- July 31st, 2005, 7:25 pm
#13335
I got to the park today around 4:30 and then an announcement was made over the loudspeakers that Carowinds would be closing at 6:00 today due to weather. I rode some rides and stayed on most of them because there were no lines. I leave the park, head to my truck parked at the south gate around 10 minutes til 6. I decided to get my camera out since it had stopped raining and snap a few photos of the last few runs of Top Gun and Thunder Road.
After that, I decided to ride down to the end of the parking lot and take a few pictures of the coasters from a different angle. I'm putting my camera up and getting back in my truck when two Carowinds Security cars pull up and box me in.
One officer gets out of his car and asks me what I'm doing down here. I tell him I'm snapping a few shots of the coasters. He then asks me why. I tell him that I'm a coaster enthusiast and like to have some pictures of the coasters. The officer tells me that it looks suspicious that I'm all the way at the end of the parking lot taking pictures of a coaster, and that I'm not doing anything wrong, but after the
events of 9/11 the park can't ever be too careful.
He walks over to the other car, leaving his door open, and starts talking to the other officer. I can hear everything they are saying over the radio from the car since his door was left open. They tell the dispatch the make, model and color of my truck, and that I'm talking some photos of Thunder Road, yadda yadda yadda.
After about 5 minutes of this, both officers come back over and ask to see the pictures. I get my digital camera back out and show them the pictures. Satisfied, the officer thanks me for cooperating and lets me get back in my truck and be on my way. I thank them both for doing their job and that I feel safer at the park because of their presence.
Now that leads me to this. When I first got down to the other end of the lot, a pickup inside the park drove past Thunder Road on a maintenance road heading toward the South Gate. Did they radio the dispatch and tell them to check it out, or does the park have security cameras looking over the parking lots?
Have any of you had similar incidents with Carowinds Security?
After that, I decided to ride down to the end of the parking lot and take a few pictures of the coasters from a different angle. I'm putting my camera up and getting back in my truck when two Carowinds Security cars pull up and box me in.
One officer gets out of his car and asks me what I'm doing down here. I tell him I'm snapping a few shots of the coasters. He then asks me why. I tell him that I'm a coaster enthusiast and like to have some pictures of the coasters. The officer tells me that it looks suspicious that I'm all the way at the end of the parking lot taking pictures of a coaster, and that I'm not doing anything wrong, but after the
events of 9/11 the park can't ever be too careful.
He walks over to the other car, leaving his door open, and starts talking to the other officer. I can hear everything they are saying over the radio from the car since his door was left open. They tell the dispatch the make, model and color of my truck, and that I'm talking some photos of Thunder Road, yadda yadda yadda.
After about 5 minutes of this, both officers come back over and ask to see the pictures. I get my digital camera back out and show them the pictures. Satisfied, the officer thanks me for cooperating and lets me get back in my truck and be on my way. I thank them both for doing their job and that I feel safer at the park because of their presence.
Now that leads me to this. When I first got down to the other end of the lot, a pickup inside the park drove past Thunder Road on a maintenance road heading toward the South Gate. Did they radio the dispatch and tell them to check it out, or does the park have security cameras looking over the parking lots?
Have any of you had similar incidents with Carowinds Security?
Fifty Consecutive Rides on Thunder Road
August 25, 2005
August 25, 2005
