News: Cedar Fair fires some Geauga Lake workers

Why did they say "fired"? fired usually means under bad terms. Laid off.. is usually what happens in this such case.

Greg

Fired vs laid off, it's all semantics.

I don't think that it would be an emotional decision. I would, however, bet that all of the folks "let go" were at GLP before the sale and don't quite have the same vision that CF is driving at. I can't begin to claim if it was a mutual decision or not. Generally this are the people CF thought they needed in the begining but don't think so anymore.

I took my family to GL for 2 days a few weeks ago after spending 3 days at CP. I don't think it's just the marketing that is hurting GL but also the people working there. I was also there when it was Six Flags and if CF hadn't bought it I never would have been back. However, it's the same rude, unfriendly, ignorant... workers there as when it was Six Flags. They were the main reason I did not like the park as Six Flags and the main reason I was disappointed this year.

Not to mention the fact that the park seemed to be in total disrepair. And it wasn't just coasters being shut down (Superman or whatever it is called now) but the first row of seats on XFlight were roped off for both days, the seats on Dominator look terrible with the Batman symbols being cut out, the kids area was dirty, had sections that were overgrown with weeds, things that were just worn out or in need of paint and a few rides were shut down just because no one was there to operate them.

A lot of what needs fixed is cosmetic and can easily be done but I saw no one working on anything. Not a single person cleaning, pulling weeds, NOTHING!!

A lot of the perception of the park could be fixed with a little TLC. But it appears that the people responsible for the TLC at the park just don't care. It's unfortunate and hopefully CF will correct it because it can be an awsome park.

I'm sorry you feel we were rude, unfriendly, or ignorant. Could you possibly give me an example via pm or on here? I know I try to make the guests day, that walk through the Dominator gates everyday.

The park definately has a run down look and feel, and it seems like many of the park's employees don't take ownership of the place. The employees seem miserable, and it is hard to help people have a good time when you are miserable about your job.

There is simply no energy at that park, and it shows almost everywhere you go! Things might be better if employees took ownership of their areas, and worked their tail off to rise to a level of excellence. Unfortunately, based on my experience, there isn't much of an incentive to do that.

When you have employees who don't have much incentive to do anything more than the bare minimum, it is the guests who suffer! We see their laziness and their lack of enthusiasm, and that makes our day worse, and it makes us less likely to come back.

-Sam

EDIT: I do see people at Cedar Point taking ownership in their areas, and I am pretty sure the policies and incentives at both parks are similar. This means something is missing at Geauga Lake, but I am not sure what it is. *** Edited 9/13/2006 7:21:59 PM UTC by Avalanche Sam***

Wow dude, that's one heck of a first post there. I've never seen anyone get that mad to start off a post. Anyway Sam, I haven't noticed that too much at Cedar Point. Everytime I'm on a ride at Cedar Point, everyone seems very happy. The only time I see them frowning is at the end of the night. They want to go to bed. I know how they feel.

Shawn,

What I meant to say was that at Cedar Point, I see people taking ownership for their areas, and enthusiasm. I see much less of that at Geauga Lake, though I have seen some.

To the person who made this post (who based on the way it was written, looks like one of the supervisors at Geauga Lake who insuleted me last week),

I don't know why you keep bothering me by telling me I have no future at Cedar Fair, but it is getting verry annoyting. If I wanted to work in the industry, I'd work in the indsusty, and not post on these forums (as is customary in the industry).

I do not claim to be an expert on amusement parks, and am only posting my personal opinions. I am a paying customer, as are most people on this site, and I am entitled to my opinions. I appreciate Jeff giving us this forum for sharing them. If you don't like them, you can disagree, but swearing in a forum read by children is just bad taste, and not something I want to see from a supervisor at a Cedar Fair park.

-Sam

*** Edited 9/13/2006 9:28:20 PM UTC by Avalanche Sam*** *** Edited 9/17/2006 2:59:31 PM UTC by Avalanche Sam***

unbelievable, truly unbelievable. first off i am not a supervisor at the park because if i was i would not hold out and i'd tell you exactly how i feel to your face. second- i seem to remember one avalanche sam applying for a full time position at geauga lake not too long ago. I also have some memories of one avalanche sam posting on a web forum very similar to this one that he was trying to go back to cedar fair, not in rides but in marketing or group sales. sound familiar yet sam? News flash, if they let the marketing staff go because cedar point's staff could cover it, then they sure as hell would have canned your ass long before. So before you go and bash cedar fair calling it part of a dying industry, look at how pathetic of a person you must be to be rejected by a company that is in so terrible of a position as you say.
*** Edited 9/13/2006 9:41:29 PM UTC by avalanchethis***

Avalanche Sam said:
Shawn,

I don't know why you keep bothering me by telling me I have no future at Cedar Fair, but it is getting verry annoyting. If I wanted to work in the industry, I'd work in the indsusty, and not post on these forums (as is customary in the industry).

-Sam

proof???

If I was bitter at the park, I would not want to return. I do want to return to the park, and I am doing my best to make sure that happens.

