guest service agent

host/hostess

custodian

shift leader

associate

Legoland Discovery Center

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Chicago is an indoor themed attraction built around LEGO. The things people can do inside range from a series of short, 10-minute "4D" movies, to a full Cafeteria and LEGO gift shop. 

A typical day at work for me usually started with checking my work e-mail account, writing and responding to whatever was needed before starting my day. After that i'd figure out the attendance numbers if I didn't know that prior, and make sure we had enough staff, things were in their proper place, and everything for the day was ready. In the morning, we all went to what was referred to as a "pre-show", in which whoever was the opening Duty Manager for the day (including myself) would greet all of the opening crew members, inform them about statistics for the coming day (including guest numbers, food orders, special events, etc...) and then send them off to prepare to open the attraction. After that I would usually go walk through the center, talk to most if not all of the employees, ask them what they needed, generally help to boost morale for the coming day. Once the center was opened and guests were in the building, I would either be in my office working on projects, doing payroll, interviewing potential hires, going to work meetings with all management, or just walking through the center further, spending time with the guests and helping them to understand the attraction better. 

Throughout this experience at LEGOLAND Discovery Center, I learned what it means to be a successful leader in a team. It helped me to grow and understand how to balance priorities better, how to be a confident public speaker, and how to understand and really communicate with guests\customers better.

Overall, the management at LEGOLAND were some of the hardest workers I have seen in my working life. They would put in ridiculously long work hours just to accomplish what they needed to. Unfortunately, over the years it seemed the upper management had lost the view of the center that we all had while working from the bottom up, and it was difficult to communicate a lot of ideas with them. It was difficult being a manager and trying to take my own duties, especially when my primary job was to meet guest expectations, when I was constantly brought in and reminded what we needed as a management team to get bonuses later on. Bonuses were the last thing on my mind, oddly enough it was focusing on the center, on the people visiting, and on our team members out there working all day. That was probably the most difficult part of the job, but regardless of that, it was a very rewarding feeling when guest feedback was very positive, and you got told personally how much a guest had fun.

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Chicago is a very challenging, yet very rewarding workplace. 

Working with LEGO bricks was amazing! Especially for this long time fan and collector of LEGO. The discount was also a plus. Mostly because I would have bought the sets either way, and I still do! Legoland is not directly managed by LEGO. This Legoland is pretty run down and unexciting. It is hard to get excited and motivated about something when management has already given up on it.

The best thing I received from working at Legoland Schaumburg was the opportunity to go to other Merlin sites. I visited them in my personal travels all over the United States and Europe and WOW they have some amazing things going on. Legoland Schaumburg is not one of those.

Management is always in their offices, they only come out from the back to criticize things that they don't attempt to learn about, and then not follow through when you discuss improvements. This usually coincides with a corporate visit. It is very clear from what comes down the pipeline that employees are thought of last. I started in the coffee shop and on day one learned of a shelf that was not installed. It needed those little metal holders. When I left one year and three months later, that shelf and many other projects were never started, let alone finished. It had to be submitted as a work order and go through a process. The rides have suffered the worst of this. We were instructed to lie to guests when they complained about certain parts not working when they haven't been working for years.

When Covid restrictions started in March it was an immediate concern for me and my fellow employees, while we were not given information, just told to keep showing up. Our GM stayed home instantly. We had employees that lived with older loved ones or were older themselves. Management jumped ship swiftly and left the rest of the staff to be exposed and struggle through the restrictions and closures in a very scary time.

There were some amazing people who tried to do a lot there. They were not only shut down but reprimanded for trying to come up with unique ways to combat these long term problems. Those people do not last long at Legoland Schaumburg, they move on very quickly as this is not a place of growth. But it is a great place for high school or college students to work for a short time for some money and to get a discount on LEGO sets.

This company is only useful if you are a high school or college student looking for a part-time job with minimal growth. Things are broken all the time and there is no money to repair them. And then the general manager has the audacity to blame the employee morale for the poor guest reviews, even though they explicitly state the run down quality of the attraction. Her exact words were "guests won't mind a few broken things if the entertainers gave a more memorable experience." She is using us to make up for her poor management and corporate management.

