Ohio — With Ohio’s economy scheduled to slowly begin reopening soon, two of the state’s biggest summer attractions will remain closed until further notice.
- Summer fun at Ohio’s theme parks might be on hold
- Cedar Point, King’s Island, and its parent company, Cedar Fair, are facing unprecedented times
- An industry expert says when the theme parks eventually open, there will be a lot of variables to deal with while making sure customers have a good time and stay virus-free
There’s nothing like the thrill of riding a roller coaster at Cedar Point, but this year that summer fun might be on hold.
Now, Cedar Point, King’s Island, and its parent company Cedar Fair are facing unprecedented times.
Both parks were scheduled to open next month, but now the openings have been pushed back.
“The economic impact of the closure of either Cedar Point in Sandusky or King’s Island here in Cincinnati will have a major impact on the economy — particularly so in Sandusky, cause Cedar Point for 150 years has been the driver for that market during the summer tourist season,” said Dennis Speigel.
Dennis Speigel is the founder of International Theme Park Services, Inc. He says since Sandusky is smaller than Cincinnati, Cedar Point's revenue is vital to the city’s economy.
“Retail, restaurants, gasoline, all of the hotel industry, all of the ancillary support that is there that works in tandem with Cedar Point, will be in the same situation that they are,” said Speigel.
When the theme parks eventually open, there will be a lot of variables to deal with in making sure customers have a good time and stay virus-free.
Spiegel says when people come, the guest experience will be affected.
“In this new era that we are going to operate in, we have to retrain people to clean, disinfect, space-distance people, there’s a whole training that hasn’t been done before that has to be brought to the forefront of their operation, so all these things compound and make it very difficult to say when the park will open,” said Speigel.