Former Employee Reunions

The crew from the 1980 Frontier Inn was a bottomless pit as far as beer went. Remember in that era we were the Pros from Dover! We had a Rec Center that served beer. You could drink when you were 18. Now you poor guys have brownshirts aka security that will bust you for tripping on your shoe lace. I made a Pabst Blue Ribbon Float with my ice cream cone once for 20 dollars that was bet that I could not drink it all.

We had dances ever week in the convention center over the midway games. 50 cent cans of beer, decent bands, beach parties, and a couple of employee appreciation dinners (really just hotdogs, chips and soda but who cares the price was right).

In any event what a fun summer most of you had. I wish I was young enough to join in some of the fun.

I wonder why CP no longer has those kinds of events like the dances and such. There is Calypso Bash and Big Bash but I wonder why they stopped weekly dances.

Can we say... drama?

CaptainNate said:
The Paddlewheel crew from 2000 would outdrink all of you :)

Hey why you dont let the young bloods of PWE 05' show you all up...haha We were one hardcore crew we did everything from snake wrandeing on dock to ducking for cover from the random things that few off TTD... My fav. thing would have to be the seagull attacks haha...

From purely a buisiness perspective I don't see why a Point-sanctioned "reunion" for past employees wouldn't be a good idea. Schedule it for early in the season when resort bookings are low or late in the Fall.

In fact Sandcastle doesn't stay open all Bonus Weekends anymore...I don't think. Open it up as the site for reunion attendees that need accommodations. Offer a discount for that and park entry. Set up gatherings for different decades/departments around the property, etc. Keep it family oriented to the extent possible and I think it would be a success.

Now that's thinking out of the box, Chief!

And you know what? It may just work (and be profitable). If they even make a little money, it's better than making NO money (or worse, losing).

MrScott

Well, it only makes sense (and cents). You gotta figure in the last 20 years alone there have probably been over 20,000 employees who have worked there.

If you figure only 10% would attend a properly marketed reunion that is 2000 former employees and likely spouses/children. A pretty good sized "group outing".

My wife and I live in Florida and we'd likely make the trip for something like that because Cedar Point is still in our hearts and it would be a unique experience. I'm not sure you could do it every single year but the proof would be in the response to the first one.

You could have some real fun with it. In park ops you could have spiel memorization games...lifeguard challenges...etc. In Accommodations you could have bed making contests, bellman contests, etc. In Games you could have...well...games. I think with a little thought you could turn it into quite a weekend.

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the great responses. I am truely glad to see so many people feel the way I do about their CP experience. An employee reunion would be awesome. Thanks Chief Wahoo for your excellent ideas. Now does anyone know an inside CP source that we could run the idea across the "boardroom table"?

I will always remember all the great rides on WWL! A true all male crew ride.

Minerider94

There are plenty of inside sources who read these boards.

I had a lot of good ideas while working at the Point but they weren't always listened to. It may be better coming from someone else.

That said, the idea seems more realistic the more I think about it. I know Disney had some pretty successful reunions for their College Program. I don't know if they were company-sanctioned but I suspect the attendance would be better if they were.

I could see them putting together a couple of exclusive merchandise items with Alumni flare. Instead of the Big Bash it could be the Big Bash Flash From the Past or something along those lines. You want to go crazy? Get the Discovery channel to come in and film it like a reality show special and then get some more national exposure for the show. (Ok, that might be a stretch.)

They could interview past employees and use it is a marketing tool for Human Resources. (Actually, I don't know why they've never tried this before.)

They could have extreme contests...like...you survived a summer at Cedars as a college student...could you survive one night as a middle-aged adult?

They could charge premiums to give you a chance to perform a job you didn't get to do as a kid. You only got a chance to work in Kiddy Kingdom? Well, pay a few extra bucks and we'll let you operate Magnum for a couple of hours.

I've only been thinking about this for a couple of hours and I've got a weekend's worth of activities. I guess I should get back to my real job.

Boy...I had another idea.

Since they have so much trouble staffing the park in the shoulder seasons maybe they could utilize their past employees (in good standing) as a volunteer resource much the way they use church groups.

Offer past employees a deep discount on accommodations and a free day in the park in exchange for a free day of work. Say I work all day Saturday and then I get to run around the park for free on Sunday.

Ok...I really need to do my own job now.

Did you sleep last night?

I know...I'm lame. How'd ya like to be married to me?

Gee, I won't even charge Cedar Point a contractual fee for my efforts.

Did you just propose to me?

How much money do you make...and do you like long baths by candlelight?

No...it was more of a rhetorical question.

Chief Wahoo said:
...and do you like long baths by candlelight?

No candles and most likely not with you...sorry.

lol! MOST of Chief's ideas give some ones a reason to stop and pause. I believe it's called "thinking about it".

It would be in CP's best interest (ie they could make money) to research this. Hell, I'd go just to rub elbows with former ride hosts! It would be a great chance to thank them for their service.

MrScott

I love talking to former employees. One day MF was down to weather and I just started talking with this one guy who was telling me some great stories.

I ran into a woman who said, "I used to work on Avalanche Run, you've probably never heard of it because that ride is LONG gone now." I said, "Did you see the warehouse in the front of the park?" And she's like, "Yeah." I just nodded.

Good times.

Chief Wahoo is on fire....:)

I've often thought about writing a book about my amusement park experiences (having worked at 3 parks including the big daddy) but I thought it would have limited appeal. Maybe I should rethink that.

The stories that I was told from employees who worked at the park in the 70's and 80's put to shame my own stories of the 90's. Of course, that is back in the day when the rec center (the old one near the old Breakers) was called The Circus...and beer was sold there.

Chief, I'm one of those ops people from the 70's and yes I could tell a heck of a story of life at the Point in those days. The Circus, Tuesday night dances, the no mans land section of the beach that security didn't patrol at night. I could go on...............