How theme parks will run when they reopen

The boss of Village Roadshow Theme Parks has detailed exactly how Sea World and other theme parks on the Gold Coast will look under COVID-19 restrictions once they reopen their doors.

VIRTUAL queues, no close-up selfies with park characters and express cleans after every ride.
The boss of Village Roadshow Theme Parks has detailed exactly how Sea World and other theme parks on the Gold Coast will look under COVID-19 restrictions once they reopen their doors.

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Sea World will reopen on June 26 along with Paradise Country and Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.
Australian Outback Spectacular will open on July 3.

There will be no up-close selfies with Looney toons characters when MovieWorld reopens next month. Picture: AAP image, John Gass

SkyPoint at Q1 will also open next month ahead of the planned reopening of Movie World, Wet’n’Wild, Dreamworld and WhiteWater World.
Speaking to media on Wednesday, Village Roadshow boss Clark Kirby said the company’s COVID-safe plan would allow up to 50 per cent capacity at Sea World initially, along with a number of other initiatives.

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary will reopen will open on June 26. Picture: Supplied.

Close-up selfies with entertainers like Movie World’s super heroes and kids characters at Sea World will be out due to social distancing requirements.
Family groups will be allowed to line up together for rides, but patrons will be required to download a park app which encourages ‘virtual queuing’, a process commonly used overseas where people can reserve a place in a line and return at a later time.

There will also be spaces on attractions between groups, with rides such as roller coasters to undergo an express cleaning after every loop before the next round of passengers can embark.
Grandstands for shows will also be spaced to avoid overcrowding.

Movie World and Wet ‘n’ Wild will reopen on July 15. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Mr Kirby said there would be patience required initially, but he said he was excited to be able to welcome guests back.
“I’m just about jumping out of my skin,” he said.