AZ Kinda Guy

Just trying to keep this at the top for awhile.

This message is to all PKI employees. Please DO NOT use any signals, codes, or other forms of communication used strictly at PKI. Example, instead of saying a ride went....., use "out of service" or something of that nature. Another example, instead of saying the park is under a ....., say we are under a thunderstorm warning. Thank you!

This message is to all PKI employees. Please DO NOT use any signals, codes, or other forms of communication used strictly at PKI. Example, instead of saying a ride went....., use "out of service" or something of that nature. Another example, instead of saying the park is under a ....., say we are under a thunderstorm warning. Please abide by this simple rule and all will be fine and dandy in the wonderful world of PKIUnlimited. Thank you!

I know they sold the shirts without the "Staff" lettering on the back. Besides, those shirts are for us, the people who stay until 2am to make sure the rides are clean and ready to go for the next day. So it's not like you "deserve" one anyways.

Scariest, lets see here...There was only one time when I can say I've been actually scared at PKI. It was in 2001 over at Drop Zone and it was storming really bad. I've never in my life seen it storm this bad and there was lightning everywhere. It was myself, Dawn, and Dank who were at the ride when the storm hit. While the storm was going on we were forced under the que house with some guests that were still in there. As soon as we got under there all hell started to break loose. All of a sudden, I see this white flash and then a ear piercing crack of thunder. There was lightning all around us and the rain was coming down hard. So hard that Face/Off was not visible from the que house. There was already a tornado watch out for us and I honestly thought I was going to see a tornado that day. Eventually, the rain stopped and the storm went east. After all was said and done, DZ was struck by lightning at least once and all of the major rides were down for the rest of the night...Dank posts' on this board. Any commentary to share Dank about that scary but awesome day?

This can go in the "New for 2003" forum...

Yeah Dank, I forgot about that one but that was a really good one as well. I felt so proud of Dawn that night and continue to do so. Barnyard, freaking hillairious. I'm REALLY going to miss closing Congo. I think I'm going to miss that more than anything.

No you haven't Dan. Please fill me in...

Cletus, come to think of it, I didn't see you ride FaceOff once this year.

Now with the stories us employees have been telling you guys, it makes it seem that nobody who comes through that front gate is polite. If you have that thought, then we have mislead you big time. Believe it or not, guests do have the power to brighten a ride ops spirits. It has happened to me several times and one experience really sticks out in my mind... Congo Falls was temporarily out of service and there was a family waiting it out in the station. Well, I go over to talk to them and I start asking the little girl who was with them if she has met any of the characters, if she has had a good day, ETC. Well, we started playing hide and go seek on the load side of the station and I would hide behind a pole and she would try to find me. Well before you know it, it was closing time and Congo Falls was not going to be reopening. I said my goodbyes and before they left, her mother wanted a picture of her and I together. After that, she left and I haven't seen her since... Even though I will probably never see her again, I will always remember how happy I made her and how happy she made me. There is nothing better for a ride op then to see a child smile and then realize that they, the ride op, made that smile happen...

Great story there Pooky. As for me, I have so many that none really seem to stick out. I will tell you of one story though. I was at Drop Zone and we had, like always, line jumpers. So I let them on the ride and when I get around to them I give them the usual spiel about line jumping and they refuse to get off and start cursing at me and the usual. So then I get close to them and tell them "look here, either you listen to me and get off the ride or I can call security and let them kick you out of the park." Needless to say, they got off and when they did, the whole que house was cheering and clapping for me. Ahhhh good times.....

Congo Falls!!!

Beastfreak pretty much nailed it. On a ride like Scooby, progress can be more visible. Hence all the recent construction pics. However, on a ride like Delirium, there are alot of smaller tasks that are not obvious to the human eye. So therefore. there isn't anything to see!

A new ride concept that has never been tried before is going to have some downtime. Some more than others. As for the exact reason, nobody knows except the maintenance(SP?) team and I imagine it's going to stay that way.

As a ride operator I would consider a purse a small item. Heck, no EXPERIENCED ride operator would consider a purse a small item. Those pouches are for items that fit in your pocket. Such as cell phones, change, glasses, ETC...

Lots of rides peeps here, myself included. February of 2000 found myself applying for a job in rides at Human Resources. Two hours later, I found myself on the Congo/Drop Zone crew. After that, it's all a blur. Jump to present day. I find myself on the Delirium crew. What's next? Who knows. BTW, all my ride crews are in my signature if you haven't noticed by now.

The ride op was just doing there job. I've said it before and I'll say it again, read the signs. In this case;"No carry-on gear allowed"...Also, the pouches were made for smaller items such as loose change, glasses, keys, ETC...

To my knowledge, the WebCam has not been taken down so to speak. It's just offline.

Ah but they do Dane. Myself and Mr.Siebert have checked bars together on Vortex.

Maybe Mr.Siebert is mimmicking the tree on the right? Thats my guess. It doesn't matter. He's a heck of a nice guy and does a GREAT job at what he does. He really knows how to make a person feel welcome at the park and that they are a person, not just a number in the attendance figures. This is rare in the amusement park industry my friends. Oh and the pictures. The pics are great and it's really good to know that the ride appears to be moving on. Can't wait until April to try this ride out!

There should be no argument here. PKI's tower stands 315 and PKD claims theirs will stand 305.

According to PKD's homepage, the tower itself will stand 305 feet while the drop height is 272 feet. Giving us the taller tower but a shorter drop. How in the heck that is going to work is another thing. That's why they(Intamin) get paid to do this and we don't. As for the record, the only record PKI mentions on Drop Zone is "the worlds tallest Gyro Drop". So I guess that means we can keep it!

If they follow the past, then the show will be on Memorial Day weekend during the "Thrills Chills and Spills" weekend on the Discovery Channel.

The three strikes and your out rule is not used on any ride. I was just using that "rule" as a guideline as to why Skylab was removed. Correct me if I'm wrong but nobody fell out of Skylab.

The different lift speeds is a preset computer controlled function. As for the reason about the various speeds on a lift is simple. When the lifts do this, the computer is simply spacing out the trains on the course.