Whats everyones opinions on the workers of themeparks?

[WeirdEdz]

Just was wondering what kind of experiences everyone has had with the workers of parks you have visited. In our experiences we have fun with the workers to make them feel alive and it brings out their personalities. We dont likento watch people work in misery! Especially with the high number of people coming in and out its a stressful job. I have yet to have any complaints but was wondering what kind of experiences you have had?

[Rollercoaster Rider]

Just was wondering what kind of experiences everyone has had with the workers of parks you have visited. In our experiences we have fun with the workers to make them feel alive and it brings out their personalities. We don't like to watch people work in misery! Especially with the high number of people coming in and out its a stressful job. I have yet to have any complaints but was wondering what kind of experiences you have had?

 

 

Ride and Park Employees- Depends. I've met nice ride employees at Six Flags and jerks at Herschend parks

Food Employees- SLOW. I shouldn't have to wait over an hour for a Flatbread sandwich

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Considering that there are hundreds if not thousands of employees at each theme park, and hundreds of theme parks, I'm not sure such a vague question is going to get you any good answers. In such a large group of people, you're bound to have every variety of person there is.

[larrygator]

Some employees are good and same are bad. That about covers it.

Edited April 27, 2016 by larrygator

[cfc]

Some employees are good and same are bad. That about covers it.

 

Larry speaks the truth.

[WeirdEdz]

Considering that there are hundreds if not thousands of employees at each theme park, and hundreds of theme parks, I'm not sure such a vague question is going to get you any good answers. In such a large group of people, you're bound to have every variety of person there is.

 

While that may be true ive been to many parks many times and i cant recall a bad experience of course there always will be someone havin a bad day. I guess a good question is what do you do if the employee isnt having a good day. Me personally it doesnt matter if you give an attitude at first, i dont judge you, but ill crack a smile out of you and bring out the better side. Or another question... has any employee gone out of their way to make it a better experience for yourself? We need alot more interaction with each other to bring the joy

[XII]

Considering how I'm an ex-theme park worker, I know pretty much how it is from both sides. I certainly like it when an employee goes the extra mile and puts in the effort to really make a guests day, but I'm not going to get down on them if I can tell they're in a bad mood and you can sense that they just want to get out of there and go home, because I know exactly how that feels. It doesn't get problematic until the employees start getting on their phones, moving at snail pace and creating horrible operations, and are just flat out rude to the guests. But luckily, those employees are rare (at most parks).

[DirkFunk]

The majority of positions are minimum wage or slightly higher jobs filled by people who just want a paycheck and occasional fan boys. Unless enthusiasts happen to be related to the owner or GM, they're generally weeded out over time (hint: they all work in rides, except Disney, where they all work in shows and rides) and the people who manage park operations are elevated from within with varying levels of competency given that it isn't the sort of position that requires an advanced degree or any degree at all.

 

TL;DR version: theme park employees are the same as any other entry level job market situation. It's McDonald's with roller coasters.

[ajfelice]

As said earlier, many are teens and young adults who are working there as seasonal jobs. Seasonal park jobs are also fairly popular with retirees and teachers as extra money in the summer or fun money. While most do enjoy what they do, the bottom line that drives their work is usually the pay and the amount of hours available compared to many summer jobs that are only 20-30 hours per week. There is the usual mix of good and bad employees just like in any service industry.

 

As for enthusiasts and fanboys, it is a ratio similar to that of the ration between GP and Enthusiasts as guests. Many employees take interest in the industry after they have worked it for a season or two, but by no means are they becoming enthusiasts. I even venture to say that a place like Cedar Point has a lot of people whose interest in attractions was fostered by working there as a summer job.

 

With full time employees, I say from experience that many of them took interest in the industry through working in it. While they become fairly knowledgeable, they are hardly what I would call an enthusiast as well. A significant amount of full-time employees are those who started as a seasonal worker and did the old fashioned move up the ladder. As for the enthusiast full-timers,most have done an excellent job of separating work and enthusiast stuff to the point you would have to ask them to even know if they were an enthusiast.

[Jew]

I think they are awesome!

[Wily J]

Definitely a step above carnies!

 

 

[WeirdEdz]

I think they are awesome!

You are awesome!

[Physical]

As a former ride operator, I have the utmost respect for those employed in the business. The job itself is pretty easy, but the relentless pace, coupled with /constantly/ having to deal with shitty people, makes it one of the most demanding and draining jobs I've ever worked. Not to mention long hours in the sun.