-Sam

need i go on? i can go for days. i am just plain sick of you bashing everyone else in the world then contridicting yourself over and over trying to make yourself look better. give it up!

still goin.........

(Yes, I am saying working at Geauga Lake is a good thing. Who would have thought?)

-Sam

*** Edited 9/13/2006 9:56:49 PM UTC by avalanchethis***
*** Edited 9/13/2006 10:03:59 PM UTC by avalanchethis***

Sir or madame, can you please try to use capitol letters and punctuation on your next post? Not only do you appear to be violating the terms of service by swearing, but by not even trying to use proper grammar.

Yes, at one point I did want to work for Cedar Fair full time, and even thought about working there part time. You got me there. But guess what, opinions can change. I am not happy with the direction the industry is going in, and I was a fool to think otherwise.

And yes, working at Geauga Lake was a good education experience, and it helped me grow as a person. That is why I said working there is a good thing. Any experience that helps you grow as a person can be a good experience.

Anyway, I am sick of your cowardly insults. If you would like to call me and call me an idiot, go ahead. Doing it anonymously on a public forum though, just lacks tact and is not something a mature individual would do.

Anyway, I feel like I am lowering myself to your level by responding, so I'll end there. Have a good evening.

-Sam

Sam, saying seasonal amusement parks are a dying breed is a pretty bold statement. I'd like to hear your theory on why you think that is so.

Also, just for the record, I visited Geauga Lake probably about 5 times last summer. I didn't notice anything run down about the park. I thought the water park was wonderful and the amusement park looked better and cleaner then it ever did during the Six Flags years.

A former employee says the place is going downhill, is critical of the park, or other miscellaneous doom and gloom? I thought we only had that in the General section. :)

*** Edited 9/15/2006 11:29:15 AM UTC by Walt***

Going to say my peace here as far as how I saw the park from when I visited a little over a month ago.

CF has owned the property long enough to make the ride side of the park along with the old waterpark look more appealing then it is right now.

Putting fish in the old lazy river is just plain assinine. Dominator still looking like Gotham City is unacceptable. Thunderhawk on the day I visited which is a Saturday in August with one train is also unacceptable.

I could go on about other things and I will probably be branded since this is a CP oriented site, but I found GL to be worse then SFWoA when I visited back in 2002.

CF isn't making this park any better. True, the waterpark is nice but the marine life was much better IMO.

And as far as Geauga Lake (the lake itself), being called a lake in general is just a freakin joke.

I wouldn't say that it's so much dying as just a slower economy makes people spend more discretionary. It appears you're not much older than me, and honestly we haven't gotten to see other 'tough' times in history. I think it is just more economy related than the fact that amusement parks are dying. People love thrill rides and being scared, they just won't find money to go to the park if they are tight for discretionary spending money.

If that's not the case, then you can all feel free to call me a moron. ;)

The only company on the slide is Six Flags. Disney, Universal and Cedar Fair (including Paramount Parks) overall have been enjoying gains for years. Holiday World does double digit growth year after year. To suggest that this is a dying industry is the single most ridiculous thing I've seen posted here in a long time.

And even Six Flags should never have takin a nose dive. They dominate alot of markets. It's the previous regime that have screwed it up.

Dying breed? Hardly. Just because some small scale parks have shut down and some restructuring is going on with Six Flags, that doesn't automatically mean demise.

I say in 5 years , Six Flags will be right up there with the other players.

After reading your posts, I have decided to take back what I said about the state of the industry. While there is increased competition, so long as parks are doing the right things, they should be able to survive in the market.

Unfortunately, we are also losing parks. But I guess that is the case in most industries. The businesses that can adapt to current market conditions are the ones that survive.

Anyway, I apologize for letting my emotion towards that anonymous coward cloud my judgement. I've been thinking about what I said and it was dumb. I apologize for wasting people's time with a dumb comment based almost solely on emotion.

-Sam

*** Edited 9/17/2006 3:29:35 PM UTC by Avalanche Sam***

Not to be argumentative, but I really don't pay much attention to parks outside of Ohio any more. What parks have we lost in the past few years?

Where to begin? Williams Grove. Libertyland. Astroworld. Conneaut Lake is still teetering. Wild Adventures and Cypress Gardens look like they've had it. There are many, many others, which I should be able to think of but can't at the moment.

In Ohio alone, Lesourdsville Lake and Erieview have closed within the last few years (the latter shutting its ticket stand just this month).

On the other hand, there are little go-cart type places joining the big leagues every year, like Beech Bend and Arnold's. I wouldn't characterize amusment parks as a dying breed. But there is certainly an awful lot of shrinkage and consolidation going on in the industry. The wave of post-WWII park startups that really took off after Papa Disney's vision has abated in the last decade or so, and the longer term trend of slow decline, itself a product of the Depression, is still continuing. IMHO.

Wild Adventures and Cypress Gardens aren't going anywhere. They're profitable parks outside of the debt incurred to repair hurricane damage. They'll come out of the bankruptcy just fine.