- December 30th, 2010, 10:06 pm
#44371
It only took me five months to do this...
321 photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhawkins/s ... 989346159/
Amusement parks are one of my greatest interests, but I have never had a strong desire to work in the industry. However, I have always wondered what it would be like to work at a park. Facing a summer with no job and no plans prior to graduate school, I made the questionable decision to move to Sandusky, Ohio for over three months to live in a dorm and work at Cedar Point. I am not going to go into a ton of detail on here about a lot of the inner workings of the park and job for a variety of reasons, but it was definitely the most memorable summer I have ever had.
On a recommendation, I had gone against my instincts to try to get on a roller coaster crew, and instead joined the crew of Ripcord and Skyscraper in Challenge Park, which is just adjacent to Cedar Point.
Ripcord is a standard Skycoaster model, and I had been on identical versions at Kings Island and Carowinds. Since these rides are a separate charge, and usually quite expensive, one of the best perks of our job was the opportunity to get plenty of rides in.
The first two weeks in Sandusky were spent helping clean Challenge Park, Soak City, and Castaway Bay for the upcoming season. It was a pretty rough way to be introduced to the job, but interesting to walk around the park in the offseason when cars are still off tracks and everything is beginning to be readied. It is also strange how dead the city of Sandusky seems until the park opens, which was May 15 this year.
Running a Skycoaster is one of the more difficult jobs in ride operations. The manual for the ride is around 200 pages, and there are four different positions that require fairly extensive training. It's definitely a step up from pushing down lap bars and hitting a button. It is also the only ride that has a manufacturer required certification. Most of the employees at our ride took the Skycoaster Site Controller test in June, which has a hands on component in which a company rep watches everyone go through each position, and a written test, which required a good amount of studying. There are some perks to passing, such as the ability to take the first test flight of each day, and an unofficial sort of silent agreement amongst all Skycoaster sites that anyone with a Site Controller card can ride free. I was able to take advantage of this at several parks.
Skyscraper does not get the attention that Ripcord does, but was my favorite of the two, and one of my favorite flat rides ever. It was also fun to operate because the operator is in control of the motion of the arm with a joystick, meaning some interesting tricks can be performed, and the length of the ride is completely in their hands. The longest ride I ever had I believe was over 20 minutes.
Safety wise, the ride is more in the hands of the operators than perhaps any other ride in the park, so my first few days running it were a bit nerve racking. It is a lot easier to run than Ripcord, though, and with the double checks that are required, not to mention common sense, quite safe.
One of the great mysteries to me all summer was who came up with the catch phrase for the ride, and what was it supposed to mean.
Another employee perk is the weekly ride nights, the first of which we were about to head off to here.
Maverick was built since my last trip to Cedar Point in 2003, so it was new for me. It is my third favorite coaster in the park.
It was a relief seeing the park open after spending a couple of weeks surrounded by so many rides without being able to ride them.
I am not sure how many times I rode Skyscraper, but it was a lot, especially early in the season when the ride was often dead and we could sneak over for some spins.
Right next door to our rides was my favorite coaster at Cedar Point, and at that point my favorite steel coaster ever, Magnum XL 200. Overshadowed by newer coasters like Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, and Maverick, but still easily the wildest and most re-rideable coaster in the park to me. There were many days where I spent my lunch break on it.
One of my favorite Magnum moments (co-worker pictured in back).
Living in Sandusky has its downsides, like the fact that there is not a whole lot to the town outside of the amusement park, and that if you are an employee you are more than likely living in what looks and feels suspiciously like a prison complex.
There are a number of old dorms on the Cedar Point peninsula, and then across the causeway there are more modern dorms and apartments. The dorms here, like this one which was mine, have air conditioning, which made my choice easy. There were two bunks in my room, but fortunately we never had a fourth person. It is hard to complain too much given that it cost $30 a week to live here, not to mention that it is all really part of the experience. The dorms are what make working at Cedar Point different than most other parks.
Since there is not much to do, it is pretty easy to guess what most free time is spent on. For those who are of age (and let's face it most of those who are not as well), Louie's right across the dorm parking lot basically exists for Cedar Point employees.
