Oct. 13, 2024

The Aftermath: Hurricane Milton's Impact on Florida’s Attractions

This week, we focus on the aftermath of Hurricane Milton and its sweeping impact on Florida’s theme parks, including closures, operational challenges, and recovery efforts.

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Florida's weather is growing more extreme, and our strategic planning must evolve to meet it.
This week, we focus on Hurricane Milton's aftermath and its sweeping impact on Florida’s theme parks, including closures, operational challenges, and recovery efforts. Then, we turn to the future and discuss why strategic planning for hurricanes may need to evolve.

Listen to weekly BONUS episodes on our Patreon.

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From our studios in no where am I? Oh, I'm in.

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Tokyo and Scott is in Tampa and he's joining us

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live from from Hurricane from the Hurricane, Milton, Scott, Scott.

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Can you hear us?

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Scott? No, it's over, it's over, it's done. It's actually

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a beautiful day outside. If you don't look around to

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the right or left on my street where you see

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all the down trees and and damage. I will say that,

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you know, being being in the I had a unique

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experience with Milton because I was actually not in Tampa

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when it happened. I was in Orlando because my mother

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got evacuated. However, however, Eric, my husband, did ride out

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the storm here in Tampa, so I have that perspective

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as well. And then when I got back, you know,

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the aftermath people, You know, people think of the storm

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as the horrible part. What they don't think about is

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the aftermath. And quite honestly, the aftermath is what is

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really the worst, because you've got people who have completely

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lost their homes. And these are people who are within

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who live within blocks of my house. But you know,

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we live in an older neighborhood that has giant oaks,

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and so many of them have come crashing down, and

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we were we were incredibly lucky, incredibly lucky because we

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had some minor damage to our fence in the backyard

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and we have a little bit of a roof leak

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in my office that but of course the house is

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one hundred years old, so that's expected. And then we

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had a couple of cracked branches that are being held

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up by other branches, so we're trying to get some

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tree experts to come out and take care of that.

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But all in all, we never lost power here in Tampa,

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and there are people who are surrounding us, and this

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is being recorded on Sunday, the what is today the thirteenth, Yeah,

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Sunday the thirteenth, So there are people all around us

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who still do not have power, have not had power

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since the storm hit. The only thing that we are

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lacking here in our house is internet. We have no

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internet connection, so I'm doing this via my hot spot.

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So that's why you're not seeing us today or you're

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just hearing us.

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So yes, yes, I didn't mention that at the top

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of the show, but yes, the reason that we are

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doing audio only this week is is obviously is because

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Scott is yes, without Wi Fi, but also it's you know,

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there's in the middle of the hurricane. It's a particular

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deal and that's why we wanted to talk about it

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right at the beginning of the show because it has

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actually it was the big news story of this week

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that impacted all the attractions well.

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And it's and it's interesting because it's impacted the attractions

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in slightly different ways. And once again, I think the

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aftermath is what we're is what's really going to be

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the majority of this discussion. But as you know, or

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as many of you know, there was a if you

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were outside the country, there was a very large hurricane,

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probably the largest, well definitely the largest since what was

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the last that came through here that was this devastation.

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It's been it's been like twenty years, but it's really

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second second largest hurricane in the history of Florida. It

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came in, it made a landfall just south of just

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south of Tampa. It did not come up into Tampa Bay,

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which is a blessing for both my house and Bush Gardens.

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And then it came in as a Cat three and

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by the time and it was still a Category one

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hurricane by the time it left on the Atlantic coast,

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so it went all the way across Florida as a

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full blown hurricane, not a trial. It did not downgrade

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to a tropical storm while it was after it made landfall,

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so it and its pathway took it really right across Universal,

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right across Disney, and then out out the other side.

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I got a chance, because I was evacuated to Orlando

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at about four am, to ride the eyewall for a

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moment or two. And you know, when the when the

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trees are basically blowing sideways and the rain is horizontal,

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and then it shifts direction. It's kind of weird because

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as it passes, the Dane shifts a direction for those

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who've never been through a hurricane. But Disney was wise

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and closed at two o'clock in the afternoon on the

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day that it was supposed to hit. And then, like

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I said, the eyewall hit about thirteen fourteen hours later.

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Universal closed a little bit earlier to give people a

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time to do a little bit more prep and both

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are back open now. I do not have a report, Philip,

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I don't know. Maybe you've heard. I do not have

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a report on the damage from either Disney or Universal.

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Have you heard anything.

