Originally Posted By MrMikeyDk Hello guys! In my english class in highschool, we are doing a research paper on careers. Now, me always dreaming of working at WDW since i was a kid, quite obviously chose Disney Castmember as my career for research. I would apreciate any help. Thanks!
Originally Posted By MrMikeyDk Hello guys! In my english class in highschool, we are doing a research paper on careers. Now, me always dreaming of working at WDW since i was a kid, quite obviously chose Disney Castmember as my career for research. I would apreciate any help. Thanks!
Originally Posted By Mr X What exactly do you want to know? And you should really narrow it down. "Disney Castmember" could be a whole lot of different things. Better to select something like "Theme Park attractions supervisor", or "hotel food and beverage manager", etc... Also, since this IS a school project and all, go back through your original post and fix your spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors! You're making my eyes hurt, kid! <---very happy to help once you figure out the focus of your project, I know a lot about being employed by Disney in a variety of capacities and I'll tell you whatever you need to know.
Originally Posted By magic0214 That's what I want to do too, work at Disney, but I have narrowed it down. Start off as Jungle Cruise Skipper, then work my way up to Operations, then take Tom Staggs job
Originally Posted By standor Don't waste your time. Disney cast members work for little pay and not too many hours. Promotions are almost impossible to get, unless you know somebody. The work is hard and you always have to be hyped and exuberant. Go to college and good luck in getting a profitable career started.
Originally Posted By MrMikeyDk Man Standor, Your so negative! Lighten up dude! In response to Mr. X, I would like to be a Ride Operator or Host or Working at innovations. Its really been a dream job of mine.
Originally Posted By Mr X Standor doesn't know everything MMD, Disney can be a very fun and rewarding place to work...particularly when you're young and have lots of energy lol. I worked for the company for nearly a decade and have no regrets. Now, as far as your particular selection of preferred entry-level position, I would say your best bet would be to write the report broadly on a career in the hospitality industry (research all you can about hotel/restaurant/travel, there are many Universities that offer programs so you can start there and see what kind of info you can find from their prospective student pages. Look into the coursework and requirements to get a good idea about what kind of preparation one might need to succeed in such an industry). Once you've covered those basics, then you might get more specific about your particular dreams of being an attractions worker and eventually manager. To that end, it might be worth an email or phone call to a Disney Cast Center and see if they might be able to send you some materials regarding the specific requirements and things they look for when hiring for those specific positions. They might or might not be helpful, I don't know, but if you can get some specific paperwork from a corporation that would be a great resource (you need to cite your sources, right?). If Disney doesn't come through, consider contacting the human resources departments at other places such as Universal, SeaWorld/Busch, 6 Flags, or any other places, even local parks and recreational facilities. If you are diligent, I'm sure you can find some manager or human resources person who will be willing to send you a packet of information (make sure to request it in writing, if they can, and make sure to tell them that you are a high school student working on a career project). Between University sources for the education needed for such a career, and actual corporate info as well, I think you will be well on your way to a successful project. For first hand accounts, you can always start topics with titles like "looking for stories from Disney Ride Operators", or "Has Anyone worked at Innoventions?", and see if you can get some folks to talk a little about their personal experiences. BUT, that is anecdotal and should comprise no more than 3-5% of your project, just to add a little personalization to the whole thing (ask your teacher if that's even okay first, because without being able to verify your sources it's not really something you should base the bulk of your paper on). If you have more specific questions, fire away! To standor, I can only say...way to crap on some kids' high school project, dude!
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Here is my short story. I always wanted to work for Disney. I signed up for the College Program and was accepted. My best friend decided to tag along because he wanted to get out of Ohio for the winter. Cut to the end of the program...he bought the pixie dust hook, line and sinker and I was a little let down by it. (Actually, enjoyed the program but came to the realization it wasn't where I wanted to work.) So, my buddy ended up signing up for a Management Training program with the Mouse and he has now been there for what is closing in on 20 years. I've been off doing other things. I think standor is perhaps a little overly critical. Plenty of people make a good and happy career out of Disney. But, the odds are not in your favor in a company of that size. 100,000 or more people would like to have Mr. Staggs' job. Only one person has it. My buddy is doing fine. I took advantage of my time at Disney to learn what I could and move on. They took advantage of me for half a year by paying me nothing and working me to death. I was younger and didn't know any better. Now I take advantage of Disney by having them on my resume which opens a lot of doors during interviews. So, I have to look back on the experience as positive.
