Rain Panic

[Zazu]

I've spent the week aboard the Disney Magic, along with a full load of SGs. Mostly it's the same stupid stuff they do on land, but tonight just busted me up.

It's the evening of the "Pirates IN the Caribbean" party, a big deck party with fireworks. Yeah, and guess what? It's November, so it didn't surprise *me* when it started to rain.

Now here's where I get confused about who the stupids are:

* Part of the crowd realized they were going to melt in the rain, and rushed the doors to go inside. They couldn't get in because...
* Part of the crowd just *knew* the rain would stop in time for the fireworks, and wanted to be the first to go back outside, and were blocking the doors five deep.
* Part of the crowd continued to dance in the downpour--it really was a frog-floater at times--despite their increased tendency to fall down.
* The crew members who would ordinarily have been up on the outdoor stage, dancing their butts off, were .... wait for it .... up on the outdoor stage, dancing their butts off, while carrying live mics!

Now I'm pretty sure *some* of these folks were stupid, but I just can't figure out who to give the sign to!

[Shorty82]

All of them need a sign! Every single person on that deck, except you.

What did you do during the rain?

[Randy B]

I've spent the week aboard the Disney Magic, along with a full load of SGs. Mostly it's the same stupid stuff they do on land, but tonight just busted me up.

It's the evening of the "Pirates IN the Caribbean" party, a big deck party with fireworks. Yeah, and guess what? It's November, so it didn't surprise *me* when it started to rain.

Now here's where I get confused about who the stupids are:

* Part of the crowd realized they were going to melt in the rain, and rushed the doors to go inside. They couldn't get in because...
* Part of the crowd just *knew* the rain would stop in time for the fireworks, and wanted to be the first to go back outside, and were blocking the doors five deep.
* Part of the crowd continued to dance in the downpour--it really was a frog-floater at times--despite their increased tendency to fall down.
* The crew members who would ordinarily have been up on the outdoor stage, dancing their butts off, were .... wait for it .... up on the outdoor stage, dancing their butts off, while carrying live mics!

Now I'm pretty sure *some* of these folks were stupid, but I just can't figure out who to give the sign to!

Lets see. For those rushing to avoid rain, their mothers always said they were sweet and sugar melts in rain so logically....

For those blocking the way inside, they know they are sweet and thus must be protected but they are the only ones in the entire world and so they are the most important ones to protect and thus they deserve to remain nearest the doors so they can watch everyone else get drenched. That doorway is their own personal private retreat and any late comers must find somewhere else to go.

The third group were either partying so hard that they hadn't noticed the rain, or were so involved in their fun that little things like rain and falling down are just something to ignore in favor of getting their moneys worth out of the evening. Along the lines of "we payed X dollars for this and we are going to enjoy it no matter what". This is similar to the parent smacking a crying child and saying "We payed big bucks for this and you WILL start having fun RIGHT NOW, or ELSE".

And as to the performers with electrical equipment in the rain, they have always been told that the show MUST go on and so as long as no lightning is currently striking the stage, it goes on. Also many stage performers tend to be a bit masochistic (in my experiences as a stage hand) and so if they are slowly being electrocuted by their equipment, it is only proper that they "suffer for their art". The person who you didn't see who was tearing their hair out was the poor sound engineer who will have to rebuild a useable system from all the soaked electronics that was turning into melted junk from internal short circuits. Of course it is possible that this kind of thing has happened before and they may have purchased "weather proof" systems which would keep the damage to a minimum as long as the performer doesn't jump overboard with it. The problem I personally would have been more worried about is the lighting. A jolt from a shorting mic probably won't do much damage, but a wet stage and a short from theatrical lighting could turn the entire stage into a crematorium.

So, IMHO, the first group are just believing their mothers (maybe a little too much). The second group are just believing their own self importance (a little too much). The third are making every penny count (a bit too much), and the last group are "just following orders" (maybe a bit too much).

