MonkeyPants Posted January 14, 2007 Posted January 14, 2007 Ready for a trip back in time? You might want to grab a pair of sunglasses to shield yourself from the bright yellow uniforms we had to wear in the traffic control dept! Sadly, I've learned that Chris has passed away. He was a bigger coaster nut than almost anybody I've known. Here he is operating Blue Streak old-school-style. This Trip-Report is dedicated to his memory. My second year at Cedar Point was the year the first Batman:TR opened. Me and my old roommate, Chris, took the trip to Illinois and had a blast! Those are Chris's feet. And he wins the pie eating contest! Doug E. Fresh proving he was made to eat! The traffic crew at Big Bash! These peeps were playing balloon toss at the annual Big Bash party for employees. We thought we were so cool slapping Magnum track... Boy were we wrong! Who was just getting off work and joined us for some Demon Droppin'. We stopped by and said hi to Angie... There's my brother having a great time! Plus Magnum was nuts! I love how Linda's holding her head, peering out from behind her hands! Mean Streak was somewhat worth riding back then. I was just going on my split so I joined them for some rides. So one day, swinging my orange-gloved hand in the general direction of some parking spaces, I hear a shout from a car "Nice gloves, champ!" It was my brother & some college friends on a surprise visit! Course after riding so much, I started getting bored so I started doing inadvisable things like looking backwards and such. Don't try this at home! Magnum was the Shiznit in '91! More Magnum girls. This was right after the first Gulf War... Notice the rider's "America Kicks Ass" T-shirt. I was dating a girl on Magnum, so I went and rode it all the time. I remember riding until close so I could walk her to her dorm. A rough guess (I wasn't keeping count) would be about 200 Magnum rides that summer. Here's the crew at one of the local establishments that catered to underage drinkers. At one place (not this one), the bouncer actually advised me on how to drink discreetly so he wouldn't have to bust me. So kind! Some of the girls had dorm rooms in Hotel Breakers. Man those rooms were tiny. And of course, the big perk is riding rides on your time off. Here were are going down the first hill on Blue Streak. So, me and these 2 girls got promoted to Blue Tag. We were a little peeved that we didn't get a pay raise, but at least we didn't have to direct traffic anymore. That post was near the Planning & Design building, and they had old stuff laying around, so one day I went exploring and found this old Iron Dragon car on blocks. Somebody stole the wheels, aparently. So, one of the posts we had was to 'guard' an opening in the fence near Gemini and check employee IDs if they came through. It was way boring, so one day I built a scale model of Stonehenge for chuckles. Can you say "Sexual Harrassment Lawsuit?" Had a lot of laughs... Here Sean (codename Squiggy) yucks it up on the back of the traffic truck. This guy (I forget his name) was hilarious! Needless to say, we grew to dread that line of cars creeping towards us day after day. This was a roommate of mine... Very cool guy named Doug. Everyone called him Doug-E-Fresh. I worked on the traffic control crew. We got to wear awesome clothes! My folks dropping me off at Cedar Point. I arrived about a week before the season began. Mean Streak was just finishing up. I actually was able to see it's first run!
Top Thrill Dragster Posted January 14, 2007 Posted January 14, 2007 WOW! Looks like you had fun working at Cedar Point.
GMAN962 Posted January 14, 2007 Posted January 14, 2007 Wow, I wish I worked at CP.....then again they have like less than minimum wage....oh well. Great photos! ~Mike
Homer Posted January 14, 2007 Posted January 14, 2007 Wow, working there must have been a blast, but recently I have seen some reviews about it being mediocre. Sorry to hear about Chris though, he looked like a nice guy. Other than that, great TR that shows off how much fun it could be to work at Cedar Point!
pkdcoaster Posted January 14, 2007 Posted January 14, 2007 Thanks alot for showing these pics. I wish I had taken pics of my working days a PKD. I know you probably had the biggest smile going through these pics again, looks like a great time. JEFF
coasterdude5 Posted January 14, 2007 Posted January 14, 2007 Awesome TR! It looks like working at CP would be cool (except maybe not checking employee ID's). Thanks for posting.
Coasternerdette Posted January 14, 2007 Posted January 14, 2007 I love the last shot of the old school Blue Streak station and employee uniform. When I'm old(er) and gray(er), this is what I will think of when I reminisce about Cedar Point. I loved watching them work that old hand brake.I still find it jarring to walk into the remodeled Blue Streak station. Nice Trip Report
bgwfreak Posted January 14, 2007 Posted January 14, 2007 *ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 80's Hair!!!!!* *looks at his 1990 graduation picture* Oh nevermind. LOL Nice Retro PTR. I wish I had visited back then, my first visit wasn't until 1999. Mullet alert!
CP_RULES Posted January 14, 2007 Posted January 14, 2007 Mean Streak actually looked good back then. Its amazing how time can change things. Nice retro PTR, it's always cool to see how things were "back in the day."
Scaparri Posted January 14, 2007 Posted January 14, 2007 Wow, those Magnum uniforms are hideous! Makes me appreciate the uniform I had a little more. So did they work you 70 hours a week back then too?
MonkeyPants Posted January 14, 2007 Author Posted January 14, 2007 Wow, working there must have been a blast, but recently I have seen some reviews about it being mediocre. Well, I haven't heard any recent reports on working there, but I will say that even when I was there, it wasn't all laughs! I know you probably had the biggest smile going through these pics again I did, for sure! I actually caught up with a couple folks through the CP website... They have a spot for alumni to post contact info, and I found a couple old friends... That was really quite cool. I love the last shot of the old school Blue Streak station and employee uniform. When I'm old(er) and gray(er), this is what I will think of when I reminisce about Cedar Point. I loved watching them work that old hand brake.I still find it jarring to walk into the remodeled Blue Streak station. I know exactly what you mean! I loved the old station, putting all their weight on the handle. The station used to have this cool vibe, which sadly, is now a sterile boring station. Oh, well. What can you do? It's still a fun ride! So did they work you 70 hours a week back then too? Yep 70-75 hours a week was the norm. And for really low pay. Plus, there was some payroll loophole so they weren't required to pay overtime, so they really milked the employees. Even though it had a lot of fun moments, it was still a drag working that many hours, knowing they were taking advantage of you. Most Saturdays were 12+ hours shifts, my longest being 17.5 hours. BTW - here's a hint. Don't go to Cedar Point on a Saturday!
jamesdillaman Posted January 14, 2007 Posted January 14, 2007 ^ Saesonal employees aren't entitled by law to overtime for over 40 hours, only if they work more than 80. -James "It's still the norm at least in Ohio" Dillaman
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