Bomb Threat at BGW
- Thread starter Parkgoer
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Money isn't it. They have closed the park early for thunderstorms without hesitation. So if they thought this was a real threat that demanded immediate evacuation of the whole park then they would have done it.
Nicole said:
You're probably right. However, if this was a serious problem, the JCC police Department would've told them to evacuate the whole park in an instant. The park did what they were told.
Nicole said:
Nic, you really can't fault the park for this as a bomb threat there has never happened before. When something like this occurs, it is handed over to higher authorities (police, FBI, etc) as they are the ones that know what to do. I'm sure if this was a serious threat, then they would've been ordered to evacuate the entire park. It's the same when the James City County Fire Marshall orders the park closed when the crowds get too big for Howl-O-Scream.
This has happened once before. A toy grenade was mistaken for an actual explosive in the Italy/Ireland parking lots.
There should be a plan in place to ensure the safety of all guests and staff.
A plan was in place and things were handled the best that they could have been. I will give much more detailed thoughts later.
Nicole said:
What makes you think there is not, and that it wasn't executed?
I think the police handled this very well. In a situation like this, the police are making most of the calls on how much of an area to close. If they found that it wasn't credible enough to shut down the entire park, then I trust it wasn't. Considering how often bomb threats occur (not at Busch Gardens, surprisingly, but in day-to-day life, not that uncommon) I believe they made a smart call and handled it in a way that maintained order, allowed them to investigate, and minimized panic, which can lead to injuries and other major problems.
If a bomb had gone off somewhere in the park and people had been injured or killed, the park and the police would have failed. Period.
Closing one random hamlet, providing no information, and leaving everyone in harms way, is not an acceptable response.
The park responds more actively to the possibility of thunderstorms.
Closing one random hamlet, providing no information, and leaving everyone in harms way, is not an acceptable response.
The park responds more actively to the possibility of thunderstorms.
Nicole said:
Random? Seriously?
The other side of that is if they evacuate thousands of people, inciting panic, chaos, etc, you are pretty much guaranteeing that people do get hurt. So then they fail as well. If the threat is at the entrance, and you shut off all the areas that are close to it, then you have minimized risk. It's the same as if there is a bomb threat at a school (which happens VERY frequently) you evacuate the students to an athletic field. You don't evacuate a building that is 3-4 blocks away. Busch Gardens is spread out, you weren't at risk in Italy, France, or Germany. If there had been a bomb, you would have heard a noise, seen some smoke, and been pretty surprised.
Nicole said:
That's really a poor example to compare a bomb threat too. We are used to studying weather patterns so it's easier to prepare for thunderstorms. With our technology we can keep an eye on weather. Bomb threat scenarios are way more unpredictable and we can't foresee those at all.
DanielWilliams said:
Yes, random. The threat wasn't even in the Banbury restrooms...
Look people. If there was a bomb, the park's ridiculous reaction would have done nothing. Simple as that.
This seems like absolute common sense to me: There should be a procedure in place to evacuate the park in case of a bomb threat. Does anyone disagree with this?
The bomb threat was against the entire park, not just the front. How can all y'all seriously believe that it is acceptable to leave people in a place that has been threatened with a potentially deadly weapon?
If I had said that I saw a tree in need of trimming, all y'all would have been up in arms and furious with the park. I tell you that the park failed to protect me from a bomb, and you tell me that I am being unreasonable.
My mind is blown.
If I had said that I saw a tree in need of trimming, all y'all would have been up in arms and furious with the park. I tell you that the park failed to protect me from a bomb, and you tell me that I am being unreasonable.
My mind is blown.
I have a little experience with this kind of thing. Maybe it is paranoia on my part, or maybe the 2.5 years I lived in the Persian Gulf, but I think Nic is correct.
In today's world you do not take chances. Frankly it is not terrorists I am worried about but political and religious radicals. I am not advocating that we should all practice duck and cover drills or become shut ins, but perhaps the park needs to be better prepared.
I suspect that, while they have evac plans, they are not sufficient and the powers that be know that, so they are hesitant to use them. I bet there is a box on a safety check list somewhere that they had to check and so they put together some BS plan and the staff are trained on it, but it is crap.
In today's world you do not take chances. Frankly it is not terrorists I am worried about but political and religious radicals. I am not advocating that we should all practice duck and cover drills or become shut ins, but perhaps the park needs to be better prepared.
I suspect that, while they have evac plans, they are not sufficient and the powers that be know that, so they are hesitant to use them. I bet there is a box on a safety check list somewhere that they had to check and so they put together some BS plan and the staff are trained on it, but it is crap.
Zachary said:
If I understand the news (because I do not claim knowledge that I don't have), the note was in the bathrooms at MGP. And Banbury is the closest village to MGP, and is the village that would need to be closed if you wanted to restrict access to MGP?
Doesn't sound random to me.
Furthermore, I stated before (and hold that contention) that there is no reason NOT to believe there is a plan and that it was executed in conjunction with JCC law enforcement.
Edit: changed a verb
I don't think people realize the true victim here. People might have missed a showing of London Rocks....
Joking aside, does anybody know the exact content of the message?
Joking aside, does anybody know the exact content of the message?
DanielWilliams said:
So, uh, the plan was to... Close Banbury? That seems like a really bad plan... Just sayin'
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