Thousands of people visit theme parks on a daily basis. They shop for souveniers, eat food, and ride the rides. All in all it should be a pretty easy going day with few worries for these people and most think that the workers have it pretty easy as well, nothing could be further from the truth.
An attraction attendant's day at work can start as early as 2 hours before the park even opens (not counting the time it takes them to get up and get to work in the first place) and in some cases ends around 1 hour after the park closes. Once they get to work they start the tedious task of cleaning up the attraction, from polishing railings to sweeping to pressure washing and mopping down the vehicles with chemicals. Many times they are given less than an hour to complete these tasks before supervisors and managers are asking for the ride to be opened so that the park can allow people in early.
They do as they're told and the park opens early, and that's when the real torment begins. Sure there are people that are simply there to enjoy themselves, but most of the time people are out for the sole purpous of getting something for free, whether it's their park admission, free fast passes (or other skip regular line passes), or free food, and they will do almost anything to get it.
One of the most common issues attraction attendants have to deal with is the simple fact that people do NOT read warning signs. Granted there are some legitimate questions such as "I'm pregnant, should I ride?" but when you walk up to a water ride where the sign states "YOU WILL GET WET!" please don't ask if you'll get wet and if there is a "least wet" area on the vehicle. The same holds true for roller coasters, don't ask if it goes upside-down if you can obviously see that the track inverts. It may be hard to believe, but people do actually ask these things quite often.
Another common issue attraction attendants run into is the idea that park visitors know more about the attractions and what is, or is not, safe. If an attraction attendant tells someone that their child is not tall enough for a ride (regardless of difference) they are doing it to keep the child safe, most visitors view it as some kind of attack for the purpous of ruining their vacation. Far too often people plead and try to get their child onto the ride anyways saying that they'll "sign a waiver" or "hold on to them" assuming that it will make the height difference not matter. The fact of the matter being that the height requirement was determined by the ride's creator (not the company that owns the park) doesn't occur to these people and they'd much rather just ride than worry about their childs safety. From that point it can get as bad as people screaming and cursing out the attendant, even threatening to have them fired. The attendant must remain fully composed and not say a word back or they could get in trouble, as long as they stay quiet with a smile on they are alright though because they are enforcing safety policy. Not only could someone get hurt for riding a ride that they are not tall enough for, the employee could be fired (definitely not worth letting some kid onto a ride).
There are countless other issues that attendants must deal with on a daily basis in the name of keeping park visitors safe ranging from locker issues (usually from a visitor not operating them properly) to issues with what is and isn't allowed onto rides (food, drinks, and in some cases bags). Once the park is closed for the day (which could be from 9 to 15+ hours after the park opened for the day) it's time to clean again which includes (but is not limited to): picking up all the garbage that people left behind throughout the queue (please in the name of all things good use a garbage can and not the ground, you don't want to walk through garbage and neither does anyone else), changing out all of the garbage cans (which is much worse than changing out the garbage at home and multiplied by at least 15+ cans), and re-cleaning down the vehicles.
One would think that someone in charge of thousands of people's lives on a daily basis would get paid pretty decently; the reality is that most attraction attendants get paid a starting rate of around $7.00 an hour with little room for overtime. Without factoring in taxes and assuming the person gets exactly 40 hours every week (which rarely happens due to overstaffing) that is still less than $15,000 per year.
Many people like to try to throw that into an attendants face (the fact that they make around $7.00 an hour) as an insult implying that they couldn't possibly get a better paying job because they're incompetant; but consider this, if they are so incompetant, would you want them in charge of your life? To those that think I'm exagerating, just imagine what could happen if an attendant didn't properly check a harness or restraint on a roller coaster or other thrill ride, do you think you'd know what to do without being trained how to enter a ride track area properly and safely?
I've only listed a small amount of the issues we deal with, and I'll leave it at that because otherwise I could probably write a whole book on the issue. Granted I know this isn't going to magically raise the pay rate of attendants, nor am I saying that I absolutely hate the job, but the next time you visit a theme park and ride one of the many rides available, please try to be as courteous to us as we are to you, and remember, one sour employee doesn't mean the rest of us are the same way.
It's a job just like any other. People fill jobs that are needed, and I'm not convinced that they have it too bad. In some countries, the average YEARLY income is under three hundred dollars, which could be easily made in a few days at a minimum wage job here. The job requires no official training or experience, and is a low level job. Its something anyone can do, and thus it isn't going to pay well. If someone wants a job that makes a lot more money, graduate high school, college, and maybe grad school. Most people who work at theme parks are probably teens working part time, and the money's good for them any way. Our government has so many regulations on workers rights, there is no way there is any real injustice at theme parks. Bottom line, no one is forced to work there.
First off using a dollar is a misleading statistic. The real stat that you should be looking at is relative Purchasing Power. Second, you'd be shocked at the labor injustices that go on in America. Try picking tomatos in Florida for 22 cents/20 gallon bucket in the middle of the summer some time. As for government regulations, they tend to be mysteriously ignored when dealing with large corps.
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"We cannot redeem evil, we must combat it." -- Jean Paul Sartre
...are like this. They suck. You are right - worker's rights are often ignored. But you don't pick tomatoes, so be grateful, for one. And for two, numbers-kid has a point - it's just like any other job. Be a teacher for a week. You'd melt. Talk about disrespect and cleaning up garbage. Or better yet, work in a barn for a week. There's a 15-hour day. If you don't like your job that much, get a better one. Be a waitress. Clean up their mess. Yes, people should be considerate of workers at ANY place of service. But complaining about this job is just complaining. Everyone can complain about their job. This one is nothing special. Sorry... it's just not. Try something new and make an effort to enjoy your job. You may get yourself kicked out of the This-Job-Sucks Club, but you might be a happier person for it.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kariskoett
Honestly I wouldn't expect any of you to understand unless you've actually worked the job because no, it doesn't sound all that bad until you actually work it.
In response to the statement about not needing official training, attendants go through at least 6 days of training and up to 2 weeks of training or more to learn the ins and outs of the attraction and how to operate it properly, where the safe areas to take visitors are, etc. The training starts with learning the park(s) that you work in, then it moves onto the direct area, and finally the attraction. After a set amount of time, usually 90 the attendant may then be trained in the control booth which operates the entirety of the ride as far as the technical aspects (knowing all special effects, reseting the ride in downtimes, keeping the ride running when faults occur to prevent downtimes, etc) which can be at least a full week of training to learn everything about the ride. This training is most definitely "official" and can be used against the person in court if something is done incorrectly.
As far as completing high school and/ or college and above, I have completed high school and am in college right now. The same applies for everyone I work with seeing as how you have to be at least 18 to work attractions. As far as get a better job, I'm not saying the job sucks in it's entirety, I'm saying that for all they have to deal with they should be paid better, my main point being that we deal with people's lives and get crap from the people we try to keep safe. Before you attack the statement, try it out and see what I'm talking about and see how you fair.
Every job deserves respect from people. This job, while hard, is not isolated in this. My point isn't to undermine what you do. My point is that this job requires much and receives little like many, many other jobs. Yes, you should be paid better. So file a complaint. I don't think many people are going to feel sorry for you. I worked my way through college cleaning kitchens and horse stalls for 6.75/hour. Yeah - like I could even come close to paying for school on that! But that was what was available. So while your job is "different" than all the other jobs in the country, it really is just like the other jobs. Feel bad for yourself, complain, okay, but I have a hard time feeling bad for you. I'm sorry you get treated badly. Welcome to the real world? That's all I've got. I treat people fairly, and so should you, but unfortunately not everyone is so easily convinced.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kariskoett