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Good Neighbor Podcast Northport
Alex Ramsey: Creating Community and Fun at Alabama Adventure and Splash Adventure
What if a family-owned amusement park could offer not just thrills but also a deep sense of community and lifelong memories? Join us as we chat with Alex Ramsey, the marketing manager at Alabama Adventure & Splash Adventure in Bessemer, AL. Alex takes us on a fascinating journey through the park’s rich history, from its beginnings as Visionland in 1998 to its remarkable revitalization under the Cook family’s ownership in 2014. Learn how the park has evolved into a beloved destination known for unique perks like free parking, unlimited soft drinks, and complimentary sunscreen. Discover how the Cook family's unwavering commitment to family values, affordability, and safety has set Alabama Adventure & Splash Adventure apart as a premier attraction in Bessemer, Alabama.
But it’s not just about the visitors; it’s about the dedicated team behind the scenes. Alex delves into the rewarding career opportunities available at the park, especially for young employees eager to gain essential life skills and a sense of community. He highlights the unique advantages of working at a family-owned park, where personalized care and support from management create a fun and dynamic work environment. Stay tuned as we explore how to keep up with the latest park events and news through their website and active social media channels.
Whether you’re planning your next visit or considering a career in the amusement park industry, this episode is packed with insights and heartwarming stories that underscore the park’s dedication to enriching lives.
#GNPBirmingham #AlabamaAdventure #SplashAdventure #FamilyFunBessemer #AmusementParkAlabama #CommunityThrills #CookFamilyLegacy #BessemerAttractions #GNPBirmingham
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Patricia Blondheim.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, Patricia Blondheim, and today we have good neighbor Alex Ramsey, and Alex is the marketing manager at Alabama Adventure and Splash Adventure right outside of Birmingham. How are you today, Alex?
Speaker 3:Doing great. Really excited to be here.
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm excited. Well, what's not exciting about Alabama Adventure and Splash Adventure? Tell me about, and tell our listeners about, your park me about and tell our listeners about your park.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, uh, alabama Adventure and Splash Adventure is an amusement park and water park. Uh, located in Bessemer, alabama, which, like you said, is just right outside, uh, birmingham, alabama. Um and uh, we're a family owned amusement park and water park. Uh, we've been family owned by the Cook family since 2014. So this is the 11th season of Cook family operation and you know we were talking just before about you know all of the big changes that the Cook family has made since purchasing the park in 2014. So you know just a quick history of the park.
Speaker 3:The park opened originally in 1998. It was originally called Visionland. It was run by a kind of a group of cities that came together to, you know, pay for and build the park, and they operated it for I think it was like three years, and then they found out that running an amusement park in Waterpark is really hard, and so it sold, and then someone else bought it, and then someone else bought it, and then someone else bought it, and then someone else bought it, and so there's been a lot of owners in the park's history and some of those owners had really great intentions and ran the park as well as they could, and some owners wanted to make a quick buck and then sell it as quickly as they could. And the great thing about the current owners is that they really do care. You know Dan Cook, the current owner of the park. He's at the park every day. You know he'll be down there flipping burgers or picking up trash or you know, saying hi to guests. You know most of our guests see him around the park and you know he says hi to as many people as he can and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3:And really, as someone who's worked in amusement parks and water parks for about 11 years but other parks a big difference is being family owned, because it really is about caring. You know, one of one of the big things for us is being a value for families, a place that families can come and not feel like they're pulling out their wallet every five minutes. And so we offer a lot of free stuff, like free parking. You know it's like thirty five dollars for parking at some parks. We offer free soft drinks. It's like ten dollars for a soft drink at a lot of parks, but free, unlimited soft drinks. You can bring your own cup. You want to bring in a gallon jug and fill it up at our drink station. Go for it, your growler gallon jug and fill it up at our drink station.
