Park’s Theme Is Lots of Jobs : Employment: More than 3,000 teen-agers are hired by Magic Mountain every season. They say they like the steady pay and social atmosphere.
Cameron Brenner has a simple job this summer.
“We take an object to the highest point and let it drop,” said the Cal State Northridge mechanical engineering student and ride foreman of Magic Mountain’s Flashback, billed as the world’s only hairpin drop roller coaster.
He is an enthusiastic foot soldier in the army of high school and college students who each summer enlist in the working world to sweep, file, cook, clean, make change and, in Brenner’s case, help carloads of screaming customers experience a brief lesson in physics.
Despite the recession, Magic Mountain remains the Mt. Everest of summer jobs, the area’s largest employer of teen-age workers, hiring more than 3,000 each year for the amusement park’s busy season, officials said. It has been a reliable source of some of the most popular jobs for teen-agers in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys for more than 20 years.
The faces may change, but most of the amusement park’s summer workers have the same general goals: saving up for college, cars, insurance and other expenses, the payoff for sacrificing their free time at the beach or in front of the TV.
But unlike others who by now are tired of the daily routine, Brenner said he is having a good time at his summer job, which also includes some bossing around of less experienced Magic Mountain ride operators, or “ride ops,” as they are known.
“This is my fourth summer here,” said Brenner, 20, of Canyon Country. “I started at the bumper cars, then I went to the Gold Rusher. One summer I was at the Log Jammer, loading and unloading people out of the boats. Then there was the Bugs Bunny roller coaster.”
For many, Magic Mountain is their first job, the place where they learn such basics of capitalism as: yes, you must show up on time, and no, you cannot wear your Raider cap. Signs posted for employees throughout the park warn, for example, “If you are not properly groomed, you may be sent home.”
The park requires all new employees to sit through a full-day seminar on working, which includes a mix of common sense rules--such as the proper way to fill out a time card--and Magic Mountain philosophy: Be courteous and help customers enjoy themselves.
“This is my first real job,” said Melissa Lee, 16, of Newhall. She was washing lettuce for use on the burgers that would be served later in the day. “. . . Younger kids come up to me and say how cool it is that I work at Magic Mountain.”
Lee also works the cash register, cooks and washes dishes at one of the park’s many food joints. Like others here, she knew somebody who already had a job who steered her through the application and job interview.
Besides the steady pay, which is slightly better than minimum wage, Lee and others say they like working with so many other young people. There are parties after work and outings, although it seems that a social caste system dictates who gets invited.
“Ushers and ride ops think they are the most glamorous,” said Lee, a bassoon and clarinet player who is the drum major for the William S. Hart High School band.
Tim Briones, 18, of Canyon Country and about 20 to 25 of his work pals go to the movies every Monday night. They call it the weekly Ushfest, because it’s an invite-only affair for the ushers who work in the park’s live attractions, such as the Batman and dolphin shows.
Briones figures that he’ll save up about $3,000 this summer, enough to make a good dent in the $8,000 that it will cost to attend Fresno State, where he plans to begin studying construction management this fall.
He confirms the social hierarchy at the park: “Compared to food services, we are better.”
Over at the game booths, David Davila, 21, has a copy of “Clinical Procedures for Medical Assistants” behind the counter to study when customer traffic is slow. Most of the time he is pitching visitors to take a chance at “Knock ‘Em Down, 2 balls for $1,” which awards stuffed animal prizes for accurate throws.
Davila, who is married and has a 3-month-old son, is working to pay for tuition at a Valley trade school, where he is studying to be an X-ray technician. He likes his job, especially compared to the work he had last summer.
“I was an electrician’s helper and I had to climb around in attics all day,” said Davila, who lives in Palmdale. “It was hot and musty and smoggy.”
A couple of booths over, Tanjareen Martin, 20, of Reseda said she enjoys talking to visitors from around the world and likes the social life that park workers enjoy.
“There’s a monthly newsletter and you see wedding announcements of people who work here,” said Martin, a CSUN student whose brother also works at a park game booth.
Tim Burkhart knows that it can be tough making the transition from care-free student to hourly worker. His first summer job at Magic Mountain was ride operator for the Cyclone roller coaster 16 years ago.
“I was scared to death my first day,” said Burkhart, now vice president of park operations. “The control panel was bigger than a desk, with about 50 lights, push buttons and television monitors. I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, I’m going to run this?’ I didn’t realize that it was completely computer-controlled, and as an operator I had to push two buttons to make it go.”
Roland Miller, an assistant manager of operations, started working at the park 14 years ago, a ride op for the old bumper boats. Like his boss, Burkhart, Miller made a career of a former summer job after graduating from CSUN. Although most of his pals from past summers are working in other professions, he said he talks to many from time to time.
“They say these were the glory days,” Miller said.
