Busch Gardens Christmastown DISASTER

[Hilltopper39]

Busch Gardens did post a response on their blog:

 

http://www.buschgardenstampablog.com/message-our-christmas-town-guests

 

The comments that are posted on this response are awful, come on people.

[robbalvey]

The comments that are posted on this response are awful, come on people.

Funny you posted that, on my personal Facebook page, I posted the update below not 60 minutes ago. I'll share it with you all here, because, I'm just getting sick of all the people who are too stupid to know how to visit parks. And YES, you do need to KNOW how to visit parks, you can't just go in there stupid and expect them to cater to your brainless rants and obnoxious behaviour.

 

Do any of you ever look at comments posted to Facebook and YouTube from random people and *honestly* worry about the future of humanity??? Seriously, it's getting worse and worse all the time.

 

From the just overly obnoxious and awful comments on YouTube from people to comments on our FB page that have nothing to do with what we just posted...and all of them are so poorly written, you'd think that the entire internet has been taken over by first graders.

 

It seriously frightens me that so many of these people are out there in the world...

Edited December 10, 2012 by robbalvey

[Hilltopper39]

^Yeah, I just noticed your post after I had read all of those awful comments on the Busch Gardens Blog. Just because the internet gives you a voice doesn't mean your should be allowed to use it.

 

On the HBO Series Newsroom this past season there was an episode where the main character wanted to require people to enter their name, age, and highest level of education to be allowed to post comments on his blog but the management at the company wouldn't allow it for legal reasons. I don't remember all of the details of the episode but it was a funny exchange and sometimes I wish something like actually was required.

[DJeXeL]

I think posting attraction down times on Facebook is a courtesy that BGW does NOT have to do but they do it as a courtesy to their guests to try and avoid the b*tching and complaining as much as possible. DCA is great at posting when RSR is down. I'd like to see a SF park post down times as a courtesy.........

I love when my local parks are busy. If they weren't busy then I would be worried.

 

^^As a manager in my profession, a complaint that has no punctuation, use of improper grammar and/or profanity does not get taken seriously. The complaints that I read on Theme Park FB pages (Or any company's FB page for that matter) make me cringe and wonder how much more money we can afford to take away from education.......

[robbalvey]

I think posting attraction down times on Facebook is a courtesy that the park does NOT have to do but they do it as a courtesy to their guests

Exactly! And people have to understand that not only is it a courtesy, it is "subject to change" at any moment. I know if it were me, and if I were basing a park visit solely on ONE RIDE, and I saw on a Facebook page that there was any issue with that ride, no way I would have gone, or at least gone in with the expectation that it could be closed.

 

I can't even tell you how many countless times this has happened, but I also understand theme park operations (as should EVERYONE on this forum), and I cut them some slack because I realize it's impossible for things to be perfect.

 

--Robb "I think some people just like to complain..." Alvey

Edited December 10, 2012 by robbalvey

[bill_s]

If you've been on this website since December 2010, then you should know better that theme park operations is something that is never a "definite" and you should have been smart enough to use your own deductive reasoning not to go to the park.

 

Everytime I've been to a park and complained that some ride is not open, I was told I should have called. Well I did, and they had 1:52 between the opening of the park and when I called to know what was happening. I figured most likely the guy on Facebook was right, but it was just a temporary glitch and was back running. I tried to make use of my experience.

 

First off, you weren't "lied" to - for right or wrong, the people you spoke to probably just didn't have correct information. They weren't "lying" to you, I guarantee you that.

 

The first person for inferring they knew, but especially the second for saying "I know for a fact". I would have been OK with "I don't know" or "we simply can't give refunds in any case" -- this crossed the line past not making me happy or telling me something other than what I wanted to hear.

 

I didn't yell at anyone at Guest Relations, I actually gave up pretty quick, and I'm glad I didn't go on and post what I felt last night, and the main reason I made some text larger was to delineate the 2nd part of my post from the first.

 

Yes I should have taken any warning more seriously ... maybe I should called again on the way or should get one of them wifi dealies so I can check Facebook someplace along the way ... I'm contributing a data point that others should temper their expectations (yeah so did the OP, but we already knew that).

 

I agree your Abu Dhabi trip was a lot more to be let down on. But did you call ahead? I did try to have fun, but felt irritated. I am extra reluctant to try again, because if Verbolten isn't running next time, I've already tried to enjoy the rest once already.

[robbalvey]

^ Of COURSE we "called ahead" in Abu Dhabi! We were in direct contact with the Director of Operations of the park and they were expecting us. Trust me, they did everything they could for us to get the ride open, but it was due to a failed computer part that was specially made in Germany, and there were only two in the world at the time - one at PortAventura and one at Ferrari World.

 

Again, YOU WEREN'T BEING LIED TOO!!!! Do you honestly think that someone in the office knew damn well the ride was open, but just told you other-wise just to lie to you? Or do you not understand the words you are saying and what they mean?

 

Why can't you just admit that you went to the park for ONE RIDE, you knew before going to the park that the ONE RIDE you wanted to get on was having technical issues, and when you got the park to find it closed, instead of saying to yourself "Hmm, I knew damn well this was a possibility this could happen" you chose to take it out on the park.

 

Seriously, your attitude just really pisses me off and it what is so wrong with so many theme park "enthusiasts" out there. We should all be SMARTER than the average public that goes to the parks because, in theory, we know more than they do, but this is one perfect example where instead of using our knowledge to have a better park day, you're using it to take your aggressions out on the park.

 

--Robb "You should have known better." Alvey

Edited December 10, 2012 by robbalvey

[bill_s]

I just really expected to get to guest relations and be told almost anything else. I thought guest relations was supposed to make it better. There was definitely some, um, disparity? between things I was told by the various people. It's their park to run but surely it should have been someone's concern there was well over an hour between problems and them finding out about it, rather than denial.

 

Yeah I'm a roller coaster weirdo, but I wouldn't have gone there if I wasn't, and I'm sure there's some more here? The world spins on and this was exactly as important as it was: niether a disaster nor insignificant. In fact we don't really talk much about disasters here, we talk about things like how theme parks are operated.

[Ccron10]

^Yes you felt irritated because you expected Verbolten to be open come hell or high water even though the Facebook page said it would be closed. When it wasn't, you decided to dwell on it throughout the rest of your visit and not just shrug it off. That is one of the worst things you can do when you go to a park. NEVER expect the ride that you love to be open on your visit.

Somewhat of an example is if Verbolten would be closed the Saturday that went. Would I be disappointed and complaining to Guest Relations about it being closed? Not at all because stuff like ride breakdowns, and weather happens and can be unexpected! Parks aren't going to get on Facebook ever 5 or so minutes and say, "Oh, Verbolten is closed", then halfway through the day say, "Oh, it's open again!". Usually when a park does that, it means it's down for the day, so with all due respect I have to chuckle that you drove to the park an hour and a half expecting it to be running. I drove five hours to the event and I probably would've still had an awesome time if it was closed.

[bill_s]

It was a random stranger that reported "technical difficulties" on Facebook, not the park. So I called them. And it's not my favorite coaster, it's my favorite coaster currently operating in this state, out of 1 choices. This is still progress but I was reminded how nonideal. I made a mistake to go there with any negative report, but I think they made too many. But I'm a technician so ought to know it could take a while to even know how long it will take.

 

Yeah people do get too mad and let little things spoil their day. I tried but once I was done with the brownie cheesecake it was downhill.