Time after time she will shut you up when you try to bring up an issue. If it doesn't fit her point of view, she doesn't care. This is the same mindset as all of corporate. They have no concept of what goes on in the attraction on a day to day basis. They are holed up in their offices all day having meetings and then see something for 5 minutes and demand it changes, despite having no context. This is supposed to be a place of fun and excitement, but it's hard to act happy when the back room management creates such a poor environment. We are told to lie to cover up problems they refuse to fix. 

I didn't hate everything. The duty managers are great and a lot of my coworkers were great.  I met a lot of friends and had some great fun with families. Sadly, the turnover rate is extremely high and people are quitting or being fired all the time. I worked there for over a year before quitting and not once were we ever properly staffed. If you don't mind rushing around to cover multiple duties beyond your main task, then this is the place for you.

If you just need a job to make a bit of extra cash, this place is fine. But you could also work at the local grocery store bagging groceries for more money than the starting wage here.

At times the job was stressful, but I used any obstacle I faced as an opportunity to shine and grow.

I learned how to become a better teacher.

I liked mostly all of my managers. A few of them weren't very warm, but I didn't let their darkness dim my light. Those who don't grow on you should (I believe) help you grow--in terms of learning how to deal with difficult personalities. That's what I chose to do with whomever I felt was challenging or negative.

The hardest thing about working there was giving 150% of myself to the customers and the company and not being paid even half of what I believe I should've been paid. The pay could've definitely been better for all that I did there and for what kind of business it is, but overall it was the best job I've ever had. It was fun; I never left there feeling like I never wanted to return; I felt challenged; and I met, worked with, taught, and learned from so many amazing people.

The most enjoyable part of the job was getting to be creative with the little bit of direction I was given. I loved how my supervisor gave me very little direction each week as to what he wanted me to teach the customers, because he trusted me to pull rabbits out of my hat, metaphorically speaking. He believed that I had the ability to teach while keeping the parents and kids excited and entertained; and that I did. So I always thanked him for letting me do what I do best.

All in all, I had a 'Legotastic' time working there.

A typical day at work:
You can get trained in a lot of different areas. One day can be at a ride and the next day you can be selling tickets, which gave good variety and every day wasn't the same. Shifts are typically 6-9 hours depending on the day. You get a 30 minute break, and a 15 and a 30 if you work over 8.5 hours I believe. Weekdays can be pretty slow, but weekends and holidays and school breaks are pretty busy.

What I learned:
You learn lots of different skills you can use at other jobs. It's a great starting job as well.

Management:
Could be better. I liked the assistant managers, but I think the upper management could be more proactive and helpful and less nitpicky. However, everyone was approachable and willing to have a conversation. Some micromanaging from some people more than others.

Workplace Culture:
The staff gets along pretty well. It's a younger demographic, with most staff being college aged. Feels like high school at times, but you will make good bonds and even lifelong friends at this job. 

Hardest part:
Managing large crowds in a small space and management

Most enjoyable part:
Making connections with the kids/guests and spending time with the friends you will make here

Pay/Hours/Schedule:
Pay could be better for all we do (a few cents above minimum wage). You have to work at least 3 days so you'll get good hours. Easy to find coverage for a shift. Calling out is easy just don't do it a lot or else you'll get terminated. Not hard to request time off. You get your weekly schedule a few days in advance. You get 40 tickets to Merlin attractions and a 401k.