[DrachenfireOP]

As a former ride operator, I have the utmost respect for those employed in the business. The job itself is pretty easy, but the relentless pace, coupled with /constantly/ having to deal with shitty people, makes it one of the most demanding and draining jobs I've ever worked. Not to mention long hours in the sun.

 

I agree. It was pretty much as stressful to me as waiting tables, which I also did for a bit. On paper the job is easy, but in reality, people are DICKS. It also never ceases to amaze me the creative ways people find to almost kill themselves, and how mad they get when you try to stop them.

 

Working a BGW was a mostly positive experience. They're fairly selective in who they hire, drug test every employee a minimum of once a season (including hair testing), and you'll get in fairly serious trouble if you're ever a jerk to the employees or your coworkers. Most of the people who I saw got fired, definitely had it coming, but probably wouldn't have been fired from other parks/low wage jobs. BGW was very interested in keeping a polite, hard working, family friendly workforce. At the time, they also paid quite well (above minimum wage, with chances for promotions and raises throughout the season, and as a returning cast member).

 

It really set the bar high and disappointed the hell out of me the first time I went to a Six Flags park, which felt a lot more like carnies and apathetic McDonalds workers than what I was used to. Cedar Fair is pretty good these days though, and Disney usually takes the cake in terms of friendly, helpful employees. But as others have said, there's exceptions to every rule, and people are people everywhere.

[Physical]

As a former ride operator, I have the utmost respect for those employed in the business. The job itself is pretty easy, but the relentless pace, coupled with /constantly/ having to deal with shitty people, makes it one of the most demanding and draining jobs I've ever worked. Not to mention long hours in the sun.

 

I agree. It was pretty much as stressful to me as waiting tables, which I also did for a bit. On paper the job is easy, but in reality, people are DICKS. It also never ceases to amaze me the creative ways people find to almost kill themselves, and how mad they get when you try to stop them.

 

I cannot stress this enough. The amount of verbal abuse I endured for enforcing safety guidelines was just nuts. I had somebody walk into my rides restricted area more than once as well. Normally I'd just chalk it up to ignorance, but the risks are so obvious, it blew me away whenever I saw somebody hopping a fence.

 

Working a BGW was a mostly positive experience. They're fairly selective in who they hire, drug test every employee a minimum of once a season (including hair testing), and you'll get in fairly serious trouble if you're ever a jerk to the employees or your coworkers. Most of the people who I saw got fired, definitely had it coming, but probably wouldn't have been fired from other parks/low wage jobs. BGW was very interested in keeping a polite, hard working, family friendly workforce. At the time, they also paid quite well (above minimum wage, with chances for promotions and raises throughout the season, and as a returning cast member).

 

That is a stark contrast to my experience. Dorney rarely, if ever, fired somebody. There were employees all season that I would question how they still had a job. Towards the end of the season they started letting people go, but even then, they were firing the wrong people. They fired a longtime employee because he missed a few shifts (he missed these shifts because he has a second job, that the park knew about)

 

It really set the bar high and disappointed the hell out of me the first time I went to a Six Flags park, which felt a lot more like carnies and apathetic McDonalds workers than what I was used to.

 

That about sums up what kind of workers you get when you pay 7.25 an hour. I would love to go back and do it again, I can honestly say regardless of how terrible the job was, I had the best summer of my life working at Dorney. All the friends I made, and the experiences I got to have made it worth it. (Climbing to the top of a first gen intamin freefall nearly every morning was as awesome as you'd expect)

 

That being said, until Dorney (or parks in general) start paying wages you can actually survive on, I'm forced to work somewhere else.

[coasterbill]

This question is impossible to answer. There are exceptions to every rule at every park. Some parks generally have excellent customer service (Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, Knoebels, Dollywood, Cedar Point), some are average (most Six Flags Parks, most Cedar Fair parks) and some are horrendous (Six Flags New England) but there are still exceptions everywhere. I've seen bad employees at Universal and great employees at Six Flags New England.

 

It's obvious what parks really put a premium on these things though, but the Orlando parks also have an advantage because they're open all year and don't have to worry about seasonal staffing issues in the same way a park like Great Adventure or Kings Island does. In that case they'll probably hire just about anyone because they don't have much of a choice.

 

Outside of Orlando though and the other year-round parks the regional parks that really stand out are Cedar Point, Dollywood and Knoebels. As much as hiring enthusiasts can be a problem Cedar Point manages to find tons of people who are "enthusiastic" but also great employees (aka: normal people with social skills).

[Philrad71]

^This....all the way.