In the last one and half years of my stay in this fun-filled(I can see people who have just taken a Virar 6:30 from Dadar or Churchgate this evening, calling me the greatest jerk ever to have walked on the face of this planet!) but too huge(now then a few of them are nodding their heads in complete agreement) a city called Mumbai, I have been to art galleries, museums, beaches(err. whatever that filthy overcrowded series of food stalls is in the name of a beach!) and of course multiplexes whenever there seemed to be a gargantuan assignment to be submitted or complete boredom after endlessly sifting through pages and pages of branding and synergy, strategy, vision and mission!
But a few days back I was too bored and?.Before you shout yoo hoo this was supposed to be about amusement parks remember? Let me move to the topic concerned
A few days back I had been to Water Kingdom and my experiences there have been summarized in the following paragraphs which I guess might help a few people in keeping these dos and don?ts in their minds in their next trip to any amusement park.Remember not only is life a rollercoaster, a rollercoaster ride when assumed to be a tightrope worth trying acrobatics on, can end one’s life.Having said that, I do not claim to be an expert at this and have mentioned whatever I have, based on my idea of what is safe and what?s not.I can be completely wrong and would be glad if some one corrects the same in the comments section.
A lot of my friends were not aware that Lycra clothes are the only ones allowed to be worn when taking any of the water rides. As a result, they had to use the rented ones available there which happen to be expensive to say the least. A few of them complained of some skin problem later on and the dermatologist was quick to point out how wearing such rented outfits and staying in such water which comes in contact with one and all, can pose serious skin problems.
Hence RULE ONE IS PLEASE GET NON FLARE LYCRA CLOTHES WHICH ARE NOT FREE AND FLOWING AND TEND TO STICK TO YOUR BODY.
The reason why such materials are recommended is that while using those long winding steep rides, you need to have as much of a streamline as possible and free flowing clothes can cause serious accidents. In fact, there was this girl wearing lycra bell bottoms! Strictly avoidable.
Secondly, when sitting in a wave pool, though its perfectly understandable for people to keep jumping and enjoying the waves in gay abandon, its necessary to keep a safe distance from the deepest part of the pool if you are not a great swimmer. At the cost of sounding like a spoilsport let me tell you the reason why I would advise you to exercise restraint. We saw a rather unfortunate accident when a girl who wasn?t particularly good at swimming wanted to enjoy that steady gush of water when due to some imbalance another middle-aged guy fell on her and due to the force in the waves, both had an unpleasant time getting out of water; rescued by some people around them.
RULE TWO IS TO REMEMBER THAT ACCIDENTS AREN?T JUST THE TRAIN AND ROAD VARIETY AND EXERCISE CAUTION WHILE PLAYING WITH WATER.
While I was waiting for this young kid to finish his ride on this steep slope, to my horror, I found him in a miserable condition by the time he got out of water. This happened because he did not pay heed to what the helper there had to say about keeping your elbows as close to each other as possible and keeping your body straight. The rules made aren?t there to irritate us. They are meant to protect you against such mishaps.
SO THE NEXT TIME THE GUARD THERE ASKS YOU TO GO DOWN THE RIDE IN A CERTAIN POSTURE, KINDLY ABIDE BY HIS ADVICE.
There is an amazingly wonderful ride called Amazonia which has a rather long meandering path with boulders, water sprinkling down and creepers on the way down. For people who happen to be unusually adventurous, kindly desist from trying to pull off such stunts as stopping oneself by holding onto boulders or creepers or trying to stand up on the slope!(YES!I have seen people trying to do that while they get hit by some 10-15 people behind them)
SUCH STUPID ACTS IN THE NAME OF ADVENTURE NOT ONLY ENDANGER YOUR LIFE BUT MAKE IT AN UNPLEASANT TRIP FOR EVERYONE ELSE AROUND!
Finally, **do not enter kids? rides for obvious reasons and try to maintain the decorum. I enjoy going to amusement parks but it?s a pain trying to distract kids from having to watch some indecent cootchiecooing going around 10 feet away.
Do not consume alcohol or any heavy greasy food before venturing any trip to any amusement park lest you feel giddy and uncomfortable.
Moreover, you should contact a doctor or whoever is in charge of first aid the moment you yourself or anyone else around you has congestion, fainting or severe body pain. The seriousness of course would determine the future course of action and that I would leave to your discretion.
All those who have survived this tumultuous journey(going thru my revu that is), kindly proceed to comments.
Keerti