TraderJake

I don't know if they still do, but the people who do keyhole on certain days would take "on-ride" photos of you while riding Tasmanian Typhoon or the Lazy River.

It closed after the opening season due to lack of sales. At the beginning of 2002, it was the only On-Ride Photo location run by Merch-Owned. Sales weren't up to expectations, so it has served as a stockroom for Outfitter's Supplies and Rivertown Carts since then.

Oh God... that fateful day. I remember it well. I was going to Burger King to get lunch before my late shift (at 1:30), but I noticed the interstate exit backed up a mile from the park. I passed the park and saw the hell that was June 30th, 2002. So many cars, so many cars. Needless to say, rather than going to Burger King I went to work knowing my boss was the only one there. You think waiting an hour and a half to ride Congo is bad, people were all the way down the staircase and spilled into the WW pathways on the Speed Slides! Talk about packed! That was the one of the more stressful days I ever worked at PKI. But I digress. Must be the end of full season, kids and families going to the park before school starts up.

I've been stuck on 2 rides Beast -- 2001, second lift. It was pretty frightening as a severe storm was moving into the area, and there was cloud to ground strikes all around us. Little kinderlots were crying. They sent out a crew member to console the train, and he was instructed to move behind the train as they restarted the lift. I found that to be interesting. As soon as we got of the ride it began to pour extremely hard. Tomb Raider -- 2004, Pretty much like everyone's elses TR break down There was also the time I was on Gemini, and every train in the park with the exception of the one I was on stopped running. That was surreal, and it was even more surreal when we found out the entire east coast was out of power. Yay for being at CP on the day of the Great Blackout of 2003.

^ Answer to 2: Coolangatta Racers took their place. As for the best ride in BB, it's by far Taz. I don't ride water slides often (can you blame me though, I worked in a waterpark, the last place I wanted to be on my day off was there), and I found the slide to be a vastly different experience then other slides.

In 1999, I waited 2 and a half hours to ride Drop Zone on the day it opened to the general public. In 1993, I waited 2 and a half hours to ride Raptor at Cedar Point, making it the first 54" ride I ever rode.

I don't remember The Beastie being open back in the early 90s Winterfests. I do though remember the Boulder Bumpers Ice Rink, being able to ride the Scooby Zoom, Smurf's Enchanted Voyage, and in its final season Phantom Pheater. I could be wrong however about The Beastie as I was 8 the final season Winterfest, so maybe my parents just avoided that ride.

I seriously doubt that they would remove Hanna-Barbera, but a complete and utter retheme would never be out of the question, after all, the licensing expires soon.

I'd go with BB, we have poolside service and cabana hosts. Too bad I am a little biased... "Oh, you want fries with you're poolside service? Sorry but we can't do that, it is a hazard."

Where's Oscar's on this list? If that was there I would vote for it in a heart beat. Unfortunately it is not, so I'll have too choose something else. What, no Festhaus? That place, as I remember it, was lacking in food quality and atmosphere, why eat at dark, dreary Festhaus when you could enjoy better food and a lovely outdoor atmosphere at any of the other LaRosa's locations? Well, since Festhaus is not on the list I suppose I'll have to go with Skyline. Not a big fan of their chili, which I suppose you could say is blasphemy, as I grew up on the Westside, where Skyline reigns supreme.

My best memories of PKI have to be of when I worked there. I made so many friends, learned so many things, and experienced things that no 16 or 17 year old should ever experience. The Merchandise olympics were pretty memorable too, but then they would be if you were robbed twice for best opening ceremonies performance. Alas, at least I made people laugh with my store's performance, and when I dressed up as MJ last year the staffing manager had no idea who I was, and when someone finally told her she yelled, "OH MY GOD, THAT'S DAVID?!" (purposefully meant to be in caps) I found that to be memorable.

20 in 2 days, no more being a teenager, what a pity.

Greater's had been an active Merchandise location for many, many years. In recent times it has been Animal Fair and until 2001 the Toybox, both of which sold Beanie Babies. During 2002 the location got a makeover and became the Sanrio Store, but the location faltered and closed by July of that year. Perhaps it was the product selection, perhaps it was too many locations on the manager's plate, I don't know. Afterwards it became the staging area for Night Novelty Vending from mid-2002 to closing day of 2004, to once again reopen to the public as a Greater's. And I miss Sharkey's, not so much for the food but moreso for Sentimental Reasons. It was one of the only areas of the Park where Merchandise and Food got along, and I liked the the paintings on my store's walls as well as Sharkey's wall advertising each others' locations.

It would take quite some considerable time to transform some of the departments for Winterfest. I'm sure Merchandise would be putting in long hours changing their product lines to accomodate the winter season over the summer season. If Winterfest does come back I'd feel sorry for the poor souls that would have to bust a move to get things in order quickly and beautifully. Good thing I'll be cooping through the holiday season.

I miss the King Cobra and Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal. I was really disappointed when they got rid of KCKC. The line for it was always shorter than the other flume attractions. I guess I also miss the bridge into Rivertown and the Original Entrance into Rivertown from HB. While the entrance is technically still there, it isn't the same when it is used as a cover for some outdoor tables and also missing the lights. (I think there were lights, but that was so long ago.)

Colorvision (Amazing Pictures), Kodak, and other concessionaires all are under contract with the park. They are obligated to give a percentage of the revenue they make to the department they are affiliated. For example, there is Merch Concessions and the Merch Owned locations. All photo operations are run by a concession. In 2002 PKI tried an owned photo operation, but it didn't work out as spectacularly as planned, and has since been a storage location for a Merch Owned and Food Owned operation.

