XGatorHead 8904

^ Just a little! When I was sitting in my car, I was thinking "What kind of comments will I get when I post this on KICentral?"

Last month I made the comment: After this past Saturday, I more than stand by the bolded statement... and regret the last sentence in that post. We used to be Beach season pass holders for 2 or 3 years, in the early 2000's before our daughter GatorGirl was born. We always enjoyed it and never had a problem. We even liked their winter event, which was on a much smaller scale than KI's Winterfest and Cincinnati Zoo's Festival of Lights. The weather that day was great; the high had been close to 70°. We left our house around 5:00, and it only takes 10-15 minutes to get to The Beach. In those 10-15 minutes, GatorGirl fell asleep, so we sat in our car in The Beach's parking lot until 5:45 so she could get a good little nap in. We head to the gate and buy 2 adult admissions (kids 48" and under are free) and 1 pony/carriage ride combo ticket. We couldn't buy the carriage ride only tickets at the gate, only the combos, which was a minor inconvenience. But I was understanding because, believe me, I know all about ticketing issues. We first go to The Pearl area, which has been made into Santa's Village (or Santa's Vilage, with one L, as the map on their website calls it). We see the deer they have up there, and then head down towards the main part of the park. Along the way, GatorGirl hugs a reindeer character that's walking around. Mrs. Gator sees that they've converted their lazy river into a pedal boat course, and she wants to do them, so we get in line. They have several different pedal boats: 4 seaters, 2 seaters, and a 2 seater with a small seat in the middle which looks like it's for a small child. We get one of the latter boats. The foot well of the closest seat has some water in it, and Mrs. Gator makes the comment "I didn't even think about possibly getting wet on this ride". I let her get into the farther seat with less water in its foot well. About halfway through we stop pedaling to take a break. At this time, I hear something that sounds like water trickling on my side of the boat. We start pedaling again, and I notice my shoes and bottom of my jeans getting wet. I look down and there's more water in my foot well than there was when we began. We both stop pedaling, and at this time Mrs. Gator and I hear the sound of water trickling on her side of the boat. She sees water coming into her foot well from around where the pedals come into the boat. Mrs. Gator proceeds to pedal as fast as she can on her own, since my pedals are completely underwater when they’re at the bottom of their cycle. That's when I notice just a little bit of water coming over the boat's front edge the faster we go. I try putting as much of my weight towards the back of the boat while Mrs. Gator stops pedaling and uses her hand to pull us along the wall of the lazy river course. This is good for about 30 seconds, until water starts pouring over the front of the boat and then the nose goes under. Now, I'm usually very careful about what I say in front of GatorGirl, but at this time my mind let that go out the window. As our boat starts to sink, I yell "OH SH!%!", which gets the attention of some teens nearby on dry land who rush over to the edge of the lazy river. I jump off the boat into the water and turn to take GatorGirl out of Mrs. Gator's arms. I didn't realize at the time, but Mrs. Gator was using the boat to step on while she tried to pull herself onto the high wall along the side of the course. The teens say to me "Don't worry about the boat", but I have one thing on my mind: getting back to the dock and showing the associates exactly what happened. So with GatorGirl in my right arm and pulling the still submerged boat with my left, I wade back to the dock in the cold water where the associates are standing with shocked expressions on their faces. A female associate is standing at the dock holding a boat that people had just gotten out of. My mind's profanity filter is still not back in place, as I push that boat away and say "Get that f#%@ing boat out of my way!" I put GatorGirl on the dock and pull myself out of the water. The female associate asks "Do you want me to get my supervisor?" and I reply "D@#m right I do!" She leaves, and I stand there in my wet jeans with a whole queue line of people looking at me. I see one mother who says to her daughters, “We’re going to skip this one” and promptly leave the line. After a few minutes the associate returns, with no supervisor. Across the lazy river is a bearded man pulling our boat out of the water to dump it out. Another guest asks me, “Are you going to talk to one of them?” I tell him that the girl was supposed to get her supervisor for me. She turns around and tells me that her supervisor is across the way. I say “Tell him to wade across. I did.” Mrs. Gator decides to let GatorGirl get her pony ride in while I deal with park management. About that time, a blonde guy wearing a Beach sweatshirt approaches me, sticks out his hand to shake mine, and says something like he understands that my boat sank. I refuse to shake his hand (I’m still LIVID at this point) and I ask “Are you a supervisor?” He tells me no, and I say “Then I’m not talking to you. I’m only going to speak with a supervisor”. He then says “I can act on behalf of a supervisor”, to which I reply “You just told me you’re not a supervisor, so I’m not talking to you”. He asks me to come with him, and he takes me to their Festhaus (a tent that has been set up next to the wavepool, in which they sell food and drinks). Along the way, he asks “Do you mind telling me what happened?” I stay silent, and I notice a little attitude in his voice when he next says “You’re not even going to talk to me?” I say, “I’m only going to talk to a supervisor, and the less I have to repeat myself the better.” We get to the Festhaus, and the associate talks to the girl on register, who’s name is Bethany. She swaps places with him and comes up to me. I ask if she’s a supervisor, she says yes, so I tell her everything that happened. As I was finishing, another male associate approaches me and asks, “Are you the one who’s boat sank?” I say “What gave that away?” and I am able to crack a little smile, but at the same time I also refuse to shake his hand because of my state of