Day () The Return! (Oh, great *facepalm*)

That's right! I'm, back!

So it has been about a year since I worked at that retched amusement park, and I am glad that I do not work there any longer! But, I made an unfortunate visit to the park about two weeks ago...

It was just as I remembered it...run down, unsanitary, crowded and not worth the money. Oh, the times me and that park used to have...how I don't miss them! A lot hasn't changed in the park; in fact, things have gotten worse. Would you like to enjoy a nice bumper car ride? Too bad! The bumper cars desperately need to be replaced. They hardly work anymore. But on the plus side, they decided to replace the coaster for The Comet...or spray paint it a new colour. Who knows. We did go into the water park, but once again, I really don't want to see the effects of McDonald's...but see them, I did. It's really not what I want to see, but unfortunately, you can't go anywhere in the states without seeing it. Now, me and my sister didn't swim because of our newly acquired injuries (ATV's can and DO flip over..........) and it is a good thing because it was just overwhelmingly unsanitary and disgusting. If there is anything that desperately needs to be fixed up, its the water park. Sure, the new "toilet bowl" ride is pretty sweet, but that is the only thing that is sanitary looking and that is only because its new.

And, you know, it wouldn't kill them to put chemicals in the water that turns pee blue...




...you have NO IDEA what you're really swimming in when it comes to public swimming park and pools... (Photo from the movie "Grown-Ups")



But anyway, the rides were okay. The Crazy Mouse, or Wild Cat, or whatever the devil that little coaster-like thing is called wasn't so bad. But of course, it is only a few years old. The Ferris Wheel, on the other hand could use with some colour. The thing looks like it hasn't been painted in years (probably true). It would make it look a little less old and dangerous if it has some colour to it. And we didn't even dare venture onto the Full Tilt after our experience last year with loose harnessing.

Speaking of loose harnessing, did I mention that my cousin's friend experienced a potentially life threatening moment that had to do with the park's only good ride? Yup, Amber's lock barn came flying up after the first hill on The Comet. It's a damn good thing there was a seat belt! And, if she would have said something to one of the attendants, she could have totally sued or something along those lines...or at least get a free pass for being in such a dangerous situation! Obviously they don't check the lock bars very well before take off. I know if that were me, I would be complaining my head off! Not to be a bitch or anything, but come on! What if you were in that predicament? Imagine being on Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster and having your lock down bar fly up. Doesn't sound so minor now, does it? 420 feet straight up AND down at 120mph with no lock down bar? Best of luck.

So that was terrifying. Did I mention the faulty antique cars? Yea, my cousin drove the rear wheel off the track FIVE TIMES. It would seem that the antique cars need a new track. Maybe one that could actually keep the cars on them. Hmmm...sounds crazy, right!? But unfortunately, they are too cheap to fix up their park. All I know is that when my cousin learns to drive, I will be sure to get off the road.

Speaking of out dated, has anyone seen the Wild Western show? We didn't see it, but we could hear it going on as we entered the park. Of course, I don't need to see it to know that they have a shoot out, pick an audience member to join in the fight, and have the 'bad guy' get shot off the roof and fall onto a probably thirty year old mat, and then all the kids stampede over to the cowboys to get our honorary sheriff badges. Can you tell I have seen the show a few times? One time, my uncle was that luck audience member to join in the show. Pretty fun at the time, but of course, when they have been doing the same show for as long as the park has been open, and like five times a day, it gets kind of old. Yup, they are so cheap that they can't come up with maybe a second or third skit so audience members aren't seeing the same show three times a day. Good job.

Overall, this park still needs a major make over. But I highly doubt that that is going to happen because the owner is obviously a very cheap man if he has let it get this bad. And the worst part is that he is making a shit load of money on his crappy run down park. *sigh* the world today. Instead of riding crappy rides, why not go play outside? Throw a rock, kick a can, have an adventure. Go find Never Neverland! Do something productive! Don't waste money on this crappy park! Goodness!

(Hook (1991). Lost Boys of Neverland)

Day Fourteen: The Ladybugs (A new ride??? For me? Really!?!)

And today was a day just like any other. My goal for today was to secure that I would get my working papers back, and I was determined to have my mission complete. After I was told where I was going, and everyone else had their positions, I asked Sandy if I could have my papers back. It went something like this.

