Heat and Hydration!

Good advice, Tina. I try to make all of my trips in the Spring or Fall, when crowds are lighter and the heat is not sooooooo...hot?

I had a little of the hydration problem last Saturday at Kings Island. My brother and I got overheated and went back to the car, cranked the a/c, drank a bunch of water and Poweraid, and relaxed for a good 1/2 hour. After we went back in, that was all that we needed to make our last run for the day.

Well, I know that at Holiday World, when it gets really hot and humid they start passing out free cold beverages...

(*whisper*)

Oh. I see.

It's just that I've never been to Holiday World when it wasn't really hot and humid. :)

Then at the other extreme is what I encountered at Wyandot Lake yesterday. Yes, there are a few water fountains around the park, and they have decent water pressure, but they are not coolers, and they are positioned low enough that normal-size adults can have problems bending down to use them. So the next place to check was the food stands. The ones that were open refused to offer cups of water. The vending machine with the $2.75 bottled water refused to accept dollar bills. Finally, the one food stand that is an independent operation (not run by the park) offered ice water for $0.25.

Ridiculous.

Incidentally, looking over this thread, I wonder what enterprising food employee was pocketing dimes at Cedar Point. Unless something serious has changed, they have never, and so far as I know, still don't charge anything for a cup of ice water, available at any stand that has running water (not all of them do!).

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

For those that like Gatorade but don't like the sugar, try PowerAde Option. A lot more flavor than Gatorade's Propel brand.

Later,
EV

If parks charge for tap water, what's next? Restrooms? First aid?

I've had a few cases where stands either refused to give out tap water or wanted to charge for it.

- LeSourdsville Lake, 2002: 50¢ for small cup, $1.00 for large of tap water. There had to have been one or two fountains, and the water pressure was extremely low and taste was poor. Some people miss the park, but this was one of the reasons, IMO the place failed.

- SFGAm, 2004: Stand near the double-decker carousel gave me a cup with ice, but no water, so I had to go to a water fountain... OK...

- PKI, 2003: Antique treats refused, claiming a "drop in sales." Yeah, of course they forget that guests that don't come back to park and/or are in first aid won't buy anything.
2006: Eiffel Tower icee stand: 50¢ for small cup, $1.00 for large of tap water. Of course, this place was operated by the "outside vendor" or something like that - I wish Cedar Fair would run them out...

Overall at many places, the small cups are a bit of a pet peeve. *** Edited 8/1/2006 9:57:15 PM UTC by CoastersNSich***

Wow, that's weird. I've *always* been able to get free water @ parks. Now, not every stand in a park would dispense the water (Save @ Hershey Park), but at least the indoor food places would give water. This includes parks such as, SFA, HP, SFNE, WDW (all of them), SFKK. I didnt know parks were getting so stingy (sp?).

But yeah, at most places the cups were quite small.

Another note on the gatorade. Try gatorade Rain. Its like watered down gatorade and is kind of like flavored water. its really refreshing and taste great. It is definatly worth the dollar to try it if you've never had it before.

Failing to give customers water now that Global Warming is *almost* proven, that's plain INSANITY! How many EMT calls do ya figure parks are getting in the last couple years due to dehydration and other heat-related ailments. I'd even wager that some of the more serious problems we've seen this year were at least *exacerbated* by the heat...

The other things parks could do to help: Landscaping, esp. TREE cover, more sprinklers, misting fans, more shows, more air-conditioned restaurants, water fountains that actually WORK...shaded queues (with fans on high, and running)....come on, the parks need to realize it's NOT the same summer weather we had 20-some years ago...

On very hot days (like today), Idlewild sets up several tables with water coolers on them. Occasionally on really hot days (like today) they give us employees gatorade.

I don't know if this works at other parks, but at Marine World you can always go into the first aid office and get free gatorade or water out of the coolers in small cups. It's a well kept secret to say the least.

^^ You work at Idlewild? Any specific ride/section? I'll be there on Saturday!

*** Edited 8/2/2006 2:57:05 AM UTC by rollergator***

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BillisAlotymus said:
My cousin & I went to gadv while it was squarching hot out, beautiful day, but hot. we both bought 32oz bottles of water but 3/4 of it was frozen!. & guess the frige/freezer they were keeping it in was set on cold. anyway it was great, super cold water & even though we would finish the liquid water before the ice melted. Then we just refilled it at stand or water fountains & it was always ice cold. I don't know if they froze the water on purpose or not, but if they did then it was a great idea

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When it is that hot outside it is best not to drink super cold water. It takes longer for your body to absorb it. Now I'm not saying drink warm water or anything but if you are really dehydrated and you need the water, drink some that isn't two degrees from freezing.