I personally would award all four groups the sign (we have plenty to go around). Now the real question. Where were you watching all this from? Were you "not smart enough to come in out of the rain" or "prepaired for all contingencies" and thus watching from a place of protection (cover, rain poncho, umbrella, etc)? :D: If you were just standing there in the rain, getting soaked we may have to give you an honorable mention award. :D:

(Take it easy folks, its a j/k and Zazu will give me a smackdown at a later date. When I least expect it. :D :)

Randy

[Cheshire Figment]

But when you are onboard one of the Disney ships the stage is on Deck 9. It is directly in front of the Jumbotron and The Stack. There is about 40 or 50 feet of nice metal higher than the stage located only a few feet from the stage. If there was lightning in the area it would much more likely hit the stack area, which of course is metal and part of the ship and going to a much better ground. So, even if the storm was electrical and the performers were holding handhelds (unwired of course) the lightning would not affect them.

[Big Wallaby]

And the way they build wireless microphones today, many of them are made to be able to work in the rain. Still, I've heard of the people walking through a parking lot full of cars in Chicago, lightning struck, and the one thing it hit was their pager.

Still, I'm surprised the area where the performers are isn't under at least some cover...

[BRWombat]

Still, I'm surprised the area where the performers are isn't under at least some cover...

This is just for the deck parties, which of course are held on deck. There are several entertainment venues below decks and unaffected by rain. :)

[Zazu]

What did you do during the rain?

I was just trying to get to the free drink dispenser on deck 9 so SWMBO could have her evening diet soda.

And trolling for better stories for this thread.

[vixen101485]

rain rain go away, come again another day....little zazu wants to play

I coulda did It's raining its pouring the old man zazu is snoring....LOL

[BRWombat]

And trolling for better stories for this thread.

I really appreciate your using your vacation time for us!!!

Seriously, though, it's nice to think how this site helps our enjoyment of Disney... if we don't encounter any SG's, great, but if we do, instead of getting irate, we just take notes and come back with a good story to tell here!!

[drcorey]

Lets see. For those rushing to avoid rain, their mothers always said they were sweet and sugar melts in rain so logically....

For those blocking the way inside, they know they are sweet and thus must be protected but they are the only ones in the entire world and so they are the most important ones to protect and thus they deserve to remain nearest the doors so they can watch everyone else get drenched. That doorway is their own personal private retreat and any late comers must find somewhere else to go.

The third group were either partying so hard that they hadn't noticed the rain, or were so involved in their fun that little things like rain and falling down are just something to ignore in favor of getting their moneys worth out of the evening. Along the lines of "we payed X dollars for this and we are going to enjoy it no matter what". This is similar to the parent smacking a crying child and saying "We payed big bucks for this and you WILL start having fun RIGHT NOW, or ELSE".

And as to the performers with electrical equipment in the rain, they have always been told that the show MUST go on and so as long as no lightning is currently striking the stage, it goes on. Also many stage performers tend to be a bit masochistic (in my experiences as a stage hand) and so if they are slowly being electrocuted by their equipment, it is only proper that they "suffer for their art". The person who you didn't see who was tearing their hair out was the poor sound engineer who will have to rebuild a useable system from all the soaked electronics that was turning into melted junk from internal short circuits. Of course it is possible that this kind of thing has happened before and they may have purchased "weather proof" systems which would keep the damage to a minimum as long as the performer doesn't jump overboard with it. The problem I personally would have been more worried about is the lighting. A jolt from a shorting mic probably won't do much damage, but a wet stage and a short from theatrical lighting could turn the entire stage into a crematorium.

So, IMHO, the first group are just believing their mothers (maybe a little too much). The second group are just believing their own self importance (a little too much). The third are making every penny count (a bit too much), and the last group are "just following orders" (maybe a bit too much).

I personally would award all four groups the sign (we have plenty to go around). Now the real question. Where were you watching all this from? Were you "not smart enough to come in out of the rain" or "prepaired for all contingencies" and thus watching from a place of protection (cover, rain poncho, umbrella, etc)? :D: If you were just standing there in the rain, getting soaked we may have to give you an honorable mention award. :D:

(Take it easy folks, its a j/k and Zazu will give me a smackdown at a later date. When I least expect it. :D :)

Randy

sort of reminds me of the movie King Ralph, and how he got to be the king of england, the whole royal family was posing for photos outside untill it started raining, and ZZAAPP!!
and then, all hail King Ralph!