Me: “Um, I was wondering if I could have my working papers back.”

Sandy: “Why?” *snobbish*

Me: “Because I got a new job and can’t start there until I have them.”

Sandy: “Your gonna work today though?” *nervously*

Me: “Yea! I’m not here to say ‘See ya!’” (although I wish I was)

Sandy: Okay. Yea, you can have them back.

Me: Thanks.

My day was pretty good, I was on a new ride, and I began to realize that you can’t work there unless they have your papers. So this could possible be my last day. And it was a wonderful last day, let me tell you, the best day of work I’ve had all summer. And for all of you who thought I could never have a good day at work, I have just proven you wrong. First off, I was on a new ride that didn’t completely suck. Second, the music in the kiddie park was being dumb, so no music. Perfect! And third, this little girl I met.

Her name was Ali, she was four, five or six years old, had bleach blonde hair, blue eyes and a light purple tank top on. Her younger sister, Sarah, looked exactly like her. Out of all the kids I’ve encountered in my time at Fantasy Island, Ali was the best. She was so full of energy and seemed to see everything in a positive way. She was all excited to ride the ladybugs, and the smile NEVER left her face. She climbed in and sat down, even handed me the seatbelt, and prepared for her ride. She laughed and screamed in excitement, as her younger sister, sitting beside her, smiled and laughed in awe. Ali and her sister rode a few times in a row, and Ali even kept riding when her sister was done.

Her Dad told her that she could ride once more then they would ride something else. She seemed sad, but asked if they could come back, and perked right back up when her Father agreed. She did, in fact, return about a half an hour later. I saw her and said, “Hey! I know you!” She giggled and her smile widened as she ran through the gate. She climbed up, grabbed the seatbelt and claimed with a smile in her face: “I can do it myself! Watch!” The seatbelts are hard to put in for little kids, so I grabbed the end and pulled it in with her. I told her she did a great job and asked her for a high five. She gave me one--so cute!

She got out all by herself (also saying she could) and I knelt down and asked for a high five again.

“Give me a hard one!” I told her excitedly. She wound up and gave it all she had. I faked that it hurt, holding my hand and saying: “Ouch! You hurt my hand! You’re so strong!” She giggled even more. As she was exiting, her dad said “Do this one” as he put his hand out to the side. The high five game. Smiling, she turned to me and said:

“High five. To the side. To the other side. Down low. TOO SLOW!”

“Oh, no! You got me! Your really quick!” I said in fake defeat. She was the cutest girl, and always so happy. She really lifted my spirits all the way to the top today. I was in such a good mood, the best I’ve been in months. It amazed me how one little girl could bring me out of my stupor that I’ve been in for months within like ten minutes total. There was no being upset for the rest of the day. I was always in a good mood, and happy to see all the little kiddos who wanted to ride. It was the best day of work I’ve ever had, and it fit perfectly that this day could potentially be my last. I felt like doing a back flip. Kind of like this:

I heard the other day that Sandy--the main supervisor for Rides and Games--quit. That’s right. Surprising, yes? She has been there for awhile from what it sounded like, and she quit (and apparently took her set of keys to various things in the park with her). Although I really don’t work there anymore, I was EXTREMELY curious as to what happened. No one knows though, so I’m left wondering what could possibly make her quit. Well, it happened, I don’t work there anymore.

I must say, I learned a lot from Fantasy Island:

One: You can text….don’t get caught.

Two: You can sit down….just don’t get caught.

Three: Nothing is sanitary.

Four: Cut the teacups ride short (less likely to have kids throw up. Etc.)

Five: You get a discount on food….not by much though.

Six: They don’t even punish you for being late.

Seven: Your ride CAN’T become invisible…no matter how hard you try.

And Finally, Eight: NEVER work at an amusement park. Just don’t.

