Worked at both Great Americas?

[MGA1]

Hi, well I'm new to this group but I was wondering if anyone else has had the opportunity to work at both Great America parks? It was really interesting to see how what started as two nearly identical parks had started to morph into two very different parks.

I worked in Gurnee from 1977 to 1982 through my high school and college years.
1977 - Area Host (Yukon Territory for Summer, Carousel Plaza for Fall)
1978 - Logger's Run Ride Op also cross-trained at Yankee Clipper
1979 - East Side Ride Op Pool (all rides in Orleans Place, Yankee Harbor, & Yukon Territory)...I wasn't fully certified for every position...usually I got stuck in the loader or queue line monitor positions for rides I didn't have full certification on
1980 - Group Sales for Summer, Guest Relations for Fall
1981/1982 - Admission Services Supervisor also cross-trained for Parking Lot Supervisor duties

Then after leaving the theme park world for a few years & completing my MBA, I ended up working for Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto, CA in 1990. I was bored sitting at home on the weekends, so I decided to apply for a weekend position in Guest Relations at the Santa Clara park. Santa Clara was under KECO management at this time. I enjoyed my position there and the co-workers and supervisors were great, but the park was pretty run down and seemed less professionally managed than when I worked for Marriott in Gurnee.

My full-time job with Hewlett-Packard relocated me to Atlanta,GA in Fall 1991 so I had to quit the job in Santa Clara. I remember the last day I worked Guest Relations in Santa Clara, I had knots in my stomach going into work because I knew it was my last day to work with all my friends. I was so sad the whole shift. It was really tough saying my last goodbyes to my co-workers and supervisors at the end of the day. Many tears were shed that night.

[jimmy gimbels]

Marriott was a class act with food, rides, shows...the experience was entirely different that what SFGA offers. I worked at Great American 1976, 1977 and SFGA in 2008.

In 2008:
-Employee areas jwere filthy...bathrooms just gross and rarely cleaned.
-Service road in need of repair
-Lockers rooms in need of paint. In fact, the whole park needed a new coat of paint.
-Rides in need of repair.
-Entire sections closed down because enough employees were not hired. We were to tell the guests that rides and shows were closed due to "electrical problems"
- Very poor food handling practices. If you go to SFGA, stick to brand names like Johnny Rcokets and Panda Express..tend to be cleaner and better trained staff.
- Grass rarely cut...no attention paid to the beautiful landscaping the MGA had planted in the employee areas.
- Rules on money handling changed daily.
- You were expected to go to the bank and do other pre-opening duties "off the clock"
-Sky-high food prices ($3.50 for a 20 oz bottle of Coke, $5.00 for a box of candy that is sold at Walgreens for 99 cents.

In other words, a big let down from my MGA experience. I have such fond memories of MGA. If only SFGA would keep the park maintained. Thanks to everyone for sending in their memories.

[Demonlover13]

I'm going to apply at SFGAm for 2009 just for the experience.

[jonrev]

-Employee areas jwere filthy...bathrooms just gross and rarely cleaned.

The one by Mardi Gras was always nasty, especially when the A/C crapped out in the summer I worked there. It was poorly lit and smelled horrible.

-Service road in need of repair

The service road looks like it has had very little work done to it in the last 20 years, some areas would be flooded pretty badly if it rained hard.

-Sky-high food prices ($3.50 for a 20 oz bottle of Coke, $5.00 for a box of candy that is sold at Walgreens for 99 cents.

Now you know why most people go to Burger King across Grand Ave. to eat. I will occaisonally buy a Coke at the park but typically I avoid spending money there altogether.