cedar fair

[tiggerow@bright.net]

there are a lot of people saying that Cedar Fair ruined KI. This is there first year. They are proboly getting used to the controls and what not. if u object then tell me so

[DeLorean Rider]

I object your honor!!!

[celebrationfan82]

Cedar Fair will be the best thing that has happened to Kings Island in years. Cedar Fair is new on the scene--having had ownership for just months--and has already started to bring the 'old park' back. Have you visited Cedar Point? The park is SPOTLESS...the employees are professional and hard working...the rides are always operational (with, of course, some exceptions..and for TTD which is a continual problem, (and an really amazing ride!) The 2007 Kings Island I have experienced is on it's way....patience is all we need.

As a previous employee AND an adult....I'm thrilled to see the simple words Kings Island on the banners hanging throughout the park. Enough corporate crap. Cedar Fair will 'sell the park' on the merits of the park--you wait & see. I, for o ne, am glad to say 'WELCOME BACK' to "Kings Island".

[tiggerow@bright.net]

I object your honor!!!

you work there so tell me:

why did you object

read the reply above this one

[DeLorean Rider]

I object your honor!!!

you work there so tell me:

why did you object

read the reply above this one

Actually I worked there, I'm on Co-Op right now. Honestly I'd rather not give my opinions about park ownership enough times in other topics. If you really want to know, just search and you'll find them.

[WooferBearATL]

there are a lot of people saying that Cedar Fair ruined KI. This is there first year. They are proboly getting used to the controls and what not. if u object then tell me so

No, I think it's agreed that Paramount/Viacom/CBS attempted to do their best to ruin the park.

Cedar Fair is making a valiant attempt to recreate the magic ...... without the movies. (Ugh)

[The Interpreter]

You think it is agreed that Paramount tried to ruin the park? Puh-leeze. Get real. With things like Flight of Fear, Delirium, Action Zone, Avatar and even planning for the installation of a Vekoma Flying Dutchman.

The jury is out on Cedar Fair, but Paramount did great things by Kings Island. Did they do some things differently than you or I would have. Sure.

But I do NOT agree they attempted to ruin the park. Far from it.

[Godfather64615]

Well I have something to say to all of you. I work at Kings Island and I think Cedar Fair is the worst thing that has ever happened to the park. I know they have parks everywhere and they added a ride or two but they treat all their employees like crap. When paramount was in charge I looked forward to going to work. They gave you reasons to do your job. Meal tickets, funcentive points, rides night, games night, and cookouts every month. Cedar Fair is ****in off all the employees by cutting most of these things. No more meal tickets or funcentives. They are having 1 rides night but no games night. And they gave us 1 cookout all season. Just about half of the returning associates in park services have quit already and most of the rest dont plan on returning next year. If you disagree let me kno why.

Also Greg, Tony, and Nick are all managers of park services and they are all assholes. Jason was the best manager we ever had and they forced him out. So if any of u 3 read this just kno none of us like you and if you dont want us to hate u more stay out of our ****ing business and let us do our darn job.

[TransAm78]

Well I have something to say to all of you. I work at Kings Island and I think Cedar Fair is the worst thing that has ever happened to the park. I know they have parks everywhere and they added a ride or two but they treat all their employees like crap. When paramount was in charge I looked forward to going to work. They gave you reasons to do your job. Meal tickets, funcentive points, rides night, games night, and cookouts every month. Cedar Fair is ****in off all the employees by cutting most of these things. No more meal tickets or funcentives. They are having 1 rides night but no games night. And they gave us 1 cookout all season. Just about half of the returning associates in park services have quit already and most of the rest dont plan on returning next year. If you disagree let me kno why.

Also Greg, Tony, and Nick are all managers of park services and they are all assholes. Jason was the best manager we ever had and they forced him out. So if any of u 3 read this just kno none of us like you and if you dont want us to hate u more stay out of our ****ing business and let us do our darn job.

WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! Lois, this is not my Batman cup!!!

anyway, we dont need so much anger on this site. Just think u could work at walmart, where we have all D*ckhead managers, no cookouts, no games, or rides. The closest i come to a fun part of the day is when i get to take the Forklift out for a spin!!

