PKI 6/6/04 - Worst Trip Ever!!!

I feel for you my friend, Hey if it makes you feel any better, I had a similar experience visiting Alton towers once back in October 02 so I know what it feels like ;)

Got up early in the morning, and the weather was quite windy with rain, However it didnt seem too serious and because it was about 5-6AM, I thought it would clear up so on I went on my 3hr drive(YES 3hrs)

Anyway on arriving at the park, the bad weather is still going on, and I just had no thought in my head that the park may close, anyway I arrive, the gates are open, and they are allowing people entry despite high winds and rains still. Anyway the true horrors unfolded as I entered, There was no outdoor Rides open at present because of the weather and there is mega chaos all round, The staff try to soften the blow by giving out Free Hot Food and Drinks, and give everyone a Free AIR Exit Pass if the ride opened later in the day.

Not all was lost on the day as some of the indoor rides did Open and as such, I managed a ride on the Haunted House(as it was then), Hex twice and The Black Hole.

However at approx 11AM, They CLOSED the park due to continueing bad weather, and there I was with nothing to do other that to take the 3hr drive back home, I was stunned, but to be fair, the weather kept getting awful and even if the park stayed open, there was no guarantee the Fireworks could go ahead so they did really do the right thing, but I was gutted :(

So trust me dude, I know what its like to feel like this. Prehaps I should have checked the weather forcast the day before, but I still never expected it. an interesting fact reached me later though that all other parks in the UK stayed closed and never opened because of the weather so bravo to Alton for at least giving it a try I guess, and I suppose 4 rides at the end of it was'nt too bad but still I felt horrible travelling back in horrible wet clothes on another 3hr drive.

That sucks about PKI BTW, Cant believe they would want to close on a sinday like that, Hope you have better luck next time :)

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john peck said:
The factory cassette deck no longer works!

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You see? Those foreign cars are so unreliable. ;)

I refuse to upgrade to CD's in my '92 Toyota. It's exclusively tapes in there. It keeps the theme of the car quite retro, and that ain't bad.

It's too bad you had to waste the time and gas.
But with the cost of operating theme parks,
and the companies that own them trying to
squeeze any penny they can, it is important to
call ahead and check. I was at Disney World last month, and if I hadn't checked
month, and if I hadn't checked hours of operation and which nights the parades
were held, we would have missed Spectromagic.
I just returned today from Dollywood, and they
had a later opening time on Monday compared to
the rest of the week. If I hadn't checked we
would have been sitting in the parking lot for
an extra hour. We were there in time to get
tickets about 1/2 hour before park opened, and
were let into the front of the park before
actual opening time. We walked over to
Thunderhead first thing and were able to
ride before the crowds got
heavier.

Remember, I made better of a semi-bad situtation by driving over to Lesourdesville Lake to take a look at it, so even though I didn't get to ride anything, I got to see the current situation of one of my favorite parks, so I tried to make up for the wasted morning.

I have to agree with SLFAKE because I went with my brother and two uncles on Monday instead of Sunday because the PKI online schedule clearly says closed on that day. It was my brother's birthday on Sunday and he wanted to go that day, but I looked to see if they were open and they were not. Sorry about your luck!

OMG John, how could you have done that and not looked at the calendar? Geez - I just can't believe you made a mistake, so now I'm going to make sure I rub it in your face how much better I am because *I* check the online schedules. GEEZ!
[/sarcasm]

Really, John - or should I call you Clark? :) That sucks, but at least you didn't *****, moan, and scream at guest services, as I'm sure many others would have.

But - Look on the bright side - You drive a Honda. We all know how great they are on gas. Mine gets 38 MPG (provided I'm not doing 80 on the highway, then it's about 30 MPG but still, that's kicking ass.)

Sorry Folks, park's closed. Moose out front should've told ya.

You're not the first one of my friends to do that this year, either. I got a phone call from my buddy from Toledo one day when he drove all the way down there, and he felt like an idiot. There wasn't even a chance of him riding, because the park wasn't even open for a buyout.

John,

I have made the same mistake once. I don't know what I was thinking but I thought the park was opened but it wasn't. I made the same drive as you and turned right back around once I got to the park.

I once got a call from someone asking me if I could help them out. They wanted me to give the park a call and explain that there were some people standing outside that didn't know the park was closed and wanted to come in and ride.

Oh, and did I mention it was mid-November?

-Sean

My totally bigot(sp?) cousin is in florida right now in the middle of his two week visit, he does this every year. Of course he was there for Gay Day. Now my cousin is 18, and totally homophobic and full of bigotry. So obviously these 2 things don't mix well, especially at a Disney Park. He said "they" were all over and "they" were kissing. Which I am no bigot, but I would think it would be kind of hard to explain to a 3 year why 2 men or 2 women are kissing. That's the only thing I'd be worried about if I had kids.

Maybe if you explain that it's what two people do when they love each other it wouldn't be much to worry about Kyle :)

-Jim

Hmmm, did I click on the wrong thread? I thought this was about PKI. ;-)

I really need to attend one of these gay days......at least there is always a bunch of hot men to oogle at. ;-)

-Tina

LOL...Tina....

I can honestly tell you from my years working at PKI that half of what you heard that people saw and observed was completely made up. One year I had this woman who called the day after to complain because when she and her children boarded the Phanthom Theater (now the Scooby Haunted Castle) the seats were WET and she KNEW it was because of what THEY had been doing!

A)They have cameras all throughout that ride and B) Perhaps "THEY" had just come from White Water Canyon, Congo River Falls, etc....

PUHLEESE...this is the kind of stuff we had to listen to for days. It was pathetic, and worse of all, these people would claim to have seen all this sexual behavior going on in the park and yet when I would ask if they reported it to security they would say "Well, no...." I told one lady that regardless of the gender or the species, if I have even seen TWO SQUIRRELS doing the things she said she saw I would have run and grabbed the first security guard I could find!!!

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Which I am no bigot, but I would think it would be kind of hard to explain to a 3 year why 2 men or 2 women are kissing. That's the only thing I'd be worried about if I had kids.

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I'm sure the same thing was said and thought 50-60 years ago when interacial couples were seen kissing in public. Just like Invy said, if these people would just get it through their thick skulls that it's all about love, the exact same love and feeling heteros have for their partners (we are human beings too!), it shouldn't even be an issue.

These people are nothing but ignorant bigots, plain and simple. I suppose if I see a heterosexual couple kissing, I should call in and complain to my local park about how offended I was by their display of affection, claim I saw them knocking boots on the log flume, and demand free passes. I can't believe PKI would even cave in and cater to these idiots in the first place. Why reward ignorance and intolerance?

*** Edited 6/11/2004 11:28:24 PM UTC by jomo***

That is the worst nightmare for sure. Since others have mentioned it, there's no need to harp on it, but check those calendars. You'd be surprised at how wacky some schedules are, especially once you reach the fall (mostly due to buyouts). You think "There's no way they'd be closed on such and such a date; they'd be fools to not be open", but when you have a large corporation with big money talking (for example AOL), they'll be more than happy to shutdown the park to the common folk.