Cedar Point mistreating its employees?

I wonder how much the arrival of Mr. Ouimet will do to change the culture at the park(s) in coming years. Although it seems the cast members at Disney have their own set of problems with employment conditions.

The poster starts out describing the entire company as bad place to work. By the third paragraph, he says, "it is still possible to have a pretty cool time at Cedar Point," and it all depends on where you work and who your supervisors are.

I think it's fair to say that there are people who end up with less the desirable situations because of a combination of conditions, hours, supervisors, etc. I'd also say that would be an accurate statement for a lot of companies.

There are lots of people who will tell you how much they loved their time at Cedar Point. and there are lots of people who will tell you it was the worst job they ever had. Many factors are in play. There are employer factors: working conditions, living conditions, management, schedules. But there are also employee factors that contribute to a bad situation: attitude, work ethic, perception, etc.

"Even innocuous 'I hate this place/my manager' type wall posts that don't even name names have been known to get people fired."

Again, I don't think that's unique to Cedar Point. That's just the Facebook world we live in. There are hundreds of stories of people losing their job because they don't think before they type.

Wages -- There's no bait and switch, no deception. You know what your pay will be before you work your first hour. Is the pay too low? If they were unable to hire enough people, I would say perhaps. I think it's just basic economics.

And employees complaining about their pay versus upper management pay is also not unique to Cedar Point.

The rest of the article seems like the same stuff we've heard on these boards for years, except compiled in one convenient location. The article is at times accurate, at times exaggerated, and often anecdotal. There is no "smoking gun."

I honestly cant see how people make it through their summer at Cedar Point. I have never in my life seen or heard of an employer that treats their staff so poorly.

A lot of you are saying you dont believe what this article is saying? Have you worked at the park recently? Have you delt with Cedar Point's management? They really dont care about anyone who works there. Everything in that article sounds comparable to what I witnessed working at the park. I'm not at all surprised.

To the post above me: First off, I am very surprised that you can seriously defend a company like Cedar Point. But to your comment about people saying they loved their job: anyone who says they enjoyed their time at Cedar Point is because they either have never had a real job, they are unaware that your employer is supposed to treat you with respect and be courteous to your needs, or they had a smooth summer where everyday went the same with no problems. But that isnt the case for a lot of people as you can read in the article that started this thread. People come here from all over the world not knowing anyone. They run into small issues that turn into huge ones and nobody does anything to help them.

Cedar Point was the WORST job I have ever had. And once this season is over and the employees who are working at the park this summer actually have enough time to do something other than sleep and work, they'll get on this forum and they too will tell you how horrible it truly is.

green said:
To the post above me: First off, I am very surprised that you can seriously defend a company like Cedar Point.

I don't recall defending anyone.

It's called work. It's supposed to suck! So many people think that because they work at a vacation destination that they will play all day. False! Remember.......YOU work while THEY play!

Most of the "awful" conditions I read about could be said about the Disney College program also. Suck it up and welcome to the real world!

Disney Mike said:
Most of the "awful" conditions I read about could be said about the Disney College program also.

Hardly.

Vista Way is to Commons/Cedars/Golds as city projects are to the suburbs. And that's the worst College Program housing complex. Chatham and Patterson Court is that comparison (maybe slightly less) for Bayside. The work environment is completely different as well. Yeah, there's those constants across the industry, but overall, a much, much better experience.

I worked at CP in 2002, and truly enjoyed myself! Sure it had it's ups and downs, but nothing worth writing home about. Has it really gone that far downhill? Or are the people complaining, the ones who don't know what it really means to EARN a paycheck?

Disney Mike said:
It's called work. It's supposed to suck!

Unless you work at Microsoft or something. Those guys really have it cushy...

While I am only about halfway through the article, I can already confirm most of this is pretty spot-on from my experience in '07 and '08. Yes, I made the choice to work there (and return for a summer). Yes, I did make some great friends and have a good time, BUT..if you're looking for an honest representation on how employees are treated, what the corporate culture is like, and what employees go through, this is pretty spot-on. Looking back on how Cedar Point treats its employees, I am disgusted. I'm glad this article is out there and I do hope it spreads.

Sorry to knock off the topic....Does anyone know, whats the latest that you can process in? Can I process in around 3 or 4 or 5pm? and If I dont' have my State I.D can I still use my Birth Cert. and Social.S.C?

HR Closes at 5, so sometime before then I'd imagine. I'd say 4 to be safe.

This is the fine state of America. Always expecting something for nothing. The reason politics here sometimes are useless. It's not for everyone, that's always been said. I was treated like an employee. I didn't expect them to pamper me because I work longer days and weeks than a typical American.

During my time there, I never once heard an international employee complain about anything other than not getting enough hours. They would do anything I asked, as their supervisor, and never once weren't happy to fill in and do anything when needed. And some of the jobs werent much fun. One thing in the article I disagreed with was the return plane ticket home thing. It was required to be purchased before anyone was allowed to come. They may get paid less here, but also remember where most are coming from. Places that pay 50-75% less. Most of the internationals I dealt with were paying their entire college education off with the money they made. They would purchase products like laptops here, that cost 5 times more in their country. No complaining. Yes they don't have much free time. Nobody else does either. And I'm pretty sure the taxes are exempt also.

