what does it take to be CEO?

I'm hoping to work in the industry too. It takes a lot of work but one of my friends dad is a big guy in Disney. He's designed some of the rides and is actually designing a future attraction right now so you never know where you'll end up.

CedarPointTaylor said:
Here we go again....:/ Do you have to post this on every post I create.

Only until you connect the dots, I suppose.

What most have said here is pretty good stuff. Talking with someone who has made it far is good too but one thing to remember is that most did not set out to be CEO or General Manager. They just excelled at their job and were recognized for it by being promoted. They did not have a plan in place to get them to the top, it just sort of happened. You can find online the route that Dick and Matt took from their first job at the park to where they are at today. I suggest researching some CEOs to see just what kind of jobs they did to get where they are at today. Both Dick and John did not spend their entire career at Cedar Point.

One other thing I suggest is that if you do get a seasonal job at Cedar Point and you make your way up to seasonal supervisor but find yourself stuck because nothing full-time is opening, leave the park! Seriously, take your skill set that you learned and go to another park, a smaller park to work full-time as a manager (very easy to do). You can always come back to Cedar Point and learning how other parks operate is a big thing. You don't ever want to only do it the way it has always been done, it is nice to see how others do things and be able to bring those ideas back to your home park.

If you want to get in high up at Disney then you really do need to start young in the company. I'd recommend going to the University of Central Florida and getting an entry level job there. Perhaps you could get into an internship and then a management training program. From there it is really a matter of timing, luck, networking, etc. My buddy has been at Disney now for closing in on 20 years and he is still trying to break the ranks of the upper management/executive level.

Part of the problem, and you will find this in all park companies, is the relatively small percentage of senior management positions in relation to the high number of lower level positions looking to advance. Disney in Florida alone has something like 60,000 employees so even if you are at the top of your game odds are a good number of others are too and you will have quite a bit of competition for the openings.

It takes a lot of time to move up at Cedar Point seeing as how the park is only open in the summer and fall. The current CEO came from Disney. If I were you, I'd go to school in Orlando where you can gain experience at one of the many parks there and where it is much easier to move up. Also the University of Central Florida (in Orlando) offers a degree in theme park Management so you should look into that when you're considering where you want to go after graduating high school. Definitely work at Cedar Point while you're young and make sure its something you want to do for the rest of your life. But amusement and theme parks is an amazing industry to work in if you enjoy people and rides.

Good Luck

What should I say and who should I email it too?