[Cephas]

That guy got banned from paramount parks.


I can't believe they're actually serious about terrorism at carowinds. I can understand them wanting to keep guns out of the park so that random shootings don't happen; but terrorism, you've gotta be kidding me. Terrorists would never hit a local theme park. That's a very inefficient way of killing americans. Kinda reminds me of the part in Fahrenheit 9/11 where those people were afraid of terrorists bombing a wall mart....

[RollerBee]

-

[montumax]

^^^^Lets start a petition! I'd sign! Lets make some noise at C3!

I'll get right on it....

[coasterholic14]

yea, that's BS...definetly write a letter to the office and if they dont do anything, go there in person and explain it. i'll sign the petition as well

[coasterdave]

Let me be the third one to ask this question and maybe one of the expert will give an answer that will somewhat make some sense. What type of petition are some of you drum beaters starting. I am sure the answer will be....interesting to say the least.

[coasterholic14]

how do they know if you go into the park anyway after you've been "expelled"? not sure how they'd enforce that

[indiangangsta]

i agree with the comment made that the security guys were crazy for pulling you over for taking pictures. Come on!!! i think your buddy was unfairly ejected from the park, but i don't they'll be able to enforce it in any way. I have the utmost sympathy for your friend, and i think that the terror alert thing is just whack. complain, complain and complain.

[thewinds]

By the way… the woman gave you the impression she was the “the head of security at Carowinds” is not. She is head of investigations. Her poor attitude is also the sole reason security has had such trouble in the past year(s) with retention… just look at the employment webpage any given week, and you’ll always see positions in security open. Other than her, security is run by very good, competent, folks. Why she is still there confuses me. If you’re interested, email me and I’ll give you the head of security/ loss prevention manager at the park, as well as the operations vp of which security is under.

[MarkD]

... but terrorism, you've gotta be kidding me. Terrorists would never hit a local theme park. That's a very inefficient way of killing americans. Kinda reminds me of the part in Fahrenheit 9/11 where those people were afraid of terrorists bombing a wall mart....

First off let me say I think you all were treated poorly and hope you get resolution.

To reply to Cephas' comments:

The bombings on London’s trains, the bombing of a hotel in Egypt, the suicide bombings in shopping areas or just groups of people, is that an inefficient way to kill? Remember last year in Iraq they found papers and plans on several Schools here in America?

Terrorists don't actually go for a set amount of people they go for what we take for granted. The whole "Terror" thing is what they try to get across. They want you to be scared of them. They want you to feel uncomfortable in your daily routines.

People laugh at places when they step up security because of terrorist but think about this, they coordinated attack against us on 9/11 and if they did something like that with our theme / amusement parks do you have any idea how many people could be injured / killed? How many people do you think are in America's parks on any given summer day? I'd say a whole lot more than the twin towers held. Also, think of how many Nationalities are in our parks, how many visit from other countries. It is not just about Carowinds it is about the safety of America in general. Plus, if they did hit a park or two wouldn't it always be in the back of your mind every time you visited a park and wouldn't you look at things a little different while you were there? That is the whole point of terrorism.

Now, while nothing they do will ever change what I do, I will though have to respect company’s wishes and go along with their updated security measures.

Terrorists are living here in America, I only hope we keep stopping them before they follow thru on any plans they might have.

[chargercrazy]

Would a terrorist risk taking pictures of a potential target out in the open? Wouldn't they do that kind of recon work at night or something with less chance of being caught?

What would the security guards have done if I had jumped in my truck and took off?

[MarkD]

Would a terrorist risk taking pictures of a potential target out in the open?  Wouldn't they do that kind of recon work at night or something with less chance of being caught?

What would the security guards have done if I had jumped in my truck and took off?

Yes, they would take pictures out in the open. It is not as obvious or dangerous. If they are caught out in the open they can b.s. thier way out of but if they are caught doing recon then it is quite obvious what they are doing and could ruin any plans they were trying to make. How many of us take pictures all the time and nothing is ever said? Think of the odds.

They probably would have called the local police if they thought you were a threat.

