qualifications?

do ride ops need any qualifications or do the park train them?

thanx

Nope, the parks will train you in what to do, which isn't much to be honest

cool ok thanx. i bet they would get payed allot of money even if they dont do much

erm, no. Minimum wage or just above most likely.

[gouldy]

Yeah, minimum wage but the "I work with RollerCoasters" factor

o lol, do the mechanics get payed allot or is that just above minimum wage?

[gouldy]

mechanic of any kind is a job that involves a 'skill' that has had to be learned or whatever, so mechanics as a base are payed more than minimum wage ... don't know how much more though

cool look wat i found http://www.connexions-direct.com/jobs4u ... rentID=100

its got some good info on there

[gouldy]

actually kurtis, I'm quite glad you've pointed that out to me. At the end of this school year, I finish my education for good, my A levels have sucked everything out of me and I don't have even the slightest intention of going to university, so I will need to start working in a real job situation. Luckily I have a Connexions office in my school and I'm going to go and talk to them about this next week I think. Being so close to Alton Towers, I could actually still live at home so rent, food etc etc, wouldn't have to be worried about, so that ?????????7,700 a year wage looks quite attractive

[Dirk_Ermen]

looks good that prize, maybe if the fairground is here in town i work a few days on it. Also then can i take some free rides. [:D]

[Brtnboarder495]

Guys, I would be a Ride op, for free. Eventually I would want cash, but I would do it for a week, just for the feeling, and it would be fun.

holy crap your min wage is 7,700 pounds a year?! here it's 6.15 dollars an hour! lucky!

ye but $6= about ?????????3 and minimum wage in the UK is just unde ?????????5 i think its around ?????????4.75

Im hoping to be an architect/graphic designer and get into the them park industry through that. Probably not coaster design, but having an architect company who does things for parks, and tourist attractions, public places etc!

Thats pretty hard jpecool, got to know alot of maths!

i want to get into the theme park industry, or else design the coasters, like werner stengal, or else design the theming around the attraction. But i would love to go to Cedar point and work there for a few weeks!

Anyway, i am pretty good at maths. I get normally in the 90%-100%.

^ Yeah i always have wanted to do that coasters 4 me, but i have started to give up on the idea because it just seems unreachable (but i would still really love to do it and work my hardest to give myself the best possible chance! ), and i have started to realise that evry coaster enthusiast wants to do that, but hardly any of them get there. Although, if you really want to do it, theres no reason why you cant.

Anyway matt, im hoping im good enough to be an architect. I am top set for every single subject i study! I got 63 out of 66 on the latest maths GCSE exam, which is easily an A*, and i was only beaten by one other person in my year of 217 people! My lowest ever score since beginning to study physics is 29 out of 30. Also A*. And i won best in year award for art and design last year! I really hope i am on the right track to becoming an architect! Sorry just thought i would list some of my achievements to you. Sorry for gloating and basically giving you my life story!

The job of a rollercoaster designer, as said by John Wardley, is very clouded in the mind of a coaster enthusiast. A coaster enthusiast generaly thinks that designing rollercoasters would be something like designing a No Limits coaster, just harder. When in reality your stuck in a office talking with several guys for hours and hours upon end not really doing much at all. Rollercoaster designing is very much so an office job, rarely actualy getting hands on with the coasters themselves. Also Jpecoolm just so you know GCSE physics is ridiculously easy and most of the stuff you learn is completly irrelivent if you wish to further study the course. I also used to get straight A's in Physics at GCSE level, now at A level i'm averaging D-E range, although my actual results would be Mechanics = B-C Electricity = E-F The electricity section of the course drags me down, tests on stuff you never need to know, like the drift speed of an election or the Carrier density charge BS, stuff i really couldnt care about.

[Dirk_Ermen]

I also know that it's more an office job but don't you just love to say then: I've build that coaster. Or that if you check coaster enthusiast sites that you see that they speak about your company.
I've chatted with someone who was also in the coasterbusness. He said it was a very busy job with allmost no time free. But the best of it that you can ride your own creation. [:)]

N E way, i love math and physics so I always wanted to go into the amusement busness. Just i want to come coaster to parks with coasters or disign my own coasters. Or maybe also cool, imagine your own thrill rides.
That just a dream that i think i never will reach. But who doesn't dream?

Well, i am pretty good at Physics and maths. I dream to! Wish i could design a coaster, but in reality, there is a very slim chance of a job opertunities of that job that appear.
Anyway, for those who play Roller coaster Games, have you ever wondered, why should i be building coasters, i should be riding them instead in real life?

Yes Edge, i know A level Physics is alot different to GCSE physics, but i have never experienced A level Physics so i can only give information on what i ahve achieved so far! My sister is just doing A levels, so i have gathered that the grades just change all of a sudden.

nothing is imposible, you can be a roller coaster designer if you work at it and look for jobs all the time, check on all the sites and things but i dont think i will be able to be one cus i am crap at maths i just did my year 9 maths SATS and i think i got something like 40%

Dont worry kurtis, i messed up on the year 9 SATs, i didnt do as well as i should of done, although im still not telling you the score i got. It wasnt bad at all, just not a level 8 which i was supposed to be getting. I know many people, including relatives, who got level 5's in maths at year 9, but by working really hard, and getting a private tutor one night a week, went up to a B at GCSE which is still good. I did used to dream about working for CCI, but then they closed! I also got a huge book on roller coasters when i was 8 and thats when i learned about Frederich Church, Prior, and Harry Traver etc. Thats when i really began wanting to be a roller coaster designer (i ahve always wanted to be a ride designer just so i could modify the layout of the crystal beach cyclone and the airplane coaster slightly and bring them back to life! ), but after reading something that John Wardley had written, and after talking to one of my teachers, i looked at Graphic Design and architecture, although i still dont know what i want to do. But i have ages left.

[jayman]

Originally posted by jpecool

^ Yeah i always have wanted to do that coasters 4 me, but i have started to give up on the idea because it just seems unreachable (but i would still really love to do it and work my hardest to give myself the best possible chance! ), and i have started to realise that evry coaster enthusiast wants to do that, but hardly any of them get there. Although, if you really want to do it, theres no reason why you cant.

Anyway matt, im hoping im good enough to be an architect. I am top set for every single subject i study! I got 63 out of 66 on the latest maths GCSE exam, which is easily an A*, and i was only beaten by one other person in my year of 217 people! My lowest ever score since beginning to study physics is 29 out of 30. Also A*. And i won best in year award for art and design last year! I really hope i am on the right track to becoming an architect! Sorry just thought i would list some of my achievements to you. Sorry for gloating and basically giving you my life story!

hooooo hey jason, can you do my math for me.... i got a 'd" in intermediate algebra, mostly because i hate math, it's too dogmatic for me, i get great grades in literature or anyother subject that requires paper writing... but math...forget it, that's why the dream of becoming a ride designer is not something i harbor, maybe they can hire me to be an idea guy, someone who sits around all day and designs rides on no limits, and they can use the ideas they like, for a small fee of course........

It's not only math, but also financial requirements and everything else. When someone orders you to build a coaster, you can't just go off and do whatever you want, but instead you have to fit the needs of the person who hired you. What is your budget? What type of coaster? How much space? How many inversions? How intense? etc.