There was no shortage of bizarre and horrifying moments in this place.
I do believe, however, that a lot of people would have gone insane over the summer if Louie's was not there to allow some sort of outlet. More people than already did, that is.
Our crew was overstaffed and as a result had it relatively easy compared to most positions in the park, but we still worked six days a week. The amount of people who spent part of their day off back in the park, myself included, was surprising.
I was set on exploring every inch of Cedar Point before the summer was over. Still, there were many things I never rode. I took advantage of early entry a number of times to get rides on some of the major coasters, such as Maverick.
I also completed somewhat of a personal quest by finally getting a ride on Top Thrill Dragster. My last trip to the park seven years earlier had been specifically to ride what was then the tallest and fastest coaster in the world, and it was closed the entire time. I don't think a lot of this ride, but did at least manage to get a front seat ride on my very last day at the park.
I quickly found that friends love coming to visit when they know you can get them free Ripcord and Skyscraper rides!
I rode this awful machine more times than I ever should have, but unfortunately never managed the trim brake free ride some of us were seeking. Probably a good thing.
Millennium Force is still one of my favorites, though it does not live up to the hype that so many people give it.
New for 2010 was Shoot the Rapids, which was the punchline to many jokes all summer as it sat idle for most of it plagued by numerous problems.
It is pathetic that such a simple flume style ride could have so many things go wrong.
One of the perks of living and working at a park is that you can pick and choose when exactly you want to go in, waiting for the perfect weather and crowds.
One by one I got in rides on all of the coasters, Wicked Twister not being one of my favorites.
Disaster Transport, on the other hand, which gets poked fun at more than any other ride, I rode many times.
Then there is Cedar Downs, which becomes an incredibly harrowing experience after three people share a bottle of Bushmills whiskey and go into the park.
I still have a soft spot for Raptor. It's my fourth favorite coaster at the park, and I got many rides on it over the summer.
Usually, though, I just ended up back at Magnum.
I was able to see many of my coaster friends since everyone always seems to be trying to make it out to Cedar Point.
Working Ripcord also means you become popular with other employees, as they have to pay for the ride just like a regular guest, unless of course they have the connection...
Sadly, we did have at least one death on Ripcord this summer, but it was not a patron. I was controlling when I heard a loud smack against the cables and found this poor bastard beside me in the grass.
A typical sight at the Magnum queue in May and June, which made me very, very happy. Once July rolls around, however, none of us had much interest in being in the park with high temperatures and insane crowds.
The station design is one of my favorites; everything screams 80's.
I was also trained on the go carts in Challenge Park, and spent some time working them. One of the positions involves standing directly under one of the Magnum bunny hills, and the amount of loose articles that come flying out of riders pockets is absolutely ridiculous. I don't think there is another coaster out there that eats phones, wallets, keys, etc like Magnum. The air time is just amazing.
The lake has some interesting effects on the park: crazy storms (there were tornados one of my first days there), chilly spring nights, high winds, and the terrible masses of mayflies and muffleheads that descend upon the park in spring. Night rides on Maverick especially are a good way to eat hundreds of them.
Skyhawk is one of my favorite non-coaster rides at the Point. One of the most fun flat ride types ever.
Still one of the best first drops on any coaster.
On several occasions I entered the park before early entry opening so that I was able to be the first person in line for Millennium Force, getting the first ride of the day in the front seat. That probably annoyed the people who sprinted from the gate to be first in line.
No, Millennium Force does not have a ton of air time, which is what I crave, but it has some good moments, and just so much speed.
I've gone back and forth on this ride over the years, but I came to love it again this summer.
One of the quirks of employee ride nights is that crews are usually expected to come up with some sort of theme for the night. The more memorable ones included Raptor's Saturday Night Live theme here and Top Thrill Dragster's Lady Gaga one.
Though I suspect most employees would never know it, there are actually some great things in Sandusky. Berardi's (seen here), Brass Pelican, and the Old Dutch were three of the best restaurants that I came across.
If you ever wondered where Blue Streak got its name...
