Pros
The only real pros to working for Cedar Fair for a summer job are the friends you'll make (which are many) and the free admission to the parks in the chain. I gained so many great friends while working for the company and, being a roller coaster fanatic, loved the benefit of free admission.
Cons
Upper management does NOT care about its employees. CEO Richard Kinzel and COO Jack Falfas are notorious for walking around the parks (mainly Cedar Point) and micro-managing everything. Falfas especially is known to have, on multiple occasions, dropped crucial safety-related positions at rides simply because he walked by at a time the ride wasn't so busy. The front-line employees and even the actual Ride Operations managers don't have any say. They just get notified the position was cut. Employee morale is horrible and gets worse as each day goes on. I understand a company needs to juggle numbers and turn a profit, but treat your employees like you care. Housing is provided for employees during the summer, but no money is ever spent on upkeep of the facilities. Bed bugs, spiders, snakes, and skunks were all common occurrences in my time living in those facilities. For employees who don't have a car, or didn't bring one due to being told transportation to work is provided, are always shocked to learn their bus is simply an old school bus that breaks down on a regular basis. When that company-provided bus breaks down and employees are late for work, they are disciplined by management. While no money is being spent on employees, however, we get to drive past Mr. Kinzel's beach-front house every day on our way to work and watch the construction progress on the additions he is adding with his nice salary. Speaking of pay: You know a company doesn't care about its employees when it fights the state of Ohio, saying it doesn't have to pay its employees the minimum wage of $7.35/hr. Through the first part of 2009, Cedar Point was trying to pay its employees $7.00/hr, stating that they are exempt from having to pay minimum wage due to their "seasonal" status. The state disagreed and Cedar Point finally conceded and paid the $7.35/hr, but at the same time quietly took away the $0.35/hr bonus employees used to receive at the end of the season. And overtime for those 70-80 hour work weeks? Nope. The company did win a fight to get that exemption.
