A long, full day of Fiesta Texas

Friday the 28th turned into a very long, very full, day for me at my jobsite, Six Flags Fiesta Texas. In addition to working a double shift, i.e., from opening to closing of the train ride, there was a Rides Dept. meeting after hours (meaning after all rides were down and Guests gone home).

It started out rather differently & not per the usual M.O. When I scanned my park i.d. card at the guard station at the employee entrance, it rang the alarm (two quick, short phone rings). But not to worry (said the guard's face), just a reminder about the Rides' "Pep Rally" after hours.

Then I rode the train over to the Western depot during its check run, to open the depot -- and was told by a supervisor in that area to call the German depot and have the train held. You see, there had been a boat wreck (so to speak) on the GullyWasher water ride, right by the depot. I puzzled as to why the train should be shut down when the water ride had the problem. I was told that it was so that train riders wouldn't observe the GullyWasher situation until it looked like it was close to resolving.

Well, the train was allowed to start running (with Guests) in half an hour. Half an hour after that I got sent to the other depot to be Agent there. A weird feeling came over me shortly, there in the German depot. Sarah Cannon in her autobiography ("Minnie Pearl" by Minnie Pearl) described her first performance as Minnie Pearl in a country-girl costume, after having performed her comedy routine numerous times in ordinary clothes. She told how she felt herself "moving out of Sarah. . . into Minnie. . . became the character." And at this moment I felt that I became an honest-to-goodness depot agent and train conductor! I wasn't just a guy doing a summer job in an amusement park. It was an eerie sensation, but if anything it helped me to identify with what had happened so many years ago to Sarah Cannon, a.k.a. Minnie Pearl.

Later on in the day we had a couple of fellows in the blue Class A uniform of the US Air Force on board the train. Lackland AFB here in S.A. is the basic training site for this military branch, and on Saturdays many trainees come to the park in Class A's, in groups or with family. When I'm Conductor and a basic training graduate boards the train I will call the passengers attention to the fact that "we have a special guest on board, in Air Force blue. . . thank you for serving our country in the military!" And I lead the applause. Today I also got my photo taken with a flyboy who had ridden the rails.

And so my double shift on Fiesta Texas Railroad continued into the evening. Finally we closed the ride for the night and put our engine Gretta "to bed", that is, backed her and her four passenger cars to the train shed. I was delighted to see Miss Kitty parked outside the building. Miss Kitty is my favorite of our two train engines: she'd been disabled for quite awhile. Her location outside meant that she would be the operating engine on the rails the next day!

After changing out of my train crew costume I went directly back into the park to watch the "Lone Star Spectacular" yet again. Amusement Today magazine says that this multi-media event is THE BEST outdoor night show in any park in the country! I believe it, because I keep on returning to see it! And this time I noticed that they had taken care of a few minor flaws I'd seen the previous time. The lazer-lights and fireworks musical extravagaza is a moving celebration of what it means to be a Texan & and American. The audience cheers (notably at seeing the name of hometown or their favorite sports hero), laughs (during the "Chicken Dance" scene) and claps and sings along (during "Deep in the Heart of Texas"). And I also get a lump in my patriotic throat during the honoring of the US Army (& USAF & other military branches), during "God Bless America" and during the concluding words of co-narrator "Alamo Annie" about we the people of Texas. Yup! the "Lone Star Spectacular" is quite a show -- by itself worth the park admission!

And then it was time for the Rides meeting or "Pep Rally". One feature of these is a raffle drawing. My ticket number hadn't been called at the previous two rallies, but it was this time! In fact mine was the second or third number to be called out. This means I get to choose any ride, and all Rides crew members of Area 3 of the park get to ride it (the RR is in A3), on a certain day before park opening or after closing.

Let's have some FUN, my co-workers!