2008 Pay Scale

After this, I'll be extremely skeptical of any rumor that paints a picture of them actually showing some appreciation for their employees.

JPS, I've heard that Hard Rock Park does not have housing.

Anyone looking for a roomie? ;)

Seriously though, they have a big opportunity here if they have housing. If not, they still may be able to "cash in" if they handle it the right way.

I'm a little bitter about the bonus going up to $1 for Halloweekends, but, I guess that's because I'd only be able to work maybe 2 or 3 weekends. I'm going to be on the equestrian team at my school next year, and our shows are always on weekends, which means barely any CP.

I had actually heard rumors that the bonus would be going away completely, to which I responded, "they won't have anyone left to work by August."

Then the more I thought about it, the more I started thinking that doing away with the stupid bonus and just paying people a fair base wage would be the best thing they could do - even if the new wage was the same or less than the two components added together.

Why you might ask?

Because of the culture change that would almost HAVE TO come along with it.

Many people talk about feeling unappreciated when working at CP. They feel like they are milked for all they are worth, never complimented for a job well done, punished for screwing up, get frustrated with managers playing "favorites," etc. With a working environment like that, the bonus was just something they could hold over your head around the last week of August to make you stick it out until whatever your contract said.

Of course people don't go to work at CP for the money. They go because they grew up loving the park or whatever. Unfortunately, working there opens the eyes of a good many people and sort of tarnishes these feelings. I worked there three summers and for the most part enjoyed it. Pay never motivated me. The pride I had for MY RIDE motivated me. Beyond that, I did feel unappreciated, overworked, underpaid, and sometimes even lied to. It's easy to see how someone without a love for the park doesn't make it through July.

CP's current issues with quantity and quality of employees has as much to do with a poor working environment as it does to do with poor pay. Employees aren't empowered, they aren't appreciated, and they aren't rewarded when they exceed expectations. The sad part is, I think this extends farther up the food chain than just the seasonals and I think it is going to be the downfall of the park and the company if they don't adjust.

Well put. I would honestly be totally fine with doing away with the bonus and just offering a fair base wage. Everything you said is completely true...I couldn't agree more. Let's hope someone takes notice and things start changing...hopefully sooner rather than later.

I really, really do want to return. But when I feel like I'm just being 'used' and I get no satisfaction/appreciation, why should I go back?

You know,

I think that I there is a reason to go to Cedar Point and for me it is not the pay. I deinately like getting that bi weekly check but hey I am there for the good times and fun. I like to work, and I know that I am probably an exception but I think that you should enjoy what you do, and nothing could make be happier than being in the place that I love the most. I want to work there and make more and more people love this place that I love so much!

That's just my opinion, I like working there whether the pay is $6.50 or $7.00, I forget what I got paid last year but I was not there just for the pay, I love being there and anyone who loves CP should not always care about the amount of pay, you can still survive on $7.00 so it's all cool in my book!

^And I will point you to BlueStreak64's posts where he clearly states (and I KNOW he isn't alone) that he needs the money for school.

Exactly. As much as I would honestly love to work at Cedar Point during my entire college career, all but $80 that I had saved from the summer at Cedar Point went to pay off my outstanding balance for college. If I want to be able to start getting rid of that debt ASAP, I need a higher paying job (and a better spending plan, but still, I'm pretty conservative, and had well over $1,000, I think I was closer to $2,000 when I left). Summers working a job that pays like Cedar Point is now an unrealistic option for me, except for the Disney College Program for internship opportunities.

So the fact is that most of us, more like all of us, are not being greedy, but either need the money for legit reasons or are understandably put off by the apparent lack of appreciation on the part of management that is not only shown by recent pay scale moves, but also through other things like housing. The greed card is one that is not a playable option in this discussion, like it or not.

I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I do agree it's a poor move by the park. The promise of an increased bonus won't keep people around that want to quit. The bonus that they already had built up was what did it, at least in a few cases. I'm still not sure how effective the bonus is, in general. I worked back in 2005 when it was $1, and if people wanted to quit, they did.

It does leave a poor taste in my mouth, and I really wonder what they're thinking. Without knowing specific numbers, I have to imagine that labor is one of their smaller expenses (the electricity that place eats can't be cheap), so why be so stingy about it? It seems like it would be a small expense that would create better feelings. .15 an hour isn't gonna make or break any employee, in the long run, but it certainly won't make or break the park, so why risk creating the bad feelings and just left it where it was at? I truly don't understand it.

As was mentioned before, the best way to keep employees through the Halloweekend is to make them not angry about their jobs and how they've been treated from late June through August. There are a lot of ways to do this, but they're not cheap. Better pay is definitely one, but better housing would go a long way, too. How about moving Big Bash back to early August and/or restoring it to its former glory? I've heard about the stuff they used to give away, and it wasn't the Games prizes they handed out in 06 when it was actually scheduled to when I could go.

