Has anyone worked at Disneyworld?

[ilovedolphins]

Just wanting to know what the cons and pros are.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

A good friend's godson works there and I have been the recipient of his benefits, when he was in FL and in CA.....I know he has gone back and forth several times.  He is a lifetime employee, and at this point is in the upper echelon of management.

He said it is a very good place to work...or it has been for him.

[mmhmm]

I have a friend whose daughter and her husband both work there.  They love it.  She says they've both been very happy with their jobs, and with the way they're treated.

[ilovedolphins]

My son applied and we live in Colorado so I don't know what his chances would be. He wants to move there but only if he can get a job at Disneyworld.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Apr 26, 2014 17:31:35 GMT -5 ilovedolphins said:

My son applied and we live in Colorado so I don't know what his chances would be. He wants to move there but only if he can get a job at Disneyworld.

I don't think that there is a lot of choice.  Like I said, I know my friend's godson has gone back and forth a couple times, where ever he is needed.  That flexibility has served him very well.

It sound like it is a good place if you can get in on the ground floor.  

[Deleted]

A friend of ours did when he was young and that was years ago. He liked it though.

[vonna]

No personal experience, but at least in the past, most Disney workers were required to work their way up in the company, but were rewarded handsomely.  And the three I know LOVE Disney.  Not sure if the current climate is the same.

[truthbound]

Damn I don't have a friend whose friend worked there story like everyone on the internets. I actually did so for the reason most do. It was cool. You make some money but it gets boring real quick.

[ilovedolphins]

Apr 27, 2014 4:44:03 GMT -5 truthbound said:

Damn I don't have a friend whose friend worked there story like everyone on the internets. I actually did so for the reason most do. It was cool. You make some money but it gets boring real quick.

What was your job position?  Is it hard to advance?

[Shooby]

Wouldn't the crowds get old? No thanks.

[mmhmm]

Some people really enjoy that kind of atmosphere,  Shoobs.  It wouldn't be for me, either; however, others apparently see it differently.  They get a bang out of the excited children and helping the families have a good time.  Makes some sense, when you think about it, for very extroverted personalities.

[8 Bit WWBG]

I worked at a much smaller, non-Disney theme park.  I got well matched to a job -- leading different workshops and activities.  I enjoyed being inside, and interacting with people and guiding them and generally watching them have fun.  Others absolutely LOVED outdoor jobs like, say, driving the happy train, or operating a log ride or whatever.  They loved waving to people.

That being said, its not always happy times.  You are an ambassador of the company, and people expect you to solve their problems or hear their frustrations.  I remember one guy complaining about closing time because he paid full price to enter at like... 4pm.  While I wanted to point out that doing so was stupid, because the closing time was clearly posted, I simply apologized.

[justme]

What would he be doing? Something on the corporate side, entertainment side, or straight into the parks? Each has a different experience. Corporate side can be hard to get into. I took a part time job in operations in hopes that working for them would give me a leg up but I never got an interview. I also briefly worked with someone that did an internship with the corporate side and he also never got an interview while I knew him.

The entertainment people I know aren't doing it full time, so I don't know much about that.

If he's looking at park operations I can expand more, since that's where I worked.

[ilovedolphins]

He applied for a photographer job in the parks. But he is taking online culinary arts and pastry chef classes.

[swamp]

My niece works there. She loves it. 

[TheOtherMe]

Cousin's daughter majored in the hospitality industry in college.  Her dream job was Disney.  After spending several years working for the Boston Red Sox, she is now living her dream.  Disney hired her, helped hubby find a job, paid for their move and temporary living.  She says she is living the dream.  

They are currently building a monster sized house, so between the two of them, they must be making good money.

[justme]

Most of the people that have chimed in are those that aren't on the operations side. And, from my little grasping, the operations side is completely different. It's the people working front and center dealing with all the guest - and trust me most of the ones you deal with are upset.

My friend that works there, and loves it and Disney, says the biggest cons of photography is that most of your work is outside (in Florida heat... there's few posts that aren't in the sun) and you often get your breaks late and sometimes non-existent. It's also hard to get a hold of a coordinator or a manager.

