No rides, no shows, but Marineland will be opening Wednesday
Marineland #Marineland
It will be a far different looking Marineland that opens to the public Wednesday.
After three delays to its opening day, the park has confirmed its rides will not be operating when the gates open at 10 a.m. Nor will there be any events at King Waldorf Stadium. And while the Polar Splash will be open — with strict social distancing — the water slides will be off-limits.
What will be open? The gift shops, Penguin Palace and Hungry Bear restaurant.
Despite this, Marineland’s website still lists full admission prices in effect — $50.95 for adults and $43.95 for children.
The park did not respond to a request for comment about the pricing and closed rides.
In an announcement posted on its website, Marineland said “opening the rides is determined by the chief medical officer of health” and the park is working with the provincial government for a “safe reopening plan.”
Other safety measures will include touchless thermometers checking each visitor as they enter the park and facial coverings for all staff. Visitors will not be able to touch or feed the animals.
The park does not state how many people will be allowed in the park, except that tickets will be “on a first-come first-serve basis.” Under Stage 3 of the provincial reopening strategy, outdoor gatherings are limited to 100 people.
The park’s hours have been reduced, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The admission gate closes at 4:30 p.m.
Diane Fraleigh, a longtime animal activist against Marineland, wonders what people will be getting for their admission.
“If people want to walk around the park and look at sad animals with no entertainment effort from Marineland, I suppose that is their prerogative,” she said. “Their fee will hopefully go towards feeding the animals and I, for one, am eager to have eyes on the animals that we haven’t seen for nine months.
“Marineland is anything but transparent with respect to the welfare of their animals and it will be interesting — and likely heartbreaking — to see how many survived the closed season.”
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