Burnout is huge, huge, huge. More staffing means fewer hours worked, which means more time to relax and/or bond with coworkers. If a person feels a greater attachment to the place, they're less likely to abandon it if and when things do get difficult in August or during weekends. When all a person is doing is working and sleeping, that doesn't happen as much. My 2007 crew didn't get off O-Cs until well into June (with its 10PM closings), and we didn't get an ATL until my contract was almost up. It adds up.

And all that being said, I'm still thinking about going back next season to work until my "real" job starts, which looks like it will carry me through the end of the season. Pay is relatively low on the list of motivators for me. I know that I'll make a lot of money, regardless, because you make up for it in hours that you would never get anywhere else. Kind of a crappy way to get the money, but it is what it is, and at the end of the season I have a happy bank account and an ugly farmer's tan.

I really do hope someone who has some say in the decision making is reading this. Here is two pages (soon to be more) worth of responses from dedicated employees who love the park, yet they are either fed up or fighting to convince themselves to stay. It's a very unfortunate matter.

HoosierTTD said:
Without knowing specific numbers, I have to imagine that labor is one of their smaller expenses (the electricity that place eats can't be cheap), so why be so stingy about it?

I almost guarantee labor is their biggest cost. I can't imagine they're eating more than 30k worth of electricity a month, and that would be if they didn't have some sort of deal going with FirstEnergy.

^I agree on the labor cost being a big bite from the budget.

Does anyone feel that the debt created by puchasing the other parks is causing a pinch in there as well? Maybe after the debt is payed down they will start to spread the wealth a bit...

The debt is every bit of the reason why they're not able to afford more. It's also killed their stock to a 5 year low.

CP is sure not what it used to be.. in a lot of ways. People used to work there for 5 years quite frequently. I could only think of a few last year, including myself, that stuck it out for that long. That job did teach me a lot in life and has helped me out a lot with my career with Target. The low bonuses, people living in Sandusky and not in housing and the internet (myspace, etc.) has changed that place into a totally different place than when I showed up in '02 not knowing anything about what my summers would entail. It really hurts CP not having those employees that would devote half a decade of summers to make that place stronger.

Fair enough. Like I said, no idea on specific numbers. But even if it is a larger expense, I really don't see how this makes sense. For the second year in a row, people who quit early essentially got a raise.

It's a simple concept. Better pay gets more people to work. More people means you can do two things: be choosier about who you hire ("better" employees) and have more of them. More employees means you have more people that will still be around for Weekends. It also reduces some of the long hours, so burnout is less of a factor, and fewer people quit before Weekends.

It's gonna take a cultural change in some (not all) of the management, too. With some of the changes for this season, I'll be interested to see how things go with that.

The sad fact is that unless enough good, hardworking people truly stand up and refuse to work there until the pay rate is increased to a decent standard, CP will never change it. Even in this thread I have read several posts that say "Wow, that is not fair, but I love working there so I will go back anyway." If you choose to go back year after year, then CP sees that as you "accepting" the pay that they offer.

Even if many of you didn't go back, CP could still find people who would be more than willing to work at that wage. It wouldn't be until Guest Service got to a point where it was clear as day that more skilled, experienced employees were needed, that Cedar Point would look at raising their base pay/bonus.

Again, the fact is this. Cedar Point is a company that is trying to maximize profit, and minimize cost. If they feel that they can do that, and maintain a decent workforce for 7.00 an hour, then there is no reason for them to change that. If you enjoy working at the park, and you are ok with the wages they are offering, then work there. If you aren't, then find a job elsewhere. Complaining does no good. I'll never forget in 2004 when some workers tried to establish a strike during the season. They even went so far as posting notices on dorm/apartment doors stating their complaints and demands. Needless to say, as far as I know, no one showed up, and the pay rate stayed right where it was.

I completely agree with Matt's previous post. I did often feel overworked, mistreated, under appreciated, etc... But my pride in my ride and the park, and the friends I made were what made my 2 years at the park worthwhile.

Dan87, what are you doing for housing? are you moving down there and renting an apartment? or is this kind of a local park to work. I read somewhere that there will be internationals working there on there student visa, where might they go?

bholcomb said:

I almost guarantee labor is their biggest cost. I can't imagine they're eating more than 30k worth of electricity a month, and that would be if they didn't have some sort of deal going with FirstEnergy.

I don't know if it's their biggest cost, but labor (and benefits) has gotta be right up there. The thing about labor is that it's the thing that's easiest to control, and that's what they're doing by only paying you $7 an hour.

About the electric bill, I work at a medium sized manufacturing plant, and our electric bill is $60k per month. I would be willing to bet that Wicked Twister alone is $20-30k per month and I wouldn't be surprised if the entire park's electric bill exceeded $200k per month. Think of all the air conditioners they are running, the lights at night, TTD, Wicked Twister, Maverick...I'm not even including the resorts in this.

I would bet labor exceeds $3 million a month.

Does anyone else think that it would be incredibly easy to decrease labor costs by decreasing the number of operators at each ride? Other parks manage to hit intervals with half the number of people working at one time. The vast majority of coasters can run with 3 people, yet at CP they all seem to have at least 5(often many more) at any given time.