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To my knowledge, they haven't released really like a public

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statement just to my knowledge. I mean, I did not

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find a public statement on the amount of damage. But

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I don't think that's I don't think that's something they're

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really going to do. I have seen a lot of

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anecdote total posts from folks who are in the industry

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about certain some projects that were derailed. I've heard some

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I've heard some stuff about the uh, the you know,

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some concerns about the job site for Epic Universe, you know,

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and and some items like that. But uh, I think

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to your point, the aftermath, you know, a lot of

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this stuff, I don't think we're really going to know

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for a little bit, because take for instance, the lagoon

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show right those you know, we didn't really know immediately

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or you know, it wasn't clear immediately how what sort

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of audio visual audio visual damage is on some of

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those items. For a while, speaking just from the manufacturing

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side as well, you know it sometimes it takes a

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while for you to really realize if you have outdoor lighting,

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you know, where the water has ingressed into certain areas,

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or you have signal back signal backage or whatnot from

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some of your DMX lines, so.

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Controllers whatever whatever you're using to to protect them from

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the elements that got blown away, which is.

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Very possible or has developed a lade exactly.

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I mean, I will say that on the east coast,

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I mean, there was a time where you could not

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if you were if you were in the UH They

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showed some really interesting footage from from the International Space

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Station and there was a time where you could not

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see the state of Florida because it was completely covered

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by a hurricane. So it basically engulfed the entire state.

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What I don't think is going to get reported a

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whole lot is prior to the hurricanes arrival, prior to

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it coming, prior to it making landfall on the west

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side of the state, the east side of the state

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was getting They had at one point in time they

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had counted up to ninety different tornado warnings on the

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east side of the state, and the first fatalities from

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the storm happened actually in Saint Lucie County, which is

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on the on the eastern side of the state. They

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were showing picture of airplanes that had been private airplanes

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had been flipped over and some rather significant tornado damage there,

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So that's if anything's going to impact the theme parks.

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I'm guessing that they got hit by those and then

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just got a one two punch if they got any

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if they had any tornadic action, any tornadoes that went through,

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it would have been a one two punch happening. The

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first punch happening probably around six or seven pm, and

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then the second punch coming at four am the following morning,

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when the when the I came through, because yeah, I

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did come through very very close to Orlando.

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Yeah, so yeah, I think.

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I'm curious to know, Scott, what you thought about I

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guess the different responses, because what I heard from some folks,

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like some I guess when we're like cast summers or

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folks like you know, in on the front lines, was

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that they felt that Disney's reaction was pretty slow comparatively,

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or I guess slow kind of like slow to close

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and then like or faster to reopen, so you know,

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kind of on both ends.

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I've heard the same anecdotal issues fast to close or

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I mean slow to close, fast to open, and they're

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blaming that on their desire to make money. And but

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there's a couple factors that I don't know whether everybody's

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taking into consideration. I agree actually on the slow to

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close simply because you know, we look at if you're

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not in it. You look at the storm only in

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the time that the eye is present, and that is

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completely unrealistic. Prior to you want to make sure that

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you have plenty of prep time, not just for your parks,

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but for the people who work in your parks, because

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their homes are going to be around your park, and

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if your park is in danger, their homes are in danger.

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So not closing. They didn't close, to my knowlge until

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two pm on the day that the storm hit, and

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it made landfall in Tampa at almost a little after

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eight o'clock somewhere between eight thirty and nine that day,

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so they were calling it pretty close as far as

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the closures go. As far as reopening, once again, thinking

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about not just focusing just on their employees first, and

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then I'll focus on the guests in a moment, but

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focusing just on the employees. The reopening, it was they

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opened the day after I believe. I don't know that

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for a fact, we'll have to confirm that, but they

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opened shortly after and for the employees, for the cast members.

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You know, these cast members were dealing with flooding and

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trees down and potential damage. Not to mention, and this

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has been the biggest challenge that I've been facing, is

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access to gasoline. You know, since I since I was

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with my mother and we evacuated from her house which

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is in Hudson, Florida, which is about an hour north

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of Tampa, all the way over to Orlando and back,

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all of my quote unquote emergency fuel that I had

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put in my in my guests in my gas tank

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was pretty much used up driving over there and then

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driving back, which took five hours because roads were flooded

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or closed or whatever. So even just getting gasoline in

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order to drive to work for employees is a challenge

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across the state. Now it's worse here in Tampa, obviously,

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but there's a challenge across the state. Now, let's flip

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our focus from the employees to the guests, because let's

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let's not kid ourselves that there were not I mean,

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there were plenty of people who rode out the storm

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in Disney and Universal Property hotels, you know, And in fact,

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I on one of my options when we were evacuating

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was one of the universal properties.