Originally Posted By disney pete Skipper thanks for your candid honesty good to hear your buddy done well.
Originally Posted By JenniBarra >>Go to college and good luck in getting a profitable career started.<< I have a friend who is in college right now, working on her business degree. She is specifically studying this field because she wants a management type job at DLR and feels this will help get here there.
Originally Posted By standor I know some cast members and only repeated what they old me. The reason people might call me negative is because I started going to WDW in 1974. I remember the good old days when everything was clean, no holes in the seats of the monorail,all the lights were lit on the buildings on Main Street USA and the Magic Kingdom had parades every night. Even the Burnbaum book used to tell how the parks and attractions were painted and decorated on a regular basis. You didn't see garbage all over the place after the nightly parades. I am trying to educate the younger people on how the maintenance and care of the place has been failing for at least the last 10 years, and there is no reason they still can't be doing it. Even in the late eighties and early nineties, the Magic Kingdom and the studios were open late. One last memory. In 1974 there were air conditioning pipes blowing cool air over the outside lines on a hot day.
Originally Posted By Mr X I know some cast members too, standor. There are tons of people out there who worked for Disney, naturally not all of them would be happy with their experiences. But, since you're so concerned about "the good old days" and how much better things used to be in your eyes, it seems pretty strange to me that you'd be telling enthusiastic young people who want to go and work there (the very type to perhaps turn things around and make improvements) that it's a bad idea and they shouldn't bother. That just seems self-defeating.
Originally Posted By standor I guess I am the only one facing reality. That's all right. The Magic Kingdom is a land of make believe and some of the people on this board are in that mode.
Originally Posted By Longhorn12 >New hires would never have the opportunity to turn the company around.< Because Old people live forever amiright?
Originally Posted By sjhym333 Like most any other job there are plenty of opportunities to advance at Disney if you're willing to work hard, take advantage of the opportunities put in front of you and be able to put with the garbage that most jobs, including Disney, have. Also like most jobs it is being in the right place at the right time. Disney ebbs and flows like most corporations and there are times when jobs and promotions are plentiful and times when jobs and promotions are not. Many people have a hard time sticking it out at Disney if the opporutnites don't come in a resonable amount of time. In terms of hourly Cast Members...you have to willing to give Disney your all. Disney expects full availability for all full time Cast Members. A year or so ago they were asking for 3 days full availability for part time CM's but that may be back to 2 days. It amazed me when I was in mgmt at Disney that CM's didnt seem to grasp the reality of the operation even after being told time and time again. If you work at the MK for instance you could be looking at opening shifts that begin before 7am and closing shifts that can end as late as 2am. You have to be accept that fact that you will be working Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, New Years Eve...days that you may want to be with your family or friends but instead you will be surrounded by 80,000 people who are not happy about the crowds. It can be challenging for some people. I have had many CM's quit anywhere from 2 days to 3 months because the demands of the job in terms of hours and guest interaction was too much for them. Getting yelled at a couple of times can be a real tough thing for some people and if happens more often then most people think. I was very lucky. I started at the Disney at the end of the Ron Miller era and thru the Eisner years. I had experiences that most people (even at Disney) will never have. When I tell people about the things I got to do at Disney they are always surprised and impressed. I was very lucky. I can go to several places on property and CM's are doing things that I instituted during my time there. There are also physical things around the parks that I made the decision on that still stand today. My kids, who are adults, can go to the parks today and say "My dad did that." There are very few places that a person can work and have that kind of impact. I would say it is harder today to do the things I did. I was in the company during a time when it was possible. Today there are too many layers of mgmt to be able to do the kinds of things I did. I have met Presidents, celebrities and dignitaries including several days with some celebrities that we were on a first name basis for a short time. I have had Eisner call my home and I spent a day with Frank Wells not too long before he died. I opened more than a couple of hands new attractions and have opened 3 Disney parks. I have friends who still work at Disney throughout the world and I can go to any Disney park in the world and know someone who works there. So while I complain about the quality of the current Disney show, I would not have traded my Disney experience for anything in the world.
