Originally Posted By SuperDry I think I spotted among the first crop of Shanghai Disneyland CMs at Animal Kingdom Lodge at WDW a few weeks ago. As I was leaving, this medium-sized charter bus pulled up. It looked like the kind of thing a senior citizens' home would have to take people to the mall, so I was a bit surprised to see it there. When the door opened, maybe 20-25 people got out. They all had CM polo shirts and name tags on, about half looked to be Chinese, and they were very wide-eyed and enthusiastic in looking at all of the details of the hotel entrance, clearly not having seen it before, and some with cameras taking pictures. It seemed to me that an advance contingent of CMs (perhaps from the resort hotels) from Shanghai Disneyland was the most likely explanation.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I wonder why Shanghai CMs would be touring WDW when HKDL, TDLR and DLR are much closer.
Originally Posted By leemac <<It seemed to me that an advance contingent of CMs (perhaps from the resort hotels) from Shanghai Disneyland was the most likely explanation.>> No front of house CMs have been hired yet. The hiring phases is still focused on construction. Our site office for WDI-S doesn't even open until April.
Originally Posted By SuperDry I wonder who they were then? They were clearly new CMs of some sort, and with half of them being Chinese, that couldn't have been a coincidence. I almost asked, but didn't. They seemed like they might be "management trainee" types. <<< I wonder why Shanghai CMs would be touring WDW when HKDL, TDLR and DLR are much closer. >>> I'm fairly certain they'd not be sent to TDR for training, since Disney doesn't manage that resort. As for Hong Kong, they'd probably not choose that because they'd want to train the Shanghai people on what a successful resort looks like . And if they were from Shanghai, once you come all the way to the US, Anaheim vs Orlando isn't really that big of a difference, and with the consolidation of management, I would imagine that the teams they would be dealing with would be based in Orlando.
Originally Posted By leemac <<They seemed like they might be "management trainee" types.>> Most likely - I don't know that the induction programme looks like. SDR is hiring CMs of all grades in core functions like architect/design, construction, finance and legal. Nothing else AFAIK at present. The hiring will ramp up next year. We should have about 1,000 imagineers on site by Easter.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>I wonder who they were then? They were clearly new CMs of some sort, and with half of them being Chinese, that couldn't have been a coincidence.<< Any chance it was the latest crop of CMs coming over to work at the China pavilion in Epcot? I've never heard of them doing tours of specific resorts (especially if they're working in one of the parks), but it could happen >>And if they were from Shanghai, once you come all the way to the US, Anaheim vs Orlando isn't really that big of a difference, and with the consolidation of management, I would imagine that the teams they would be dealing with would be based in Orlando.<< It makes sense that they would base a group like that in Orlando. In addition to having the corporate folks there, they also have more space that they could hold special meetings and stuff like that. In Anaheim, there's hardly enough room for the staff that they have on that tiny property. When HKDL was getting ready to open, they had a huge contingent of CMs working in WDW, wearing red ribbons under their nametags. I wouldn't be surprised if something similar happend in a few years for Shanghai. WDW has an advantage there as well, because the new CMs would make up a relatively smaller percent of the total CMs, compared to one of the smaller resorts. Plus, housing in Orlando is much cheaper than Hong Kong or southern California!
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Any chance it was the latest crop of CMs coming over to work at the China pavilion in Epcot? >>> I doubt it. These people looked to be mostly late-20's or 30's in age. And the way some were taking pictures it was as if they were taking notes.
Originally Posted By SuperDry ^^^ Two reasons. One - it seemed like it was the first time they had seen a Disney resort hotel before, or one of the first. Also, I would assume that at this point new hires at HDKL are trained locally. Two - some of them just had a "mainlander" look about them.
