you can. I hope everyone out there is doing well, and I will see you in the next video.