Episodios

  • Adventureland Workamper Podcast Episode 4 - January 12, 2023

    Adventureland Workamper Podcast Episode 4 - January 12, 2023
    Jan 12 2023
    First episode of 2023 has Lou Axt and Patti Murray  discussing the 2023 workamper program at Adventureland Park. Note that Workamper is a trademark of Workamper News. Transcript is below: Intro music Lou Axt  0:04   Adventureland resort is a theme park waterpark, hotel and Campground complex with over 100 rides shows and attractions. Adventureland has kiddie rides, thrill rides, family rides, restaurants and eateries, games, live shows and retail stores. Adventureland Park has one of the oldest work camper programs in existence, and has added many improvements for the 2023 season. Adventureland hires work campers for the summer season for food service, rides and park services positions. Located outside Des Moines in Altoona, Iowa,  Adventureland is close to many great restaurants, cultural and historical attractions and sporting events. The Greater Des Moines Botanical Gardens, Blank Park Zoo, Iowa Cubs at Principle Park, hiking at any of the nearby state parks and the frequent headlining performers at the Des Moines Civic Center are just a few things that come to mind. There's never a shortage of things to do in the Des Moines area. My name is Lou Axt and I was a work camper in the rides department at AdventureLand for nine years. My wife and I have traveled extensively in our 24 foot Airstream during that time and have been so enamored with the Des Moines area and Adventureland that we decided to put down roots here in Iowa, and now work for Adventureland full time. I'm currently the rides operations manager.  Lou Axt  1:25   I'm here with Patti Murray, who is the point of contact for human resources and Adventure Land. Patty, would you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do here.  Patti Murray  0:00   Thank you, Lou. Prior to joining Adventure Land, I had a 37 year career with the US Department of Agriculture. And with the last 25 years of that with the emphasis in the human resources field. I originally joined Adventureland assisted in the employee base area working just 15 hours a week. Since then, I have come out of retirement and I'm now loving my full time job with the human resources specialist position here at Adventureland. I would also add my husband and I are not work campers. However, we do have a fifth wheel reflection and enjoy taking camping trips in our new camper.  Lou Axt  0:00   What are the general qualifications prospective work campers need to know before applying to work camp period Adventure Land.  Patti Murray  0:04   So we do have a few age requirements that we need to consider for the foods department as well as park services are team members need to be at least 14 years of age or older. And for the rights department or team members need to be 16 years of age or older. I would also add that while we do have minors and we consider minors anyone under the age of 18 while we can employ minors, they cannot participate in our work camper program unless they have an adult parent or guardian who is also participating. Lou Axt  2:57   Okay, so I guess that kind of begs the next question which is what type of vehicle can someone work camp in? I mean is a tiny home okay, bus conversion van? Patti Murray  3:11   So we have a wide variety of campers and RVs that show up at our campsite. Our campers must be self contained, so we can not have any tents. But certainly converted buses and vans are okay. We also offer one free full hookups site which includes the water, the sewer and electrical, as long as you are working the required minimum of 32 hours per work camper per week during the full time daily operations of the park. Of course, if the park is not open full time, if we're open only on weekends, we will not hit that 32 hour minimum but there will be a number of hours that a supervisor will establish and we would ask that work campers fulfill that requirement.  Lou Axt  3:56   Sure. Well, I know here in the rides department when we're only open on weekends, typically a work camper is going to work somewhere between eight and 16 hours a week just for that weekend period. So I'm sure it's somewhat similar in the other departments.  Patti Murray  4:10   Absolutely.  Lou Axt  4:11   And, of course, having been at work camper here for so many years. I've always enjoyed having the campground right next door.Maybe you could tell us a little more about that.  Patti Murray  4:21   Yes we're in fairly close proximity between the campground and the park. The campground is located within walking distance to the park. However, if someone chooses to drive, there's certainly a road that will take you around to get into an employee parking lot. We also have many work campers who may choose to ride their bicycles or e-bikes to work. And we do have bike racks available to accommodate that as well.  Lou Axt  4:48   I always took my bike or walk myself. I have driven a few times but I found it was much quicker to walk or take my bike because it's so ...