Speaker 2:Go for it, your growler.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we do a lot to try and add value. I mean free sunscreen when was the last time you saw free sunscreen somewhere? And so we really try and be that value for families, because, as a family-owned park, that's what's important to us is families coming to the park and families being able to make those memories that last a long time. I remember going to Park Center where I was a kid, and those memories that I was able to make with my family, and that's that's really that's the motivation for the whole staff, for the owners, for everything is making those family memories that people can really cherish for a long time. And so, yeah, no, that's that's been the cook goal since 2014 and every year, every day, it's. That is that's what motivates us and pushes us forward and and really, you know, makes the park what it is, in my opinion.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. I think y'all came into the scene, the water park scene the cook family did, when we were really kind of waist deep in the whole. You know, remember that rash of just every water park had some sort of waterborne disease. You know you couldn't get away from it. And here comes the Cook family and obviously not crazy, just mission driven right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, no, and I mean there's all kinds of things along those lines, like the first attraction that the Cooks put in was a water slide play structure that was primarily geared towards little kids. And you know you put in a little kid slide structure you know it's usually parks just kind of add, we'll throw that in. And you know we don't expect to make any money from it, so we'll just kind of do it cheaply, whatever. Well, the the cooks, they, they did it right. They put in, uh, one of the best filtration systems you can get that filters down to the micron it's like a Neptune Defender system or something like that and a very expensive filtration system that they put in on the first attraction that they're putting in.
Speaker 3:And again, it comes to our four cornerstones, our four family values, as we call them safe, clean, friendly, fun. And yeah, safety is the first one on the list for a reason. You know it's what we take the most pride and, you know, take the most seriously is just making sure that our guests feel safe, because can't have fun if you don't feel safe.
Speaker 2:I mean that's one. That's a major misconception, right when people look at just a water park not Alabama Adventure, splash Adventure, but just any water park. Is it going to be? Is it going to be safe? You know, I don't think it can be. What are some other, uh sort of misconceptions that people carry with them?
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, I mean, a lot of people just don't realize you know what all goes into running a park. It's a lot of work, man, you know. Uh, one of the most common questions we get, like you know, especially this time of the year, whenever the season's kind of slowing down and we're getting ready to to to close for the off season, is you know, what do you do during the off season? Uh, and it's, it's every day, you know, a focus on making sure that everything is as perfect as it can be for the next year. And you know, the safety is not cheap either. Yeah, you know, even even with the free parking and the free soft drinks and the free sunscreen and the free tubes and the free shows, and you know all that kind of stuff, people still, you know, sometimes like with anything or like, oh, why the ticket, why are the ticket prices so high and stuff like that?
Speaker 3:And it's because this is an expensive business to run, and I think especially on a podcast that's kind of geared towards business owners and businesses and stuff like that, I'm sure you hear it all the time. Running a business is expensive and it's hard. And you know we hire about 400 teenagers every year. You know, like our primary workforce is 16 to 18 year olds, and so I mean our lifeguards get over 24 hours of training before they even start. And you know, there's just there's so much that goes into making a park run, and not just run but run safely and efficiently to where the guests can have fun and do feel safe and are actually safe. You know, and there's just there's so much that goes into making everything work and I think a lot of people don't realize that. You know you see the ticket price and you assume, oh, they're making all this money. But you know, really it's it's a pretty razor thin margin in amusement parks and water parks yeah, I mean really think about it.
Speaker 2:There's so many things that can go wrong. Water first of all. Water is an element you don't mess with, yeah, and all your machinery, just by necessity, is in water exactly, yeah, exactly yeah.
Speaker 3:And you know, I mean, I don't, I don't remember the number off the top of my head, but, like just the, we buy chlorine by the truckloads, you know you may buy like like a five gallon bucket for your home pool to get you through the summer.
Speaker 3:We buy it by the semi truckload, you know, because there are. There are regulations on how much chlorine can be in the water and how often. Another thing people don't realize how often water has to cycle through the filtration system. So our wave pool is 600,000 gallons. 600,000 gallons of water that has to run through our filtration system, like I think the way we currently have it set up is more than required, like safer than required. I think it runs through our filtration system every drop of water every 45 minutes, which is that's a lot of water to go through a filtration system. You know, plus, you know keeping chlorine levels up and you know all that kind of stuff. So, yeah, it's there's just there's so much that goes into this.
