Valley Forge Casino reopens today with precautions
The words that are sure to bring joy to many ears can finally be uttered: Valley Forge Casino Resort will reopen.
When the doors at 1160 First Ave., King of Prussia open at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 26, emotions will run high and may even recall the excitement of when the casino first opened at the stroke of midnight on March 31, 2012.
Things are a lot different now than they were eight years ago, of course.
Not only is the casino under new ownership, a pandemic has undeniably changed the way folks play for the foreseeable future.
“From mid-March to May, all 29 of our properties were closed down. It was the entire company and it was a very long few months,” said David Strow, Vice President of Corporate Communications at Boyd Gaming Corporation, which purchased the casino resort in 2018.
“But we’re excited to get the opportunity to get Valley Forge reopened. We started thinking about re
opening almost as soon as we closed and we wanted to do it in as safe a manner as possible. And so what we’ll be doing at Valley Forge is following a set of safety protocols called Boyd Clean,” explained Strow by phone from Boyd’s headquarters in Las Vegas.
The Boyd Clean safety protocols will include: mandatory face coverings and temperature checks for all employees; social distancing requirements and capacity restrictions across all areas, including casino floors and restaurants; enhanced cleaning and sanitation of all hightouch surfaces, including door handles, gaming machines, table games, handrails and elevator buttons and increased placement of hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the property.
“Boyd Clean is something we introduced at 24 of our casinos across the country, so we’ve had a lot of practice with it,” Strow said. “There will be several things that people will notice, one of them being social distancing. It will be things like every other slot machine is turned off, so people cannot sit next to one another on the gaming floor. If you want to play blackjack, only three players are allowed at a table. If you’re at a restaurant, half the tables are removed so that groups can separate from one another. If you’re waiting in line at the hotel or at the Players Club, we put stickers on the floor so you know how much distancing you should give to the next customer.
So social distancing will be a very important part of what we’re doing.”
There will be no valet parking for now. One of the hotel towers will reopen, with roughly 150 available rooms.
Dining will be available at the food court and at Revolution Chop House, which is open Wednesday through Sunday.
As required by state regulations, every customer and employee will be asked to wear a mask, Strow noted.
“If customers don’t have a mask we’ll be happy to supply one, but they do need to wear them at Valley Forge. Finally, the big one that people are going to notice is sanitation,” he said. “We’re taking those efforts to another level. Any hightouch surface, like gaming chips, slot machines, chairs, door handles, anything that people will be touching frequently we’ll be sanitizing frequently. We’ll have hand sanitizer pretty much all over the property so that people will have access to that.”
Even with limited capacity, Strow is confident that there will be room everybody.
“A lot of things will change but we hope that customers understand why we’re doing it. We’re following what health officials and state officials are telling us what we need to do. Right now the most important thing is reopening safely,” he added. “We’re committed to offering guests a great experience like they’ve always had before and we just ask for their patience as we implement these policies. Valley Forge has been extremely successful for us; it’s been a great addition to the Boyd gaming portfolio and we’re thrilled to get back to business.”
Hours for the casino will be 10 to 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, 10 to 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday.