The Golden Rule: The Foundation of Fun Spot America

Treat others the way you want to be treated.

It is a simple idea most of us learned at a young age, but at Fun Spot America, it has grown to mean much more. We use seven principles to help explain what the Golden Rule means in practice: Patient, Kind, Trusting, Unselfish, Truthful, Forgiving and Dedicated. These are our guiding principles and our interpretation of how the Golden Rule can shape the way we hire, train, lead, serve our guests, care for our team members and support our communities.

These principles influence the way we make decisions and the way we look at nearly everything we do. They guide how our leaders work with their teams, how we treat one another, how we welcome our guests and how we show up in the communities we call home. We do not want these principles to just be words on a wall. You will see reminders of them throughout Fun Spot America. They are discussed in meetings, included in training and used to help our team members and leaders think through the way we work, serve and treat others. Over time, they have become woven into our culture and into the experience we want to create for every guest and every team member.

Turning Our Beliefs Into Action

Seven years ago, we created the Golden Rule Project. Fun Spot America had supported charities, causes and community organizations long before the Project was established, but we wanted to give that part of our company a clearer purpose and direction. The Golden Rule Project became our charitable division and gave us a way to better connect what we believe with meaningful community action and involvement.

We believe the Golden Rule should extend beyond our front gates. If these values help guide how we hire, train, lead, serve our guests and care for our team members, they should also influence the way we show up for the communities around us.

That belief continues to shape the Golden Rule Project today. Our team members regularly discuss causes and organizations that are important to them and the communities we serve. Each quarter, an organization is selected as a primary focus of our charitable giving. This is in addition to the support Fun Spot America provides throughout the year to local schools, community programs and other organizations.

Over the years, we have been fortunate to support many different causes. Last quarter, the Golden Rule Project donated $20,000 to Nathaniel’s Hope in support of the Make ‘m Smile event and its work with children with special needs and their families. This quarter, our focus is the Camaraderie Foundation, an organization that supports veterans, service members and military families facing mental health challenges and the invisible wounds of war.

Nathaniel’s Hope and the Camaraderie Foundation are just two examples of the many organizations and causes Fun Spot America has supported. We mention them because they help explain what the Golden Rule Project was created to do. It gives our team a way to listen, identify needs and put our principles into action in the communities around us.

Community involvement is not separate from our seven principles. It is one of the ways we live them.

What Do the Seven Principles Mean at Fun Spot America?

The seven principles of the Golden Rule give our team a shared way to think about how we treat people and approach our work. Each one has a meaning that applies to our team members, our leaders, our guests and the communities we serve.

Patient

Being Patient means demonstrating self-control in difficult situations. A theme park is a busy place filled with thousands of interactions every day. Every person who walks through our gates or puts on a Fun Spot uniform has a life beyond the moment we see them. Patience reminds us to listen, understand and give people the opportunity to learn and grow.

For our leaders, patience may mean taking the time to teach instead of simply correcting. For our team members, it may mean listening to a guest and understanding what they need. In every situation, patience asks us to remember that there is a person on the other side of the interaction.

Kind

Being Kind means showing encouragement and enthusiasm. We are in the business of fun, but we know some of the moments people remember most have nothing to do with the height of a roller coaster or the speed of a Go Kart. Sometimes it is a team member taking an extra moment to help a family, encouraging a child who is nervous about a ride or simply making someone feel welcome.

Kindness is often found in small moments. At Fun Spot America, we believe those moments matter because they shape the way people feel about their experience and, more importantly, the way we make one another feel.

Trusting

Being Trusting means placing confidence in the people around us. We hire people because we believe they can contribute to our team, and we work to give them the training, support and opportunities they need to succeed.

Trust allows people to take ownership, make decisions and grow into leaders. It also requires us to believe in one another and recognize that a strong company is built when people feel supported and trusted to do their jobs well.

Unselfish

Being Unselfish means thinking of ourselves less. Sometimes that means stepping in to help another team member when it is not technically our responsibility. Sometimes it means putting a guest’s needs first or taking the time to notice when someone around us needs help.

It also means looking beyond our parks and understanding that Fun Spot America is part of a larger community. Being unselfish asks us to consider what we can do for others and to be willing to help when the opportunity is there.

Truthful

Being Truthful means defining reality both corporately and individually. It means communicating honestly, owning our mistakes and being willing to have conversations that help us improve.

We cannot grow if we are unwilling to recognize where we can be better. Truthfulness allows us to address problems, learn from them and make better decisions moving forward. It also builds the trust that is essential to strong relationships with our team members, our guests and our communities.

Forgiving

Being Forgiving means releasing the grip of a grudge. People make mistakes. Forgiveness does not mean ignoring problems or avoiding accountability. It means addressing what happened, learning from it and giving people the opportunity to move forward.

We want Fun Spot America to be a place where people can grow. Growth requires the opportunity to learn from mistakes, accept responsibility and become better because of the experience. Forgiveness helps create the space for that growth to happen.

Dedicated

Being Dedicated means sticking to our values in all circumstances. It is easy to follow our principles when everything is going well. Dedication is remaining committed to them when decisions are difficult, situations are challenging or the easier choice may not be the right one.

For us, dedication means continuing to put our team members, our guests and our communities at the center of the way we operate. It means returning to the Golden Rule and allowing it to guide us, regardless of the situation.

The Lens Through Which We See Fun Spot America

Living these seven principles is something we work at every day. We know that people and situations are complicated, but the Golden Rule gives us a common foundation and a way to look at our decisions, relationships and responsibilities.

When we hire a new team member, train a future leader, help a guest or decide how Fun Spot America can support the community, these principles help shape the way we approach it. They give us a lens through which we can ask a very simple question: Are we treating others the way we would want to be treated?

Fun Spot America will always be known for Go Karts, roller coasters, rides and family fun, but our parks have always been about people. They are about the team members who come to work each day, the families who trust us with their time and memories and the communities that have welcomed and supported us throughout our history.

The Golden Rule is simple. Treat others the way you want to be treated. For Fun Spot America, it is more than something we say. It is the foundation of how we work, how we serve and how we continue to grow. The principles of being Patient, Kind, Trusting, Unselfish, Truthful, Forgiving and Dedicated continue to guide Fun Spot America every day.