As a wise Jedi master once said Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering!

[Raptor66]

In food services you could win Best Buy/BP gift cards for selling souvenir cups, and my stand, I-Street LaRosas, sold more souvenir cups than any other stand in the park one weekend, so we got several boxes of ice cream to keep in our freezer. CF's not that bad to their employees. Although I did quit today because the scheduling supervisors were idiots and never pay attention to my schedule requests. But I'm sure they were just as dumb before CF came along. I'm tired of hearing movie themes in I-street and I'm glad CF has moved in.

[mutedarkness]

something says he wont have a job soon? haha

[Browntggrr]

Well I have something to say to all of you. I work at Kings Island and I think Cedar Fair is the worst thing that has ever happened to the park.

Perhaps the changes CF has done in 13 months needed to be done. Normally when a new owner comes in and makes changes, it is usually because they felt changes needed to be made. Or did CF make incentive cutbacks because they had no incentive to actually keep them?

When an employee expects perks just because they are an employee, but does nothing above and beyond what their normal paycheck encompasses, why should the employer reward the employee?

And if you hate your new employer so much, polish up the resume and get another job.

[tigellinus]

"Air bags on a bicycle??....sounds like a good and necessary idea to me!!"

-CF and their safety stance in a nutshell!

[DeLorean Rider]

Well I have something to say to all of you. I work at Kings Island and I think Cedar Fair is the worst thing that has ever happened to the park. I know they have parks everywhere and they added a ride or two but they treat all their employees like crap. When paramount was in charge I looked forward to going to work. They gave you reasons to do your job. Meal tickets, funcentive points, rides night, games night, and cookouts every month. Cedar Fair is ****in off all the employees by cutting most of these things. No more meal tickets or funcentives. They are having 1 rides night but no games night. And they gave us 1 cookout all season. Just about half of the returning associates in park services have quit already and most of the rest dont plan on returning next year. If you disagree let me kno why.

Also Greg, Tony, and Nick are all managers of park services and they are all assholes. Jason was the best manager we ever had and they forced him out. So if any of u 3 read this just kno none of us like you and if you dont want us to hate u more stay out of our ****ing business and let us do our darn job.

You know I worked for Paramount for 3.5 years and Cedar Fair since they bought it untill this past June. At least half of my friends still work at there. Though I dont agree with everything you said I do agree with most if it. Now I dont personally know Greg or Nick but I was friends with Tony since 2001 and it would take a lot to tarnish my opinion of him so in that reguard I disagree with you. I do agree that Jason was a GREAT guy. I do think that a lot of CF's new rules are rather rediculous.

Personally I believe the green boxes are out of control at the the rides. It started as a line you had to stay behind, then as a box when the train was moving, and now you can only leave the box while the train is stopped in the station. The fact that you cant leave the box when there is no train is rediculous. Its one thing on the loading side of coasters but on the unload side? Has there been a recent set of accidents involving suicidal ride ops throwing themselves into the track?

I also think the removal of moral boosters without replacement ones is poor judgment. I remember when we had a moral committee and everything. Now you're lucky to get positive feedback from the area supervisor.

Personally I remember the day that CF bought the park and I was estatic. I thought that of paramount being sold, CF buying was the best case scenerio. I was wrong. Management wise I think paramount was better. In terms of guest satisfaction, I think paramount was better. In terms of employee manager relations, I think paramount was better. Years past, my friends and I all could not wait to go to work and loved being there. Now they all dread having to deal with irrational managers and stupid rules. I once thought that I could never imagine not working at KI, but talking to people that still work there and listening to things they put up with, well, it makes me glad I'm not there.

[DeLorean Rider]

Man you know I must say I love when the profanity monitor chimes in because then it becomes a guessing game as to what word is behind the astris's.

[derek9312]

I would hate those green boxes it would make you feel like and maybe sometimes look like a little kid because they make you look like you have been bad and now you have to stay in that spot. IMO the boxes dont even work because you see the ops doing what they were used to doing with Paramount and that was roaming freely in the station even when the train is moving. I understand safety but do you really have to have your employees stand in a box 10 feet away from the train/track just to make you feel they are safe. My answer, NO. The op in the drive box or whatever you want to call it can stop a train from moving in the station if he or she does not feel one of the co-workers are unsafe. They have to trust that they have trained these ops enough to know how to operate a ride properly without a supervisor and that the main op overlooks the loading/unloading platform and will know if one of the ops on there is unsafe.

