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The park was not very crowded, and so we had an easy time getting on all the rides. For the first hour, we went to the very back of the park and had all the rides to ourselves. We first rode T2 in the very front and were the only people on the coaster! We got to ride a second time without having to get off, which was fun. This ride is not the smoothest, but I still fail to see why so many people hate it. It is actually a lot of fun and not THAT bad!
In addition to T2, we also rode Thunder Run and Twisted Twins in the front by ourselves. Later we rode Roadrunner Express, Greezed Lightnin, Tin Lizzies, Rainbow, The Giant Wheel, International Carousel, and Chang.
The crowd picked up later in the evening, but was never hugely crowded. They had fog throughout the front of the park to add to the atmosphere, some Halloween music playing, okay decorations, some people dressed up and paid to stand around and look frightening, and so on. The most unexpected thing was that the organ on the International Carousel was playing a selection of Halloween-themed music like the theme from Friday The 13th! This was not the greatest fearfest I have seen by a long shot (I am sure SFKK is given a tiny budget for these things), but we had a nice time and it was fun to look at all the costumes worn by the kids and some adults. We watched the Monster Mash show which was really cute and showcased some of the fun costumes the kids were wearing that night.
We did experience one unpleasant and disturbing experience when trying to ride Hellevator, their drop tower ride. We got on the ride and buckled ourselves in. Then a guy sits in the seat next to me smoking a huge cigar-like cigarette! Besides the fact that I have asthma and did not want to smell the smoke, I was shocked to see someone engaging in behavior that was clearly a HUGE safety violation. I mean this cigarette could fall out of his mouth and hurt someone else or land somewhere and cause a fire, and so on. Not to mention the fact that such smoking on a ride is strictly forbidden, especially since you plunge a hundred or so feet down a tower. So I asked that guy if he was actually going to smoke that, and he just laughed and said, "Yeah, you got a problem with that?" What was even more shocking was he was doing this and being helped in his seat by a female employee who was clearly not concerned that he was about to ride Hellevator smoking. I then looked to the employee and expressed my dismay, and she looked irritated at *ME* for mentioning it and being bothered by it. It was obvious to me that she was going to do nothing to make this man stop what he was doing, even when I clearly brought it to her attention. So I demanded that she let me and my girlfriend off the ride. She then looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Are you serious?" I again demanded to be let go and she did and tried to direct me to another seat on the other side of the tower so I would not be near the smoking man. But I just wanted to leave and report this to Guest Services.
The employee's name was Ashley. We went to guest services and complained about the incident and her. A very nice woman dressed as an angel for Halloween who was head of guest relations, I think, assured me they would severely reprimand or fire the employee and agreed with me that this was a huge safety violation. I was impressed that she seemed to take my complaint seriously, and I do hope something was done about it. Sadly, since it was the last day of the season, I doubt if anything they did had any real impact. But I am glad they took me seriously.
Some of the other ride operators that night were great, like at T2, The Giant Wheel and the nice lady running the carousel. We had a nice evening. The park needs help in so many ways, but it is our hometown park and we really enjoy it. We will miss it until it opens again on April 1, 2006.
Anyway, nice TR. I love Thunder Run!
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