| BGE-1st trip back in 5 yrs!
6-8-06:
We (wife and I) left the island of Maui to Va for a grueling 15hr plane ride to visit W/C and BGE. I needed a coaster-fix and I needed it badly! This is the first time I actually been back to the park/area in over 5yrs. I was surprised on the unusual cool, cold, and rainy weather that occured during our stay; especially on Monday (12th) and Wednesday (14th-remanants from TS: Alberto). It rained for most of the trip, but we made the best of it. The ONLY two days that we experienced sunshine were our days to visit both parks (W/C & BGE). PKI was also in the plans, but chose not to go because of the weather and the time constraints on our schedule.
6-9 & 10:
My wife and I decided to visit some old places that I used to live and see how much Williamsburg has changed since the time I had moved to Hawaii. I may have been wrong, but most of the schools still appeared to be in session. In Hawaii, all of the schools were out before the 1st week in June. I didn't want to go to W/C or BGE on these days (Friday/Saturday) since I had imagine the crowds would be apparent and wish to relax after our plane ride and loosing 6+ hours of time-zone changes (and sleep)..lol
Williamsburg appears to be expanding quite a bit since I was last here and shopping malls appear to be popping up virtually overnite. I even noticed that a new Ripley's Believe it or Not museum is opening this summer (I think that used to be an old restaurant back then or it is an entirely new building). Construction is almost everywhere you turn, especially at the College of William & Mary and the expansion/construction upgrades along the local roads. I would predict this was in preparation for next years 400th Anniversary in the area.
The Yankee Candle Factory (mall?) was quite fun actually. It's like a mini-mall with various Christmas-themed shops along with a variety of stores to satisfy ones time during a rain-day..lol The candle shop litterally had over 500 scents of candles and believe me when I say how many MEN *Guilty as charged here* were in the store sniffing the huge variety of candles...lol
The candle scents had varied from nature, to coffee, to food and everything in between. It was almost like visiting a taffy candy store or it was the Basket-Robbins of candles. Usually, this is a store you would see most women, shopping and charging all items on our credit cards, but that was not the case in this instance. Before you know it, you can spend about 3+ hours at the YCF and not even know where the time had gone. A couple of interesting things I noticed was how the ceiling had been painted with clouds and blue sky (similar to the one area in Vegas, but on a cheesier-type of feel..lol). Another store had a suspended model train traveling along the room and its ceiling was filled with twinkling stars. About every 10 minutes or so, there was a machine that produced (dry-ice) snow...wheeee..lol
Of course, I had to visit the local Hooters restaurant and eat at the classic Crackel Barrel General Store. Prices at ALL of the restaurants (even food-shops) were almost 1/2 of what we pay in Hawaii, so we had a huge smile on our faces (and our budget). The customer service was quite impressive and the attention each restuarant gave its guests/tourists was extremely friendly. Perhaps that may have changed since the time I had not lived there, or the fact that the service in Hawaii has declined so much, that a change of scenery really made me appreciate how well customer service can add to a vacation.
6-11:
Water Country-USA
Ahh! A time to soak up the rays and have fun. W/C has really changed alot since the last time I visited this place. At one point, I didn't even remember that there was an additional area along the Meltdown ride. The landscaping has improved and the atmosphere/employees really make you feel at home. All of the rides had short lines (except Meltdown-2 rafts!) and you couldn't ask for any better weather. The prices, of course, had gone up a bit, but still seem to be rather fair considering other parks charge more. We had purchased our BG/WC tickets online (along with our airfare/rental car) and we essentially didn't pay any of the park tickets and they were valid for 7 consecutive days!
$10 for locker rentals? WOW! But, management/marketing really devised a creative idea in offering a $4 'discount' rebate to purchase food or merchandise within the park. I really like the idea how A-B is blending the comfort for all guests by installing "smoking-stations" for those nicotine addicts and let the "adrenaline addicts" roam about the park in a smoke-free environment.
6-12:
Colonial Parkway/Jamestown and Williamsburg Winery Adventure. This was our rainy-day exploration and not much has changed since living there (VA). In fact, everything appeared to be the same since going to these attractions and it was fun to drive along the Colonial Parkway again. The weather was quite cold (are you sure this is June?) and rain was heavy at times, but we covered alot of ground to spend the day. The winery had really degraded over the years. I'm not quite sure why, but the customer service and the tour was NOT the way I remembered it and was a dissapointment to say the least. But wine tasting sure makes up for it..lol A trip to Red Lobster made up for the day and a chance to warm up at a local pub to wind down from the exhausting day.
6-13: BGE!!!!
Ahh, finally. My coaster-fix has been resolved. I miss working at this park and the atmosphere really made me feel like I had never left this place. I still remember the music (from each country) and the smells were essentially the same througout the park (and the nearby brewery...lol). The only thing that appeared to be missing were those pesky peacocks- did Busch get rid of them? I remember back in the day when the baby-peacocks would follow me to my location each morning and feeding them. I kind-of miss that annoying peacock-calling too..lol
The lines for almost every ride were short, with the exception of A/C and Dark Kastle; which had its moments (breakdown) at times. Apollo's Chariot was intense. I still love the back seat, but that water after the first drop is quite disgusting. Alpengeist has really been neutered since working there. Those trim brakes are quite annoying and I would even venture to say that it has gotten a bit rough in some spots. I wonder if maintenance has kept up with the ride or the fact that its age (10yrs old next season) is kicking in.
Dark Kastle is quite fun, but Spiderman (IOA) is still better. I would think the ride will have more potential as upgrades will be added in the coming years and as technology improves. I can actually see entire scenery changes in coming years. I never ridden DK during the first year of operation, so I am not sure if/what changes or upgrades had been done. But, overall it is a good family ride.
I was also quite suprised (and dissapointed) how much the ride operations has changed since I was in management. Minimal staffing has become the norm and most of the rides are more "automated" now. I have yet to see any 3-train operation on the coasters (but, Nessie did appear to have 3 trains available). The employees there appeared to be quite "relaxed" by their apparent lack of attention to the ride operations.
They seemed more concerned about when their break-times were and when they got off work than concentrating on the ride itself. This was rather disturbing to me and the fact that the 'automation' of the rides now perhaps has diluted their perception of what constitutes "ride operation". It is complete opposite of what was taught/trained when I was in management. In fact, I witnessed several instances where a major issue could have occured if the GUESTS didn't make comments on what was happening (especially the crew over at Escape from Pompei). Peak season has not even started yet, and many of the ride operators appeared to be "drained" as if it had been a full season.
Later in the day I walked around BGE with some of my former bosses and talk about the good old days and reflect on some of the park changes as well as gather any new information on the new 'attraction'. I also inquired about the (reasons) for the minimal staffing and how 2-train operations appear to become the standard on all of the coasters now. It was also interesting to note how many European-employees work there now and still ponder how much better the park could be with an emphasis on 'ride capacity'.
**Edit: This is by no means to single out any specific employee (especially those who may be members on this site), but to merely point out how times (and budgets) have changed and how management appears to be addressing these issues.
*More to follow.....  | 
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