What to do in the winter months???

I was wandering as i looked at CP web cam off of TTD i see they plowed the park (one lane) and the parking lot. But what else do the full time,

year round people do?? im new here so if this has been askked before im sorry , jus curious JAY

Work on anything that has to do with the new season depending on their job. Rides and attractions people work on budgetting for staffing and events and revise training manuals. There are people coming up with new internal things for the park. Maintanence is working on stripped rides inside the warehouse. New publications are being printed up and thats not even the half of it. Generally from what I know is the off season is actually the busiest for full timers.

As he said, winter's the busiest part of hte sea

Judging by the thread title, I thought you were going to ask what an enthusiast should do during the winter, when all the parks are closed. I was prepared to mock you mercilessly. :)

OK, This topic prompts me to ask a question....Of the parks that are open this time of year (now through February) where would you visit if you had just a couple days or so to visit one or two parks?

I'm thinking about an "escape" next month and looking for ideas. I don't really want to do any Disney parks.

My first guess for a non-Disney park for a 1-2 day trip would be Wild Adventures in Valdosta Ga.

We Ride All Year in Florida ... So there's always:

- Islands of Adventure

- Universal Studios Florida

- SeaWorld

- Cypress Gardens

- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

- Dania Beach Hurricane @ Boomers

To name a few! :o)

Knott's/SFMM in California.. of course, I haven't (yet) been there, so I may be a little biased. Also, if you could wait until March, you could always go to Solace, and spend an extra day or 2 in the area for SFMM.

Are you going to Solace, Tim(dannerman)?

that's the plan! Who else is gonna be there?

Are the Texas parks open? If so thats where I would go!

Cedar point foe one, takes all their picnic shelters and puts up temporary walls. Those them become extra shops for repainting and storage and what-not.

The problem with many of the seasonal parks (especially those in cold climates) is they need to work as fast as they can before the tempurature drops where it's unbearable. Look at how much work got done on Hydra just before the end of October!

I go for fully independant coasters: ie, skiing during the winter months.
lately though, it's more like frigid water skiing. :)

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Crashmando said:
Are the Texas parks open? If so thats where I would go!

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No, the Texas Parks are not open now. SFOT has the longest season but still closes for 8-9 weeks at the beginning of the year. This year they closed on January 2 and will reopen March 5. The other Texas parks have been closed longer. Astroworld and Fiesta closed after Fright Fest and I think SeaWorld went all the way through November. They all reopen the first or second week in March.

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Impulse-ive said:
As he said, winter's the busiest part of hte sea

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Not for the full-timers I know. Winter is usually the only time of year they are allowed to even think about taking time off. Sure they are busy, but hours are usually shorter than they are in the summer and weekends are generally free.

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Jeffrey Seifert said:

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Crashmando said:
Are the Texas parks open? If so thats where I would go!

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No, the Texas Parks are not open now. SFOT has the longest season but still closes for 8-9 weeks at the beginning of the year.

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I agree. When I was in Dallas during a stopover on the way to Ft. Lauderdale, it was -2 and snowing some 2 inches. Unusual weather for the parts, but still, it happens. Texas Giant would not exactly... work... in the snow, now...

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Jeffrey Seifert said:Winter is usually the only time of year they are allowed to even think about taking time off.

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I'm glad you said that, as the winter is the only time I get to see my family and friends. If you are not willing to completely forfeit 6 months out of the year annually to work, then seasonal amusement parks are not the place for you.

With that said, the off season is a good time to comb through the thousands of documents, forms, and reports that are generated everyday. The amount of paper used annually is mindboggling.

Well as the "off season" is on 14 days old here in Missouri (We coasted until Dec 30th this year at SDC) we aren't feeling the withdraws yet. However when we do, we go to the indoor waterparks (Great Wolf - KC and TanTarA at Lake of the Ozarks). We also make the trek up to MOA as it is just a short jaunt on I-35. :)

SDC is busy as it opens in early March. They only have two months to be closed. The other parks (CC, SFStL, WOF) are getting busy for the new season as well.

Sports, its college basketball/NFL playoff time.

And of course there is the planing for this summer's trips.

Somebody missed the whole point of the thread;).