Running a major theme park attraction takes a whole team of Cast Members working together to keep the queue and ride moving smoothly. While the exact title and responsibilities for each position will vary by attraction, there are a few standard jobs that exist for nearly every ride.
Cast Members aren’t trained to perform a single job. Rather, they learn how to do every position at the attraction. Cast Members then rotate from one position to another every hour or two, to keep things fresh and stop them getting bored. Working as an attractions Cast Member means mastering all the following jobs as well as a handful of location-specific duties for the particular location.
1. Greeter
Every attraction has a greeter. On busy days, you may even find two people assigned to this position. The greeter is your first point of contact before you board an attraction, and the very best resource you have for learning more about what’s inside, what’s around, or what’s going on in the park. If you want to know whether you’re about to get on a dark ride or roller coaster, this is the person to ask. Attraction greeters are also a good resource for finding the nearest Dole Whip, locating a restroom, or figuring out the closest spot for catching the parade.
For many attractions, the only job the greeter has is to greet you. This is the ideal option for most Cast Members. However, if the ride has a height sign, the greeter may be responsible for monitoring this, too. Handling the height sign means keeping a close eye on all the small children who pass by. Anyone who looks even close to the height limit is stopped and measured for safety.
2. FastPass+ entry
An ever-increasing number of Disney attractions offer FastPass+ lines now, which means there’s a separate position for FastPasses at nearly every attraction. The Cast Member manning the FastPass+ line is there to make sure that everyone entering that queue has a valid FastPass for the attraction. Green means go, and blue means there’s an issue. If your Magic Band isn’t lighting up properly for your FastPass, this Cast Member can help explain the issue and direct you where to go to resolve it.
3.Grouper
Grouper is one of the most fast-paced positions at an attraction, and Cast Members either love it or hate it. The grouper is that busy person asking you how many people are in your party. Every ride has different requirements that the grouper has to satisfy. For some attractions, it’s as simple as assigning four people to every row. On others, it’s a bit more difficult. Boats will flow more smoothly if they’re weighted properly, particularly on an attraction like Pirates of the Caribbean, where there’s a drop involved.
Rides with bench seating can pose a bit of a problem because there’s no set number for how many people will fit in a row. If you’re seating all children, you might comfortably fit six, while larger adults may only fit two or three to a row. Some families are comfortable cozying up and sitting shoulder-to-shoulder while others prefer having space to spread out a bit more comfortably. The grouper needs to take all these factors into consideration while working as quickly as possible to fill the ride before it departs.
Comments
I was a Tower of Terror bellhop on my International College Program. At ToT you rotate every 30min. At least you should. I was stuck in one of the libraries once for 2 hours. That is quere the pre show is. The most boring loneless place ever... I never worked at Tower because that was phase 2 training and you need 6 months in to work that position. But my CP was only 3 months long.