Current Events > I used to be a ride operator for an amusement ride company,AMA about the job

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It's been 8 years back in August,I've worked for them on and off since my first year. Mainly just do the local shows, I still enjoy it.

Let's keep the posts and questions on topic please

Edit: to clarify and clear up any confusion, I worked for an amusement ride company not an amusement park or theme park. We did fairs,small festivals,etc.

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Six Flags Fright Fest?

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BlingBling22947 posted...

Six Flags Fright Fest?

I didn't work for an amusement park or theme park

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What's the most sketchiest thing you have seen?

Were they as sketchy as most amusement park rides or was this a legit place?

My hometown had this "rollercoaster" at an amusement park that was maybe thirty feet tall, topped out at like thirty miles per hour, and was the scariest fucking thing I've ever been on.

The whole thing was held together with spite and tetanus.

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Trumpo posted...

What's the most sketchiest thing you have seen?

Honestly? Nothing because the company I worked for wasn't some second rate company. Our rides were always clean,the male workers had to be clean shaven,our rides were always maintained and checked three times a day to make sure nothing was wrong. It was a good company and the owners made sure it stayed that way

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DrizztLink posted...

Were they as sketchy as most amusement park rides or was this a legit place?

My hometown had this "rollercoaster" at an amusement park that was maybe thirty feet tall, topped out at like thirty miles per hour, and was the scariest fucking thing I've ever been on.

The whole thing was held together with spite and tetanus.

Everything thing was legit, we made sure the rides were set up correctly and leveled out. Safety of the guests was a priority.

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You cant say Im a carny, and then go lol no, its all modern and corporate now. No cool stories... what kind of thread is that?

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The company i worked for is modern, it isn't some trash company. They treated the workers well, even if we got rained out for the day we still got paid for the full day.

They are a very professional company, unfortunately not so great companies give others a bad reputation. People really need to break away from the mindset that every company is the same.

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The one benefit of running the kids rides was all the hot single moms that would flirt with you. Got a few phone numbers from single moms, didn't go anywhere because at the end of the week I was out of town and talking to other women.

It was nice to have someone to talk to though when you're done for the night.

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Alteres posted...

You cant say Im a carny, and then go lol no, its all modern and corporate now. No cool stories... what kind of thread is that?

I do have 1 cool story but it isn't sketchy. We was set up in this small town called Gallion,Ohio. It had this small car museum, they had one of the DeLoreans from Back to the Future II along with the note to Marty from Doc.

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Kay, that is kinda neat.

But if you travelled that much with them you are also lying.

I worked at little local snow tubing/water slide/luge/mini golf place, plus downtown in a college town.

Both those have plenty of crazy/trashy stories and only about half of em involve drunk patrons.

Unless you worked for a Mormon company or something I dont see how your experiences could be so wildly different, and that doesnt even mention the things I have seen or done myself as a teen/early 20s at traveling amusement parks.

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I have zero reason to lie as I stand to gain nothing from it. The company wasn't mormon,just professionally run and the employees knew not to act trashy or crazy otherwise they got fired.

We never worked trashy spots or any towns known for trouble.


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What was your favorite part?

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Boooorrriiing

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How do you get into that kind of gig? Sounds interesting.

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We'd drink after work of course but never to the point where anyone would do anything stupid. After work was our time to wind down, be it drink a little,play poker or just chat with each other or go get food somewhere that was still open.


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The_Hat posted...

What was your favorite part?

Tearing down the rides and getting the fuck outta there honestly, I also liked being in a different town each week.

Unspecified_NPC posted...

How do you get into that kind of gig? Sounds interesting.

My dad and i went to the fair grounds as the ride company was setting up for the local county fair and talked to one of the bosses. The same boss called us that day and said we start tomorrow

. They're always looking to hire local people, a lot of people don't stay on throughout the season as they find out it isn't for them.

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talk about a lame AMA

"I used to work as a carnie, nothing crazy ever happened and I don't have any real stories but I saw a deloreon once"

what made you think people would find this interesting?

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codey posted...

talk about a lame AMA

"I used to work as a carnie, nothing crazy ever happened and I don't have any real stories but I saw a deloreon once"

what made you think people would find this interesting?

Not every ride company is filled with trashy workers who do trashy things.
This is the mindset I was talking about, people still have the mindset that amusement company workers are trashy and do trashy things. The company I worked for did their best to dispel that notion.

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Alteres posted...

You cant say Im a carny, and then go lol no, its all modern and corporate now. No cool stories... what kind of thread is that?

Yeah. I at least want to hear that he did some Joe Dirt shennanigans.

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They forced a clean shaven look on male employees? How much per hour did they pay?

It's ridiculous that people still have that mindset.

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Mr_Karate_II posted...

It's ridiculous that people still have that mindset.

I know. Facial hair is natural. Id tell any place of employment to fuck right off if they told me I had to shave.

Mr_Karate_II posted...

Not every ride company is filled with trashy workers who do trashy things.
This is the mindset I was talking about, people still have the mindset that amusement company workers are trashy and do trashy things. The company I worked for did their best to dispel that notion.

Yeah and we're all saying that we don't care. That's great that they're trying to dispel that notion but if it's just a regular job it's not interesting.

If you don't have fun stories to tell why should anyone care? So far all you've said is you flirted with girls and it led no where, you liked taking down rides and traveling, and saw a deloreon. That's fuckin boring dude.

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XxKrebsxX posted...

They forced a clean shaven look on male employees? How much per hour did they pay?

Unless you worked for the company for awhile then you got paid per day not hour.
I made $75 a day which wasn't bad 8 years ago.

And yes, the company didn't want workers looking trashy with unkempt facial hair. However Mustaches were allowed as long as they looked nice.


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Mr_Karate_II posted...

Unless you worked for the company for awhile then you got paid per day not hour.
I made $75 a day which wasn't bad 8 years ago.

And yes, the company didn't want workers looking trashy with unkempt facial hair. However Mustaches were allowed as long as they looked nice.

I go to a barber every week and keep my beard shaped up. No one would look at my beard and say its trashy.

codey posted...

Yeah and we're all saying that we don't care. That's great that they're trying to dispel that notion but if it's just a regular job it's not interesting.

If you don't have fun stories to tell why should anyone care? So far all you've said is you flirted with girls and it led no where, you liked taking down rides and traveling, and saw a deloreon. That's fuckin boring dude.

Maybe to you and other people but not to me. I got to meet all kinds of people, travel all over ohio and see places that I have never been to. I'm sorry that you have the mindset of all ride companies and their workers being the same.

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