Is this the Enterance?

tabacco · Post by **tabacco** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 5:44 pm

Say, I know you don't work there anymore, but do you know what the story is with the skyway at PGA now? I haven't seen it operate in years. Is it officially closed?

Also, on an unrelated note, I saw the Skyway at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk operating for the first time in a couple years the other day :)

techie-13 · Post by **techie-13** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 12:39 pm

Wow, you know I actually haven't looked to see if the skyway was running the last couple of times I drove by. I'll have to see what I can find out.
I know that we used to have to shut down for an hour after each 25mph wind gust. Some days, we were praying for 25mph winds. Two people have to stay at the station even during the downtime, in case we get the call to go back up. ( An hour long paid break!

)

As for the Boardwalk's skyway, I just asked my co-worker who lives near there and he said he hasn't notice it being down "unless you happen to see it during the winter when they only run like five rides."

BirdMom · Post by **BirdMom** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 4:32 pm

I stand corrected...

Liability does seem to be the big thing with those rides. We used to go nuts on Book when we'd be over by the F-sky station and the kids in gondolas would be throwing sour balls or spitting into our boats, hitting guests about half the time. Maybe some lawyer was rubbing his hands together at the prospect of it only being a matter of time before some stupid person threw something heavy and potentially dangerous out of a gondola ensuring a hefty personal injury lawsuit...

techie-13 · Post by **techie-13** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 5:05 pm

That's always a possibility. PGA used to toss kids for spitting or throwing things off of the ride but then management changed their mind and security went to just lecturing them. After that it was only a matter of time before security stopped caring about even answering those calls unless someone got hurt. (Or a member of security got hit.)

The worst spitting and throwing stuff always seemed to happen during the Christian Music Festivals.

The best things I've heard thrown out of skyway cabins were those little army parachute guys and one guy who won a stuffed basketball at a game and decided to make it snow.

tabacco · Post by **tabacco** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 5:23 pm

Heh... I actually live in Santa Cruz, so I see the boardwalk a lot. Maybe I just happen to never see it on the days it's up or something. Oh well :)

Old Crow · Post by **Old Crow** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 9:27 pm

Both of the skyways at the Boardwalk and PGA are open. I've been to both parks many times this year.

Zazu · Post by **Zazu** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 11:40 am

Dante101 wrote:
Word leaked out about the ADA requirement issue, and how it would look bad for the Park to announce they were closing a ride rather than bring it up to code.
Then why is Skyway in Florida still running? Where they don't have jerks like Grimes trying to self-promote...

The Skyway at WDW closed five years to the day after the Disneyland Park Skyway closed.

We also had an unfortunate accident just a few months earlier. A new custodial CM was cleaning the Fantasyland station before opening, and went beyond the bounds of his duties and safety by sweeping the exit ramp -- the one for the cabins -- just as the first cabin of the day came along to sweep him off.

He managed to grab hold of the cabin, not wanting to drop 20 feet to the rocks just below the station. As he was over 60, he didn't have the strength to climb inside, and fearing he couldn't hold on for the whole ride, elected to drop off into a tree next to Dumbo.

The tree broke his fall, and his neck. Despite removal by air ambulance, he never recovered consciousness.

As with the California version, the closure was not linked to the accident. My personal theory, given the identical dates, is that the closure was related to liability insurance coverage.

BirdMom · Post by **BirdMom** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 3:31 pm

techie-13 wrote:The worst spitting and throwing stuff always seemed to happen during the Christian Music Festivals.

When I was an attractions hostess, it seemed that we always had the biggest problems on supposedly "Christian" private parties. It was one memorable Mormon night when that poor guy got stabbed out in the parking lot - one of my friends was Ops1 that night and she said all they could do was stand back and watch him bleed to death. She also told me about some stuff that didn't get into the press, like a carjacking and a kidnapping. Makes you wonder what these church people do when they're on their worst behavior.