Day Thirteen: The Magical Ring (Oh, I’m leaping with joy…)

Yes, yet another day at “Phantom Island Prison for idiotic people who applied and got hired without realizing what they were getting their selves into.” You can call it that….or Fantasy Island (more commonly known as). There was nothing new about this day. I have noticed that my days at this park seem to be the same. I get a ride I hate, I operate it anyway, kids ride, kids misbehave, kids scream. Nothing new. Except there was a pleasant surprise today. Sara came over after I ran my test run and started pulling something out of a thin, long, bag that was on the ground next to the fence. It was a large umbrella! Yes! I get to stand in the shade now! I can’t believe that they were nice enough to provide the rides that had no shade to stand under an umbrella. How nice. That brightened my day, but let it be known that it doesn’t mean I hate the job a little less…because it soooooo doesn’t.

Anyways, I really don’t have much to say about this day, nothing exciting or out of the ordinary happened--except for the umbrella, of course. My day was boring and long, and very uneventful.

My day in a nutshell: silence.

Day (): Being the guest and not the worker.

Every month I work, I get four free admission passes to get into the park. So I thought it would be fun if I took my younger cousins to the park today. So the six of us (me, my sister, two cousins and my cousin’s friend) got into the park with no problems and for free. I led them towards the back side of the park where all the bigger kid rides are. We raced on the big slide--which I must say, didn’t really look like it needed a painting like the other rides. Then, being bold, I decided that I would try the new ride at the park, the Mega Disco. The Disco is a ride that moves back and forth on a half pipe shaped track and spins around as it goes. I hate spin rides a lot, and won’t dare to go on them, but I was hoping that if I went on, my cousin would.

So I got in line, positive that this would make me nauseous, but ready to try it anyway. The ride is a big disc shape with seats lined around the outside which you sit on like you were on a motorcycle. Then, a backing comes up and locked you in place. Trust me, these seats aren’t that comfortable because your chest is being pressed against the pad on the front. But anyway, I rode, I didn’t get nauseous--I think because of the fact that it wasn’t staying in one place and spinning.

We went on the Full Tilt as well. Its similar to the Crazy Bus except bigger. This wasn’t so bad, except the harnesses weren’t super tight, and as a result you moved around as the ride was running. But other than that, it was a good ride. Now comes a complaint. We all were thirsty so me, my cousins and Madison all got Pepsi. After taking a few sips, I realized that there was something wrong with it, it tasted weird. It was flat. Nice, they sold us overpriced flat soda. I decided to go back and tell them that these sodas were flat. The worker tested some from the machine, agreed with us and found the source of the problem--the carbonation machine had turned itself off. She gave us all new sodas and apologized for the inconvenience.

Then there was the Crazy Mouse. It had broken down, and two of my supervisors plus maintenance was working on getting it up and running. We waited for about twenty minutes and they started to do test runs. But then once of my supervisors (whose name escapes me) said it would be another half hour wait for it to be ready to ride. So we walked next door to the Ferris Wheel. We got on and I noticed the Crazy Mouse was up and running and giving people ride. Nice. That made us all mad. That wasn’t even close to being a half hour! It was really annoying that they weren’t even close on predicting how much time the Crazy Mouse would be out of order, we were at the front and since they said it would be a while, we left.


We went to the water park, and let me tell you, it was a zoo. It was jam packed full of people, and that wasn’t even the worst thing. The worst thing by far, was the bathrooms/changing rooms. You walked in and first of all there was lots of people, second of all, it smelled like something crawled in there and died months ago. It smelled terrible. I would rather stand next to a fresh pile of horse crap than be in there. To make things worse, it was 110 degrees, making the smell 200 times worse than it already was. Plus, the floors were all wet and gross. Ew. There was no possible way that I was changing in there. Out of all the repairs that need to happen at this park, the bathroom in the water park should be at the top of the list. But I doubt that will happen.

So I personally didn’t change into my swimsuit, although everyone else did. I though about how gross the water is, and how countless numbers of kids probably peed in there that the chlorine couldn’t kill. I think I made the right choice in not changing. I sat under one of those faded and old giant umbrella and watched people play in the wave pool. A little while later, my Uncle showed up. We were talking and he said something along the lines of this:

“There are some things in life that I don’t want to see, and I saw about a dozen of them walking in.”

