- September 4th, 2005, 10:57 pm
#14453
Me and a friend went by the park this evening (9/4/05) to get a few rides on this holiday weekend. The park was pretty crowded but the lines were very tolerable, with the longest wait being the Flyers at around 30 minutes. Thunder Road & Top Gun were running good as usual and Doug, an operator on the forward side of TR was great. Very much into his job and appreciated by all.
On the other side of the park things were not so good on the Hurler. We arrived at the Hurler around 6:45pm. They were running 2 trains with a max 5 train wait (front seat) or less. The wait time between dispatches was an abysmal and unwarranted 4-5 minutes every time we were up there.
The 2 employees checking restraints were having way too much fun passing a nerf football, and hanging out in the operators booth while while riders sat in their seats waiting for the darn GATES to close and have their lap bars checked. Not to mention the second train sitting on the brake run for several minutes each time.
Incomming riders were totally clueless and kept constantly exiting on the right of the train when it entered the brake run. Some were getting hit by the gates as they automatically open or close because the driver was not paying attention. He was hitting buttons on the control panal while talking to someone sitting on the floor in the operators booth. The other employees were paying no attention to this at all. But they loved passing that nerf football back & forth over the heads of patiently WAITING riders, while the other train continues to sit on the brake run for an unreasonable amount of time. When they finally decided to check the riders restraints, they bascially ran the length of the train tapping each bar as they passed.
It was a dangerous situation to say the least and while guests were running around jumping in empty seats, one guy even climbed over the gate after it closed, the employees never noticed a thing or if they did, they didn't care. The driver never watched a single train as it left the station as he was too busy chatting with someone in the other direction.
I hate to say this but this has been a problem at this park in the past, especially after school starts and the newer employees begin. I just hope no one gets hurt because of this callous behavior by the Hurler crew.
On the other side of the park things were not so good on the Hurler. We arrived at the Hurler around 6:45pm. They were running 2 trains with a max 5 train wait (front seat) or less. The wait time between dispatches was an abysmal and unwarranted 4-5 minutes every time we were up there.
The 2 employees checking restraints were having way too much fun passing a nerf football, and hanging out in the operators booth while while riders sat in their seats waiting for the darn GATES to close and have their lap bars checked. Not to mention the second train sitting on the brake run for several minutes each time.
Incomming riders were totally clueless and kept constantly exiting on the right of the train when it entered the brake run. Some were getting hit by the gates as they automatically open or close because the driver was not paying attention. He was hitting buttons on the control panal while talking to someone sitting on the floor in the operators booth. The other employees were paying no attention to this at all. But they loved passing that nerf football back & forth over the heads of patiently WAITING riders, while the other train continues to sit on the brake run for an unreasonable amount of time. When they finally decided to check the riders restraints, they bascially ran the length of the train tapping each bar as they passed.
It was a dangerous situation to say the least and while guests were running around jumping in empty seats, one guy even climbed over the gate after it closed, the employees never noticed a thing or if they did, they didn't care. The driver never watched a single train as it left the station as he was too busy chatting with someone in the other direction.
I hate to say this but this has been a problem at this park in the past, especially after school starts and the newer employees begin. I just hope no one gets hurt because of this callous behavior by the Hurler crew.
Carowinds: The Early Years
Updated March 2016. More great old photos!
Lakewood Park
Charlotte's first amusement park in 1910.
Updated March 2016. More great old photos!
Lakewood Park
Charlotte's first amusement park in 1910.