Downtown Sandusky has been revitalized somewhat and has some nice parks and restaurants.
A cannot-miss stop is the Merry-Go-Round Museum (free admission for Cedar Point employees).
There were some fascinating pieces of history inside, and an operating carousel as well.
The greatest views of Cedar Point come from the Sandusky Marina downtown.
This was one of the rare days off where I did not travel somewhere.
Late night in the dorms. I survived the summer on very little sleep each night.
I did not like the beach very much by the end of the summer. That is because once each week everyone had a scheduled "pool open" day where they came in two and a half hours before opening to help clean up the beach and the resort pools.
It was rare for us to have much of a line at Ripcord, until July. From then on it was non-stop.
Our rides opened an hour after the park, but closed an hour after as well, so the last hour was prime time as people filed out of the park.
July 4th is a day that can only be described as pure insanity at Cedar Point. The park opens until 1 AM, and employees are banned from parking that day due to the massive crowds. I was lucky enough to have the afternoon off, but still came back to the park for fireworks.
For all the popularity, the fireworks show is a bit disappointing.
This was the day that the only member of the crew who refused to actually ride was finally convinced to do it.
As I mentioned, the lake can bring some hellacious storms.
Ripcord does not go down for rain, only high winds and lightning, and we did have some fools who wanted to fly in the rain sometimes.
After the rain comes insane amounts of bugs. Dress appropriately for Skyscraper rides.
Morning test flight (goggles not required).
This is a highly uncomfortable position.
A storm rolls through above Skyscraper.
More friends come to visit.
Here is an annoyance. This is what the park gives out as free water; a shot-sized cup. On this particular day there were multiple people passed out and being attended to in front of Top Thrill Dragster.
One thing I never got that I had hoped for during the summer was a rollback on Top Thrill Dragster. I saw it happen many times, but was never on a train that didn't make it.
The day that poor Snoopy deflated.
Once again escorting people onto Ripcord.
A slow day at Skyscraper.
This ride takes two people to operate.
The Ripcord loading platform was the greatest source of headaches and downtime throughout the season, and that was probably directly correlated to how much fun it was to rapidly move it up and down.
The night of the infamous Magnum employee ride event.
From running a ride, I know how annoying it is to deal with intoxicated guests. But that did not stop us...
Magnum just does not have the popularity of the newer coasters, which meant ride night was fantastic. I also had the priviledge of riding the coaster many times during the summer with the trim brakes turned off, which is the most out of control steel coaster ride I have ever experienced.
There were two 24-hour restaurants in Sandusky that I know of: Steak 'n Shake, and a local diner called Diana's, so needless to say these were heavily patronized by Cedar Point employees after closing.
A baby sea gull. I can proudly say that I achieved the unlikely feet of going the full summer without being pooped on a single time.
A night ride on Millennium Force is one of the best Cedar Point experiences.
We saw a lot of Gemini since it was right behind Ripcord; it's also one of the better coasters in the park.
Blue Streak is the best wooden coaster in the park, which says absolutely nothing.
Before I left for the summer, the park was planning to announce their new for 2011 ride.
A fairly busy early August day.
I will always have a sentimental spot for Magnum, as I spent every day of the summer watching it go by beside our rides, and I took countless rides on it myself.
The ride is so intense that it was almost certainly unintended for it to be so violent through the bunny hills.
Now that computers are used to design rides, I doubt anything as crazy as this will be built again. I know plenty of people who hate this coaster because of how violent the air time is.
Most of the Ripcord crew, however, were big fans.
Fittingly, I decided to finish my season out with Ripcord.
The 14 weeks I spent at Cedar Point seemed to fly by. There were times when I just wanted to quit and get the hell out of that place, but by the end I wanted to stay longer. It was probably both the best and worst summer in my memory. Being a seasonal employee at an amusement park can be a very miserable experience at times, but as a fan of amusement parks it was a completely new perspective on a lot of things, and working with guests was at times far more rewarding than any other job I have ever had. I am very glad that I went through with doing it, but also glad that I decided not to pursue a career in the amusement industry. And as for Cedar Point, I think I have had my fill of it for some time. Until the next new coaster, at least...