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But when when they've got they've got to take care

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of their guests as well and figure out, you know,

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how much they can hedge and guide and refocus.

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One of my favorite anecdotal stories was at Disney, they

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actually shifted those members of the the some members of

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the the mascot crew, the costume character crew over to

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the hotels and did a ride out team with them

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so that the some of the iconic characters were able

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to keep the kids. The friends of iconic characters were

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able to keep kids comfortable and calm during the actual

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storm itself. Now again, there was there was storm activity

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prior to the eye passing at four am, but hopefully

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most of the children were sleeping, so but still they

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had to look at they had to balance. I can't

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I mean, I can't say whether they did the right

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thing or the wrong thing simply because I wasn't there.

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But if you look at it from the standpoint of

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the employees, they closed too late in my opinion, and

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they opened they reopened too early. Looking at it from

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a guest standpoint, I understand exactly why they wanted to

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do it, and who knows, they may have you know,

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looked for volunteers to come work, saying, you know, if

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you're available to work, or if you haven't day damage

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or whatever, then please come in and help take care

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of our guests. So it's a unique balancing act for

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that sort of thing. Now, Bush Tampa, which is scheduled

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to open well as we're recording this schedule to open

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in about fifteen minutes on the thirteenth at about at

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ten am, their scheduled to reopen. I know that Zoo Tampa,

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which suffered significant flooding, of significant flooding situation and quite

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a bit of wind damage, is not going to reopen

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until the weekend, the next weekend. So there has been

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it's that it's that cleanups that's becoming more and more challenging.

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You know, I was able to get gas. The first

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time I was able to get gas since the storm

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was this morning. I got up early and went to

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a gas station not too far from us. Had to

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wait a half an hour in line, but they were

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one of maybe three gas stations within a ten mile

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radius that had any sort of gas at all. So yeah,

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it's not just it's not just the fixing of the

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storm stuff, but it's also the fuel, and not only

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the fuel for cars, but the fuel for generators. Attractions

237
00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:41.919
of course, have been running on generator since the since

238
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they lost power for the storm whenever that was, so

239
00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:47.360
they're having to get out to find fuel as well.

240
00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:50.480
I know that there were a couple that I had

241
00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:54.120
heard anecdotally were having some challenges. They were running lower

242
00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:58.559
than they wanted to on their fuel supply. So yeah,

243
00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:01.399
it's not just it's not just us the wind. It's

244
00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:03.720
not just you know Jim Cantorre where is he and

245
00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:06.639
standing in his in his parkas the wind blows him sideways.

246
00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:10.440
It's what happens after that is you know, this will

247
00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:13.720
be recovering from this, and I'm sure that many of

248
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the attractions will be as well. But we'll be recovering

249
00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:20.399
from this for several months, if not a full year.

250
00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:22.919
Yeah, yeah, well we.

251
00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:26.200
I think the last thing I go want to add

252
00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:29.879
was on the subject of recovery. You know, this comes

253
00:14:29.960 --> 00:14:33.879
right immediately after a previous storm, right, and so I

254
00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:38.240
think it's one of those things where if this keeps

255
00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:41.799
happening right where we're having a storm upon stormpond storm

256
00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:44.639
without the adequate recovery time, I think that's gonna just

257
00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:46.399
compound the problems.

258
00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:48.960
And it does, you know, like Scott saying, it does

259
00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:49.440
take a while.

260
00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:53.559
I mean, our office is in Orlando, and we were

261
00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:56.559
also lucky we had very little structural damage. You know,

262
00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:59.320
they were leaks and everything, but none of our product

263
00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:03.080
was damaged. However, you know, water did come in, and

264
00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:05.679
we stand bagged the wall, but water did come in.

265
00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:07.960
And so now you know, it's it's.

266
00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:11.120
Taking days of dehumanifiers and you have to clean the carpets,

267
00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:14.600
and I mean there's you imagine that, but in every building,

268
00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:17.799
you know, all everywhere, and then you know, when another

269
00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:21.399
one hits so rapidly it you know, again it's on

270
00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:25.200
the heels of another one. So I think I think

271
00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:29.000
this goes back to what Scott had talked about crisis

272
00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:31.360
management way back when we talked about the pandemic. Right,

273
00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:34.240
this is the same instance where you know you need

274
00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:38.039
to you need to it's time to revisit our hurricane plans.

