What's the daily life of a Games Host at Cedar Point?

Hi!

I was recently hired as a Games Host for Cedar point and I was wondering what the daily life as a Games Host is like. Also, if you guys know any tips, tricks, and advice for working at Cedar Point or just working as a Games Host please tell me! I'd love to learn anything that might be helpful to me or any others reading this thread. Please do not sugar-coat anything, I'd like to know the true side of things.

- CJ

Congratulations. I have never worked as a Games Host for Cedar Point but have spent more than enough time at trade shows and markets trying to sell things to individuals in large gatherings. I was taught that you are just an actor in everyone else's movie and that if you want their attention you better play a memorable role. Always be entertaining and commit to letting the people come to you, don't try to go to them. When the father is ready to win his daughter a stuffed toy, you want to be the person he chooses. But, he needs to know you're there...

Important advice if you are working the age/weight/birthday game. When guessing age or weight of a woman, never, never, never go too high. Unless of course you want to incite a scene.

Ha! Awesome response! I’d be inclined to intentionally cause that scene just for the pure entertainment!

I never worked games, but knowing a few people who did... It's what you make of it. I know some who loved it and some who hated it. Those who hated it were sometimes able to switch to a different department, so there's an option if you don't like what you end up doing.

From what I understand, you're basically going to be standing on your feet all day long. Some games are much more popular than others. If you're at a more popular game, it's probably a lot easier for you to have fun with it since there will be more guest interaction. If you're at a slower game that no one really goes to, good luck trying to stay awake. I've seen a number of games people pacing back and forth looking like zombies.

Congrats on the new job. CP was an awesome place to work when I was there and you'll meet a ton of great people.

It's been 29 years since i worked as a games host, so not sure how things have changed. Back then I thought it was the best gig in the park. You have lots of interactions with guests, and a lot of variety you don't get with ride ops. Be glad the break-a-plate isn't there anymore, that was the game where the people didn't really care about winning a prize, just wanted to throw balls at the poor guy who had to restock the plates.

Quarter toss was another where your hands would be black by the end of the day. Money is do dirty.

Games with microphones required you to talk constantly. If you let more then 30 seconds of silence on the mic you would get in trouble. That was tough when the park was dead.

I still remember hanging the animals on the hooks every morning in front of the game. It was always an issue of who was able to climb the ladder due to the remnants of the night before. Teamwork gets the job done.

In the mornings we would also get to be the test riders before the rides opened to the public. Back then i would help with demon drop. Never really put the restraints down all the way.

Good luck. It was the best summer of work i ever had. Don't get fired for doing something stupid. Trying to swim with the dolphins is considered something stupid.

Can you... elaborate on that last bit, Spit? I have a feeling that there's a pretty good story there. XP

Spit, what are the remnants from the night before? Although I think I have a good idea.

Working at Cedar Point was a lot like going to college without any homework. You'd go to work, but then a bunch of college kids with nothing else to do can always find some interesting things to pass the time. We used to say there are 1,001 things you can do to get fired. You rarely find out exactly what happened, but one of our friends didn't show up for work one morning. We found out later that she had consumed plenty of liquid courage the night before and decided to take a swim with the dolphins. Apparently security was not impressed and promptly escorted her from the premises. For me it was always one of the more creative ways to get fired.

Spit said:

Working at Cedar Point was a lot like going to college without any homework. You'd go to work, but then a bunch of college kids with nothing else to do can always find some interesting things to pass the time. We used to say there are 1,001 things you can do to get fired. You rarely find out exactly what happened, but one of our friends didn't show up for work one morning. We found out later that she had consumed plenty of liquid courage the night before and decided to take a swim with the dolphins. Apparently security was not impressed and promptly escorted her from the premises. For me it was always one of the more creative ways to get fired.

That's pretty good. I lived in the Commons Apartments when they were new (1980). I had 9 roommates (2 to a cell) and 8 of them ended up getting fired.

The most creative reason for getting fired? "Big Al" and one of his buddies proceeded to impersonate first responders ; EMS technicians. I think he got taken to jail.

Another friend got fired for exposing himself under his apron. Ray left his zipper down all day. He hid in my room for 5 days before he went back to Pennsylvania.

Not sure why I didn't get let go. I did my share of really stupid stuff involving trash, firecrackers, speeding on the chausee, telling the animals that you could feed cigarette butts to the carp, and a lot of other dumb stuff.

Don't do stupid stuff.

I wonder if they still call them animals? We did.

One night I came out of the Thursday night ballroom dance completely hammered and decided the infield of Cedar Downs looked like a nice place to lay down and star gaze. I woke up some time later to a light rain and a lot of banging. Maintenance was working on the ride and had a few of the platform boards raised up. I had to crawl like a water bug over the brick wall, through the horses and over the fence on the Turnpike side. It was muddy. I popped up in front of Pirate Ride for a leisurely stroll home.
Besides taking the last ride on Blue Streak with the lap bar locked in the up position and standing for the ride, it was the only stupid thing I did. And we did that a lot.
Wait, there were romantic encounters on private, chausee beach property. That might’ve been a fireable offense.

Riding the Streak standing up was just AWESOME!

So true about riding Blue Streak standing up. I forgot to mention that, but doesn't come close to riding Demon Drop without the restraints.