Wow, just wow. Today was a Park Buyout (I work for a Theme Park) and we had about 15,000 people. That might not sound like a lot, but it is a freaking ton of people for a park our size. Let me just run you through some numbers -- we had about 250 regular trash cans and then about another 200 cardboard ones that our Waste Service Provider gave us. We couldn't keep them emptied. Before I left they had just loaded up several LARGE GARBAGE TRUCKS with the trash from one day. At one point and time we had just about every manager, supervisor, and any spare employee picking up trash and changing out bags. I'm talking like 50-60 people and we couldn't keep the bins from overflowing.
Here's how my day went -- got there about 8AM. I answered about 30-40 IT calls until the day was over. We use proprietary reveune POS software with a UNIX backend and a Windows 95 Front End. You can imagine the archaic hardware, scanners, credit card tools, receipt printers, servers, network switches, etc. That sh!t is always fvcking up. I emptied a literal plethora of trash cans while I wasn't doing calls or working in finance (I'm in finance doing our Cash Control) -- enough to where I had to stop because my back gave plum out until I helped close down at midnight. Like I said, the volume of trash we had was sickening. I've got trash goo/juice all over my clothing, in my shoes, on my hair, etc. Nasty ass crap that absolutely reeks.
The Private Company that bought out the Park for the day (think Fortune 500) consumed 52,000 20oz drinks( their buyout included free drinks and box lunches) we had pool tubs of drinks EVERYWHERE, and that did NOT include our fountain drinks or water. They also consumed 15,000 boxed lunches, virtually emptied our warehouse of chicken fingers, hamgburgers, Dipping Dots, Ice Cream, Shaved Ice, Funnel Cakes, and ANY other Theme Park type of food you can think of.
I had an 8 minute break around 1 in which I wolfed down some pizza and had a coke, but other than that I was CONSTANTLY moving until about midnight tonight when I had a small break for some more Pizza. While I was answering IT calls, moving staff around to the correct areas and departments, doing trash, dealing with guests, etc I also had to do the hourly counts of tickets (13k in all) as well as do change runs, audits, skims, etc. You just don't understand -- my entire department was fvcked. We went through about 10,000 Quarters alone. Not 10,000 dollars but QUARTERS. Just imagine the ones and other currency we used. We couldn't keep our 50 POSs with change even though we had 3 staff who were doing NOTHING but change runs and skims.
The best part of the day, however, was when the GM flys into the counting room and tells me to come out. Apparently this company didn't want music for their professional fireworks display (imported from Atlanta by a large Pyro company) last year, but at the last minute they wanted it this year. Well... I have like an hour and a half to put this sh!t together, so I run to Wal-Mart and find some patriotic music by the Marine National Band or some sh!t like that. The GM picks out what he wants, and then I go edit it for time to fit the fireworks show of 13 minutes, as well as burning it on a CD for continuity since the tracks were different that he wanted. I get that done and then they decide to move locations for where they want the music played, so I finally get there about 15 minutes before the fireworks. At 10 till I'm on my cell with the guy from Atlanta and we are letting the Entertainment Show wind down as prizes are being given out, and the VP of the company is talking. Finally he starts counting down from 10, and as soon as we hit 6 I'm yelling hit it hit it hit it hit it, and the Pyro guy is in the background on my phone yelling GO GO GO GO GO GO GO. (Five second fuse is why) and it goes off PERFECT. As in it was the most perfect countdown and fireworks hit ever. The music was PERFECT as well as it ended RIGHT before the Grand Finale (like seconds) right when this company wanted to a que a song of their own. Getting to que off and run a very expensive pro fireworks show was nuts!
Absolutely fvcking crazy day. I'm sunburnt, dehydrated (pissed once even though I drank like 5 liters of water), raw on my legs, have trash juice all over me, stink like a rotten whore from sweating, and I'm so sore that I can literally barely type this message. I feel great though because I worked my ASS of. I've busted ass before at the Park, but this was a whole new level of bringing the pain. I've gotta be back at 9am tomorrow for our first actual Public Operating day, but hopefully the crowds will be down due to it being Mother's Day. I can barely walk my feet are so bruised and blistered -- I probably walked 30 miles today (100 acre park).
