We stopped in at A Petrified Forest in Altamonte Springs, Florida to discuss takeaways from their 2020 season. Kaia Gondron said although 2020 was challenging, there are some takeaways that might bleed into 2021 including a focus on Online Ticket Sales.
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Moving to Online Ticket Sales for 2020
“This year was, in a word, definitely different. One of the exciting things that we did change as we did a lot more of the online ticket sales, and we changed our way of selling to time zones. So instead of showing up with tickets previously bought versus tickets, bought at the door and you get in line and first come first serve. We did have guests purchasing different time slots. So we knew how many people were coming in at certain time slots. We were able to keep that balance versus having the influx of people. And that of course helped a lot for social distancing, making sure that our guests felt safe.”
The Safety Measures for 2020
“The challenge, of course, then being, making sure our guests felt safe. That was a big priority for us, of course, just like it should be for all around the country. We of course enforced mask wearing in the front yard and throughout the trails, both for our characters and for our guests. We wanted to make sure that whether your group size was two or 10, you would feel comfortable going through the trail all the way until you made it through the exit. So that was a challenge to make sure that our sets were geared towards making sure no one was touching anything. And if they were, we were able to properly sanitize it afterwards. So it was a challenge that we were definitely willing to tackle. But a lot of thought went into making sure that everyone would feel safe and secure during these uncertain times. “
Moving to 2021; Online Sales Might Remain
“We of course don’t know what next year is going to bring, but I can assure you that our time slot online ticket purchasing was definitely effective, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw that coming into play next year as well, regardless of whether or not COVID-19 is a difficulty. Our guests have been positively perceptive receptive about it. So hopefully we’ll be able to bring that into the future as well.”
