I went to both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida today with some visiting relatives and in the after noon, we decided to ride Jaws and walked right on. I was wearing a checkered shirt and when we got to the end of the queue, I decided to store my HD Sony Camcorder in my chest pocket so it wouldn't get damaged from the water, however the top of the camera case was still visible but the cam was TURNED OFF THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE RIDE. Anyways, the Skipper we had that day was the most anal, obnoxious, power hungry skipper that I have ever seen at JAWS. Most skippers are really friendly to ride with, and are always nice to me, good with the themeing, etc. This guy today was an extreme jerk in several ways which I am about to explain (I won't mention his name in case of stalking/privacy concerns, but if you want to know it, then please personal message me). Anyways, when we boarded the ride when he was going over safety rules, when he mentioned about no photography or videotaping he says "you shouldn't have even bruoght those cameras with you so don't even think of bringing them on the ride or Chief Brody will arrest you". After we left the station and throughout the ENTIRE RIDE the Skipper was barely looking over at the shark or what was going on in the ride but 99% of the time he kept his eyes sharply on the guests, intensively scanning everybody to see who was breaking what policy. The best way to describe the guy would be to say that he's a male version of Professor Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter. By that, I mean he was like her in how he acted cutesy, but if somebody did something he didn't like he would harshly chastise them and seemed to enjoy doing that. He also temporairly stopped the ride at least three time to yell the heck out of people:
1)He stopped right near Steven's Cannery and Chief Brody's house to make a foreign lady who was taking pics of the scenery put away her camera. At first she just turned it off, but then he STILL wouldn't continue the ride, and kept telling her she had to have it securely fastened inside a zipped pocket immediately, or he would call security.
2)Stopped the tour boat right when you first see JAWS before going into the Boathouse to yell at two woman at the row in back of me because one of them brought food wrapped in papaer onboard and was holding it in their lap, and the other woman next to her was drinking from her water bottle. He complained that eating/drinking were strictly prohibited and they shouldn't have even brought them on the ride then demanded they pass their food and water bottle up the rows to him, then he put them in some box at the front of the boat.
3)At the finale of the ride where JAWS bites the high voltage barge A TON of people in the boat pulled at cameras and recorders, so he stopped the ride again and did the same thing he did to the lady earlier in the ride, except this time he said something like "You idiots! Put them all away! The show is over! and you're clearly in violation of many rules".
Also, at the part where the oil tank blows up, my uncle said something like "whoa, that's hot! Wer'e right in the fire!" and the Skipper chastised him with "SIr, talking is prohibited while aboard". Then the worst part was what he did to me. It at first started at the gap in the ride between the oil dock and the voltage barge, where he started scanning the audience like a robot yet again, then starts peering over at me and looking me down. And starts pointing at me saying "No, sir. That's prohibited. No, No." Everybody in the boat started looking around in a sort of "Is he talking to me?" manner. I couldn't understand why the bastard was scolding me when I wasen't videotaping, taking pictures or breaking any rules AND hold my cam stored in my pocket. Then, when were exiting the ride, the Skipper (who still had his microphone turned on) says (exact words):
"Sir? Sir? Yes, you. If I see you bring a camera onto a ride ever again, I'll have you kicked out of the park. Got it?"
I was soo pissed off, I was about to argue to the Skipper that the warning signs in the queue DO NOT SAY "Store all loose articles in lockers or with a non-rider" or "loose articles are prohibited but just "secure and protect loose articles". I had my stupid camera in my pocket during the whole ride. JAWS is not considered a no loose articles permitted ride. I didin't have it out. I wasen't videotaping. Hundreds of tourists bring their cameras to theme parks, including Universal. So why was the Skipper thretening me about how I villated policy and could get kicked out when I didn't brerak any f***ing rules? My uncle even called the Skipper a "jerk ass" afterwards. I am so scarred and angered by this particular incident that I am considering not even riding JAWS ever again. That's how pissed of I am at the Skipper. I've been on the ride thousands of times before where I had a camera and the Skippers didn't say anything. Then this guy threatens me cuz I brought one (turned off) to his attraction at a THEME PARK??!! I didn't get the chance to report him to Guest Services today, but am planning to call Guest Services phone-line tomorrow to file a complaint.
Thoughts?