It's way too hot! Amusement park nightmare!

The last few days in Michigan have been extremely hot. (90+)

This has me thinking of all of the people who might be at an amusement park, and, it reminded me of one of the worst days I have ever had at an amusement park. And, for you smarty pants folks, it's not michigan's Adventure.

A friend and I took a trip to Toronto Canada back in the late 90's, and we spent two days at Canada' wonderland, plus Toronto pride. (which is actually going on this weekend.) At any rate, they claimed that the high for the day was going to be 68 degrees, so we put on our long pants, and jackets, and headed to Canada's wonderland. Which, was quite packed, almost everyone wearing warm weather clothing when we arrived.

Well, by 3 in the afternoon it was 86 degrees, and people were laying in the grass it was so on-godly hot. In fact, one of the theaters where they have shows was filled with people laying on benches. And, being in long clothes I was practically dying. So, my friend and I decided to find a place eat, and try to beat the heat. I decided on a burrito meal.

Two hours later I was sick as a dog. We went to the nearest food stand and asked the girls that were working there for water. And, she said, if you want anything to drink you'll have to buy a soda, at this point I was near passing out. My friend looks at her, and says you have 5 seconds to get us water or I am going to jump over that counter and get it myself, and you're not going to like it when I do. She calls her manager over, who takes one look at me, and says give him a glass of water...NOW!!!

So, they got me water, while I laid on the nearest bench, and a cold rag for my head. The manager stuck around until I was able to get up and move on my own. Needless to say, as much as I wanted to stay and have fun, we left the park at 5:30, after only being there for 5 hours, and only went on 4 rides. But I was very sick. So sick that when we got back to our lodging, I blew chunks all over this guys hotel room door, and then passed out when we got to our room. I came to around midnight.

We went back to the park the next day, and it wasn't nearly as bad. But, we were both glad that we at least got to go to pride. But, I will never make the mistake of doing that again. And, if you go there. Do not order a burrito!! And never trust a weather man in a resort area. They lie!!

Back when I was 17 we went to Disneyworld. It was 22 degrees in the morning with frost in Kississimi, and by noon it was 90. Lucky for me I was with relatives who had been there before. So, they knew to bring a change of clothes. Oh, I forgot to mention, my Canada's Wonderland disaster was only my second visit to the park. It's the only time I have been there when it was that hot.

Countdown to "That's nothing. When I was your age, I went to a park and it was 120* in the shade! And I was actually on fire!" post.

I figured on a post like that ApolloAndy. Like the old dudes saying, I remember the days when we would go to the parks, and they didn't have any bathrooms. And, there was no air conditioning, and all the women wore dresses, and all the men wore long pants, jackets and hats. And it was hot as hell!

Of course they didn't have all those fancy rides back then. And, if you got sick and died, or hurt on a ride. It just made people want to go there even more. Just to see what would happen. Those were the good old days!! LOL!!

It has been really hot in Ohio too. I was at Cedar Point on Thursday and I think it peaked at 102 degrees.

It's so weird that it gets hot in the summer. Next you'll be telling me it gets cold in winter.

Good point.

Then again, this summer has been hotter and drier than any I can recall in 20+ years. I haven't had to mow my (no sprinklers installed) lawn in something like three weeks. Usually, I'm mowing well into July.

Fine, but we have hot days every summer. Some years we have more than others. It's not like we never encounter days when it hits 100. That we have several in a row is noteworthy, but hardly something that I'd call a nightmare.

Last year we (Fort Worth, TX) had something like 100 triple digit days. :)

But, that's Texas, not the United States.

We were in Hershey Fri night and all day Saturday. It was hot as hell, but it's a double edged sword... there were hardly any lines for anything. The longest I waited was 25 minutes for Skyrush and they were only running 1 train at the time.

I remember as a kid going to BGW and it was so hot, they ran out of soda in the entire park. My Dad wasn't much of a beer drinker but went on the brewery tour several times because it was air conditioned LOL.