Although mean, it was very true. Its true that the majority of American is overweight, but that doesn’t seem to stop people from wearing no shirts and bikinis. He even mentioned he saw an elderly lady wearing a bikini *flinches* Yikes! Could you imagine your grandmother in one? Yea, I didn’t think so. Case closed. Everyone was done with the water park within a half and hour or so, meaning I wasn’t just sitting there for long. They all got dressed, we got some soft serve ice cream, and back into the main part of the park we went. The Crazy Mouse, the Mega Disco, the Silver Comet, the Tilt-A-Whirl, etc. We rode more rides, and were out of there by 7-7:30. I must say, by the end of the day, I was pooped. I don’t know how people stay there for the full nine hours, its exhausting.

So now that I have a perspective of being the guest, I have to say that I rate the park 2/5 stars. (FAIL) There are a lot of rides that need to be fixed up and looking nicer, and the facilities are quite gross, plus none of the employees were all that happy. Not even a smile, except for one of two of them. It is a very kid friendly park, but the rides need repair and the food prices are so high that its hardly even worth buying. I do not recommend wasting your money here if your kids are a little older. This park is mainly for real little kids. If you have a kid between the little kid rides and the big kid rides, take them to Darien Lake. Although the price is higher to get in, there is more variation between rides, and they may better enjoy it. Note: This review is strictly taken from a guest’s point of view and is based nothing off the fact that I work there. This is how I honestly perceived the park as a guest.

Final grade: D

Day Twelve: The Boats/ The Tea Cups. (It’s about time they mixed it up!)

Alright, another day at work, ugh. Well, I got to work early today, not terribly early, but I had time to get my shirt and everything, plus a few minutes of just standing around. That was the first time since my first day. I was less than happy when I heard I would be on the boats. Other than the teacups, it was my least favorite ride. I left wardrobe, walked like five feet before I realized I forgot to punch in. That could have been tragic! I went back, clocked in, and left for the boats.

When I got there, there was already a mother and child waiting closely by the gate. I excused myself, and did my test run. There seemed to be a decent amount of people riding and in the park today, not and overwhelming number, but it wasn’t dead…until around one-ish. The park seemed to be starting to clear out. I would only give like one or two kids a ride every once in a while. I noticed a few of my co-workers were sitting, so I hopped up on the wooden fence that surrounded the boats. I watched for any sign of Eric or Sara--knowing I would get in trouble for sitting--but Eric was only in the kiddie park for a few minutes earlier, and Sara was helping with the trains ( I just had to stand when I heard the train coming). There seemed to be something wrong with both the trains that went around the park. They were working on them, Sara and one of the maintenance guys.

On top of the trains, after giving a ride, I noticed how quiet it was. I was confused about the silence, but then I realized what the cause of it was: the music that is usually blaring in the kiddie park had stopped. It was strange how quiet it was--I could actually hear kids yelling in excitement, and people talking, and co-workers talking. Strange indeed, though I wasn’t complaining, I liked having some quiet. I talked to Destiny a lot today, it was kind of nice having a friend in my department to talk to. We talked about various things throughout the day, and I even talked to Jill a bit. I was coming to know a few people that I would talk to. It was way better than being the noob that knew nothing and nobody. So, I was enjoying the quiet, and sitting on the fence and the lack of people.

Around six, Destiny was on the ride next to me and we were talking. She mention that we might get to go home because there was really no one in the park. Then Sara came walking over and asked me if I wanted to go home. Just talking to Destiny, she yelled over that I just told her I wanted to go home. Thanks Destiny. Of course I wanted to go home! But, if I were to go, I would have to pick up another day to get all my hours. This is something to avoid. So I told Sara that if she didn’t need me, I would go, but if she did need me, I would stay. She asked me if I knew how to work the teacups.

So, I didn’t leave, but was moved to another ride--I know, I know, your probably thinking, “What!? Are you crazy!?” Of course I wanted to leave, but I needed my hours.-- If I was moved to a new ride half way through every work day, this job wouldn’t be nearly as bad! There was about three hours left until the park closed, so I figured, with a new ride, I could handle it. Unfortunately, the teacups are my least favorite ride because they spin, and spinning results in dizziness, vomiting, fainting, nauseous feeling, etc. I don’t want to have to deal with that. Truth be told, I only gave a few rides. There were two little twin girl who rode a few times, and a few random rides, other than that, nothing.