275
00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:41.919
And I think, you know, it's never been this bad

276
00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:44.120
to our office at least, you know, and for our employees,

277
00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:46.320
and so even I can see, you know, but I

278
00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:47.919
don't I don't need them to go in right. I

279
00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:50.440
can let them, you know, stay home or do whatever

280
00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:52.240
they need to do. But that's a lot of luxury

281
00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:54.159
that attractions have. So I think it might be time

282
00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:56.519
for a lot of folks to revisit the plan and

283
00:15:56.759 --> 00:15:58.799
figure out what you're going to do. Like Scott said,

284
00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:01.240
with your employe ease if they like, you know, what

285
00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:04.039
happens they can't get to work because they don't have gas,

286
00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:07.080
and then they can't they don't have water at home

287
00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:08.759
or they don't have electricity. I mean, it's it's a

288
00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:10.080
real concern.

289
00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:11.960
Well, and I think it's also something that we have

290
00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:15.080
to take into consideration looking at the next at the

291
00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:18.600
coming months as far as attendance goes, because yeah, there

292
00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:21.120
are people impacts going to scare people, right, I should

293
00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:23.480
scare I mean it's going to scare people. It's going

294
00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:26.799
to scare people from traveling to the state of Florida.

295
00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:30.480
It's also going to the people who are living here,

296
00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:32.639
who are you know, the last thing they want to

297
00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:34.679
do is go to a theme park because they're having

298
00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:37.440
to pay for a new roof for structural damage to

299
00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:41.919
their home or getting rid of the two hundred year

300
00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:46.679
old oak tree that fell down and crossed the street,

301
00:16:46.919 --> 00:16:48.600
or there's still there's still places. I mean, there are

302
00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:51.159
still places in Tampa that are flooded. There's still places

303
00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:53.720
in Tampa inland, not just on the on the coast

304
00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:59.399
inland that are still flooded. So this is this is

305
00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:03.000
going to be something that is going to impact people's desire,

306
00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:06.640
if not just not just financially, but their desire to

307
00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:08.960
go to a theme park unless they just decide screw it,

308
00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:12.599
I want something fun. You know, that's that is a possibility.

309
00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:17.599
But what I would recommend is if there are, if

310
00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:21.240
there are attractions out there in the Florida area that

311
00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:24.960
are listening, anything you can do to make people feel

312
00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:29.200
safe and to help them a little bit financially, now

313
00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:30.640
would be the time to do it. Now. I'm not

314
00:17:30.680 --> 00:17:33.880
saying to profit off of off of misery. What I

315
00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:39.440
am saying is recognize that the the the financial challenges

316
00:17:39.559 --> 00:17:46.200
and the emotional challenges are there, and you know, treat

317
00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:50.720
treat your guests, treat your customers with as much respect

318
00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:52.519
as you can so that you can again play the

319
00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:54.599
long game when they go back and say X y

320
00:17:54.759 --> 00:17:57.880
Z Park was so nice to us. They gave us,

321
00:17:58.039 --> 00:18:00.640
you know, they they they gave us a or a

322
00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:02.799
ten dollars gas card when we came to visit their park.

323
00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:06.319
Finding a station that's open and has gas is another challenge.

324
00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:10.559
But you know something, something that's going to benefit them,

325
00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:13.079
something that's going to help them in their real lives.

326
00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:15.480
Because you know, we in the in the attractions industry,

327
00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:18.359
we are in the business of creating fantasy. But we

328
00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:20.400
have to recognize is once you set foot off of

329
00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:24.079
our property, reality is sitting there. And we need to

330
00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:27.160
make certain that when people come to escape for a

331
00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:30.119
little while, when they go back to that sense of reality,

332
00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:34.519
they're not they're not hitting the face. And because because

333
00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:35.960
if we don't if we don't look at that, if

334
00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:37.799
we don't take that into consideration, they're not going to

335
00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:40.200
come to escape. They're going to stay and sit in

336
00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:41.839
their misery because they're going to feel they either can't

337
00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:43.880
afford it, or they're just not in the mood, or

338
00:18:43.880 --> 00:18:45.440
they just don't want to travel, or they don't have

339
00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:49.359
the gas to get there or whatever. So I think

340
00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:53.079
it's really important for everybody in the attractions industry, certainly

341
00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:56.720
in the customer service side, to recognize that the guests

342
00:18:56.759 --> 00:18:58.480
that you're going to have over the next couple of

343
00:18:58.519 --> 00:19:00.839
months in the state of Florida. Are coming from not

344
00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:04.480
the best place, and even if they didn't have damage themselves,

345
00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:07.359
someone they know did. And so make sure that your

346
00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:11.720
customer service team is compassionate. And even if your customer

347
00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:16.160
service team themselves had damage, make sure that you know

348
00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:19.440
if you can give them any sort of training in

349
00:19:19.480 --> 00:19:23.079
regards to that, that kind of communication and that kind

350
00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:26.319
of compassion, it would not be wasted time or money.