Speaker 3:You know we were talking earlier about a lot of parks are have chaperone policies now to where you know, if you're I think a lot of them are like 15 or younger you have to be with an adult at all times and all that kind of stuff just to prevent kids from being kids. And you know we've done. We. We haven't implemented that policy because we, we haven't needed to, because we do a lot of other stuff to try and make sure that everyone's behaving and doing what they're supposed to, and all that kind of stuff, everything from the music that plays in the park to how many security guards we have and where they're placed and how they approach people, and all that kind of stuff. So, yeah, I mean really one of. In my opinion, one of the biggest misconceptions in the amusement park and water park industry is just how much goes into making it all work. You know, and especially at a small park with a pretty small staff, it's there's a lot.
Speaker 2:But don't you think it's a triumph that you can make it look easy?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, that's the goal. Hopefully it looks easy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it looks like when you, when you can have people come into something that's so complex and hard to run and um and uh, only be able to see their own joy and enjoyment, that right, that's, that's a victory, son, right there.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 3:And you know that's the great thing I mean, that's why I started getting into this business is because it's a lot of work, it's a ton of hours and you know sweat and blood and tears, blood and tears, but at the end of the day you open up and and you see, you see, you know a five year old just having the time of their life and you know parents being able to experience that with their kids and you know kids being just asleep, getting carried out because they're so exhausted from a, you know, a full day, and you know seeing that joy and that happiness and and really just you know, like that joy and that happiness and and really just you know, like I said earlier, making those family memories, uh, it makes all of it worth it.
Speaker 3:You know, um, but yeah, no, I mean, that's again, that's what motivates us, that's what makes us do what we do. You know, whenever we're here until nine or 10 or later at night, um, and getting here really early and you know all that kind of stuff, it makes it all worth it to see that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:Man, you don't have anyone to carry you out fast asleep either.
Speaker 3:I know that's the rough thing. I got to drive myself.
Speaker 2:You did once. I mean, what was your journey? What? What journey led you here?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I started working in amusement parks and water parks when I was still in college and I was actually my plan was actually to go into ministry. I was a religion major in college and what I found I got I started working at a park in Oklahoma city, um, and it was just, uh, you know, a college job pretty much. And, um, in working there, I I found that, um, not only do I get to, you know, help guests make those incredible memories and um, all that, all that kind of stuff on the guest side, the people that actually are visiting the park, but also there's, there's so much good that we do for our employees as well. And that was the thing that really resonated for me personally was you know, again, we're hiring primarily 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 year olds, and you know that's a pivotal time in a lot of people's lives and you know so many people's first jobs and so teaching them useful skills.
Speaker 3:You know a lot of, a lot of our kids that that come and work here. They don't know how to make a resume. They don't know, you know how banks work. A lot of them we actually help. Probably 50% or more of our employees set up bank accounts for the first time, teaching financial literacy, how to show up on time, how to take constructive feedback and criticism, and so so much of what we do is guest focused, but there's also so much that we do for our employees as well. We hire about 400 employees every year and which is a crazy process hiring 400 people from like March to May and doing all of the training. You know, four months to four or five months that we're open to, you know, get them to be active and and uh, you know, useful members of society.
Speaker 2:It sounds like herding cats.
Speaker 3:A little bit. It's a little bit of herding cats, yeah, Um. And so you know it's for me and kind of in my journey and getting to where I am, really the impact that we get to have on not only the guests but also the employees has been something that's been really important to me, and especially working at a family owned park where, you know, again, it's not just you're a number in the system. You know, we know all 400 of our employees and we talk to them every day and we had an employee that was dealing with some stuff and they were actually living out of their car and so we got them a hotel. You know, like that's, if you were at some big corporate park, they would not be getting a hotel for their employee, you know. And so it's so cool to be a part of a business that actually cares, you know about, about people, and not just the people that work for them, but people that visit them.
Speaker 3:And you know all that kind of stuff, and so it's it's. It's such a unique and cool experience working for a family-owned park like Alabama Adventure.
Speaker 2:You're like making a better world one splash at a time, right?
Speaker 3:That should be our slogan. That's great.
