Hey friends across the pond... this?

Universal Orlando Resort
#21

That part you are making up!! :crazy_face:

I lived / worked in AU from late Sept 2001 (that was a weird plane ride) until Nov. 2002. My first wife was getting a Masters from Bond University down there. So, I took the opportunity to work at the theme park. I did Entertainment & Ops, but got knowledge in group sales & marketing. (Since that was my area of study / degree at school. I also had a minor in theatre. I was a high school drama kid too!)

I worked for Six Flags from March 2003 - March 2008 at a Corporate level doing Groups Sales, Marketing, Corporate Sponsorships. (Laid off due to company being $2 Billion in debt!)

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#22

I knew you worked at a theme park, I just didn’t realize it wasn’t one of the big stateside ones. You’ve often brought up ride logistics before, so I just assumed you worked directly here rather than having relevant experience overseas.

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#23

At Six Flags all Corporate staff have to also learn park operations. We do this so that we can run employee events and events for school groups that happen during early spring while most of our staff (kids) are still in school. (Music in the Parks / Science Days)

I’m trained to run Mr. Freeze and the Mine Train ride at St. Louis. Along with, at the time, being CPR certified to help in the water park there as well.

So… I do have actual Ops experience along with the Corporate experience stateside too! :wink:

I live in Memphis and was a Regional Sales Director. I would travel between parks here in the South. (St. Louis, KY Kingdom & New Orleans- before both closed and Atlanta) to oversee the sales staff at those parks. I was on the road & living in hotels pretty much 3 weeks a month…almost never home in the summer)

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#24

This is fascinating, glad you shared!

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#25

Really cool! In an alternate lifetime it is something I would have enjoyed doing.

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#26

We went in 2017. It’s really a tour of sets and costumes. We did the audio tour and my kids loved it. If you are curious how the movies were made, it’s great. They showed places that were they went for mechanical effects vs CGI due to cost. The had a station where they showed you how costumes were distressed and gave you a piece of material to distress. They will try to sell you a flying on broom green screen movie.

If you were going, I would make a reservation as soon as you are aware - as others mentioned it sells out quickly. We were hoping for a morning tour and could only book afternoon.

It’s in Watford, so it’s a train ride from London. I feel like the train from our VRBO was an hour each way, and we were at the tour for probably three and a 1/2 hours counting gift shop time. We took a Warner Brothers bus from the train station to the facility for a small fee.

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