• Successfully plan & manage all special events for 1500+ guests
• Manage website & social media development
• Spearhead all development and production for creative advertising & in store signage
• Create proposals and secure contracts with promotional partners
• Coordinate promotional buys and reserve advertising space with media outlets
• Manage day-to-day activity of the company’s public relations agency
• Plan and administer the company’s marketing budget
• Educate all media personnel by delivering personal tours at both attractions
• Organized full-year marketing plans
• Create and deliver monthly marketing reviews
• Train new marketing members and delegate various duties
• Successfully implemented a formal donation request and approval process
• Oversee company donation process, requests and decisions
• Implement highly successful social marketing campaigns for continued company growth through a strong driving market
• Recognized for expanding the social media reach to over 60,000 followers via Facebook, Mommy Bloggers, Family Activity websites as well as other online media outlets
• Received “Merlin Stars” by Senior Management for meeting hard deadlines, successfully organizing employee events, becoming the leader of creative development and doing whatever it takes to ensure that all work is of excellent quality

A typical day at work generally resulted in multiple call offs and managers were required to to step in and fill in the gaps. That being said since call offs were so frequent given the starting pay rate for hourly associates, this was an every day thing and it was nearly impossible to get required tasks completed. 

I worked hard and put my best forward and got plenty of recognition for it, that being said there was no way to win. The amount of compensation I received was in no way shape or form commiserate with the work I was doing. Had I known what all was involved, I would have asked for at least $20,000 more than what I had received and that is in no way shape or form an understatement. 

The site GMs, I went through two in my time there were both good people who were trying their best despite the circumstances. They did everything they could but it was clear to me that they were in the same uphill battle that I was in and there just wasn't a way to get traction and move forward. 

The bottom line is that the pay for my position and across the board is entirely two low for what is expected of you as an employee. Being short staffed on a daily basis was incredibly stressful and the lack of time in the day to complete required tasks led to insane working hours.

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Kansas City was an amazing place to work at.  I learned a great deal about personal time management, guest interaction, superiors, and co-workers especially as this was my very first job.  A typical day as an Entertainment Host included me operating or organizing a rides/attractions on the floor of the Discovery Center while interacting and entertaining guests. Later I also became the Master Builder Assistant where I helped the Master Builder by dusting the attraction displays, offering creative ideas, and prototyping LEGO models for special events.   
   The management was nice but lacked communication with each other and the employees in many cases. At times this would leave the Entertainment Hosts without a Lead/Manager which caused confusion and delay.  
   Personally, I found that the key of being an Entertainment Host was keeping a healthy attitude and passing it to other co-workers whenever I could.  Playing and building with the children and guests was always enjoyable and received a lot of positive feedback from the parents/guardians.  
   Overall I greatly enjoyed my time at the LEGOLAND Discovery Center.

While working in a Legoland Discovery Center, you would think that the atmosphere would be fun, right? This was not the case. Every day was stressful as we were understaffed in the Cafe during our busy days. Our manager often yelled in front of customers, and didn't seem to care, and often left one person alone dealing with customers. There were days that I worked alone on Saturday, our busiest day. Expecting nearly two thousand or more people to go through the attraction, how would you expect one person to demand the needs of many cranky adults and children due to closed rides and half-given excuses from managers? With all due respect, many of equal level employees were very kind to me, but the management was so wrong. Several Managers would not even come to you if you called for them unless someone was injured. I think that the management needs to be replaced with people who actually want to try and care about their job rather than seclude themselves or give their employee open to close shifts every single day for two weeks without a break day. I have seen this happen to multiple people during our busiest season. There is no need for that.

I worked daily with high school students that were only able to work a  limited amount of shifts after their schools days. The upper management tended to start losing their steam the last few months i was there.  I was a Team Lead for the operation while i was there, so i took a majority of training under my belt. At times i felt that the only people who would listened were the tech team or the general staff.  Once out General manager left, the upper management lost all cohesion. The Managers willing to step in to help ended getting burnt out and leaving. While the Other management did their best to move people around so they wouldn't have to work on any position to long. The kids and employees were the only good things about the place.  A lot of like minded people apply there, but end up leaving only 6 months in do to frustrating work conditions.   It was neat playing with Lego, but in the end i was ready to move onto any job that had a stable work environment.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Guest service agent 103 salaries reported	$14.89 per hour
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Custodian 20 salaries reported	$14.34 per hour
Shift leader 17 salaries reported	$16.94 per hour
Associate 9 salaries reported	$13.47 per hour

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