COVID-19 Counter-Measures
Coronavirus concerns have been hard on the tourism industry but many of us are equipped to fight back!
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These electrostatic sprayers are fast becoming the pan-industry standard in disinfection. These are not just the Dark Ranger's favorite weapon in fighting Novel Coronavirus, they are already in use by the airlines, Bryce Canyon Shuttle, and other Southern Utah businesses. Imagine how many fewer would have died if the Public Defense Act had been used to mass produce this made-in-America public health invention, that is still ONLY manufactured in China. Irony? |
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What our talkwards-backing little friend is trying to explain is how our telescopes can match any human focus. You can just take your glasses off while at the eyepiece to avoid fogging.
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We were one of the first businesses in Utah to require face masks, and even though we are a mostly outdoor experience, we might be one of the last to fully lift the recommendation.
In the cold night air, without the benefit of our closest star's disinfecting UV light, you may be inhaling the foggy breath of others in the immediate vicinity of each telescope. Think of it as eating off the same 4-7 plates with 30-40 other strangers. Alternatively when you book a private tour face masks are not so strongly recommend. Maybe your whole group is fully vaccinated? Great! Maybe you are anti-vaxxers, and/or anti-maskers, exercising your freedumbs? Or just plain death-cultists? Uh, okay...? Regardless, we Dark Rangers, who are of course all vaccinated (as all cool adults are), will still wear our face masks so you don't have to wear yours. We are happy to do our part to try and help protect those who can't, or just won't, protect themselves. We also realize that herd immunity might not occur for years, if ever. So maybe the virus will continue to mutate to the point there might be as many strains of COVID as there are for the "seasonal flu." But of course as Delta & Lambda Variants are proving now, and as some have already learned from learning first-hand, and sadly others had to learn by dying, COVID mutations are far more deadly and with worse long term / permanent consequences than "the flu."
If that avoidable future is even as remotely worrisome for you as it is to us, please tell all the anti-vaxxers you encounter that WE said their behavior is ruining everybody's rights to Life, Liberty, and their Pursuits of Happiness. In the meantime, verify your vax and relax. To expedite herd immunity we are rewarding those who are fully vaccinated with $10 rebates on their $10 add-on upgrades for Zero Gravity Loungers. The sales tax can not be rebated, but will instead be "donated" to the State of Utah, whose public officials and medical professionals have done an impressive job in minimizing deaths and hospitalizations during the pandemic.
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COVID-19 Cancellation Options
If you have already booked a telescope tour and are contemplating cancelling, please review these options:
With these mitigation measures, we are ready to safely entertain you now. However, if you are adhering to travel restrictions, or honoring a full-on "lock down," or just being cautious, we applaud your caution. Your safety is far more important to us than your money, so we have created a generous COVID cancellation policy.
Of course we would prefer that you choose either option #1 or option #2. We are a young business, still buying down the debts we needed to take-on so we could become one of the top ranked public observatories on Earth:
However, if you need your money back now, we will do everything we can to see that you get it in a timely manner, and there will be no hard feelings. Instead, we will just begrudge the banks and their ever increasing costs for credit card transaction fees, which hurt everybody (except them) when it comes to cancellations.
Of course by choosing either option #1 or #2 you will NOT be helping them profit from this pandemic.
Of course we would prefer that you choose either option #1 or option #2. We are a young business, still buying down the debts we needed to take-on so we could become one of the top ranked public observatories on Earth:
However, if you need your money back now, we will do everything we can to see that you get it in a timely manner, and there will be no hard feelings. Instead, we will just begrudge the banks and their ever increasing costs for credit card transaction fees, which hurt everybody (except them) when it comes to cancellations.
Of course by choosing either option #1 or #2 you will NOT be helping them profit from this pandemic.
1) Store Credit :-)
The easiest win-win solution would be for us to issue you store credit. There is a chance we might raise our prices slightly in the future, but we will make every effort to avoid doing so until 2021.
Eventually booking Store Credit will also be directly transferable to gift shop Store Credit. That way if you can't make it back this way for a while, you can at least buy some cool take-home memorabilia from our future gift shop without having to actually leave home.
Eventually booking Store Credit will also be directly transferable to gift shop Store Credit. That way if you can't make it back this way for a while, you can at least buy some cool take-home memorabilia from our future gift shop without having to actually leave home.
2) Reschedule / "float" your booking
Like 1) above this option ALSO does not require any additional credit card transaction fees. The extra benefit over option #1, is that you will be protected against any future price increases we might have to make. We will "float" your current reservation with the current price, price-locked, as many times as it takes, up to another 42 years into the future -- our anticipated lifespan of the owner, Kevin "The Dark Ranger" Poe.
How "floating" your booking really works: First we will move your booking to a full Moon night (when we are likely to not fill up, so no opportunity cost to us), and then when you have firmed up your postponed travel plans to visit the Bryce Canyon region, just let us know and we will move your booking again to that rescheduled night. You don't even have worry about contacting us again prior to your temporary date. Once you have chosen this option, you are in our system. Even if you forget about us, we won't forget about you -- we'll send a friendly reminder each year.
Realize that if at any point, you later change your mind. you can ALSO ask to cancel your floated reservation.
How "floating" your booking really works: First we will move your booking to a full Moon night (when we are likely to not fill up, so no opportunity cost to us), and then when you have firmed up your postponed travel plans to visit the Bryce Canyon region, just let us know and we will move your booking again to that rescheduled night. You don't even have worry about contacting us again prior to your temporary date. Once you have chosen this option, you are in our system. Even if you forget about us, we won't forget about you -- we'll send a friendly reminder each year.
Realize that if at any point, you later change your mind. you can ALSO ask to cancel your floated reservation.
3) Cancel & Refund... If we must. :-(
If you need your money back now, we TOTALLY understand and will make every effort to issue a refund as quickly as possible. We just need you to understand that we can only refund a maximum of 94% (another 6% will be lost to transaction fees in getting your money back on your credit card).
Also note that refund deadline windows still apply, even though we are making them more flexible in the face of the pandemic.
Private tours: 58% refunded if cancellation less than 7 days notice before night of the tour. 0% if less than 4 days.
Public Tours: 58% refunded if less than 36 hours notice before show time. 0% if less than 4 hours .
Also note that refund deadline windows still apply, even though we are making them more flexible in the face of the pandemic.
Private tours: 58% refunded if cancellation less than 7 days notice before night of the tour. 0% if less than 4 days.
Public Tours: 58% refunded if less than 36 hours notice before show time. 0% if less than 4 hours .