I always thought it was so the peeps didn't hit the magic number of 1820. What is this life you speak of outside of PKI? I don't remember such a thing, and I worked no where near as much as some of the wonderful people in PKI's neighborhood food service department I wonder where'd they'd place smoking areas in the park, it isn't as though there are high tension wires bisecting the main park causing large open spaces. The best thing about smoking bans is getting to deal with those people who just blow smoke in your face when asked to place it out, or those people who put cigarette butts out in the waterpark and leave them smouldering on the concrete paths. Nice thinking, isn't it? I enjoy saving three dollars on 64oz mugs.

I bet that when the park does open in April that you'll all get to see designated smoking areas, should they actually ban smoking. They could even use the "hidden" picnic area behind wings as a smoking area. I really doubt though that they would create an absolute ban on smoking in the park, if they are then why would they have placed a designated smoking area in Boomerang Bay the year before? I'm sure the topic of smoking ban has been ongoing in the ranks of Paramount, and if they knew that eventually would create a total ban on smoking then they would have saved the money in creating the smoking area and forced people to smoke outside the gates, as in the past. I also find the absolute ban on smoking a little bit hard to believe just because of the shear volume of people in upper management that do smoke. The ratio is somewhat astounding. As smokers, they must realize that there are people with families that smoke as well, and may be deterred from visiting the park. But then on the other hand, I'm sure management will still be able to smoke behind the scenes, and there's no way that they would strip themselves as the ability to smoke. After all, in management, you're either addicted to caffeine or nicotine. On that note, I need to go drink another Coke. As for new food options, I find it funny how one of the new food stands hasn't been guessed with all the hints on this site, and the fact that on the park map last year it said that a food stand would go into the old Sanrio [Toy Box (Animal Fair)] Store last year? But then also was Sanrio really empty last year? Merchandise sure does keeping product out of the warehouse and into its locations, even if it means over populating the stockrooms. And I bet there will be some other changes in other resale departments that you will get to see that may or may not affect you. As to what those are, time shall tell.

Let me tell you how likely you are to get a position in rides first hand. I just happen to have the same birthday as you, April 19th. Back in 2001 I applied to be a rides associate in March. Needless to say, I worked in Merchandise for the last 4 seasons. Trying doesn't hurt, but don't be too disappointed if rides is closed when you return again to HR.

Eh, if you really want to do something you do it for the love of doing it, not for the money. Besides, we civils make the infrastructure improvements that count. Without them, this world might be a little more archaic than it is now.

Good offseason photos, I must say. It's pretty exciting to know that the Eiffel Tower is being repainted. And, I know the photographer, which is pretty cool.

I think I heard that song a little bit too much this summer, got a little obnoxious. But, I have to say that a lot of the songs in Boomerang Bay were pretty cool. But then my favorite songs are those on International Street, those songs from movies are awesome. But, my absolute favorite song was one played in Boomerang Bay, on the second half of the soundtrack. I don't know the name of the song but the first vocal line goes something like "Oh--- ay oh-- aye! Oh--, Oh--- ay oh-- aye!" Too bad I do not know the name though.

You know, in four years of working in the waterpark, I only visited the waterpark once on an off day to enjoy it. Granted, I had visited Waterworks before I had worked there, but that was such a long time ago and I remember it as huge lines. But, when I went this year to visit the park for fun, I was blown away with how much fun I had in the park. There is an atmosphere, there are new rides, there are new attractions, the park itself is very different from its predecessor. The rides they added are a ton of fun, especially Tasmanian Typhoon. Tasmanian Typhoon might be one of my favorite rides in the park, it was that fun. Boomerang Bay pulled off things that were quite impressive from many standpoints. Poolside service was started and continued throughout the season. From them you could have lunch or dinner brought to your lounge chair. The Cabana Service started and was actually extremely successful in its first year. There you had top notch hosts trying to fulfill your every need as much as the possibly could. Food Service expanded their operations in the waterpark to include a subway, an "Aussie" Eatery and a Walkabout Pub. Merchandise expanded their flagship store and expanded their product offerings (as well as adding AC to the Stockroom ). Lots of Landscaping was done, painting was done, retheming was done, it was a very impressive, different place. Waterworks was an extremely drab, soft toned, generic park. Boomerang Bay had a vibrant atmosphere, color, theming, and an overall experience. That is what put Boomerang Bay so far ahead of its predecessor. Sure, extra things could have been done, or things could have been done better. It was a pilot year for the park, and there were glitches to work out in all aspects of the new park, and criticisms to be had. That is to be expected, and as the year progressed many of those glitches and criticisms were assessed and rectified. Sure it would have been nice to have more glitz and glamour, but then the glitz and glamour they did add over the off season was more than enough to wow the guests that we entertained. If it was not then the park would not have been one of the Top 5 Waterparks in the Country as Rated by Amusement Today.

My coworker and I saw the plane circle the park several times while running cabanas, and we both thought that the banner was something that should not have been flying over a park. Should a four-year old really be exposed to a picture of a 10 week aborted fetus (I think that is what it was, hence the 10 week abortion), I don't think so. I hope someone is fined for that inappropriate piece of propaganda.

PKI does sell a very limited selection of rides specific apparel for Hanna Barbera Land and Nick Central. The best bet you have for finding any HB ride on a shirt would be for Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle. You may find Rugrats Runaway Reptar, Top Cat's Taxi Jam, or just general HB merchandise in Animation Station, but unfortunately I would only expect seeing Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle Merchandise, and with that program you may be hard pressed to find certain sizes, as it is late in the season and reorders in programs won't be until next season, if at all. There is other Nickelodeon Merchandise located in the park, but none of it is ride related. You'll find a multiude of general Spongebob and Dora Merchandise located in either the Nickelodeon Store or Animation Station, and Scooby can be found in the Scooby Room of Emporium or also in Animation Station.