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    16 m
  • Why Adventureland Workampers come back

    Why Adventureland Workampers come back
    Jan 9 2022
    Longtime Adventurelanders Dawn and Jorge talk to Dana about what they love about Adventureland   Dana Black   Hey, this is Dana with Adventureland resort. Today I'm speaking with Dawn and Jorge who have worked camp with us for several seasons. Hey, Jorge, this is Dana with Adventureland. How are you? Dawn   I'm doing well. Dana Black   And good and is done with you. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. Hi, how are you Dawn? Great. Well, thank you both so much for taking the time to talk with me today. I just have a few questions for you about the workamper program and Lou's gonna put it all together for a little podcast for us. So, okay, yeah, awesome. So how long have you guys been work camping and what led you to starting? Jorge   We started in 2016. So it's been this will be our sixth year. And basically the way this started a friend of mine we are LSU fans. Okay. And we went for 15 years. Every game home and away. And one day he says I'm going to buy a motorhome. So we can tailgate and then he retired and he went full time and we saw that lifestyle. So I went ahead and retired and we've been doing this ever since. Dana Black   Okay, so we have LSU to thank for you coming to work camp with us in the long run. Jorge   Go Go Tigers  Dawn   and you guys are our first workamping job. Dana Black   Oh wow. Okay, and you've come back every year since Haven't you? Dawn   Every year and we love Adventureland, we love the Moines area. Dana Black   Well that's awesome. I'm glad to hear that to have you guys work camped elsewhere as well in the offseason then? Dawn   We have worked three times to Dollywood and we have done a beet harvest this year was first time okay and we can campground and we were camp hosts and maintenance. Dana Black   Okay so you got into travel around a little bit so what how did you hear about adventure lands work camping program originally Dawn   Well basically what happened when we joined Workamper News and we had a resume online Gary Pardekooper called us and after interviews after that we're interested and then he went ahead and offered this job. Dana Black   Awesome well I'm glad to hear you know like that you know right away when you started work camping you found us and we've benefited from that for sure. Um, can you tell me just a little bit about your experience work camping at Adventureland? You're both in different departments so you both kind of probably have a little bit different experience with your job but then also about you know living over at the campground and how that all goes. Dawn   Living at the campground we have so many people that we have lifelong friends now and I don't know if you're part of the group we call it "the gated community group" because they all have dogs and we have our cocktail hour out there. Dana Black   okay hours that sounds like fun Dawn   My job started that way. Steve was the director when I started retail. I absolutely loved every second on there except for maybe a week in July when it's really hot. I have to tell her how much I love my job.  Dana Black   Yeah I understand it gets a little crazy there in the middle of summer. Unknown Speaker   It's a rewarding job. Your hard work and the people come into the park and enjoy the hard work that we put out for them to have the enjoyment. Very rewarding. Dana Black   Yeah, definitely. Yeah, that's really great to hear that, you know, I'm, you know, it's a job, but at the same time, you're getting a lot out of it and seeing what, how it benefits other people. Yeah. And what about you, Jorge? Sorry, go ahead. Jorge   Well, the first year, I wasn't able to work, because I had a conflict with the Social Security and okay, and I think too much money already. In the evening I would go to check my mail. And I met Joe Palensky. And we had a lot in common. Such as, you know, we both love sports. And he lived in New Orleans and worked in New Orleans. So, Joe, you're not gonna work next year? We'll have an opening just yeah, come back and see me. So I've been there every year since and one of the things that I enjoy most is seeing the same campers come back year after year. Not only the workampers but the actual population and seeing their kids grow up. That's so rewarding, you know? Dana Black   Yeah, definitely. Go ahead. Jorge   No, I said, I really enjoy what we did. Dana Black   That's great. Um, yeah, we've had, you know, some workamper families that have come back a few years and then their kids get old enough that they come and work for us now, too. So I'm sure you've seen that a little bit and so yeah, Jorge works over in our campground office. So you're kind of checking people in right and are you selling stuff over there to the some of the little retail and firewood and... Jorge   I'm number one selling items. I had to fight tooth and nail with retail to bring me some of those USA light-up flags that go into windows, okay, you can't believe and I keep telling her, you...