As far as employees hired from the US, you have a chance to tell the truth in your interview. They ask you how you feel about working 60-70 hours a week in ugly weather. Most think they can handle it, but in truth can't. How many employers actually allow there employees to work over 40 hours? Most don't. Then you have try and schedule all the jobs to work in travel and other things. Most employers now don't have to work with YOUR schedule, instead they hire people that are committed to them These jobs are not meant to be careers. While there are some that have become 'Lifers', the pay will never be anything that will change that. This will never be a 30k or more job. But as mentioned before on this site, I found it easier on me to work there many of times, than I do now.

At CP I didn't have to pay high rent, cable, electric, travel to work, and a few other expenses like Toilet paper. Yes, you may pay up to $160 a month or less for all these combined. But that's a bunch cheaper than paying full price at home. And anyone that has moved out of mom and dad's, will figure this out. Bill's can add up quick. So while I clear probably more than triple what I made at CP, After paying all the bills and expenses I probably have less money in my pocket than I did while working at CP. I'd try and chart all this out to show how that's possible, but don't think its necessary. It was easier for me survive there, so I was grateful for it.

My high paying job went south in construction when the economy went belly up. So I work 3 jobs now to make up the difference. And it's the same thing. No insurance, no benefits, working in ugly weather, and hours dictated on crowds and events being scheduled. Having to try and schedule everything so I can travel to all of them and not be late isnt easy. But it's what I have to do to survive. The funny thing is I could have made more money on unemployment and just sat at home. But that's a different story. Just another example how people think they deserve everything handed to them for whatever reason.

Since this attention whoring crybaby posted the same crap on CoasterBuzz, I'll repost what I did there...

I couldn't read through it. I stopped reading at "I worked there five years." if you're the kind of schmuck who can't master your own destiny, I have no sympathy for you. Ditto if you sign up here just to bitch and moan as your first post.

Grow up. Working 60 hours a week is what you do, what you voluntarily do. If you think it sucks, you can walk away.

Ensign Smith said:
Unless you work at Microsoft or something. Those guys really have it cushy...

You make it sound like people get paid six figures to drink at work or something.

You don't get paid 6 figures to drink at work?

At the end of the day Cedar Point has a terrible company culture and they do not give a damn about anyone who works there. End of story.

Consider yourself tweaked, sir. :)

green said:
At the end of the day Cedar Point has a terrible company culture and they do not give a damn about anyone who works there. End of story.

If this were the least bit true, the percentage of employees who return after their 1st year would be 0.

I'm gonna chime in on the parts I read, the first aid stories. I hope to put a less bias spin on some of those.

Blaming the Victim: Sucks that someone didn't grab a jacket for him, but some blame falls on him for not preparing for adverse weather conditions. If you know the weather might vary into cold or that you work in a windy area be prepared. As an employee you must prepare yourself for w/e you may face. Mommy/CP can't always be there to say, "Make sure you take a jacket honey."

My Foot Hurts: This one is silly. The person knew something was wrong out of the gate and did nothing but just let it get worse. When the bottle finally burst he got a yit storm for having to miss shifts. There was some miscommunication between departments but his foot should never have gotten that bad to begin with since he knew something was wrong.

I Feel Weak: She was told to see a real doctor, she chose not to. Cedar Point can't force someone to go to the hospital unless an emergency calls for an ambulance. It sucks that she had such a serious condition but honestly it is her fault for not seeing a doctor, which btw Cedar Point told her to do.

Honesty sometimes sounds bad, but it really pisses me off when people won't accept responsibility for their own actions. Everyone is always looking for someone to blame and mirror sales have plummeted because of that.

I can only really vouch for my own experience, but I really enjoyed my full summer of employment there, and going back for Halloweekends continues to be the highlight of my year, even though (or maybe especially because) I have a "real" job now. I know plenty of other people who have had a great time there, and I know plenty who have absolutely hated it. Like I said before, I'm friends with one of the guys described in the original article, and 5 years after working there he still gets visibly angry whenever somebody mentions Cedar Point around him. But I'm also pretty certain that's far from the norm.

Was the pay rate the greatest? No, but the amount of hours definitely added up to more than a "typical" summer job would pay. It helped that I went into it knowing that my life that summer was pretty much going to revolve entirely around work. The people who couldn't grasp or handle that seemed to be the ones who struggled. Even "regular" jobs require you to generally structure your life around them, although if you're lucky you at least end up with a set schedule and maybe a handful of vacation days.

Housing wasn't luxurious, but it was about on par with most college dorms that I've seen (at least at Commons, I didn't spend time in other housing units). I can understand how your life could completely suck if you wound up with some bad roommates, but at least when I was there, they were pretty accommodating with letting people change rooms.

In the end, it's generally the people who get along with their crew, get along with their supervisors, and don't let guest issues get under their skin who seem to have the best time. People who get caught up in drama, can't get along with their crew, or have conflicts with their supervisors are the ones who seem to end up being miserable. That can happen in any work environment.

Jeff said:

You make it sound like people get paid six figures to drink at work or something.

I knew a guy who was getting paid close to six figures to drink at a programming job, but I suspect that's a pretty unusual occurrence. :)

901liveson said:
This is the fine state of America. Always expecting something for nothing.

I would generally disagree with that sentiment. The state of workers rights and mandated benefits in this country, even for many of those with cushy jobs, is a disgrace when compared to those of most other "first world" countries right now. There's a lot of things we could do better, but I'm not looking to open up that can of worms, so I'm going to stop right there.