351
00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:30.279
In my opinion, Yeah, I completely agree, and I really

352
00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:34.359
think that it's I think this is something that I

353
00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:37.160
think we need to again learn from the pandemic or

354
00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:41.160
I think we're sometimes we're too quick to maybe normalize

355
00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:43.440
this or get too used to things like that. But

356
00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:46.279
I think these are these events are getting more frequent

357
00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:48.119
and they are getting worse, and I think that it's

358
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:51.880
time to add training or I could do what you

359
00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:54.279
can do again take a look back Toto Christ's plan,

360
00:19:54.359 --> 00:19:56.720
but do what you can do, either adding training or

361
00:19:56.759 --> 00:19:59.799
helping the guests out, or even just you know. I

362
00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:03.119
think of the more the staff side, because it's such

363
00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:06.880
an interesting environment where you have to take care of

364
00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:11.039
your guess, but you also can't take care of your guess,

365
00:20:11.079 --> 00:20:13.640
if your staff doesn't have a place to liver, they're

366
00:20:13.640 --> 00:20:15.039
worried about their homes.

367
00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:17.880
First remove the plank from your own eye. Yeah, it's uh,

368
00:20:18.359 --> 00:20:20.799
it's it's It's interesting that you say that, Philip, because

369
00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:22.359
one of the things that has always helped me in

370
00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:25.880
the past when I was working in Parks was actually

371
00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:31.160
the act of making of making a child smile would

372
00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:35.119
actually help raise my spirits as well. So it once

373
00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:37.319
again that's a double edged sword to some people. Not

374
00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:41.960
everybody's like that, but for me, having the tools to

375
00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:47.759
make someone else's day unexpectedly brighter is a wonderful healing,

376
00:20:49.640 --> 00:20:53.880
healing moment for me when I'm having challenges or troubles.

377
00:20:53.960 --> 00:20:57.200
So that's why I suggest if there's anything Parks can

378
00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:03.440
do or Attractions can do to to provide those tools

379
00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:06.000
for their their staff and maybe, you know, maybe it's

380
00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:08.759
give every every staff member, give them, you know, ten

381
00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:10.480
ten gallons of gas when they come in because you've

382
00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:14.079
got gas pumps on property. Everyone does, Yeah, exactly, you know,

383
00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:16.480
maybe maybe there's that I don't know, and I have

384
00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:18.240
to make sure that we find that balance. I'm not

385
00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:20.680
saying that's exactly what to do. But just at least

386
00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:22.799
consider it. That's the most important.

387
00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:23.079
Part in my view.

388
00:21:23.160 --> 00:21:25.920
Yeah, I think this is another one of those situations,

389
00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:28.119
like so much of what we talked about, where it

390
00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:32.240
needs to be adjusted to the situation. You know, I

391
00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:37.759
know several cast members that were provided lodging in hurricane

392
00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:44.480
safe resorts because their homes were compromised, and so that's

393
00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:46.279
a great thing to do. But if you're an attraction

394
00:21:46.359 --> 00:21:48.240
that doesn't have a hotel that you can give to

395
00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:51.240
your staff, that's a different situation. So I do and

396
00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:52.960
I do think too. You know, I'm sure part of

397
00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:56.119
the reason that Disney reopens so quickly is because they

398
00:21:56.119 --> 00:21:58.799
have so many guests that take care of so essentially,

399
00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:01.000
you know, you're also respond for a bunch of people

400
00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:03.680
who are not used to Florida and maybe didn't to

401
00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:05.440
know they were going to you know, I don't know.

402
00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:07.400
I mean, you never know how much a guest knows

403
00:22:07.480 --> 00:22:07.640
or not.

404
00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:09.559
They were here for they were here for two weeks.

405
00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:11.640
You know, say they had planned a two week holiday

406
00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:14.680
or which is not uncommon at Disney, and people had

407
00:22:14.839 --> 00:22:18.039
planned a two week holiday and had no idea that

408
00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:21.079
Milton was going to be the the monster that he

409
00:22:21.160 --> 00:22:21.759
became and.

410
00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:23.440
They've never been through a hurricane before. I mean that

411
00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:25.279
there's a lot of you know, I think you can

412
00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:27.839
see that. I think more with Disney than so, but

413
00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:30.079
you know, I think thinking about what you can do

414
00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:35.440
that fits your particular situation would be my recommendation.