It could have been worse. We were in Orlando for Debbie. Saw a movie or two at Pointe Orlando, and even bought a deck of cards and a set of dice for our Owner's Locker.

Sorry guys. I used a lot of sunblock in aerosol spray cans this week while at the beach.

I was in Texas last Summer. I concentrated my visits on the Waterparks, including the @$$-Kicking Schlitterbahn, because they were closed during my previous visit to Texas. At the San Antonio Sea World the first thing I did when entering the park was to sit in the front row of the Shamu Show. Needless to say I was as cool as a cucumber for the rest of the day!

Historically, eating a Burrito combo meal in Canada would indicate a 'game changer' even to a seasoned park manager like myself. The fact I am also in f/b, well just hearing 'burrito' coupled with extreme heat would NEVER have a positive outcome.

Hey Agent Johnson. Eating the burrito was certainly not the best idea. I think it was actually not good to begin with. I only ate half of it, the WORST burrito I have ever had in my life. It's possible that it could have spoiled in the heat. I will certainly never eat a burrito at an amusement park again, unless it's Indiana Beach, their tacos and burritos are quite yummy.

And, Jeff, it wasn't just the heat that was a nightmare, it was that combined with almost having to be rushed to the hospital with possible heat stroke, that made it a nightmare. The manager of the food stand actually tried to talk me into going to a hospital. But, since I am not Canadian, and with only one day left until going back home, I didn't want to risk a prolonged stay. That, and the friend that I was with would have no way to get home. We went there in my car.

Another scary heat event was at the Ionia Free fair in 1986. We went to see Def Leppard and Europe, with over 25,000 people. It was so hot in the concert field, they were spraying down the crowds with water. Something like 105 degrees, with ambulances hauling people away every 30 minutes. And, a pot cloud that was so thick you could see it from a mile away. But, it was an awesome concert. They claimed the people in town could hear the crowds roar during the show. Those were the good old days. And, No I did not have a burrito. We had Italian Sausages hours before the show.

I am going to make an attempt to go to the KISS/Motley Crue concert at the Allegan fair. I hope the weather will play nice.

25,000 people is a lot. In fact, its an average night at most outdoor amphitheaters, and parking/crowd logistics are always a nightmare. 2 bands im really into did concerts that pulled over 100,000 people (DMB at Central park, and Dispatch at the Hatch Shell in Boston). I can't even imagine being at something like that. I think the highest attended concert I've been to was just over 45,000 people, and that is ridiculous.

Makes you think, though, about the average capacity at an amusement park. I doesn't feel like there's 35,000 people when they're all spread out and in lines.

I was at Garth Brooks concert in central park. I can't seem to remember how many people were there that night, but it must have been 100,000 or more.

If you want to talk huge numbers. I have been at a couple 4th of July concerts in Grand Rapids, also Celebration on the Grand were there were over 300,000 people, and it was free.

I have also seen Poison in a crowd of 19,000. I suppose if I lived in a larger city, like New York. I would probably see concerts with over 100,000 people as well. But, I don't. Also the places I went to that had those crowds were full to capacity. But, that doesn't include all the people outside the events. People often linger around the outdoor venues. They say that Journey also had over 19,000 but could have easily been 30,000 if they had the space.

The free Donny Osmond concert in Grand Rapids had 40,000 people. That was one I'm glad I didn't go to. But, My older sister would have loved it.

The flooded birthday bash had 80,000.

I don't know exactly how they measure it, but the 4th of July free Boston Pops concert routinely pulls multiple 100's of thousands. Other than the first thousand or so, everyone else is basically watching it on big screens along the banks of the Charles and just waiting for the fireworks to go off.

Yeah, at that point it's just not a concert anymore. If I can't at least see the band within some reasonable distance, and feel the thump of the kick drum coming from the live sound rig, there is almost no point other than to say you were there. That's one reason I try to avoid lawn seats most of the time. It's crowded, far away, and most of the time people are talking loud enough that you can't hear the band. It's not always the case, if you can get close enough but I'd rather pay a few extra bucks than risk it,