In the end it was worth it, I don't want to say the exact number, but a little less than half a million in revenue. I just got home because I had to count all the goddamn in-park revenue before I could leave, balance the vault, make deposits, etc. We didn't have to count half a mill though, because about 75% of our revenue was pre-paid.
HAHA, I just scraped Icee juice off my knee, so I'm gonna take a shower and go to bed.
Cliffs: I had a really really really long and hard day and I loved it.
Here's how my day went -- got there about 8AM. I answered about 30-40 IT calls until the day was over. We use proprietary reveune POS software with a UNIX backend and a Windows 95 Front End. You can imagine the archaic hardware, scanners, credit card tools, receipt printers, servers, network switches, etc. That sh!t is always fvcking up. I emptied a literal plethora of trash cans while I wasn't doing calls or working in finance (I'm in finance doing our Cash Control) -- enough to where I had to stop because my back gave plum out until I helped close down at midnight. Like I said, the volume of trash we had was sickening. I've got trash goo/juice all over my clothing, in my shoes, on my hair, etc. Nasty ass crap that absolutely reeks.
The Private Company that bought out the Park for the day (think Fortune 500) consumed 52,000 20oz drinks( their buyout included free drinks and box lunches) we had pool tubs of drinks EVERYWHERE, and that did NOT include our fountain drinks or water. They also consumed 15,000 boxed lunches, virtually emptied our warehouse of chicken fingers, hamgburgers, Dipping Dots, Ice Cream, Shaved Ice, Funnel Cakes, and ANY other Theme Park type of food you can think of.
I had an 8 minute break around 1 in which I wolfed down some pizza and had a coke, but other than that I was CONSTANTLY moving until about midnight tonight when I had a small break for some more Pizza. While I was answering IT calls, moving staff around to the correct areas and departments, doing trash, dealing with guests, etc I also had to do the hourly counts of tickets (13k in all) as well as do change runs, audits, skims, etc. You just don't understand -- my entire department was fvcked. We went through about 10,000 Quarters alone. Not 10,000 dollars but QUARTERS. Just imagine the ones and other currency we used. We couldn't keep our 50 POSs with change even though we had 3 staff who were doing NOTHING but change runs and skims.
The best part of the day, however, was when the GM flys into the counting room and tells me to come out. Apparently this company didn't want music for their professional fireworks display (imported from Atlanta by a large Pyro company) last year, but at the last minute they wanted it this year. Well... I have like an hour and a half to put this sh!t together, so I run to Wal-Mart and find some patriotic music by the Marine National Band or some sh!t like that. The GM picks out what he wants, and then I go edit it for time to fit the fireworks show of 13 minutes, as well as burning it on a CD for continuity since the tracks were different that he wanted. I get that done and then they decide to move locations for where they want the music played, so I finally get there about 15 minutes before the fireworks. At 10 till I'm on my cell with the guy from Atlanta and we are letting the Entertainment Show wind down as prizes are being given out, and the VP of the company is talking. Finally he starts counting down from 10, and as soon as we hit 6 I'm yelling hit it hit it hit it hit it, and the Pyro guy is in the background on my phone yelling GO GO GO GO GO GO GO. (Five second fuse is why) and it goes off PERFECT. As in it was the most perfect countdown and fireworks hit ever. The music was PERFECT as well as it ended RIGHT before the Grand Finale (like seconds) right when this company wanted to a que a song of their own. Getting to que off and run a very expensive pro fireworks show was nuts!
Absolutely fvcking crazy day. I'm sunburnt, dehydrated (pissed once even though I drank like 5 liters of water), raw on my legs, have trash juice all over me, stink like a rotten whore from sweating, and I'm so sore that I can literally barely type this message. I feel great though because I worked my ASS of. I've busted ass before at the Park, but this was a whole new level of bringing the pain. I've gotta be back at 9am tomorrow for our first actual Public Operating day, but hopefully the crowds will be down due to it being Mother's Day. I can barely walk my feet are so bruised and blistered -- I probably walked 30 miles today (100 acre park).
In the end it was worth it, I don't want to say the exact number, but a little less than half a million in revenue. I just got home because I had to count all the goddamn in-park revenue before I could leave, balance the vault, make deposits, etc. We didn't have to count half a mill though, because about 75% of our revenue was pre-paid.
HAHA, I just scraped Icee juice off my knee, so I'm gonna take a shower and go to bed.
Cliffs: I had a really really really long and hard day and I loved it.
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