A Career At Cedar Point

Hey I was just wondering from those of you who know or who work at Cedar Point, how possible is it to start at Cedar Point as a seasonal employee and to climb the ladder? Is it difficult to get to the point where you can work full-time/year round with good pay? I'm assuming an MBA or something like that would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

It seems like it would be kind of hard in my opinion. The only jobs I see that you could get into a career with (working outside of CP since it would be seasonal) would be firefighting/medical (what I want to do), police, and mechanics. Acting might also turn into a career if you start at CP.

Starting as a seasonal gives you an edge over someone who has not. Naturally it depends on where you want to go, and not everyone came from the inside, but most do. Something like an MBA I bet helps. It's my understanding that Bill Spehn at Geauga Lake has an MBA, and that might have given him the edge for that job. (That's speculation, I couldn't possibly know for sure.)

The higher-ups are paid reasonably well, considering the cost of living in Sandusky, but you'll spend a lot of years with very mediocre pay. People generally have to retire, die or move to another park upon acquisition in order for spots to open up.

Wierd I was wondering the same thing to today.

Jeff said:
Starting as a seasonal gives you an edge over someone who has not. Naturally it depends on where you want to go, and not everyone came from the inside, but most do. Something like an MBA I bet helps. It's my understanding that Bill Spehn at Geauga Lake has an MBA, and that might have given him the edge for that job. (That's speculation, I couldn't possibly know for sure)

Bill Spehn was an great manager, and he started at Cedar Point as a third shift trash removal. He was a huge believer in moving people up from within the company.

Oz's (Ride Operations Head Manager) first year was when Raptor debuted in 1994. That will give you an idea of how slowly you climb the ladder. Like Jeff said, people moving around to other parks is a big factor in having positions open up also.

Wasn't Kinzel's first day working at a concession stand?

Jack Falfas started as a seasonal over thirty years ago.

I will be getting out of highschool in a year, do i need any speical training or classes to start work at Cedar Point??? I would love to work there. How long did it take all of the ride op. to get to op. position???

Thanks

After you are hired at Cedar Point, you will take online training and then within 48 hours of the start of your contract you will be required to attend company orientation and department training. After that you are free to begin working at your assigned location where you will receive additional training. If you are in Ride Ops you will be trained by your TL and ATL for safe operation of the ride before you will be allowed to operate it yourself. Your first few hours of operation will be before the park opens during testing before you are allowed to operate a ride while the park is open.

You could always talk to HR and see what they suggest. It kind of depends on what kind of work you want to do - engineering? Operations? Marketing? Then send a resume' to the head of HR, and another to the head of the department you would like to work in. Do this regardless of whether they are anticipating any hiring in that department. It's always good to have a resume' on file

Depending on the type of work you want to do would probably have some bearing on whether it will help having seasonal experience. Once again, HR is probably your best source of information on this.

CPL

"Bring back the Penguins!"

Thank you everyone for your posts, it has been helpful

Jeff said:
The higher-ups are paid reasonably well, considering the cost of living in Sandusky, but you'll spend a lot of years with very mediocre pay. People generally have to retire, die or move to another park upon acquisition in order for spots to open up.

Doesn't Cedar Fair pay it's employees better than most other theme parks? It's my understanding that Disney employees are some of the most underpaid theme park employees in the world, although I might be mistaken.
*** Edited 6/2/2005 1:26:34 AM UTC by CPMatt***

It seems that Disney would pay their employees well, but I guess that since they have so many employees, they simply can not afford to pay them all a high salary and still make a profit.

I know 2 peeps that work for Disney - one was a firefighter (Reedy Creek Fire District), and the other was a special effects guy at the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. Both make good money, but both were also in unions - not sure how much difference that makes in Florida. I don't think they have CB in Florida. Takes a lot of people to make that place work so you'd think they take descent care of their employees. Or do they call them hosts? Lemme break out the management fad menu for this month... lol.

CPL

"Bring back the Penguins!"

Disney pays hourly employees the same base rate as Cedar Point, however they do not have any bonuses like Cedar Point does. They do hook you up though with other perks, discounts etc. so I guess it evens out.

Jeff makes a good point. Getting in early is the key.

When I worked on the College Program at WDW we had a chance to have a Q & A session with an executive. I asked the pointed question, "what benefit do I have having graduated from college in getting a full time job over someone that started working here right out of high school?" The short answer? None.

Few people land a full time job at Cedar Point without first having been a seasonal for a number of years. There are few exceptions. Perhaps in the case of a specialized career like I.T., maintenance, etc. I was an exception but it was just a case of the right place - right time for me.

Even though I did get hired in my first season it wasn't in the position I ultimately wanted. After trying for a few years to make a change into something I was more interested in and failing it occurred to me that it might not ever happen so I chose to leave.

My best recommendation? If you are still in high school or college and you want to make the amusement park business your career, start working at a park immediately. Do your best, offer to work all the crazy shifts, stay late, come in early, finish your contract and come back for bonus weekends. Get to know important people and don't piss them off. Make their jobs easier.

Even after you do all that, realize that there may be dozens...if not tons...of others who have the same goals you do.

I think I was a better than average cast member at WDW but I never landed a full time, management type job there. I was told that when they put up a job posting they may receive THOUSANDS of inquiries. Even if you are an excellent prospect those are pretty tough odds.
*** Edited 6/2/2005 5:19:26 PM UTC by Chief Wahoo***

Wow knew it was pretty competitive at the Mouse House, but didn't realize it was quite that bad. The 2 guys I know/knew were pretty specialized - not somthing to move up into methinks. Every visit I have had down there was a good experience. Guess that means everyone was doing their jobs pretty darn good! Took one of the 1/2 day walking tours of the Magic Kingdom one year. The guide was having a blast with what she was doing (talking about the park) so I asked her how long she had worked there? I was shocked to find out it was her 9th year with Disney and her 7th giving the tours. I thought wow! She has found her niche! Good for her! Enthusiasm like that is sometimes reserved for those who havn't worn out the novelty of their job yet. Stuff like that sticks with you when you when you are on vacation.

The Mouse House is no picnic. In many ways it is just a job like any other. The thing to remember about Walt's world is that, while there are nearly 60,000 positions at the complex, most of them are entry level.

So, when a management position opens up just look at how many internal prospects they might have before they even consider going outside the company.

I have a friend that is going on his 10th year at WDW. He parlayed the College Program into a full time position. He is middle/low management at Textile Services. He took the job thinking it was his foot in the door and he might be able to move on to different things but he has yet to be able to move on. He is a pretty smart, capable guy too.

CP_bound said:
Oz's (Ride Operations Head Manager) first year was when Raptor debuted in 1994. That will give you an idea of how slowly you climb the ladder. Like Jeff said, people moving around to other parks is a big factor in having positions open up also.

Yeah, I actually interviewed him for a paper that I wrote last year. He was one of the "Raptor Boys" in that '94 season. He's a cool guy, and after finding and reviewing my notes from the interview, I see that he told me that he went to University of Pitt. and Indiana University in Indiana, PA, and majored in Saftey Science."I kept coming back year after year. And I just stayed on full time, and I was already into the saftey thing, so it just worked out"
*** Edited 6/2/2005 7:21:55 PM UTC by IWantBansheeBack***