But of course, the teacups never go without incident. Two girls and a boy were riding in one cup together, and they were spinning relatively fast. Suddenly, the boy started crying, and fell over and then proceeded to scream. I hit the stop button then jumped on the platform and stopped the cup from spinning. He was okay, I think it was just too much spinning for him. Other than that, nothing happened. The rides were temporarily shut down when Sara saw lightning. She just told me to turn it off. I had to explain to a few people who came up that the ride was temporarily closed. I wish it was closed for the remaining half hour that was left for the night, but no. About five minutes later, Sara told me it was okay to re-open. I only had like one or two rides after that and I was done. I must say, today wasn’t as bad. I was sitting a lot of course because there was no one there, and I moved to another ride. If work was like this more often, I don’t think I would mind working there for more than one day. But I know better than to ask for more days.

Funny Note: There was this guy and his little boy walking around. I look over to the Magic ring, and Jill is standing aside laughing while the guy was running the ride for his kid. I couldn’t help but laughing, he was standing there with his foot on the petal, laughing and clapping and telling his kid to drive the car. It’s the funniest thing I’ve seen a parent do at the park. Sara came over and talked to him though, I think he got in trouble. But it was still so funny!

My day in a nutshell: My day didn’t really consist of a lot of talking. I didn’t even tell kids to take their hands out of the water that much. And I didn’t really say anything repeatedly at the teacups either. It was a quiet day. Thank goodness!

Day Eleven: The Crazy Bus (Can’t I just have a new ride!?!?)

Yes, once again I was put on the that damn bus. I wasn’t going to complain though, I was in no mood for it. I was just ready to start the day so it could be over. My friend had finally snapped over my depressing and moody behavior for the last few weeks and told me off. So I could care less if I was on the bus, and I didn’t try to cheer up for the customers either. So I was there, somber looking, and probably scared some children away (yes!). Though scaring children away wasn’t my goal. I guess my depressing mood was obvious because one woman in particular was watching me as she sat on the bus with her younger kids. I slammed one of the doors of the bus a bit harder than necessary and she said something about me having a temper. I rolled my eyes and walked away. If what has been happening to me the last month or so was happening to her, I don’t think she would be all cheery and perky either. So deal.

I went on my first break--which was only an hour after I started working--and tried to sort things out with my friend. I ate, sat there for a while thinking things over, then went back to work, still as upset as I was when I started. People came, people went, and I could care less if they noticed my somber mood. I did have to laugh a bit when this one girl, probably thirteen or fourteen, came over to ride. She was very enthusiastic about riding, as if the crazy bus was the best ride in the park. It was quite entertaining. So she and like two littler kids rode (and rode again because of the absence of a line.) After, she ran off to her friends begging them to ride with her. It was quite funny. But not even that could completely cheer me up. I had a lot of older kids ride the bus today, quite strange indeed. I had two guys that were around my age ride (they were quite excited), and a group of girls my age. One even told me that it was the best ride ever and personally thanked me by name. Then went on to make sure that I didn’t think she was a stalker for knowing my name, and that she had read it off my nametag. This, I couldn’t help laughing at.

After my second break, I walked back to the bus, and just as I was rounding the corner of Bopper’s, I saw Lindsay telling everyone to put their arms up so she could release the retrain bars. She was very enthusiastic about it and put her arms up to demonstrate. I felt bad. She was running my ride better than I was. I was just being all miserable with a rain cloud over my head and I forgot that I’m supposed to be making the guests’ day enjoyable. I tried to perk up, being all friendly and talkative to the kids and parents. It only lasted about forty-five minutes before my rain cloud overtook me again. At least I tried. At around seven thirty, the park was so deserted that it seemed like it should close an hour early. But, of course, they wouldn’t be that nice. So for the last hour, I stood there, gave a few rides, and laughed at this guy that was walking by. He looked over at me as he passed and I smiled, then, as he kept walking he kept looking back at me like ever 5 seconds. It was pretty comical. Finally he was out of sight. Very strange indeed.

I gave my last ride and it ended at 8:29. Finally! Last ride! I had kids asking if they could ride again, and I was filled with relief when I told them we were closed. Another day gone, leaving me with one less work day.

My day in a nutshell: “Hands up, everyone!”

Day Ten: The Boats (This won't be so ba--never mind.)