mind. He takes me to Guest Relations, and along the way he promises to make everything right for me, saying that he suspects I want a refund (darn right), and offering tickets to come back another time (I’ll have to think about that). When we get to GR, I write my statement of what happened. While I’m writing, Mrs. Gator calls my cell, which fortunately escaped any damage even though it was in my jeans pocket. She had to use a stranger’s cell since she didn’t have hers, and she meets me up at GR. The associate asks me if I mind telling him what happened, or if he should read my statement. I tell him the whole story, and I conclude by saying that I know I’m a bigger guy, so if there’s a weight limit I would have no problem abiding by it. And he says “But they put you in the boat and you should have been fine,” and I say “Exactly. If there’s a weight limit, you should post it”. But then again, I did see people my size who had no problems with the boats while I was standing in line, so I don’t think it was a weight thing. We got tickets to come back next summer (I think I’m done with their winter festivities for quite a while), and a refund will be sent to me for what we paid that night once my written statement goes through the General Manager and the Accounting Department. Mrs. Gator decided to take GatorGirl back into the park so the night wasn’t a total waste (and so GatorGirl doesn’t throw a fit by leaving so soon after we got there). Mrs. Gator’s pants were of a lighter material than my denim jeans, so it was a little more tolerable for her. She asks if I want to go back in, but I tell her that with the mood I’m in, I don’t want to be in the park, she wouldn’t want me in the park, and the park wouldn’t want me in the park. So we agree that she’ll call me when they’re done. I go out to the car, take off my shoes, socks and jeans (it’s now about 6:45, an hour after we entered the park), and sit there for about 15 minutes. I decide to drive out to Burger King to get some dinner, and when I get to the toll plaza I ask the guy working there “There’s no re-entry into the parking lot is there?” and he tells me I can get a parking re-entry pass at season pass processing. Forget that… I go to BK, get some food, and park at Bob Evans, in the back where the busses park. And this whole time, remember, I’m sitting there in my boxers, barefoot, and hoping no one reports a suspicious vehicle to the police, who would arrest me for indecent exposure. About this time my mom calls, I tell her the whole thing, and she busts out laughing. I’m calmed down by this point, and I’m able to laugh a little too. It isn’t until about 8:30 that Mrs. Gator calls me from GR, and I pick her and GatorGirl up at the passenger pickup area. Mrs. Gator then tells me about the rest of their night. When she had borrowed the cell phone while I was at GR, she explained to that person what had happened to us. They told her that their friend had fallen out of the boat there, and that they were able to get a free pair of pants from the store in the park. So that was the first place she went when she re-entered the park. She explained to the store associate what had happened, and a manager happened to be in there. The manager asked her “Are you the one who’s boat sank? That’s the second one to sink tonight!” Now whether this was actually true or not, we’re not sure. Mrs. Gator did point out to me that some time had passed between us sinking and her getting to the store, so the manager may have confused the situation and thought that we were in two separate boats. But we did find it interesting that comment was made. The manager took Mrs. Gator and GatorGirl upstairs to the offices, and was able to get her a pair of pants which had been part of their old lifeguard uniforms. They even found a pair that would have fit me, but I was long gone. Mrs. Gator told me that there was a big difference in the appearance of The Beach’s administrative offices and KI’s. And those of you that have been in the offices at KI, particularly the Admin and Operations buildings, you know that they are pretty nice. The Beach’s, she said, were very untidy, with boxes, cash registers and sand everywhere. They next went to get some food. While there, the guy that had been assisting me at GR was behind the counter. He saw Mrs. Gator and GatorGirl, and told the cashier to give them his employee discount on the food, which was a very nice gesture. After eating, they did the carriage ride, which Mrs. Gator said was nicely done with actors telling a story of trying to get to Rapid City for New Year’s. They rode the carrousel, watched the skaters on the wet ice, and visited the nativity scene, which Mrs. Gator said consisted of old department store mannequins as Mary, Joseph and the three wise men. She noticed that one of the three wise men was actually a female mannequin, which would change everything I had ever learned about that night in Bethlehem. They also watched the toboggan slide for a while, trying to decide whether they should do it or not. They eventually decided against it because Mrs. Gator noticed that some of the toboggans were cracked in the seat area, and she felt that with her luck that night it would crack all the way through and they would get injured. So to make up for not doing the toboggan, GatorGirl did a second pony ride. After that is when they called me to pick them up. After telling the story to the rest of the family the next day, my sister’s boyfriend (a former KI rides associate) said that the Ohio Department of Agriculture may be interested in hearing about the incident, since the boat would be considered a ride, and it sinking would be a ride accident. I may contact them about it yet. I will say this for the people that helped us out after the sinking of the USS Gator, they treated us very kindly and professionally, even though I was not the most pleasant person to deal with. I was understandably upset (and after getting out of the water the profanity filter in my mind was back in place so that was no longer an issue), but by getting Mrs. Gator a pair of pants and a discount on food, they went out of their way to try to make the night better. One thing that helped a little was how warm it was that day, but that water was still pretty cold. We’ll be back to The Beach when it’s warm and sunny again, but as for Holiday Fest…I’m done.

