Screaming, singing, shouting, and heavy breathing must be kept at a minimum when California’s amusement parks reopen in April. COVID, you know?
The California Attractions and Parks Association unveiled its “Responsible Reopening plan” in mid-March. In it, Golden State authorities said they would seek to dampen “loud environments that will cause people to raise their voices.” One of the ways they plan to enforce this is by requiring “face covering usage and/or modifications to seat loading patterns on amusement park rides to mitigate the effects of shouting,” since vocal actions can spread droplets widely.
If you’ve ever brought a child to an amusement park or experienced the stomach-lurching drop of a massive roller coaster, you understand that screaming is just a part of the package. And it would be almost impossible to control.
CAPA Executive Director Erin Guerrero admitted as much: “These guidelines do not require parks to prohibit screaming,” she told the Orange County Register, though they do instruct park officials to try and limit it as much as possible.
At least California stopped short of an outright ban, which is exactly what Japanese officials passed last summer. Japan’s amusement parks were encouraged to prohibit screaming on roller coasters, though violators were not punished. Riders were instead encouraged to “scream inside your heart” and those who made the best “serious” faces during their ride photos were given free day passes.
The past year has given us ample opportunity to practice screaming internally, so maybe California’s approach isn’t that far-fetched. But even if you were able to ride a roller coaster without screaming, why should you have to?
“There’s just no way not to scream,” college student Rika Matsuura told the Wall Street Journal after visiting Tokyo Disneyland when the park’s screaming ban was still in place. “It’s kind of torture to be back at your favorite place in the world and to not be able to scream and enjoy everything 100%.”
Natsumi Kumasawa said her family’s experience at Tokyo Disneyland was not nearly as enjoyable as it should have been because they were busy trying to keep Umi, their 3-year-old daughter, from screaming loudly. It was a failed effort, she added.
“Basically, she ended up shrieking the whole time,” Kumasaw said. “It was Umi’s first time at Disneyland, so it really couldn’t be helped.”
After the year we’ve had, it would be nice to have a place to just let it all out.
