Coronavirus When Will Disneyland Reopen

That is the million or billion dollar question for hordes of Southern California Magic Castle fans. It is also one of the questions of the 28,000 Disney employees that were recently laid off.

According to CNET, Governor Newsome said Disneyland and similar large theme parks can only open once their county reaches the yellow tier of infections. This means that no more than 1 new case of covid per 100,000 people living in that county. Currently, Orange County is in the red tier at 4.6 new cases per 100,000 people. Once Orange Country reaches that yellow level, then Disneyland can reopen, but park capacity will be capped at 25%.

Disney forcefully rejected that notion. All of their theme parks around the world are open from China to Paris to Florida. Only California remains closed.

The Governor's fear is that large theme parks with tens of thousands of visitors would act like super spreader locations like the week-long 365,000-person Sturgis Motorcycle Rally last August that did spread infections across the US.

So what happened when Walt Disney World (WDW) opened in July?

According to Eric Clinton president of one of the unions for cast members as reported by CinemaBlend, said very few if any cast members have had a work-related coronavirus infection at WDW since the reopening. 

Attendance is down due to limits on attendance. However, the Orlando Sentinel said on a recent day 19,000 people visited WDW down from a typical 60,000. Still 19,000 tourists plus cast members are a lot of people all in one place together. 

WDW has instituted a number of wellness measures including temperature screenings, wearing masks, enforcing social distancing, and limiting capacity. Fireworks, parades, and other activities have been curtailed. 

Those few commonsense safety changes seem to be keeping coronavirus in check. It all goes back to wearing a mask, social distancing, and sanitizing. The rule of 3  once again appears to be effective in keeping the virus at bay in yet another big venue. 

As I have said all along, I am personally concerned that a vaccine, if there is one, will not be ready until well into next year. Another vaccine trial (the third) has been suspended after a trial subject died in Brazil. If there is no safe vaccine for the next year or two, how long will California remain shutdown? Schools closed? Theaters shuttered? Winter is when flu season is the worst.

I know many people who have stated that even if there is a vaccine, they will not get it. 

The US just reported a 70,000-new-infection case day. The virus is not going away anytime soon.

It appears that California, at least Orange and Los Angeles Counties, will remain shutdown through at least the end of the year. 

So my musketeers, you will have to make the long journey to the other side of the country to ride a boat on the Pirates of the Caribbean before 2020 ends, maybe even 2021. Crazy, right?

Take care and be safe.

Posts Tuesday

 

Coronavirus - The New Movie Watching Experience

Mulan on my TV at home. Drive-in theater on the top of the Glendale Galleria parking lot. Quibi - yet another new streaming service. 

Welcome to the new world of movie watching.

According to Timeout.com there are over 40 movies from the last 4 decades being shown at drive-ins across Los Angeles County. Some of these are the brick and mortar drive-ins like the Vineland in San Gabriel Valley that has been showing movies since 1952. Then there are the old brick and mortars that have not shown films in years and are primarily used as swamp meets by day. Rodium in the South Bay is a prime example. These drive-ins show classics as well as the latest movies like Unhinged and Bill and Ted Face The Music.

The majority of drive-ins now are inflatable pop-ups at hotels, outdoor malls, or in parks. Examples of these include Moana being shown at Magic Johnson Park, Jaws at Mel's Drive-In in West Hollywood, and Edwards Scissorhands and Pet Sematary.

However, the most popular form of movie watching has to be through one of a score of streaming apps. Off the top of my head I can name Netflix, Apple TV, HBO Max, Peacock, Quibi, Amazon, Vudu, YouTube TV, Sling TV, CBS All Access, Hulu and Showtime. I am sure that there are dozens more. Movies like Mulan, Hamilton, and Tom Hank's Greyhound were all released straight to streaming services instead of going through their planned movie theater releases. 

I read a crazy statistic on What's On Netflix.com. It said that Netflix has 2.2 million minutes of content currently available. If you sat down in front of you tv today for a long binge watching session, we would not see you for four years!  And this does not include watching content on other apps during the four year period including The Mandalorian on Disney or The Expanse on Amazon Prime Video, two of my favorite shows. 

And the best thing about streamers, you can watch them in a park, on a beach, in the mountains, in your bed, the options are endless.

The point is there are still many outlets and ways to watch new movies even with theaters in Los Angeles still closed.. 

So sit back on your couch or settle into your car seat and enjoy the show.

Take care and be safe.

Posts Tuesdays

https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/how-long-would-it-take-to-watch-all-of-netflix/

 

Coronavirus Mulan $30 Why Now

The biggest movie watching news this weekend is undoubtedly Mulan being released to Disney+ subscribers for $30. This is on top of Disney+'s monthly membership fee. At first I was surprised by the price. I mean Netflix is releasing new content monthly with similarly budgeted movies like 6 Underground $150 million and The Irish Man $159 and they did not charge subscribers extra to watch them. (Mulan's budget is $200 million.) 

Perhaps I am not comparing apples to apples here. Mulan was supposed to be a box office smash hit, while Netflix movies are supposed to be streaming hits. This means Mulan had the potential to earn Disney a lot more money as a one-off project. Estimates ticket sales were a billion dollars worldwide. Netflix is fighting for long term subscribers and has to pump out consistent quality content to keep them.

 

So why did Disney decide to bite the proverbial bullet and post Mulan to its streaming service with a $30 price tag?

 

I have Disney+ since it is free for 6 months as part of my cell phone promotion. I enjoyed watching The Mandalorian. I also watched one classic movie. But that has been it. I have not watched Disney+ since the series ended because there is nothing new to watch. Once I watch Hamilton, my plan is to cancel my subscription and then renew it once the new season of Mandalorian arrives for one month.

 

So content issues is one reason Mulan was put on its streaming service.

 

My other two theories have to do with the Oscars and staying relevant. 

 

There has been a growing discussion regarding where streaming services' movies fit in awards season. Historically, only movies in theaters are qualified to earn an Oscar. What happens when the theaters have been closed for half a year and perhaps for the rest of the year? Do you base you Oscar candidates only on the movies shown in the first three months of the year? Or do you include movies like Hamilton, Mulan, and Tom Hank's Greyhound that were supposed to be released in theaters but went the streaming route? Or do you include all movies now - made for tv, made for cable, made for streaming, and made for theater?  Perhaps by charging pay per view rates for Mulan, Disney can argue that the $30 fee alone differentiates it enough to be considered a "real" movie worthy of Oscar contention.

 

I know people who have already paid for Mulan. I know people who have scoffed at the price. Will Disney make $1 billion? I doubt it. But people are talking about the movie. They are talking about the price. They are talking about the amazing special effects. They are talking about political issues surrounding the movie. And best of all for Disney, it is keeping the studio relevant at a time when its cruise line is shut down and many of its theme parks are still closed. And being relevant can be priceless.

 

As a final thought: what would have happened if Disney had pushed Mulan to 2021 and tensions between the US and Chinese governments continue(d) to rise. The movie might not never be released.

 

One thing is sure, the mouse knows what it is doing and no one is moving its cheese.

 

Take care and be safe.

 

Posts Saturdays and Tuesdays