Working at an amusement park

Romantic Undead

This might seem like a weird question, and I don't know what kind of response I'll get here, but here goes:

Does anyone have any experience working at an amusement park?

I love to entertain both young and old, I've always loved theatre, but never had the wherewithal to launch myself into it as a profession. I'm a good signer/dancer/actor, though my experience does not go beyond local/community projects. I'm continuously complimented on my personality, friendlyness and approachability, and was thinking what line of work might appreciate those aspects of me the most.

Many people have suggested hosting, hotel management and the like, but I was reading an article on the foundation of Disneyland and it gave me a silly grin to read.

So I throw the question out to you all:

What's it like working in an amusement park? What are work conditions like? How's the pay? Are there any career prospects to be had there, or is most amusement park work relegated to part time/summer fare?

Please share your experiences!

jotate

I don't have any first hand experience, sadly. I do have an acquaintance from college who is currently employed as Pocahontas at Walt Disney World. She claims to be having the time of her life.

I'd guess that if you're going to look for somewhere like Disney World or Disneyland, you probably won't have to worry so much about the seasonal aspect of it. They bring the patrons year round.

The one thing that's a little sketchy that I know of Disney's practices is that they refer to all of their employees as "Cast Members." This is a not-so-creative way of racially discriminating, but it makes sense for what they do. The authenticity of some of what they do wouldn't be there (as much) if the person checking to make sure you're tall enough to ride the Norwegian boat ride wasn't actually from Norway.

I'd go as far as to suggest that if you're a different color, it'll probably help you out in this endeavor.

Regardless, good luck. I'm slightly jealous at the fun you might end up having. Have this link:

http://www.disney.go.com/DisneyCareers/wdwcareers/hourly/

amateurhour

Have you considered working a cruise ship? It's supposed to be better than the parks because you save a lot more money and get to see the world, for short invervals at a time at least.

coelacanth

Also not first hand unfortunately, but a I know a couple of friends went through the summer internship program at Disney World and loved the experience. I don't know how it would be to work there as a career, but you could certainly try for one of their summer internships if you are a student to get a taste.

Funny story I heard was that if you make it to the final interview, they ask a lot of questions to trim the field. One thing they ask is whether or not you have tattoos, and where/what they are (it is a park for kids so I guess they don't want a naked lady riding a dragon). This friend-of-a-friend had a tattoo...on his butt...but he was embarassed to tell them what it was. More worried they would find out later and fire him, he decided to be honest and let them know the tat was of Winnie the Pooh. However, the interviewers thought it was funny!

I'm not sure about smaller park chains...Disney is the top I would assume...smaller chains are probably not the happiest place on earth.

Romantic Undead

Actually, someone mentionned cruise ship to me once too.

That does sound awesome, however, although I'm rather friendly and outgoing, I'm also a homebody, relishing my quiet time after work to play games, maek poasts etc.

Working on a cruise ship seems to me like it might be like working around the clock. Any opinions on that?

Improvolone

Move to Orlando.
I've worked at Universal, and know people who've worked at both. You can get good work, you can get crap work, but if you enjoy... fuck! No better place to be!