Speaker 2:I love that. I'm not going to charge you for it. No, I like that a lot.
Speaker 3:I mean, really, that's really our goal, you know, is just doing everything we can to try and make you know the Birmingham area as good as it can be. And you know, with the history that this park has, you know it, it hasn't always been, you know, super well taken care of and stuff, and so it's also cool seeing that transformation kind of over time. It takes time, it takes a lot of time, but you know, I feel like we're in a really good place now, which is awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, I think you have. Um, just judging from the timeline of everything that you're telling me about how hard you work and how long the hours are there, you you might have four hours to sleep, but I'm I'm assuming there might be some time when you have fun.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, no, absolutely when that happens.
Speaker 2:Where are you? What are you doing?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I personally I have a lot of hobbies. I play video games. I did paramotoring for a while you know the parachute with the motor on your back. I did that for a while, but really one of the great things that we get as kind of full-time staff later today. So we're only open on weekends. Right now and today, because we're not open, the full-time staff is going to go jump in the lazy river and we're just. You know, we have a whole water park to ourselves today, which is, you know, pretty cool. How many people get to say that?
Speaker 2:Alex, what would you like our listeners to take away about Alabama Adventure and Splash Adventure?
Speaker 3:One of the most common things that I hear, just whenever I'm wearing my uniform, at gas stations or out to eat or whatever. A lot of people see the logo and say, oh hey, I love that park, but I haven't been there since it was called Visionland and I haven't been there in 15 years or 20 years or you know whatever. And you know, I think a lot of that is due to, you know, some of the reputational issues that were happening before, and so really, I think one of the main things that I want people to realize is that we're family owned. Now we care, now we go out of our way to make sure that you're having a good day.
Speaker 3:We're not the park that we were 15, 20, 25 years ago, and it is a new and unique experience. If you haven't been here in 15 years, the whole park is completely different from anything you've seen before. The Cook family has added, on average, one new attraction every single year since they purchased the park, and we're opening a new slide right now. Actually, we're hoping to turn it on for the first time today, and yeah, so I're just. We're constantly growing, we're constantly changing, we're constantly evolving, and so if you haven't been in a while then you haven't been, because it's a whole new park.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was on the phone with a friend of mine when I should have been letting you out of the waiting room into the studio you out of the waiting room into the studio but we were talking about, just out of nowhere, the plans he had this weekend, which was to take his family to Alabama Adventure and Splash Adventure and he was talking about I couldn't get him off the phone because he was talking about how clean it is and how friendly it is and how they have a season pass and they can't wait. I said, well, now listen, I'm about to go into podcast with Alabama Splash Adventure. He says tell him I said hi and tell him I said thank you.
Speaker 3:See, that's the thing. That is exactly what we love to hear. I mean, that is why we do what we do. Every single person on the staff, that is 100%. The reason is people coming out having fun, making memories with their family and just having that local place, like you don't have to go all the way to Disney to have a great family vacation or a weekend tradition so many people. There's one lady that comes four or five times a week. She's probably in her 80s and she comes in, she brings a book, she reads her book for half the day, she spends half the day in the lazy river and that's her routine. Like four or five times a week she's coming in and it's so great to have that kind of facility just right in so many people's backyards.
Speaker 2:I think that's wonderful. How can our listeners learn more? How can they find you? How can they get in touch with you? How can they get more information?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so the best place to get more information you know schedule, ticket price stuff like that is wwwalabamaadventurecom. So alabamaadventurecom is a great place to you know get kind of the high level information. And then I always recommend people follow us on social media. We always put out any updates and you know things that are happening at the park, like we've got a DJ coming this weekend and so, like you know any of the special events and stuff like that, we always make sure it gets posted on our social media. Really you know early on, and so website AlabamaAdventurecom and following us on Facebook, instagram, tiktok, all that kind of fun stuff which were Alabama Adventure and Splash Adventure on all platforms.
Speaker 2:Alex, thank you so much for coming by and sharing Alabama Adventure and Splash Adventure with me.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpbirminghamcom. That's gnpbirminghamcom, or call 205-952-0148.