Summer is quickly approaching and thousands of people from all over the world have accepted their job offers to work at some of the best amusements parks in the world. Now, speaking as someone who has spent an entire summer working as a ride operator at an amusement park, here are a few things that I think that you should know.
1. The "excitement" will wear off.
You're going to be so excited for probably five days and then you won't even be phased when you walk past that giant roller coaster anymore. It becomes a part of your life, a job. Unfortunately, you don't see the "magic" side of it as much, mostly because you see it every single day over and over. So, make the most of those first few days because soon it will become just another place.
2. There is a thing such as riding a ride "too many times."
I know that you're probably thinking, "I could ride this ride every day for the rest of my life and never be tired of it." Well, think again. If you ride something too much, particularly the ride that you work on, it becomes boring. I mean, think about it. If you have to know this coaster inside and out in order to operate it, that kind of takes the fun out of it. You are no longer surprised by the sudden twist coming out of a tunnel because you test rode this. So, space it out. Don't ride them too much too fast or you'll be bored for the rest of summer.
3. You work a lot of hours.
I heard this before I went, but I don't think that it actually sunk in how much I would be working. Towards the beginning of the season, I worked from 7:30 in the morning to 10:30 at night. Now, don't get me wrong, the paycheck was the bomb. However, I often found myself wishing that I never took that damn job. It's a seasonal job, so they don't have to abide by any labor laws. You just work until you can't anymore and then you sleep for four hours and come back and do it again.
4. Getting drunk happens a lot.
I live in a college town and I have never seen people consume as much alcohol as I saw at the "employee living quarters." There was a bar right across a bridge from where we all lived and I kid you not, seven days a week there were drunks stumbling home at 3:00 in the morning. It seemed to be the only bit of fun that a lot of people were having.
5. You live in a not-so-pretty room.
The rooms are gross. You can tell that the company clearly spends its money on the inside of the park only. Depending on the type of room that you have the level of gross might change. I lived in an apartment style room that had mold growing on the shower and stains of untold origin on the floors. Let's just say the only time when I was barefoot was when I was asleep.
6. The departments don't always get along.
When I heard this, I didn't believe it at first. I mean, we all work for the same place, why does the job that we do have anything to do with how we treat each other? Let me tell you, it does. The sales people don't get along with the food people. The Live Entertainment people don't really talk to anyone else and everyone hates the ride ops. I don't think that there was any reason, but the tension was so thick that sometimes I was just waiting for us all to break out into a "West Side Story" style dance battle.
7. You'll meet people from all over the world.
Some of my best friends that I met were from Ecuador and Bulgaria. I still stay in contact with a few of my coworkers from across the sea. Before working there, I knew maybe two people from other countries. Now, I have friends on every habitable continent of the planet, so that's pretty nifty.
8. You'll want it to end, but miss it when it's over.
I was very guilty of this. I hated the hours and the job itself. Saying, "Enjoy your ride," 300 times per day and trying to sound happy about it got pretty annoying. I wanted it to end. I was over it right after it had begun. The summer was long, tedious, and, in the moment, I felt like I wasn't having any fun. Now, looking back at it, It was a pretty good summer. I have new friends who will last a lifetime and I have an experience that I will never forget. I appreciated the job and all of the things that I got to do, but I will never send in an application to work at an amusement park ever again.
