Whew! What a day at the park!

When I worked at Opryland USA themepark in Nashville back in the 1990s, I encountered a book about the park in the library, titled "The Greatest Day", which described a day-long visit to it. Well, after yesterday at Fiesta Texas theme park, I think I could write a horror story book about a day at the park!

Should one be surprised? It WAS the Ides of March!

It was also the first really fine, sunny day of this "Spring Break" week; therefore, there was a traffic jam in the far north-northwest area of San Antonio, due to the vast number of folk seeking to come enjoy the theme park. The VÍA bus I was on was an hour late arriving, and because I had seen some potential criminal activity involving a young man who works in the park I had to fill out a "loss prevention" report at the employee service office.

The upshot of my lateness is that I got put on the kiddie truck convoy ride, Kinderbahn, rather than the train. Then I got left there two hours in the hot midday sun. (Rides employees are supposed to change rides hourly, or positions within a multi-staff ride.) Due to heat exhaustion I ended up in First Aid. Just like last year, I found that the first aid medics were terrific care-givers! So, after some time resting there, then going to get a cap for sun protection and then eating my lunch I got to get on the train ride. Because so many Guests were in the park and wanting to ride the train, almost the entire day we only offered one-way trips and no round trips. That is, passengers could only travel between Der Pilger Bahnhof in Spassburg and Whistle Stop 39 in Crackaxle Canyon, and not all the way around the park on the rails.

When the train had to shut down at 7:00 PM (due to orders from higher up, who ignore that daylight continues 'til eight), I was at Whistle Stop 39 and with one of the new Area 3 Rides workers closed it. After we two finished closing the depot and began walking up the Crackaxle main street (to get to the other depot), we encountered a potential fight, if not riot, outside the season pass office. I ran into the "John Deere" store across the street and had the clerk call Security. Then I had to wait 'til Security showed up, so that I could tell them what we had seen.

And then. . . when I finally got released to go home the VÍA bus was very late (as I'm certain it was all day long) arriving at the Fiesta Texas employee bus stop. On my way out, I heard a fellow employee state that we had 30,000 Guests in the park on this Ides of March! I'm certain that I've NEVER before seen so many Guests in this park, and probably not in Opryland when I worked there either!