Sorry, I had to fix the numbering. It was bothering me. 1.Captain Nemo 2.Boddah1994 3.gigacoaster2k 4.Gordon Bombay 5.Mr. 3000 6.beastfan26 7.flightoffear4thtrain 8.Raptor66 9.CoastersRZ 10.violakat03 11.cincyboy79 12.-15.Brian5475E +3 16.Cory Butcher 17.coasterguy15 18.-20.iChase (+mom)(+friend) 21.Beast man 22.&23.Beast1979 and the famous Trooper Mom 24.IBEW_Sparky 25.KIFan73 26.pkiboy 27.windshawne 28.keiko_coaster 29.PhantomTheater 30.Rollercoast19 31.Dropthegloves97 32.&33.touchdown62 and 1 friend 34.&35.Ogrmac + 1 36.XGatorHead 8904 37.adventure2007 38.&39.Kawana & Elina 40.standbyme 41.Avatar

I noticed Gamz said that Peter Alexander was the main designer and builder for Universal... so what of his relationship with Epcot and Six Flags? I would still like to know, was he the mastermind behind all of these parks too, as was previously stated? I'm not asking because I doubt his abilities, just questioning the statement previously given to the newspapers by Gamz... er, Amanda Royalty and Allison Clark. I, for one, will leave the xscaping to you, Railrider. Be safe! And since Amanda... er, Gamz didn't provide the link to the website she wanted us to check out: http://www.totallyfuncompany.com/ OK, so he was the Director of Project Management for Epcot...I'll give them that. But as for being THE creator behind Six Flags as Amanda and Allison stated, he's listed in his bio as Executive Producer for the chain, producing the shows there. But then last year there were the dvd's...

Wow... Everything I've read about this Joe Sitt and Thor Equities has been just terrible. And now this... His heart is definitely two sizes too small.

And that same article says: If only that were true, we might yet get a chance to actually visit HRP...

