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"This doesn't make my case very well, does it."
Friday night after work, I stopped briefly at home, then headed on up to Wyandot Lake. For the moment at least, the park is open on Friday nights until 9:00 pm, which means it's worthwhile to stop there after work. A few years ago, they were closing at 7pm, and I commented at the time that if they were going to cut their hours they should have cut them at the beginning of the day instead of at the end.
When I entered the park, the place was absolutely dead. The Ferris wheel stood idle at the entrance, awaiting a rider. Part of the reason things were so slow was obvious: Wyandot Lake is mostly a waterpark, and the air temperature was in the mid- to high-60's. It was certainly not good swimming weather! That said, Christopher's Island and Canoochee Creek were both staffed, even though I didn't see a single customer in the water. Over in the wave pool, there was at least one brave soul paddling about in the surf, surrounded by no less than four lifeguards. It was not a day for efficient operations; I suspect that the employees on duty outnumbered the customers by about 4:1.
Over at the Sea Dragon coaster, things were very different from my last visit. First of all, and most noticeably, the staff on the ride has doubled. Two operators were running the ride, something I don't think I have seen on Sea Dragon since the FunTime days. It wasn't speeding operations any, but then with nobody in the park, it didn't matter. There were perhaps eight or nine of us riding the coaster when I arrived. I passed through the turnstile and proceeded to the train, the operator lifted the lap bar and I sat down. Much to my surprise, seat belts...single, non-retracting, shared belts with push-button latches similar to those on the Scrambler...have been added to the train. I also noticed that a Six Flags Hand Signal Cheat Sheet has been tacked up to a board in the station. I didn't think much of it initially. I took a ride, then the operators indicated that we all had to get out. Most of us walked around, boarded the coaster again, and rode three circuits before we were ushered out again. The ride is running more or less as usual, and the train is still in good shape after its extensive off-season overhaul. When the train got back to the station, I got a nice laugh. Remember that there are two guys running the coaster? When the train stopped, the operator on the inner platform (control side) gave the "open lap bars" hand signal to the operator on the outer (load) side, who then returned the signal. Remember that the Sea Dragon is a classic wood coaster, the only one in the Six Flags coaster fleet, which has hand-operated skid brakes, one train, and foot-pedal operated lap bars. These attendants were flashing each other hand signals that, quite frankly, don't really apply to that coaster. I wonder if they were the victims of a corporate safety officer who has never seen the ride in action. I thought it was kind of funny. I'm so tempted to come up with some joke about it, but both of the operators were exchange program workers from Poland, so someone would probably be offended if I did.
I rode the coaster, I wandered through the mostly-deserted waterpark, and I went down the main midway and took a ride on the Scrambler. It was way too cold to swim, and with no crowd at all, I didn't even bother with the Spider and the Wheel, rides that require balanced loads. I indulged in a serving of fried Oreo cookies, and took another ride on the coaster. The coaster is running very well, and would be a good set-up for BeastBuzz at Kings Island the following day.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
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