Yesterday we to Hurricane Harbor, a water park at Six Flags in NJ. Online, it looked promising, but wow, by the end of the day I realized why they invested in decorating the place. The rides were totally understaffed, so even though the park wasn’t very crowded or busy, the lines took forever. The lazy-river type thing, in which you can cruise along the gentle current around the park, and a staple attraction at just about every water park , didn’t have enough rafts and tubes so people were hoarding them for their friends. And then, in the process of training their lifeguards, they repeatedly kicked everyone out of the wave pool. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Florida water parks, but the ratio of fun to waiting was too low.
Yes, the place looks really nice, but I’d rather spare the decor and have a good time doing stuff instead of waiting. Even my little hometown local water park, the Rapids, is better than this. So I guess it’s not surprising that the parent company Six Flags filed for bankruptcy last year. Once they have your ticket money and get you in the park, they don’t seem to prioritize running the park in a way that optimizes your time there – sure, you can wait while two staffers manage six different slides! At the Rapids, every slide had a staff member to make sure rides ran efficiently and smoothly. Oh, but Hurricane Harbor does have plenty of overpriced food items and ads plastered all over the park – I don’t think I had ever seen a Starburst billboard before. And they definitely keep plenty of staff at the food stands – after all, every overpriced piece of pizza they sell means extra profit. Contrast that with the profit gained from every extra slide ride – hmmmmm.
Speaking of food, here’s the next health journal:
July 1
- Breakfast: two sunny side-ups and toast.
- An Italian shorti from Wawa, which I ate at Hurricane Harbor!…and which was probably the best part of my time there.
- Dinner: round bottom roast.
- Snack: Yogorino fro-yo with chocolate shavings and kiwi. I <3 Yogorino.
July 2
- Breakfast/lunch: arugula salad with broccoli, feta, avocado and ranch dressing, with tilapia on the side. Also some neapolitan ice cream.
- Dinner: Manhattan clam chowder.