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3. Some of the guests are idiots

 

With millions of people visiting Walt Disney World every year, it's inevitable that some are going to behave in ways that the rest of us find anti-social or annoying. As a Cast Member, you have to deal with those people. "I strongly disliked the line jumpers," remembers Amy, who also worked on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin at the Magic Kingdom. "The queue at the Magic Carpets was a small, cozy queue and people thought that they could just jump over the chains to get into the line. Rather than walk the extra seven feet to go into the actual entrance, they’d risk injury by stepping over a giant metal trip hazard. We also had low walls around the queue that people would sit on and we’d tell them to get down. While that was bad, it wasn’t the worst. My least favorite was when you asked a kid to get down from the wall or off the chain and their parent would say something like, 'See? I told you to get down.' I always wanted to say, 'No you didn’t, because if you had, they should have gotten down.'" Some guests also miss the point of in-role Cast Members. A former Haunted Mansion Cast Member recalls: "I didn’t like the people who didn’t get it. One time I was out front just glaring off into space, lost in thought. I was in a fine mood: the weather was great and nothing particularly bad had happened in a while. But, because I was at the Haunted Mansion, I wasn’t trying to look friendly. A woman came out of nowhere, got right in my face and said 'If you hate your job so much, so should just quit!' I was flabbergasted. As quick as she came, she was gone, and I couldn’t even defend myself. I also didn’t like the guests who always thought they were so funny when interacting with me. Sometimes they acted like we were the never-flinching guards of Buckingham Palace, other times they would shout in my face in an effort to scare me before they could get scared."

2. It's really, really busy

Disney kitchen

Image © Disney

Disney's theme parks can get packed during the peak season. And some jobs are very busy for the entire year - particularly in the resort's restaurants, which are more-or-less fully booked nearly every day. Rian Lancto worked as a Cook at two restaurants, and remembers: "There were of course nights when Cast Member performance, unexpected seatings, and other issues that would put you 'in the weeds'. This meant that you had gotten behind, unorganized, and distracted. This could cause the whole kitchen to slow or even stop which of course resulted in less than happy guests. Those nights were rough but you did what was needed to bring it back together and get the food out." Sometimes guests' behaviour doesn't help matters. Housekeepers are expected to clean a set number of rooms a day, but one remembers: "Many guests would leave their rooms in really abhorrent conditions with trash on the floor and a huge mess around the room. It was often difficult to clean rooms like this because you’re not supposed to touch the guests’ belongings, but you can’t easily vacuum or make beds when things are left really messy."

1. Despite it all, most people love it

So working at Walt Disney World isn't all fun and games. But we found that almost every Cast Member we spoke to loved the experience regardless - the complaints above were relatively minor niggles. Mary recalls: "Working at Disney, as cheesy as it sounds, was truly magical; I met some amazing people and had some amazing experiences. The amount of training and detail Disney go to is incredible and I truly felt everyone who worked there really cared - I know I did. I would recommend it to anyone, which is strange as before I went to Disney I liked it but wasn’t really bothered. After working there I love it and want to spend years going there with my family when I have one!" If you'd like to learn more about Cast Members' roles and experiences at Walt Disney World, sign up now to be notified when our new book Creating the Magic: Life as a Disney Cast Member is released.

 
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Comments

I always thought I would love working for Disney until I heard they used the point system. I worked for one company that did, hated it, even if you had a love one die, or your child was seriously sick, or there was a wreck on your way to work you
still got points. Knowing Disney uses the point system would makes me never want to work there!

In reply to by Terry Berrier (not verified)

The "points system" as you call it (we called it the matrix when I worked there in the late 90's early 2000's) is extremely easy to deal with. It is very flexible unless you've blown some of your call-outs goofing off (which a lot of people do). And some locations are obviously more forgiving than others, which is true of management anywhere in the universe. The advantage of working somewhere as big as Disney was that sometimes you could just get someone to swap shifts with you and not even waste a call-out.

Honestly, the point system makes it so hard to get fired it's laughable. It was actually kind of amazing.

I commend all cast members. Having to put up with some very rude visitors can really wear on you I am sure. This is what makes WDW such a great place. The great cast members. Thank to you all.

I went to work in the College Program once and was terminated from my dream job after only one month thanks to having horrible roommates. Most corrupt place in the world to work for.

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