[PKIVortex]

When I worked at KI, if you were on load you could move from the dual dispatch position to the front part of the station to wait for the train to come in. However you weren't permitted to move if the train was moving in the station. You had to behind a yellow line painted on the floor when a train was leaving or coming into the station. Also for unload side you weren't allowed to move around when the train was entering or exiting the station, but could move around when they were not a train in the station.

[KIBeast]

Here's a suggestion. Buy KI yourself and then do whatever you want with it. Obviously, some on here have had no other jobs and don't know what it's like in the real working world. You're not going to like everybody, there are always a-holes, and if you hate it that much, go work somewhere else and see that you can't get away from these things no matter where you are employed.

I love this quote, "They gave you reasons to do your job. " The reason is a paycheck. It's really that simple.

It's called work for a reason

[DeLorean Rider]

Here's a suggestion. Buy KI yourself and then do whatever you want with it. Obviously, some on here have had no other jobs and don't know what it's like in the real working world. You're not going to like everybody, there are always a-holes, and if you hate it that much, go work somewhere else and see that you can't get away from these things no matter where you are employed.

I love this quote, "They gave you reasons to do your job. " The reason is a paycheck. It's really that simple.

It's called work for a reason

Hey... Shut Up!

That doesnt mean we have to like it. That doesnt mean we cant complain about it. That doesnt mean we cant talk about how stupid it is. That doesnt mean we cant talk about how great it was when we didnt have the boxes. If you dont want us to complain, DONT READ.

If this were a site dedicated to the place where you work then you could feel free to tell us what it was like to work there.

[Dvo]

wow this thread is intense. calm down! The point is, some people think that Cedar Fair's purchase of Paramount Parks has been horrible for KI, while others think that it's just a transitional stage. I, personally, am the latter. Give it time, and I'm sure things will improve. But as far as this thread goes, I think constructive criticism will work just fine. Keep the banter to yourselves, jeez.

[CoastersNSich]

there are a lot of people saying that Cedar Fair ruined KI. This is there first year. They are proboly getting used to the controls and what not. if u object then tell me so

I don't think so far that Cedar Fair is hurting Kings Island. But for a few experiences I've had, particularly customer service and some ride operations, the place isn't getting too much better.

[KIBeast]

Actually, I don't care to talk about my job at all. I like it and it pays well.

Point being, there are always people and situations that you won't like. I don't have any perks either. I work at an airport. I don't fly free. I don't get discounts. Nobody throws me a party. And I certainly don't get to ride any coasters or come in the park for free when I'm not working. And I'm also thinking that those who choose to blab or text on their cell phones all day instead of paying attention or doing their jobs should have zero perks and should be made to leave their cell phones at home or have them taken away. Personally, it looks very unprofessional to be using your cell phone when you should be doing your job. You're not getting paid to use your phone.

And telling me to shut up is just plain childish. In case you forgot, everyone on here is entitled to an opinion whether you like it or agree with it or not.

CF is not ruining KI. Be glad Six Flags didn't have the ability to buy it or you'd be in a far worse situation.

[DeLorean Rider]

Actually, I don't care to talk about my job at all. I like it and it pays well.

Point being, there are always people and situations that you won't like. I don't have any perks either. I work at an airport. I don't fly free. I don't get discounts. Nobody throws me a party. And I certainly don't get to ride any coasters or come in the park for free when I'm not working. And I'm also thinking that those who choose to blab or text on their cell phones all day instead of paying attention or doing their jobs should have zero perks and should be made to leave their cell phones at home or have them taken away. Personally, it looks very unprofessional to be using your cell phone when you should be doing your job. You're not getting paid to use your phone.

And telling me to shut up is just plain childish. In case you forgot, everyone on here is entitled to an opinion whether you like it or agree with it or not.

