Dollywood's Ride Operators are ADULTS not KIDS (Thankfully)!

I expected to see 15 and 16-year-olds at the controls of the rides at Dollywood. This is not the case. The average age of a ride operator was about 32. One lady (Sharon was her name) at the Thunderhead was about 55, and the Thunderhead operator was about 60! Check out the diligence of the ride operators in this video. I was impressed! Ordinarily when I visit theme parks, there are kids operating the rides who don't seem too overly concerned as to whether your harness is secured tightly or not!

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Dollywood
• ride
• operator
• adults
• Tennessee
• Tenessee
• Tornado
• Dolly
• Wood
• roller
• coaster
• theme
• park
• amusement

[TheCug]

I have to honestly say that age doesn't affect my opinion on ride safety procedures. It's the level of maturity the ride operator has that I look at. While I will say most older people are more mature, I do know older people that I wouldn't trust my safety with for a second. I've been to both Kings Island and Dollywood and I can say both age groups do a great job. I will say that Dollywood ride operators are more friendly though. At most rides I would have little conversations with them:)

[Sniper2477]

it doesn't matter how hard down the harness is....once it clicks once it will hold whoever is in the seat that meets the height requirement....ive worked at many amusements parks. Would rather not deal with a person that complains about me squishing their boobs in the harness every 10 seconds.

[fyadcorp]

If you don't want teenagers to check your restraints, then just exit the line.

[lambchopxoxo]

I agree. I've been to Disneyland more times than I care to admit and some of the ride operators... um just no.

[RocketRodder]

I think that people younger than 18 should have no right to be a ride op. If something should happen to a guest, mommy or daddy won't cover your butt once a person is tried as an adult. Just sayin'.

[justnevershoutnever]

Lol, I've never seen a kid working at Dollywood to be honest... XD

[itsthebrod]

All this age talk is nonsense. I've seen 16 year-old ride operators act in a safer and more mature manner than 40-year-old workers. In fact when I was 17 I was lead of a 20-million-dollar roller coaster and caught numerous safety issues for which my ride eventually won the park's "safest ride award." Again, it's all about maturity and that doesn't come from a single number stating how long you've lived.

[mpapile]

However I disagree that young people make bad ride attendants. Like now I work a much better job, but was a good employee at the time there. Adults you will get for that job may not be very good because like I said it is a boring low paying job.  Not all kids are idiots, and you can get some very bright good workers that will work the job en route to something better

[mpapile]

I used to operate rides, and then became a ride mechanic. We often had 16yr olds operating kids rides, and 18yr olds working others. It is a really boring job and these people turn away from ride, talk etc. Every ride had to have "deadman" controls or these people would walk away. Ride operation needs constant attention because kids often try to climb out of the ride, or run in gate while ride is operating. Overall tough job because it is so boring.

[BestPlaymateEver]

No one under the age of 21 should be allowed to operate any ride. Also no one with tattoos from their wrists all the way up to their necks, those freaks scare me, you know they would derail a roller coaster if they ever had a bad day. And no smokers, smokers have absolutely no judgement and have no desire to die old. My personal preference would be really hot women 21 to 26, especially on the rides where they have to pull down the lap bar into your lap to make sure its secure.

[rollercoastersrock]

@RocketRodder Sorry for the extra long response, but I just wanted to point out that not ALL Six Flags parks operate the same way. I'm sure Magic Mountain could use better training and they could certainly watch you guys to see how to properly check a train but there are also some parks that have no problem at all with throughput.

[rollercoastersrock]

@RocketRodder Even on the rides that take longer to dispatch by their nature like our flyer (Superman: Ultimate Flight) we could get consistent roll-ins. On some occasions the lift would automatically slow down when the train get closer to the lift crown because our other train was still making its way through the safety brake/transfer. The Nitro crew sends trains out lightning fast and almost always has to wait for their previous train to clear the lift before the can send their next train.