I manage performers and I've been working in entertainment leadership at theme parks/attarctions since 2012. I am currently based in Kansas City and while I don't work for Worlds of Fun I frequently check their job postings because we have a partitally overlapping canidate pool for talent.
2022 I downloaded their audition notice to fight for higher wages for my team. That years flyer listed $14-16.25hr for everything from character escort to stage show dancer. I was able to get my performers $16hr based on that flyer.
This year, in the year 2024, they are paying character performers $13hr. They actually LOWERED their wage 2 years later.
I don't care about their merge with six flags. Performers doing hard work, outside in the summer, deserve a living wage. Cost of living is only going up and it's infuriating that some executive chose to lower the base wage.
Is this happening at all Cedar Fair parks due to the merge?
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This is brutal. Thanks for flagging this up.
I feel so sad about the employees. This is not right.
Yes that is correct, there was a period of a few years the government was not issuing J1 visas due to the pandemic, and a lot of people in general just did not want to work at amusement parks because the likelihood of getting covid. This led to a huge labor shortage in the industry and everyone raised wages. In 2021 Cedar Point went all the way up to $20 starting, but now they are back down to $15. This happened at pretty much all seasonal parks.