CF is not ruining KI. Be glad Six Flags didn't have the ability to buy it or you'd be in a far worse situation.

Yes well I hope you dont get paid minimum wage either. I dont care who you are or what you think, but you cannot just expect 16-25 year olds to be estatic and love their jobs, for 6.85 an hour. I'll tell you right now that Paramount's management did a much better job of taking the moral of associates into consideration. First thing Cedar Fair did in rides was cut the moral committee and killed the budget. Cellphones are one thing, but some of the new rules just plain insult the intelligence of the ride operator. KI operated for 34 years without forcing their ride operators to cage themselves in a green square, now CF thinks everyone's a danger to themself. They may not care if associates dont love their jobs but I surely hope that they care when they hate it. You can get a job at a resturant waiting tables and make considerably more than at Kings Island. KI has always banked on the fact that the people that work their like their jobs a lot. Now with Cedar Fair it seems as though that thought has hit the back burner.

KIBeast I hope your job pays well enough that you can look past perks, if not, well I'm sorry you have to deal with that. At minimum wage, working at a job with crazy hours, in the sun, and having to deal with angry guests and clean up vomit, while checking 30 trains one after another for hours a day; if CF expects associates to maintain a positive and professional attitude, then they also need to ensure that the job is enjoyable much less tolerable, understanding managers would be a great start.

Yea coming into the park for free is great... untill you're working 6 days a week. Then the last place in the world you want to go is Kings Island. Your non KI friends decide they want to go to the park and you look at them like they have three heads. In addition Cedar Fair changed the employee discount from 40% to 25% on selected items at selected times. There's no way they would have had that much of a discount if they were loosing money. There were tons of things I purchased soley because of the discount. Now I wouldnt buy a thing.

Aswell all of those who remember when you could get up to 24 tickets in one year depending on how many hours you work, yea well now Cedar Fair made it so that the maximum tickets you can get is a whopping 4 all season. For me that was a huge hit, my out of town cousins used to expect those tickets. The tickets may have been free but they still spend loads of money on food games and merchandise inside, plus without the free tickets, Kings Island would never have gotten them inside the gate. They're not about to pay full price for the entire family. Personally I think thats a terrible idea because most people who would use an employee free ticket would not have otherwise gone to the park. Paramount had it down, each employee giving out a bunch of tickets to friends and family is great advertising. Those people would not have visited the park otherwise. They would not have bought $50 tickets otherwise. They would have just said, well forget about KI. With the free tickets, at least they're coming in and spending money.

Personally at this point I would not have minded if Six Flags bought us because obviously, six flags is doing better than Cedar Fair in terms of attendance. Aswell I'd be willing to take the risk on their attendance. As stated before it seems as though their guest relations department takes more consideration in terms of each compliment/complaint/concern.

[hausty1983]

Honestly I heard the attendance is down at our hometown park KI so I don' how true it is with Firehawk. Not that anyone cares but I work for DELL and only get a 15% off discount and KOHLS employee's get 30% off on products from us. Yeah its pretty messed up! We have the same problems it sounds like with the management at DELL. I've been in our building for over 3 years and it was first a 3rd party client for DELL called APL Logistics. They had run everything great treated us all great for almost 2years but DELL wanted to come and take it over. Our complaints were answered and not ignored like they are now by DELL supervisors,leads. DELL took over the operation last April and came in cocky and a bunch of a-holes!!! One thing to learn is you have to toot your own horn yourself in life and work hard at your job,come to work with a positive attitude,are prepared for anything,volume of work,anything you have to deal with on the job but it shouldn't get out of control though like how it sounds to me.I love having teamwork,ask your manager's questions,advice,be open, be flexible and most jobs won't be like KI though and you usually have a set schedule M-F or whatever shift your on. I don't at DELL we have changed our hours,whether working 4-10's M-Thrs or 5X8's M-F its been crazy in the past year buts it how they want it to be you don't have much control over it. I know KI is only $6.85 an hr but you should find ways to move up in the company or look for another job out there if you think its so bad you can't stand it anymore. You have to just deal with the people you work with and not let it bring you down and just like it was said before in a post eariler shine up your resume and follow what you want to do in your career in your life! I'm positive and don't give up at what I want to do. I'm always a helpful person on the job. I'm a people person and work great with everyone in different cultures,backgrounds they have. I hope everyone understands where i'm coming from.