I was late (once again) to work today. Everyone was pretty much gone already, except Sandy and a supervisor or two. She told me that I would be on the boats. I grabbed my shirt, then had trouble punching in (of course). The thing didn’t seem to be working, and it wasn’t just me because a life guard named Brian was having trouble as well. Brian and I stood there for like five minutes before we finally were able to punch in. Laughing, I headed towards the boats. Destiny was there waiting for me to take over. I told her that I hadn’t been on the boats before so I didn’t know how to work them and she gladly said she would show me how. As she was telling me about the operation of the ride, a few kids came to ride. She measured the one girl and she was too tall. Her parents were kind of mad. Her mom went on about the sign that said she was short enough to ride. Destiny told them that she was too tall. Angered, the mom told her kid to take her shoes off. The girl did, and she was still too tall. Her parents were pissed. They dropped an F-bomb and said that the place was stupid and that we should change our signs. Angered, they walked away. We only do what out boss tells us to do, we have nothing to do with the signs for the rides or the height sticks. We are told how the ride works and who can and can’t ride it, and we obey what is said. But the parent’s were still pissed off. Destiny and I went into a conversation about how rough a time some parents give us. Its like, your kid is too tall for the kiddie rides, so take them to the big kid side of the park and deal! After a few stories from Destiny about some rather angry parents, she wished me goodbye and left.

She came back a few minutes later with Katie, who was going around with the books (there is a book for each ride, which the person running the ride has to fill out the date, weather, that they have been trained on the ride and then their signature. This process happens everyday, and to all workers.) So they came over, Destiny telling Katie of the incident with the parents. After we all agreed that people should just chill, they left. I thought this ride wouldn’t be so bad, it was a new ride that was in a different area of the kiddie park, with a different view of everything. Plus, the petting zoo was right next door--most people would think it smelled bad, but it didn’t bother me--and the donkey’s pen was up against the fence. What a cute little donkey. But anyway, after a while though, I saw the bad of this ride as well, the kids always wanted to put their hands into the nasty water that the boats were in. I was constantly yelling for them to take their hands out of the water. I remember, one girl just wouldn’t listen. I stopped the ride like two or three times telling her to stop. The last time I stopped it, I told her and her sister that if she didn’t keep her hands in the boat, they’d have to get off. Her sister grabbed both of her sister’s arms and held them inside the boat. The girl squealed and thrashed, but he sister was successful in keeping the girls hands out of the water, but this was after the girl had stuck her entire hand in the water then proceeded to stick her whole fist in her mouth. EEEEEWWWWW!! So gross. Getting annoyed at this ride, and having enough of being there, I began to get restless and my feet hurt and I was so done with little kids. I was letting yet another group of kids on when I recognized one of their parents. My elementary school art teacher, Mrs. Nachreiner was standing there. It was a simple talk that went something along the lines of…

Her: “Arizona.”

Me: “Mrs. Nachreiner.”

Of course we went on to ask how I was and she introduced me to her son and niece (who were both ADORABLE!) We talked for a minute or two until…

Her: “Am I allowed to be up here?”

Me: “No, not really. Ha-ha”

*walks off platform, and I start ride*

Although I would have gladly broken the rules so I could continue to talk to her, (she was one of my favorite teacher in elementary school) but I risked Eric seeing me, and he had no problem telling me what I wasn’t allowed to do. So her kids rode, we talked a bit after, telling me her husband remembered me from Art Club like six years ago. It was nice to see them, and that visit brightened my day considerably. I hope to see them again soon. The happiness wore off, of course. I mean, I can’t be happy for very long, for some reason, the world won’t let me be. So I went on, getting kids on and off, texting when no one could see--there was a major issue going on with my best friend, Sara, at the barn, and I just HAD to know. So I risked getting caught. I don’t care. The barn issue was way more important than Eric yelling at me and taking my phone or whatever it is he would have done. Anxious to get home and call Sara to get all the details about the incident, time seemed to stop. UGH. Finally, after a few more hours of yelling at kids to get there stupid hands out of the water, it was time to go. I left quickly (as usual), unbuttoning my shirt as I walked, took it off, threw it in the hamper, checked the new schedule and punched out. Phew. I hate those stupid boats.

My day in a nutshell: “Don’t put your hands in the water!”