So as we all know, this season and last season have been significantly impacted by covid. Fortunately, most have had the opportunity to get to parks at some point during this time, but it's definitely been different😂. Today I'm going to go through some general thoughts, and then some stuff specifically on certain parks I've been to during covid! Let's get into it!
The main changes to park operations include mask wearing, temperature checks and distancing in the queues on markers. These started in March 2020 when Legoland and Chessington opened just before the first lockdown. I didn't get to visiting the parks at this point because they only managed to open for about 3 days before lockdown, but from what I've seen the measures were really well followed and put together. I'll be going though the main UK parks I did in 2020 and how their measures worked now!
Alton Towers:
I'd say Alton Towers had the best social distancing of the 3 merlin parks and the most clear and consistent floor markers. they obviously weren't perfect but it's quite hard to get round the park to repaint all the markers as they disappear from the weather. Unfortunately, I think all the measures contributed to really long queues and at-capacity queues at Towers all season.
The amazing floor markers at Towers in the Smiler queue😂
Thorpe Park:
I've been to Thorpe a lot with the current precautions and had mixed experiences. There's a lot of guests who take their masks off when the train leaves the station on ride, but other than that they're followed quite well. I don't know how much this is related to covid, but we had a not great time in the Colossus queue on opening with 'aggressive' guests who were trying to queue jump and then got up in security's face (I've explained this properly on my twitter, go follow it btw😂). I think the only other downfall in their precautions are the hand sanitisers which I rarely see used. Just a note: all of these parks are obviously safe, I'm just outlining the rough spots.
Chessington WOA:
Chessington is very similar to Thorpe in it's precautions and problems, so I won't say much. One this though, when I went in April this year (2021), the fastrack use seemed to be a lot higher than I've ever seen it, some rides having to load 50% fastrack and 50% queue because there were so many using it.
Drayton Manor:
I went to Drayton in August 2020, and it wasn't the best trip. it wasn't queues (they were all pretty short) or covid precautions (they were all good too). it was just I wasn't paying attention to Drayton's website and socials to realise we were gonna get spited by Shockwave😂. It made me annoyed at myself because I was gagging to ride it again after having not gone on it since May the year before, but there's nothing you can do in situation like that.
Flamingo Land:
I'm pretty sure this was the only park where it wasn't mandatory to wear a mask on rides or in indoor areas. I also think this was the only park of our trip this year without floor markers, literally anyone wearing masks or a sense of cleanliness. I haven't been to Flamingo land prior to last year but I don't think it felt/would feel and different not in covid. I didn't feel unsafe, it just wasn't really like the other parks
Oakwood Theme Park:
Personally I think Oakwood had the best social distancing from visitors of all the parks I did in 2020. This is mainly down to there being very few people on park the whole day, but people were generally just well behaved. I think the longest I queued for anything.
So, that's some insights into covid restrictions at some major parks! I went to more big parks than this, but I wanted to get this post out and I just found myself repeating things a lot. I hope you enjoyed reading, I'll see you next time!
Cleo x
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