[Snake Attack!]

It seems as though Cedar Fair is doing good to the customer (cleaner park, new rides) and bad to the employee (rules,cut fun budgets) while I cannot say which will be better for the company in the long run.

[markr]

I think Cedar Fair has done a fabulous job in bringing the KI back that I knew and loved as a kid. I suspect that KI itself is actually the inspiration for what has made CP so great. To me the present CP is really a lot like the old KI I remember as a child. Remember, it was KI who really started the comeback of the roller coaster with The Racer. Not long after that, CP started its journey into the modern age of coasters with the Corkscrew. The rest is history. Dick Kinzel has stated in the past his fondness for KI.

Unfortunately in the Paramount years, much of what was so great about KI was lost. The Taft family treated KI like a crown jewel and nurtured that park. In the Paramount years KI seemed to just get swallowed by a huge corporation whose specialty was not theme parks. While some good rides were built in the Paramount years such as Drop Zone and Flight of Fear, I feel that most of the rides were just too gimicky. Worse, the park got dirty. If a park is not clean, it is worthless even if you do have the tallest and fastest coaster in the world. While I must say that the employees at KI in all my 35 years of going there have always been wonderful, among the friendliest, they did get a bit careless in the Paramount years. For example, I often would see employees with shirt tails out, which is very unprofessional.

I am sure Cedar Fair is very demanding. They do have high standards for their employees. And I ask, what is wrong with that? If you want customers to continue to partronize you, you had better have high standards. Remember, without the customers, everyone is out of job.

[Godfather64615]

I personally dont have a problem with their dress code rules. I think you should look professional as well. I also don't kno much about the other departments but ecology/park services is keeping the park just as clean as it was in years past. I have worked up through the ranks in ecology and now am on my 3rd year working there. I also agree with the person who mentioned the free tickets. I got 16 last year and brought all my friends who would not have come otherwise. With only 4 I can't bring as much revenue to the park.

[DeLorean Rider]

Honestly I heard the attendance is down at our hometown park KI so I don' how true it is with Firehawk. Not that anyone cares but I work for DELL and only get a 15% off discount and KOHLS employee's get 30% off on products from us. Yeah its pretty messed up! We have the same problems it sounds like with the management at DELL. I've been in our building for over 3 years and it was first a 3rd party client for DELL called APL Logistics. They had run everything great treated us all great for almost 2years but DELL wanted to come and take it over. Our complaints were answered and not ignored like they are now by DELL supervisors,leads. DELL took over the operation last April and came in cocky and a bunch of a-holes!!! One thing to learn is you have to toot your own horn yourself in life and work hard at your job,come to work with a positive attitude,are prepared for anything,volume of work,anything you have to deal with on the job but it shouldn't get out of control though like how it sounds to me.I love having teamwork,ask your manager's questions,advice,be open, be flexible and most jobs won't be like KI though and you usually have a set schedule M-F or whatever shift your on. I don't at DELL we have changed our hours,whether working 4-10's M-Thrs or 5X8's M-F its been crazy in the past year buts it how they want it to be you don't have much control over it. I know KI is only $6.85 an hr but you should find ways to move up in the company or look for another job out there if you think its so bad you can't stand it anymore. You have to just deal with the people you work with and not let it bring you down and just like it was said before in a post eariler shine up your resume and follow what you want to do in your career in your life! I'm positive and don't give up at what I want to do. I'm always a helpful person on the job. I'm a people person and work great with everyone in different cultures,backgrounds they have. I hope everyone understands where i'm coming from.

I promise I'm not trying to offend you but I doubt you make minimum wage. Any job is hard to enjoy when your getting $6.85.