321 photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhawkins/s ... 989346159/
Amusement parks are one of my greatest interests, but I have never had a strong desire to work in the industry. However, I have always wondered what it would be like to work at a park. Facing a summer with no job and no plans prior to graduate school, I made the questionable decision to move to Sandusky, Ohio for over three months to live in a dorm and work at Cedar Point. I am not going to go into a ton of detail on here about a lot of the inner workings of the park and job for a variety of reasons, but it was definitely the most memorable summer I have ever had.
On a recommendation, I had gone against my instincts to try to get on a roller coaster crew, and instead joined the crew of Ripcord and Skyscraper in Challenge Park, which is just adjacent to Cedar Point.
Ripcord is a standard Skycoaster model, and I had been on identical versions at Kings Island and Carowinds. Since these rides are a separate charge, and usually quite expensive, one of the best perks of our job was the opportunity to get plenty of rides in.
The first two weeks in Sandusky were spent helping clean Challenge Park, Soak City, and Castaway Bay for the upcoming season. It was a pretty rough way to be introduced to the job, but interesting to walk around the park in the offseason when cars are still off tracks and everything is beginning to be readied. It is also strange how dead the city of Sandusky seems until the park opens, which was May 15 this year.
Running a Skycoaster is one of the more difficult jobs in ride operations. The manual for the ride is around 200 pages, and there are four different positions that require fairly extensive training. It's definitely a step up from pushing down lap bars and hitting a button. It is also the only ride that has a manufacturer required certification. Most of the employees at our ride took the Skycoaster Site Controller test in June, which has a hands on component in which a company rep watches everyone go through each position, and a written test, which required a good amount of studying. There are some perks to passing, such as the ability to take the first test flight of each day, and an unofficial sort of silent agreement amongst all Skycoaster sites that anyone with a Site Controller card can ride free. I was able to take advantage of this at several parks.
Skyscraper does not get the attention that Ripcord does, but was my favorite of the two, and one of my favorite flat rides ever. It was also fun to operate because the operator is in control of the motion of the arm with a joystick, meaning some interesting tricks can be performed, and the length of the ride is completely in their hands. The longest ride I ever had I believe was over 20 minutes.
Safety wise, the ride is more in the hands of the operators than perhaps any other ride in the park, so my first few days running it were a bit nerve racking. It is a lot easier to run than Ripcord, though, and with the double checks that are required, not to mention common sense, quite safe.
One of the great mysteries to me all summer was who came up with the catch phrase for the ride, and what was it supposed to mean.
Another employee perk is the weekly ride nights, the first of which we were about to head off to here.
Maverick was built since my last trip to Cedar Point in 2003, so it was new for me. It is my third favorite coaster in the park.
It was a relief seeing the park open after spending a couple of weeks surrounded by so many rides without being able to ride them.
I am not sure how many times I rode Skyscraper, but it was a lot, especially early in the season when the ride was often dead and we could sneak over for some spins.
Right next door to our rides was my favorite coaster at Cedar Point, and at that point my favorite steel coaster ever, Magnum XL 200. Overshadowed by newer coasters like Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, and Maverick, but still easily the wildest and most re-rideable coaster in the park to me. There were many days where I spent my lunch break on it.
One of my favorite Magnum moments (co-worker pictured in back).
Living in Sandusky has its downsides, like the fact that there is not a whole lot to the town outside of the amusement park, and that if you are an employee you are more than likely living in what looks and feels suspiciously like a prison complex.
There are a number of old dorms on the Cedar Point peninsula, and then across the causeway there are more modern dorms and apartments. The dorms here, like this one which was mine, have air conditioning, which made my choice easy. There were two bunks in my room, but fortunately we never had a fourth person. It is hard to complain too much given that it cost $30 a week to live here, not to mention that it is all really part of the experience. The dorms are what make working at Cedar Point different than most other parks.
Since there is not much to do, it is pretty easy to guess what most free time is spent on. For those who are of age (and let's face it most of those who are not as well), Louie's right across the dorm parking lot basically exists for Cedar Point employees.