I'm in. See ya there! Captain Nemo Boddah1994 gigacoaster2k Gordon Bombay Mr. 3000 beastfan26 flightoffear4thtrain Raptor66 CoastersRZ violakat03 cincyboy79 Brian5475E +3 Mabye skaterboy22101 Longlivethesmurfride Cory Butcher coasterguy15 iChase (+mom)(+friend) Beast man Beast1979 and the famous Trooper Mom IBEW_Sparky KIFan73 pkiboy windshawne keiko_coaster PhantomTheater Rollercoast19 Dropthegloves97 touchdown62 and 1 friend Ogrmac + 1 XGatorHead 8904

^Wouldn't that be the tickle giggle turn?

^ You are correct. At least as of 2004, KI's loose change goes towards scholarships that the associates can apply for during the season.

^Ouch. Well, just remember to "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" -Gator, who just HAD to!

Gives a new definition to the term "head chopper".

I'm Cyclone... I'm a classic!

How much Montgomery Inn can you get us for $6 each?

I just paid... Paypal's a wonderful thing. Looking forward to seeing everyone there, and putting more faces to names!

Here's the fixed link: SunTimes

There's no details yet... just the date which is 1/31/09... ...and that we will be listening to guest speakers, eating in International Restaurant, seeing the park in winter rehab... and oh yeah, touring the Diamondback construction site.

I agree. The best winter event held there since 2005! Thank you for everyone responsible for making this happen. I've already saved the date. See ya there!

Like Kawana, I'm taking a vacation day that day, just as I did for the DB announcement. And it's already been approved by management! I recognize that Diamondback is bigger than myself, so it's taught me that already! Don't be a fool, stay in school! It makes the line shorter for the rest of us!

^Not only is it 4 miles from Tri-County, but on the other side it's only about 6 miles to Northgate, both of which were established malls well before Forest Fair came along.

You are correct Terpy, GWL's waterpark is for hotel guests only. But like pkiruler said, Coco Key is just a short drive away, and they offer day passes just as Kalahari in the Dells does. We went to Coco Key last year in about Feb/March, and we plan to go again this year around the same time to help get rid of the off-season blues! It's a nice place to spend a day with the family... as long as GatorGirl remembers this year that she actually likes waterslides. That was a little problem last year (by the end of the day she at least did the small ones), but she's another year older and her memory is another year better!

And there are plenty of guests, like me, who will still refuse to go anywhere that charges $150-$250 a night. To me, that price is just ludicrous. I can stay somewhere like Days Inn with my AAA discount, get a day pass to the indoor water park for $30 as quoted later in the article, and I'm saving money. I just need somewhere to lay my head at night. I'm not going to be spending 24/7 in my room. And even if I were, I still wouldn't spend that kind of money.

We learned quickly to bring our own food into Disney parks. Our first time going with GatorGirl, in 2006, the first thing we did when we got to MK was have breakfast at the bakery on Main Street. While it was very good, we wasted a lot of time there waiting in line, getting a table, then eating. And as some of you know, the Gator family likes to go go go when we're at parks. The following year, we were smart enough to start bringing our own breakfast into the parks. We typically bring Nutrigrain bars and juice, which we're able to eat while watching Dream Along with Mickey, or while standing in line for our first ride. It saves a lot of time in the morning and gives us just enough to hold us over until lunch. And yes, Woofer, we like the food there, much better than what KI currently has to offer!

^As CoastersRZ said in post #3 of this thread, there's Kalahari, Great Wolf and Castaway Bay. Maui Sands would have made four. Much too many for the burb of Sandusky. I'm suprised they have more than two.

That happened to me just yesterday. Of course, I'm close enough that I can choose exactly when to let that happen to me! I can't wait to get there in April, go to the height check board and see if GatorGirl has hit the 40" mark over the winter. That would open up Danny Phantom Flyers, Fairly Odd Coaster, Viking Fury and Snowy River Rampage. It also opens up Coolangatta Racer & Sydney Sidewinder, but she's not ready for those last two yet! Oh yeah, and I can't wait for that snake thingy that chased all the swans away from the lake...

Two words: Disaster Transport.