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    15 m
  • Adventureland workamper experience

    Adventureland workamper experience
    Nov 26 2021
    Dana spoke to 2021 season workampers Sharon and Tom to see what they liked about their experience at Adventureland.   Dana Black   Hello, this is Dana Black with Adventureland Resort. Today I'm speaking with Tom and Sharon who spent the 2021 season work camping with Adventureland. Hey, good morning to Tom and Sharon. Alright, so Tom and Sharon workamped with us this past 2021 season and are going to share just a little bit about that experience in their overall work camping experience with us. So how long have you both work camped and what got you started? Sharon   We've been work camping for about 10 years now. And what got us started was my dad when he retired, he bought a Class C, and he traveled around the United States to every single state until he retired to Florida. That's really cool idea and we bought a Class A and we started out when we got to retire. Dana Black   Very cool. Um, so then how what led you into Adventureland's work camping program. Tom   We met friends in Arizona named Shana and Scott. And they're the ones that told us to come on over to Adventureland and that they've been doing it for two years and that they'd liked it a lot. And that we would like to join them there as well. Dana Black   Okay, cool. So, um, before Adventureland, how many different places had you worked camped out before? Tom   We work at quite a few different ones. It's really kind of hard to tell you which ones and how long but we did the whole east coast. We did all the way down to the Texas Arizona up into Utah, Kansas and then we ended up stopping in Iowa. Dana Black   Okay, very cool. So tell us just a little bit about your experience specifically work camping at Adventureland. Sharon   We had a great time we we enjoyed it, we got to meet a lot of great people, even workers that we're going to keep in touch with we we liked the guest interaction. It was nice seeing the smiling faces and everybody's so excited to ride the rides. We liked keeping busy so we we enjoyed the ride department. Dana Black   What do you enjoy most about work camping adventure land, Tom   Basically interacting with people, that's guests as well as employees. You know, we had a lot of great time meeting, you know, young and old. People that sometimes haven't been to Adventureland in years, and they're bringing their grandkids back and stuff like that. And it was good to see the reaction of the families to really, really be the grandparents or parents and grandkids. It was just really neat seeing that.  Dana Black   Yeah.  Sharon   Mixtures, a lot of smiling faces. It was nice. Dana Black   Yeah, definitely. Um, so this past season for the first time, I got to help out a few times on some of the rides. And it was very cool seeing that other side of the business where usually you know, I'm in the office and working with employees but getting to go out and see the guests and interact with them a little bit as they get on and off the ride. So it's it's really fun. Sharon   All right, it is in there so upbeat and happy and friendly. And it's nice interacting with them and hearing their even their stories about how long they've been coming there or if it's their first time or it's really it was really a good time. Dana Black   Yeah. Can you tell me a little bit about your experience with other work campers or just other campers in general over at the campground? Tom   They're great people we'd meet up for cards. Sometimes you'd meet up and wander around the park together. They're really great people we hang out by the pool. I mean, it was great people that made everybody feel welcome. Dana Black   It's good to hear. Um, what advice would you have for people either new to work camping as a whole or new to work camping specifically at Adventureland? Tom   Definitely do it. Sharon   I would say definitely do it, give it a try. Take it slow and, you know, adventure out and see what you can find to do. I mean, there's plenty enough things to do in all different departments. And it's just a lot of fun. We have a great time doing it. We meet a lot of great people. Dana Black   Well, that's awesome. Well, again, thank you so much for taking the time this morning to speak with me. We're up here in Iowa kind of dealing with the cold, windy, October weather and then you're down in Florida. But you know, summers in Iowa, we get a little bit of everything so definitely, yeah. All right. Well, Sharon   It's a great time there. We thank you guys very much because management as well was great for us. It really was. Dana Black   That's really good to hear with everybody. Glad to hear that. Well you guys take care of yourselves and thank you again for taking the time to share your experience with me.  Sharon   No problem. Have a good day Dana Black    Alrighty. Bye  Sharon   Bye
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    5 m