There was no shortage of bizarre and horrifying moments in this place.
I do believe, however, that a lot of people would have gone insane over the summer if Louie's was not there to allow some sort of outlet. More people than already did, that is.
Our crew was overstaffed and as a result had it relatively easy compared to most positions in the park, but we still worked six days a week. The amount of people who spent part of their day off back in the park, myself included, was surprising.
I was set on exploring every inch of Cedar Point before the summer was over. Still, there were many things I never rode. I took advantage of early entry a number of times to get rides on some of the major coasters, such as Maverick.
I also completed somewhat of a personal quest by finally getting a ride on Top Thrill Dragster. My last trip to the park seven years earlier had been specifically to ride what was then the tallest and fastest coaster in the world, and it was closed the entire time. I don't think a lot of this ride, but did at least manage to get a front seat ride on my very last day at the park.
I quickly found that friends love coming to visit when they know you can get them free Ripcord and Skyscraper rides!
I rode this awful machine more times than I ever should have, but unfortunately never managed the trim brake free ride some of us were seeking. Probably a good thing.
Millennium Force is still one of my favorites, though it does not live up to the hype that so many people give it.
New for 2010 was Shoot the Rapids, which was the punchline to many jokes all summer as it sat idle for most of it plagued by numerous problems.
It is pathetic that such a simple flume style ride could have so many things go wrong.
One of the perks of living and working at a park is that you can pick and choose when exactly you want to go in, waiting for the perfect weather and crowds.
One by one I got in rides on all of the coasters, Wicked Twister not being one of my favorites.
Disaster Transport, on the other hand, which gets poked fun at more than any other ride, I rode many times.
Then there is Cedar Downs, which becomes an incredibly harrowing experience after three people share a bottle of Bushmills whiskey and go into the park.
I still have a soft spot for Raptor. It's my fourth favorite coaster at the park, and I got many rides on it over the summer.
Usually, though, I just ended up back at Magnum.
I was able to see many of my coaster friends since everyone always seems to be trying to make it out to Cedar Point.
Working Ripcord also means you become popular with other employees, as they have to pay for the ride just like a regular guest, unless of course they have the connection...
Sadly, we did have at least one death on Ripcord this summer, but it was not a patron. I was controlling when I heard a loud smack against the cables and found this poor bastard beside me in the grass.
A typical sight at the Magnum queue in May and June, which made me very, very happy. Once July rolls around, however, none of us had much interest in being in the park with high temperatures and insane crowds.
The station design is one of my favorites; everything screams 80's.
I was also trained on the go carts in Challenge Park, and spent some time working them. One of the positions involves standing directly under one of the Magnum bunny hills, and the amount of loose articles that come flying out of riders pockets is absolutely ridiculous. I don't think there is another coaster out there that eats phones, wallets, keys, etc like Magnum. The air time is just amazing.
The lake has some interesting effects on the park: crazy storms (there were tornados one of my first days there), chilly spring nights, high winds, and the terrible masses of mayflies and muffleheads that descend upon the park in spring. Night rides on Maverick especially are a good way to eat hundreds of them.
Skyhawk is one of my favorite non-coaster rides at the Point. One of the most fun flat ride types ever.
Still one of the best first drops on any coaster.
On several occasions I entered the park before early entry opening so that I was able to be the first person in line for Millennium Force, getting the first ride of the day in the front seat. That probably annoyed the people who sprinted from the gate to be first in line.
No, Millennium Force does not have a ton of air time, which is what I crave, but it has some good moments, and just so much speed.
I've gone back and forth on this ride over the years, but I came to love it again this summer.
One of the quirks of employee ride nights is that crews are usually expected to come up with some sort of theme for the night. The more memorable ones included Raptor's Saturday Night Live theme here and Top Thrill Dragster's Lady Gaga one.
Though I suspect most employees would never know it, there are actually some great things in Sandusky. Berardi's (seen here), Brass Pelican, and the Old Dutch were three of the best restaurants that I came across.
If you ever wondered where Blue Streak got its name...
Downtown Sandusky has been revitalized somewhat and has some nice parks and restaurants.