[Vistavision]

Minimum wage jobs are entry-level jobs and enjoying them is not part of the gig. How much a job sucks is extremely relative especially when you are talking about kids who are embarking on their first jobs. I managed movie theaters for many years and 16 year olds at their first jobs are either terrific b/c they are eager to please or, much worse, the biggest babies on the planet. There was always real clarity on who was a 16 year old who needed the job to pay for their first car and expenses and who was a 16 year old who already had everything and was showing up b/c Mom and Dad were insisting they had a job. The truth is employees are only a reflection of the management food chain. If I see a lousy crew at KI (Racer sometimes) I am not frustrated at the employees but the supervisor and that supervisor's supervisor and so on. Now I work on a regional level and my best managers have the best employees. Pure and simple. The weeding out of the useless employees is the real deal. THAT is what makes a place run right. Too many managers tolerate mediocre or sub-par employees. I have been through company buy-outs and severe changes and most of the crying and ranting comes from workers who resist change. The good ones carry on and do their job. They get promoted in time. Most big companies let thier employees know there is a new sherriff in town by implementing strict rules and making changes. That is sop. Familiarity breeds contempt. They want as fresh a start as possible. Trying to win the affection of the masses of employees is not on their agenda. Why would it be? Minimum wage employees who have the highest rate of turnover and least amount of loyalty? All of this is because we are talking about entry level jobs. In many ways it is supposed to suck. I pushed a broom when I was 17. I cleaned up vommit. It sucked. That's why you buckle down and do your job without complaining so you get promoted. If you don't want to make KI your life's work - that's fine but I always used to tell my employees that how you treat your first job is usually the work ethic and attitude you will carry for the rest of your life.

There are employee issues at KI but that's everywhere. I have gone on days and had fantastic service and I have gone on days when it was spotty at best. That's life. I wish it was better and more consistant but only time will tell. Someone posted that they felt like the employees were not too friendly about giving out water. Every single time I have asked for water this year (over 20 park visits this year) I was given water with a smile. That isn't to say that someone else didn't get treated differently but that's life. Consistancy is the key. Even the constant chatter on these forums is not a clear or accurate picture of KI, CP or anywhere else. Millions of people go thru these parks every year and have multiple experiences that vary in many, many ways. If KI only got it right 90% of the time (and that would be pretty good) we are still talking about a LOT of unhappy people.

I have to say that there is a real lack of maturity with godfather's comments. Calling out people like that is crummy on all fronts. The board moderater should wipe those comments out and issue Godfather a warning of being bumped off this board.

[Browntggrr]

KI operated for 34 years without forcing their ride operators to cage themselves in a green square, now CF thinks everyone's a danger to themself.

And at one time nobody thought a box cutter, or a bottle of hair gel could be used as a weapon either.

But as years go on, everything continues to evolve. Including rules and safety.

And if a person cannot see the bright side of making minimum wage, then don't work. You can still use mommy & daddy's car, and live off of them the rest of your life. But for me, I used it as a motivation. Yeah, I started out at McDonald's. And yeah, I hated it. But for me to succeed, I had to put my personal feelings aside and work my a$$ off to get myself out of that type of job.

Simply put, I did what I had to do.

If you want to feel that since making minimum wage, or just having an entry level job entitles you to "perks" like free steak dinners, and free admission, you really are looking through rose colored glasses. Paramount handed out things like that all the time, well great for them. Well there is a reason why they wanted to sell the parks, and there is a reason why CF is one of the biggest amusement park operators in the world, and rather successful as well. Amazingly enough, CF is in the business of making money, not giving it away. It's not like they just started owning parks a couple years ago. Sure they will make bad business decisions and "stub their toe". Every businessman has made a bad or wrong decision at one time. That is how you learn- through your mistakes.

And yes, employers will give out "perks", but to those that deserve them. I would rather earn a "perk", than to be classified into a group like everyone else and treated like Jow Blow next to me that does nothing. Or is it better to just give everyone the same thing, no matter how much effort they put into their job and leave out the people that really do put in 110%

I work for GE (Transportation- we make locomotives). I have not recieved my free tickets to IoA yet. Should I be ****ed? No. Because I still collect a paycheck that provides for my family to live a decent & enjoyable life. Since I just started here in February, I can't expect too much. But one thing is for certain; it is a hell of a lot better than my last job!

And everytime I get pi$$ed at my job, I just think to those great days being a burger flipper.

...man life now really is not that bad. And yes, I would like fries with that.