ChickenHawk told me that he blew off work this morning to go to Busch Gardens. Said he REALLY wanted to ride EITA for some reason. I think he was going to test out closing his eyes for the whole 5 minutes or whatever to see if it was the motion of the simulator making him sick to his stomach on occasion. Sadly, we may never know. Why you say? Well, he said that the ride is apparently closed. How long? I dunno. Answer towards the end of this story.
ChickenHawk stopped at the Guest Services desk, next to Mr. Toad, and asked if all of the rides were operating today so that he could plan his way through the park. The nice lady at the counter made two calls and then said that ALL rides were open. "Yes!! EITA, here I come!!", he said. Anyway, when he arrived to the ride building there was nobody there to greet him like normal. The door to the catacombs was also NOT open. He stood there and waited a minute or two, not sure what to do, because he REALLY wanted to ride this thing. After a few minutes, several guests opened the door and walked in. There was no sign saying "RIDE CLOSED" or any other message to that effect. The door was simply not open and there was no attendant to welcome you. So, ChickenHawk worked up the courage to go in. What did he see you ask? Read on.
The tunnels were lit up like they normally are. They ever-so-glorious and encouraging music tracks were blasting over the speakers. There was no indication that the ride was not working...until he reached the yellow line. The line where you stand outside the closed doors to the briefing room. Something was strange though. The door was wide open, but the room was dark. No lights, no attendant. He peaked inside. The doors to both of the waiting rooms, the ones with the lights on the floor, were wide open as well. ChickenHawk grew a little braver and stuck his head inside of the "sled" or simulator room. The lights were on, but nobody was around. The movie was not being projected. What is going on?
He went back to the area with the yellow line, and there were about 20 guests becoming restless. Most were irritated that there was no employee telling them what was going on. A few even dared to enter the briefing room. After a couple of minutes waiting around, one of the guests had gone out to Ireland and found an employee who came into the area where they had been waiting. He had no answers. But after another two or three minutes, everyone left...except ChickenHawk and the employee. He wanted answers. EITA is his favorite ride and the Guest Services office said that ALL rides were operating today. The employee seemed nervous. He knew nothing. After another minute, he left and said he'd be back. ChickenHawk was alone.
After a few minutes of entertaining himself, he heard some voices. But they were not from the direction he was expecting. They seemed to be coming from the simulator room. He stuck his head in and came face to face with... another employee!! This one seemed to be some kind of ride technician or something. He tried to be courteous, but was clearly irritated. He asked ChickenHawk how he got in. He told the guy "Through the front door where guests usually come in. A bunch of us did. There was no sign or any indication this thing was closed." The tech guy said he wondered why anyone would come in when the door was closed. ChickenHawk replied, "Well, just like the bathroom I guess. Sometimes the door is closed. You have to open it to go in. If there is a sign saying CLOSED or if there is a rope, chain, or some employee telling you otherwise, it is usually safe to assume that what is behind the door is still accessible by guests." The guy was getting noticeably irritated now.
Next he wanted to know what party ChickenHawk (CH) was with, where were the other people, and why didn't he leave when they left. He said, "I'm not with a party. All of the other guest left...most were upset. And I stayed because I wanted an answer about being able to ride this thing or not. No one told me to get out. As a matter of fact, the other employee said he would be right back to assist me." This was clearly the answer he didn't want to hear. He said that ChickenHawk would have to exit the building. CH told him "No problem", but then asked when will the ride be open. The tech guy said it would be closed all day. CH said, "So the ride will be open tomorrow? I came to park expecting to ride it. Guest Services said ALL rides were open. It's the first thing I ride every visit, just like Nessie is the the last thing I ride." The tech guy said it won't be open tomorrow either. Then, pre-empting his next question, he said it won't be open for a
long time. And with that, he escorted CH to the exit that lets you out next to the bathrooms near O'Sullivan Castle.
As CH returned to Killarney, he walked back over towards EITA. There was a surprising amount of people waiting in line for it. Clearly they knew nothing either. However, there was now an employee in a white shirt standing guard where they usually greet you by the door. Groups of people walked off very irritated. Other groups came, waited and left. All seemed very annoyed. Some comments that were overheard: "This sucks!" "We should get our money back." I can't believe I don't get to ride my favorite ride again!" This went on and on while the ChickenHawk watched patiently from a table near the pub. A smile formed slowly across his lips.
And that's the story!! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Thanks ChickenHawk for sharing it with me buddy! He said he had pictures too. Wow! This guy is awesome!! Don't forget to thank him & rep+ him if you appreciate his work (
ChickenHawk). I know I do. He also asked that we respect his privacy, so please don't bug him about piddly stuff. He likes to keep things low key. He is a man who prefers to be behind the scenes...the curtains if you will (like the Wizard of Oz). Stay tuned! More to come...