I'm not saying anyone did anything wrong and I would be pissed beyond belief and would not stop correspondence until I was satisfied and apologized to. And, if that lady would have hit me I would not stop pursuing her until the police found her and served her papers. I mean come on, I catch guys all the time taking butt shots and making comments about my daughter but I don't go ballistic on them.

I am just commenting on Cephas' comments and what I think he overlooked.

[PKIDelirium]

If PKI Security ever wants to see my pictures on my camera, I'll tell them what to do with their radios and take off. They have no right.

[coasterbruh]

Have any of you had similar incidents with Carowinds Security?

Absolutely!

When I was filming thoughout the beginning of the season, I got stopped once by security asking me what I was doing and I told them im just filming the rides and I was like scott knows I come here all the time (had to drop a name ) Well he left and I saw him again and he spoke to me, then I saw scott and the security must have contact him because he said, jokingly that i was giving security a hard time. Well that day was nothing compared to what happen when I went back to the park to film for my DVD. What I do at all the parks I go to is give an introduction outside the gate. I had finished my filming my introduction then as I was packing up my tripod here comes security. Of course he asked me what I was doing and I was explaining that I come to the park all the time to film and I was just doing some personal filming and thats all. So this time I got the 3rd degree. They were asking me things like am I with the media or something like that. They even mention the 9/11 thing to me too. I was like man, im black im not trying to blow up no buildings heck, im even scared of firecrakers! I even show them that I even had a season pass! (If I was really a terrorist I would just buy a one day admission ticket if I really wanted to get rid of hurler!) So after holding me hostage for like 10 minutes another security dude came. I guess they could tell by the look on my face I was getting aggitated.

So they asked me for my license and my home address and phone number (I think somebody was trying to get a date or something ). They finally let me loose and told me to be careful. I ended up not getting to finish filming for some reason so I had to go back to the park the following fri but this time I just contacted the park to let them know what I was doing so it wouldnt be much problems. Needless to say I didnt really have any problems except one security guard that followed me around the whole time (yeah I knew he was following me but it was no problem, he was nice and we even chatted a little).

Of all the parks I have filmed at carowinds is the only one that I have ran into this problem, not saying that its really a huge problem, and I dont think its a chain wide thing because Im good friends w/ a security operations mananger at PKI and when I filmed at PKD I didnt get stopped for filming. Heck, even at some parks they even encourage me to film (gotta love dollywood!) and even the park guest like to get filmed! But I appreciate what carowinds is doing but sometimes I feel its, well a tad bit too much....



Jarvis "not smart enough to be a terrorist" Morant!

[RollrCoastrCrazy]

My friend did in fact write a letter explaining the situation both to the guest relations department at Carowinds and the corporate Paramount guest relations office. The ban WILL NOT be lifted according to both sources, and they stand by the fact that placing him in handcuffs in the back of a police cruiser after he was assaulted was the "correct plan of action."

When we asked the security woman who gave us the ejection forms, she said "well... it's not easily enforced, but if any of these guards or myself see you in the park then we will have you arrested for trespassing."

The entire situation was pathetic, and really makes Carowinds (and Paramount Parks in general) look pretty damn incompetent.

Note: And yes, we did show them the picture of the car (and the surrounding pictures to prove there wasn't a picture of the kids) before they confiscated the memory stick. So, now my friend is down 100 bucks, 100 good pictures, and lifetime access to all Paramount Parks, just because he was assaulted by a crazed woman.

[coasterholic14]

are they legally allowed to permanently sieze the memory stick??? They searched it and found nothing, your friend should get it back. He could take that to court if he felt the need, for the memory stick and to lift his lifetime ejection. It's sort of a false arrest is it not (though they didnt arrest him, they did ban him for something he didnt do).

Tell him to go to these forums <a href='http://www.parkfeedback.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi' target='_blank'>http://www.parkfeedback.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi</a>, the park feedback forums and post something about it. Also, there is a guy on there who works for Paramount that passes word of what we say in there along, maybe have your friend talk to him to see if he can help or how he can lift the ban. If nothing else, he might be able to gain more support.