I arrived at the park at 6:00, for an afternoon of fun, fireworks and photos. Instead I got to see fights, lines and wet.
(Ok this will be a long one and detailed. But I assure you it will probably be the best one.)
Ok I got at the park at 6:00, I figured I'd get out quicker and parked in the last parking spot in the lot. So when I leave, there would be a kind guest and let me in, so I'll get out quicker.
First Part...(The Beginning)
After talking all my stuff out of my pocket, I got in a conversation with an employee about the metal detectors. I will not go into it for safety reasons. I made my way to Scooby Doo because its 96 degrees outside and I thought it was air conditioned. Boy, was I wrong. Either it didn't have any or it was broken down, or even turned off. it was hot, musty and it smelled. I did not enjoy the line that started by the fountain either. And might I add, while in line 2 First Aid cars left. My guess, heat stroke.
Second Part...(Photo's section)
After getting off the ride I made around the park taking photos wherever good photos could be taken. (At home before I left I was running rigorous test to make sure the lens was right.) I ended up taking 65 photos. But with my compact flash card, I could have taken over 665 photos more. (I love that thing.) After my photo extravaganza. I made my way back to my favorite ride.... Flying Eagles.
Third Part...(The Eagles)
After a 5 cycle wait and one eagle sick, I made my way on. Anybody who knows me knows I'm dangerous behind an Eagle. The ride starts up, as I start snapping those cables. I stalled out longer since I was the only one in the car. I also got a good laugh out of 4 things. One and the funnest, It was my best ride, I also made the contraption make a loud thump, probably since the wind got underneath me and I went freefalling to the ground. Second, a little girl telling me to stop, I'm gonna break it. Third. A little boy saying "Daddy I want to get in Eagle two!" (Eagle 2 was the one I was in.) And forth, my favorite, I looked out at the midway after the loud thump, and every eye was on me. And I had my PKIUnlimited.com T-shirt on too. I struck up a conversation with a ride op there too. I forget his name though...
Forth Part...(The water starts to boil.)
Over the public PA there is a guy that came on and said something like, "Attention ladies and gentlemen, Paramounts kinds island has received a severe weather warning from the national weather service. Nights of Fire will be starting at 9 o'clock instead." I was still talking to the ride op as we get stormed with questions. Many of them the Ride op didn't know but I did. I said good-bye and walked to through Coney mall. Security was going nuts. This guy was yelling his head off at people sitting to see the fireworks. Areas needed to be closed off because of the falling ashes from the fireworks. I made my way down to in-front of the Eiffel Tower. Crowds getting bigger and bigger. And my movement slower and slower. Had made my way to in-front of the tower. Thousands of people sitting down already. And thousands more standing And then it happened...
Part Five...(A volcano erupts)
As all the people were getting out of hands, a fight starts, than another, than another. Evidently people don't like to be rushed or bumped into. It was chaos, the fight pushed people back, into others and into others. Many more arguments started because of people getting pushed back into other peoples kids. "What about me?" you ask. I'm calm, cool, and collective. Taking in the anger from other people, and poking jokes at it. Oh, I kept the crowd around me entertained.
But something happens... a voice comes over the PA, (I'll add my notes in ())"Attention ladies and Gentlemen, (The crowd goes silent) the national weather service has issued a severe weather warning. Because of this Night of Fire will be canceled." The crowd just got a whole lot madder. Pushing come to shoving, argument come to pushing, and to top it ALL off, it starts to rain.
(So now in recap, we have around 52,000 people wanting out of the park, they are mad, angry, packed, rushed, and wet.)
A person in services pushed me into the line to the gold pass area "Dinner and a View." I went up and down. By this tome, it was a full downpour, and lightning every 10 seconds. So naturally people seeked shelter, but this caused a backup and people outside were getting more angry. I seeked shelter in the corner of the admissions building, under the restrooms sign. After I was slowly getting pushed out, I ran over to the old season pass entrance, there I struck up a conversation with security there. I waited under there for a half hour and realized its not gonna get better. So I packed all of my belongings into my net pockets of my pants protected by about three layers of pants material. And I hooved it to the car (Might I remind you its on the complete opponent area of the lot.)
My new Nike Shox are complete soaked so I just ran harder, not caring about very large puddles. When I made it to the car, I turned on the radio and sat back watching a mile of cars at a stand still.
And that ends my trip report for July 4th 2003.