A cast member cannot say no, or "I don't know," to a guest 

In general, saying no, or "I don't know," to a guest would be bad customer service. Disney does train its cast members to never leave a guest question with "I don't know." As you would imagine, the correct response would be more like, "I don't know, but I can find someone who does," or at least point the guest in the right direction of someone who would be able to help.  

However, there are some instances that would require cast members to say "no" to guests. One instance might be for a merchandise cast member completing a sale where the guest is using a discount like Disney Vacation Club, annual passholder, Disney Visa, cast member, etc... In this case, the guest purchasing the items must also be the holder the discount. If your friend is a Disney Vacation Club member then, he or she must pay for the purchase—you would not be able to show his or her member card and pay for the purchase yourself. Because this is a protocol with no way around it on the point of sale end, and it could become a serious matter as merchandise cast members are not allowed to use one person's discount for a different guest, they might actually need to say "no" if this situation should arise. 

Another instance where the guest might need to be told no might be when asking if certain items are allowed in the parks. When going through bag check in the morning, asking a security cast member if you can bring in a selfie stick will result in a "no." Of course, the cast member would still polite, and offer you a place to store the item while you are in the park, but because selfie sticks are prohibited for safety reasons, there is no way to modify the situation and allow guests to bring them into the parks.  

College Program cast members spend most of their time partying 

Image: Brittany DiCologero

This point is a misconception that I can imagine comes up often simply due to these cast members being college students. As any college would have, there are always going to be some students who party and don't take their work seriously. Also similarly to college, these students might not end up completing their college programs.  

To say that the College Program cast members in general spend all of their time partying and do not take themselves seriously however, is only representing a small population of these students. Many interns are getting college credit for the program—meaning they have to take their work seriously otherwise they could end up being another semester behind in college. Others are planning on staying with the company after they finish, and as a result would prefer to spend their time away from parties and working hard to achieve their goals.  

In any case, anywhere that houses college students is bound to have a bit of a party atmosphere, however it is not fair to generalize an entire group of students. It is also worth noting that those on the College Program, along with any other Disney cast members have unique schedules compared to what you're used to at your job at home. Just because you know a group of interns was at Jellyrolls on a Wednesday does not mean that these students are out partying everyday of the week—a Wednesday could be their Friday or Saturday.  

An injury can put a cast member out of work 

If a cast member working at Walt Disney World acquires an injury, say a broken ankle for example, he or she would not be out of work during their recovery. Instead, they would be placed on "restrictive duty." If the cast member's usual role was something that requires one to be on his or her feet, like food and beverage or custodial among others, an alternate role would be assigned to them while their injury heals. These roles might not be as exciting as the cast member's permanent role, as they would often be things that can be done sitting down, like greeting guests exiting the park, pin trading (both onstage with guests and backstage with cast members who are picking up pins to trade at work), or rolling silverware in a restaurant, it is definitely nice that they will still be able to work and not lose any hours. 

In some cases, cast members are even able to stay in their original role with some accommodation made due to their injury. A cast member with a broken ankle might need to be moved to restricted duty instead of a role like custodial, but certain roles may be able to work with some small changes. A merchandise cast member might be able to complete the same job using a wheelchair, and a main entrance operations cast member might still be able to assist guests at the park entrance while sitting down. Compared to some other work environments, where due to a number of variables management simply cannot be so flexible, Disney is definitely willing to work with cast members when a sudden injury gets in the way of their usual roles. 

Working for Walt Disney World is just like any other job 

One of my favorite purchases I made as a cast member at Walt Disney World, was a cast exclusive pin featuring Sorcerer Mickey and the brooms from "Fantasia," underneath the words, "Follow me to the best job in the world." For whatever reason, working for Disney is just one of those jobs that everyone seems to have an opinion about. But if you ask me, the opinions that truly matter are those from cast members who have worked for the company themselves. Before you dismiss a custodial cast member as someone who likely hates his or her job, remember, it just might be "the best job in the world."