415
00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:37.839
But yeah, I agree one hundred percent. I agree a

416
00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:39.759
hundred percent. But you know, when we talk about when

417
00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:42.400
we talk about climate change, it's not just about heat anymore.

418
00:22:42.440 --> 00:22:45.039
And this is a perfect example. So it may mean

419
00:22:45.079 --> 00:22:48.160
that we need that the major attractions need to rethink

420
00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:53.000
and rethme and replan you know. The I don't know

421
00:22:53.000 --> 00:22:56.599
what the answer is, but uh, it's it's not changing.

422
00:22:57.559 --> 00:23:00.200
I mean it is changing, but it's changing in the

423
00:23:00.200 --> 00:23:02.960
direction that we've been afraid it was going for quite

424
00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:05.240
some time. So when the when the reports come out

425
00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:07.559
next year and they say, well we had kind of

426
00:23:07.559 --> 00:23:10.279
a kind of a week fall and winter because of

427
00:23:11.079 --> 00:23:14.240
because of the weather, well weather is only an excuse

428
00:23:14.279 --> 00:23:16.000
for one or two years. You got to start thinking.

429
00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:18.079
You got to start planning ahead and planning around it.

430
00:23:18.519 --> 00:23:20.559
So I don't know how you plan around a hurricane yet.

431
00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:24.960
But well, that is actually the last thing or one

432
00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:27.640
of the last thing I thought was important to bring

433
00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:31.880
up really is that we I think we talked about

434
00:23:31.880 --> 00:23:34.480
this way early. I feel like we did, or maybe

435
00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:37.519
we just talked off I forget, but so many conversations

436
00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:41.880
I forget. But we at some point we did discuss

437
00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:44.960
the news that came out a while back about how

438
00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:47.559
this hurricane season was going to be the worst in

439
00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:52.559
Florida on record, and we didn't see it, and then

440
00:23:52.839 --> 00:23:56.559
now here it is right, and that you know, is

441
00:23:56.599 --> 00:23:59.519
coupled with again one of the most the one of

442
00:23:59.559 --> 00:24:04.240
the most hot summers on record. That like to your

443
00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:06.119
point where we just heard all the parts talk about

444
00:24:06.119 --> 00:24:09.000
how the summer numbers were down and they were blaming that,

445
00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:11.359
and well, now it's hurricane season, and so now you're

446
00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:15.200
effectively taking two big chunks of the year where you're

447
00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:18.759
having a weather related disturbances and they are going to

448
00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:22.359
get worse, which we already know because we've already had

449
00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:24.720
reports coming out that next year's hurricanes could be worse,

450
00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:29.200
you know already. So it's it's it is going to

451
00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:31.680
be a big problem for the attractions in that area,

452
00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:34.960
which partly is why I was always so surprised. I mean,

453
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:36.920
this was this is one of my arguments way back

454
00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:39.440
when Disney announced their expansion plans, and so much of

455
00:24:39.480 --> 00:24:41.759
it was in Florida, And this is one of my

456
00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:44.559
concerns as well. If you're going to have half the

457
00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:47.960
year potentially knocked out, why are we building there? And

458
00:24:48.680 --> 00:24:51.799
you know, I mean your point was the infrastructures. Is

459
00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:55.559
still more infrastructure there than anywhere else, So shoot where

460
00:24:55.559 --> 00:24:58.480
the ducks are flying. But I do think it's a concern.

461
00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:00.119
And I think and I think it's a concern, and

462
00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:03.079
I think it's a I think it's now a a

463
00:25:03.319 --> 00:25:06.039
long range concern. You know, it could it could also

464
00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:09.880
be why Universal is looking at so many satellite locations

465
00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:13.440
that they're taking the opposite approach. You know, I doubt

466
00:25:13.480 --> 00:25:18.119
that a hurricane is going to hit in Yeah. Yeah,

467
00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:21.359
that's but again that's the infrastructure side. But they've also

468
00:25:21.400 --> 00:25:25.519
got unlike Disney, they're also opening parks and attractions at

469
00:25:25.559 --> 00:25:30.440
various locations around the country. Yep, you know, so you know,

470
00:25:30.839 --> 00:25:34.240
the and and we may discover that that that the

471
00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:40.000
the tropical charm of Florida is is no longer exactly

472
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:41.720
what people are looking for. Maybe they're looking for the

473
00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:49.480
safety of Minneapolis. So so well, so Value Fairy You're safe.