A cannot-miss stop is the Merry-Go-Round Museum (free admission for Cedar Point employees).
There were some fascinating pieces of history inside, and an operating carousel as well.
The greatest views of Cedar Point come from the Sandusky Marina downtown.
This was one of the rare days off where I did not travel somewhere.
Late night in the dorms. I survived the summer on very little sleep each night.
I did not like the beach very much by the end of the summer. That is because once each week everyone had a scheduled "pool open" day where they came in two and a half hours before opening to help clean up the beach and the resort pools.
It was rare for us to have much of a line at Ripcord, until July. From then on it was non-stop.
Our rides opened an hour after the park, but closed an hour after as well, so the last hour was prime time as people filed out of the park.
July 4th is a day that can only be described as pure insanity at Cedar Point. The park opens until 1 AM, and employees are banned from parking that day due to the massive crowds. I was lucky enough to have the afternoon off, but still came back to the park for fireworks.
For all the popularity, the fireworks show is a bit disappointing.
This was the day that the only member of the crew who refused to actually ride was finally convinced to do it.
As I mentioned, the lake can bring some hellacious storms.
Ripcord does not go down for rain, only high winds and lightning, and we did have some fools who wanted to fly in the rain sometimes.
After the rain comes insane amounts of bugs. Dress appropriately for Skyscraper rides.
Morning test flight (goggles not required).
This is a highly uncomfortable position.
A storm rolls through above Skyscraper.
More friends come to visit.
Here is an annoyance. This is what the park gives out as free water; a shot-sized cup. On this particular day there were multiple people passed out and being attended to in front of Top Thrill Dragster.
One thing I never got that I had hoped for during the summer was a rollback on Top Thrill Dragster. I saw it happen many times, but was never on a train that didn't make it.
The day that poor Snoopy deflated.
Once again escorting people onto Ripcord.
A slow day at Skyscraper.
This ride takes two people to operate.
The Ripcord loading platform was the greatest source of headaches and downtime throughout the season, and that was probably directly correlated to how much fun it was to rapidly move it up and down.
The night of the infamous Magnum employee ride event.
From running a ride, I know how annoying it is to deal with intoxicated guests. But that did not stop us...
Magnum just does not have the popularity of the newer coasters, which meant ride night was fantastic. I also had the priviledge of riding the coaster many times during the summer with the trim brakes turned off, which is the most out of control steel coaster ride I have ever experienced.
There were two 24-hour restaurants in Sandusky that I know of: Steak 'n Shake, and a local diner called Diana's, so needless to say these were heavily patronized by Cedar Point employees after closing.
A baby sea gull. I can proudly say that I achieved the unlikely feet of going the full summer without being pooped on a single time.
A night ride on Millennium Force is one of the best Cedar Point experiences.
We saw a lot of Gemini since it was right behind Ripcord; it's also one of the better coasters in the park.
Blue Streak is the best wooden coaster in the park, which says absolutely nothing.
Before I left for the summer, the park was planning to announce their new for 2011 ride.
A fairly busy early August day.
I will always have a sentimental spot for Magnum, as I spent every day of the summer watching it go by beside our rides, and I took countless rides on it myself.
The ride is so intense that it was almost certainly unintended for it to be so violent through the bunny hills.
Now that computers are used to design rides, I doubt anything as crazy as this will be built again. I know plenty of people who hate this coaster because of how violent the air time is.
Most of the Ripcord crew, however, were big fans.
Fittingly, I decided to finish my season out with Ripcord.
The 14 weeks I spent at Cedar Point seemed to fly by. There were times when I just wanted to quit and get the hell out of that place, but by the end I wanted to stay longer. It was probably both the best and worst summer in my memory. Being a seasonal employee at an amusement park can be a very miserable experience at times, but as a fan of amusement parks it was a completely new perspective on a lot of things, and working with guests was at times far more rewarding than any other job I have ever had. I am very glad that I went through with doing it, but also glad that I decided not to pursue a career in the amusement industry. And as for Cedar Point, I think I have had my fill of it for some time. Until the next new coaster, at least...