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rollergator said:
^^ You work at Idlewild? Any specific ride/section? I'll be there on Saturday!

*** Edited 8/2/2006 2:57:05 AM UTC by rollergator***

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Dizzy Lizzy's Four Quarter Saloon (the haunted swing ride in Hootin' Holler).

Ooooh, Haunted Swing, eh? Hopefully less torturous than Dutch Wonderland's, that thing WRECKED me...

Funny, I mean, I *know* what's going on, and yet it still just ROCKS my world to see the room spinning like that...I'll drink PLENTY of water first, LOL...;)

See ya Saturday! :)

Very strong points!

Why do so many people shy away from the drinking fountains? I think alot of people dislike the amount of mouths planted right in front of the water. How many little kids put their mouth right on them aswell!

Admission prices can be alot for a number of visiters so I gather that people visiting the/or a park on any given day are on a strict budget in some cases. That being said, how can they charge so much for water. IMO three dollars or around that price is way to much when health and safety is on the line.

Parks really do want there bang for the buck, but there should be a system in place to lower water prices when the heat rolls in.

Having breakfest is very key! Good one!

Thanks for the repleys.

Busch was at

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mudinthevayne said:

When it is that hot outside it is best not to drink super cold water. It takes longer for your body to absorb it. Now I'm not saying drink warm water or anything but if you are really dehydrated and you need the water, drink some that isn't two degrees from freezing.

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That's false. Colder water is absorp by the body a lot faster when it's cold. However, you drink less because the super cold water tricks your body into thinking its hydrated.

As for Gatorade, when I used to jump out of airplanes and fight wild fires they'd make us mix the gatorade with water. Gatorade is full of sugar, but its the salt in it that makes your drink it faster. It does, however, offer you nutrients that you need, but more for the hardcore athlete than the hardcore enthusiast. ;)

Interesting...last Spring one of our students did an undergraduate research project and determined that based on her test methods, there was no discernable difference in absorption rates between Gatorade and plain water.

Presumably, the Gatorade tastes better, though. :)

Anyway, I'd like to see parks consider installing water fountains that have a tap on the side or above for filling bottles. It seems that every time I want to use a water fountain I have to wait for ten minutes for someone to stand there trying to coax water into a 20-oz bottle tipped at an angle so that most of the water just runs out and down the drain. I see it often enough to suggest that there is demand for it, and it would be simple enough to do...!

(heck, once I was in a city park where the water fountain included a little bowl on the ground for the *dogs*. What I'm suggesting is a lot simpler than that!)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

^ Theoretically, the salt in Gatorade keeps you a little thirsty, so you'd drink more, and stay better hydrated than water, which DOES "quench the thirst"...

So the theory goes... ;)

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CoasterDiscern said:

Admission prices can be alot for a number of visiters so I gather that people visiting the/or a park on any given day are on a strict budget in some cases. That being said, how can they charge so much for water. IMO three dollars or around that price is way to much when health and safety is on the line.

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I agree. I doubt a park is paying more than $0.12 or so for a bottle if that much at all (at Costco, name brand bottled water is around $0.15 a bottle when you buy around a 32 pack and I'm sure the parks get it for less because of quantity discounts). Even with labor costs I think they could sell it for $1.00 and still make a lot of money.

At the Jersey shore, the parks in Ocean City were charging $1.50 for a bottle which I thought was reasonable and at Morey's, an arcade vending machine on Mariner's Landing Pier was charding $1.00 for a bottle (as well as $0.50 for a can of soda and $1.00 for other other bottled sodas). At those prices I don't mind buying bottled water but anything over $2 really seems like price gouging to me. *** Edited 8/3/2006 12:23:33 AM UTC by YoshiFan***

My understanding was that the point of Gatorade wasn't to increase the absorption rate of water but to replace lost "stuff" along with water that comes out when you sweat.

I think the real point of Gaterade was to create the belief that plain water is not sufficient, and to get people to buy Gatorade instead of sucking down a *free* cup of water. Of course that was way back in the days before the bottled water scam convinced people to pay more for a bottle of water than a bottle of Gatorade. :) *** Edited 8/3/2006 6:25:02 PM UTC by millrace***