474
00:25:49.480 --> 00:25:51.319
There you go, Value Fairy, you're rocketed.

475
00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:57.000
Well, moving on, uh briefly or just we have about

476
00:25:57.000 --> 00:25:57.400
five minutes.

477
00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:00.000
You evacuated out of the country. You know you you evacuate.

478
00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:03.759
That's the country I know earlier earlier when you said

479
00:26:03.799 --> 00:26:06.319
for international, guess, I'm like, what hurricane?

480
00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:10.519
What what's going on on it? Okay?

481
00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:14.200
Moving on just briefly. Here this one story I wanted

482
00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:18.039
to mention from the Hollywood Reporter. It says Halloween Wars

483
00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:22.200
theme parks are fighting for bigger share of scream economy. Disney,

484
00:26:22.279 --> 00:26:24.880
Universal and six Flags are upping the ante with pricey

485
00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:27.759
new experiences to grab greater market share of a twelve

486
00:26:27.799 --> 00:26:30.680
billion dollar seasonal industry. And of course it starts off

487
00:26:30.680 --> 00:26:33.720
with a quote from John Murdy, our great friend John Murdy,

488
00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:38.319
who says, who just talks about Halloween? I'm quoted extensively

489
00:26:38.359 --> 00:26:40.519
in this article. So I guess that's a little bit

490
00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:44.640
of a of you know, vested interests in sharing this article.

491
00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:48.920
But there's there's quite a good I guess a Vertibal,

492
00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:52.039
who's who you know not is in here. Universal's in here.

493
00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:56.799
There's quotes also from our friend Martin and the Ta

494
00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:00.480
Theme Global Index Report something that exactly what we talked

495
00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:03.200
about on the show. But essentially, this is a really

496
00:27:03.240 --> 00:27:08.880
good article that's geared for the mainstream public that outlines

497
00:27:09.079 --> 00:27:13.200
the expansion of Halloween at the parks and how much

498
00:27:13.799 --> 00:27:18.240
it is becoming something that parks are reliant on, which

499
00:27:18.279 --> 00:27:24.400
is what we were just talking about. But I am curious.

500
00:27:25.319 --> 00:27:27.319
I mean, it's just it's interesting we talked about this,

501
00:27:27.400 --> 00:27:30.799
but it also comes in the lens of you know,

502
00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:34.160
all the Halloween events in Florida were just disrupted from

503
00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:35.480
the hurricane and we.

504
00:27:35.559 --> 00:27:36.839
All lost at least a weekend.

505
00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:41.480
They all lost Lisa weekend plus damage to I mean,

506
00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:44.720
and so you know, I really gave Universal Orlando a

507
00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:47.640
hard time for not having any temporary stanchions and props

508
00:27:47.640 --> 00:27:50.559
and scenic pieces you know, out for the scare zones.

509
00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:52.720
Well they're probably laughing at me now because they're like, well,

510
00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:55.680
if we had anything out, you know, anything that you

511
00:27:55.799 --> 00:27:58.200
had out or that isn't you know, kind of anchored down,

512
00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:01.960
it's now you know, I'm sure they would have put

513
00:28:01.960 --> 00:28:06.240
it in storage. But you know, anything that it's you know,

514
00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:09.000
smaller pieces like that, even if they're in storage can

515
00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:12.319
be damaged in force in hurricanes like.

516
00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:14.799
This, and so absolutely, and I have to say, you know,

517
00:28:14.839 --> 00:28:17.880
I can't I can't talk about details, but I do

518
00:28:17.960 --> 00:28:24.599
have multiple clients that have irreparable damage done to some

519
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:27.519
of their scenic pieces because of this. And we're actually

520
00:28:27.559 --> 00:28:30.160
planning this week. We have multiple planning meetings to come

521
00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:32.720
together and figure out how can we cobble together what

522
00:28:32.759 --> 00:28:34.400
we still have left. And by the way, this is

523
00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:35.960
not my first time doing this. I did this when

524
00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:37.960
I was at Bush Too. We had to completely redo

525
00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:40.400
an entire haunted attraction that was in a giant tent

526
00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:44.440
that collapsed, and we had to move what salvageable scenic

527
00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:47.599
pieces we could to another location. So that's another very

528
00:28:47.640 --> 00:28:50.680
important part of what attractions need to do after this

529
00:28:50.839 --> 00:28:53.519
kind of catastrophe is kind of figure out what can

530
00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:55.400
we what can we make work with what we have?

531
00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:59.880
Yeah, well, and I think that again back to the

532
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:02.680
planning thing. I think in light of all this information,

533
00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:04.359
this is a really big I think to me, this

534
00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:07.759
is especially for our audience. A big piece of it

535
00:29:07.799 --> 00:29:11.799
is the planning for your seasonal activations like this, because

536
00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:15.079
you know, if Halloween as as we're pointing out in

537
00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:18.119
these news articles, and our reporting is becoming a bigger,

538
00:29:18.119 --> 00:29:21.960
bigger piece of the revenue equation for parks. But Halloween

539
00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:24.440
in most of these parks is a temporary installation. And

540
00:29:24.519 --> 00:29:28.319
again we're looking back at places that Universal Can you know,

541
00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:31.039
has sound stages that they can build stuff in, and

542
00:29:31.079 --> 00:29:34.640
sound stages are more weather proofed, not impenetrable, but more

543
00:29:34.680 --> 00:29:37.160
weather proof. But a lot of the attractions do not

544
00:29:37.240 --> 00:29:40.359
have sound stages, and they are built a semi or

545
00:29:40.759 --> 00:29:43.079
more outdoors, as you mentioned with the tent, and so

546
00:29:43.640 --> 00:29:47.240
they're very vulnerable. And then what happens if you you know,

547
00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:49.839
need all this money for your event, but then you

548
00:29:50.200 --> 00:29:52.599
plan it in a way as as to you know,

549
00:29:52.599 --> 00:29:55.960
you can't protect it from the weather, and then you

550
00:29:56.480 --> 00:29:59.680
lose the ability to monetize that because you can't open

551
00:29:59.799 --> 00:30:02.359
or you know, for whatever damage is to this or that.

552
00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:05.440
I think that's a that's a whole, you know, element

553
00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:08.720
that we're going to just start planning for even next year,

554
00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:10.000
for next year's designs.

555
00:30:10.359 --> 00:30:12.160
And actually maybe that's something that we can chat about

556
00:30:12.160 --> 00:30:14.039
in the bonus content that we're just about to record,

557
00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:17.160
because we are out of time for this episode, and

558
00:30:17.160 --> 00:30:19.799
I'm sorry I yammered on and and and bemoaned the

559
00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:22.160
fact that you know, I'm in the midst of a

560
00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:28.119
of a hurricane. Suffice to say, we were incredibly lucky,

561
00:30:28.759 --> 00:30:31.880
and all is all is well in the the Swinson

562
00:30:31.880 --> 00:30:36.960
Square engine household and the the world that we live

563
00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:40.440
in was not rocked completely. My heart goes out to

564
00:30:40.880 --> 00:30:44.799
those who had significantly more damage. But you know, Floridians

565
00:30:44.839 --> 00:30:47.000
are resilient. It's we kind of know it when we

566
00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:50.519
move here. And I'm hoping that everybody can recover quickly

567
00:30:50.839 --> 00:30:54.359
and safely. And if there's anybody who's listening outside the

568
00:30:54.359 --> 00:30:57.279
Florida area and you have the ability to help in

569
00:30:57.319 --> 00:30:59.759
any way, not to benefit me in any shape or

570
00:30:59.799 --> 00:31:02.319
for way, shape or form, but to benefit those who

571
00:31:02.359 --> 00:31:04.640
have lost their homes or who are in the process

572
00:31:04.759 --> 00:31:07.680
of dealing with a four foot flood surge. Actually it

573
00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:10.359
was a twelve foot flood surge which came into many

574
00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:13.440
people's homes and left anywhere from four to six feet

575
00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:17.839
not inches feet of water in their first floors. If

576
00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:20.000
there's any way to help with American Red Cross or

577
00:31:20.039 --> 00:31:24.000
any of the reputable charitable organizations that are helping Florida,

578
00:31:24.519 --> 00:31:26.440
and if you're able to do so, please consider it

579
00:31:27.119 --> 00:31:29.799
because there's a bunch of people who all work in

580
00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:33.720
our industry who are hurting, and not just because their

581
00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:38.279
parks are closed or have reduced hours. So this has

582
00:31:38.319 --> 00:31:40.160
been green tag Theme Park in thirty. Sorry to end

583
00:31:40.200 --> 00:31:42.240
on such a downer, but it's been a rough time

584
00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:46.079
and thank you for listening, and hopefully next week we

585
00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:49.240
will have significantly more cheerful news. So on behalf of

586
00:31:49.319 --> 00:31:52.480
Phil Fornez and myself Scott Swinson. This is green Tagged

587
00:31:52.519 --> 00:31:54.480
theme Park in thirty and we will see you next week.