Which those spots are where you could advance, but most people higher than that in the parks are those that were truly from operations - meaning they worked on the rides to start with.

My experience from operations - those that are happiest truly love Disney and would possibly agree to working for them even for free. The perks are awesome - 16 times per year you can get 3 people in free (though there are plenty of block out periods), you get in free any time, you get 2 passes to do with what you will 2 times per year, and Christmas time you get some nice perks. Pay starts at under $8/hr (not sure what it is for photography) which I think is low. Full timers only get 1 day guaranteed off per week and the days are picked on seniority. You also get an second day off, but it can easily be a working day if "operational need" deems you should work. Overtime is based on how many hours you work per day - not per week. So you could work 8 hours per day 6 days per week and not get overtime pay. The upside is you get overtime for over 8 hours per day - so I got overtime pay as a part timer. During busy times, it's not out of the ordinary for you to work 60+ hours per week. As the low end of the seniority, he's more likely to get the worse hours - so magic hours times where he's there early or really late.

The coordinators and managers do not make that much more than those they manage from what I've heard. I was working part time after I earned my masters and once I heard what managers make there's no way I had any desire to go that route. There's a union there that dictates a lot of things. It can be your savior, but I've also seen it be the reason why management got rid of people they don't like. I've heard mixed review on  how easy it is to actually use your vacation time. My trainer was running up on her max (it's an accrual basis) and they kept denying the vacation she put in. But I know someone else that has gotten her vacation. Their sick and clock in time is rather draconian if you ask me for a service job (you get points against you for clocking in more than 59 seconds late). And the managers were doing a lot of things I had just learned in my masters classes that are exactly what managers shouldn't do.

It wasn't all negative, I got a lot of help on some things. I switch locations and found out I got a FT job elsewhere the day before my training and they agreed to still train me and have me step down to seasonal. They also let me "retrain" when I was out for a broken foot when they didn't have to according to their rules - but my trainer also OKed me after 4 hours instead of making me go through 3 hours of retraining. But I also had an excellent record and high tests scores on my proficiencies. There's also sometimes when the guests are awesome, you just have a great moment with them or overhear something. Though the guests being crazy/stupid might over rule that. I could tell you several instances I had to yell at guests, but couldn't come up with a sweet guest moment right now.

[truthbound]

Apr 27, 2014 8:25:37 GMT -5 ilovedolphins said:

Apr 27, 2014 4:44:03 GMT -5 truthbound said:

Damn I don't have a friend whose friend worked there story like everyone on the internets. I actually did so for the reason most do. It was cool. You make some money but it gets boring real quick.

What was your job position?  Is it hard to advance?

I drove a monorail. Yes it is hard to advance. I drove that thing for several years. I am the only one who never had an accident. But I was never noticed. Most people do not reaiize what a large organization Disney is.

[skubikky]

DD did a semester at DisneyWorld in Orlando back in Fall 2004.
She was majoring in Hospitality in college.
She was assigned to housekeeping at Caribbean Resorts.
She had hoped that she'd have an assignment that would have allowed more interaction with customers.
But, she did learn how to make towel animals.
She took tow Disney college courses and said that she liked those.
She said that has far as the hospitality end, Disney is top notch.

[ohhkay2]

Is he applying for a regular photography job or is it a part of the college program? I did the college program in 2009 and at least back then they had a separate culinary program. They stayed on-site with the college program students, but operated on different cycles. Disney programs have HUGE support groups on Facebook and Disboards where students share their experience with applications, interviews, and final decisions.

Honestly, just my opinion but he may have better luck starting with a culinary internship if that's what he wants to do. At least for my area (operations at MK) it wasn't that difficult to transition into seasonal/ part-time after your program.

[ilovedolphins]

Apr 27, 2014 23:26:10 GMT -5 justme said:

Most of the people that have chimed in are those that aren't on the operations side. And, from my little grasping, the operations side is completely different. It's the people working front and center dealing with all the guest - and trust me most of the ones you deal with are upset.

My friend that works there, and loves it and Disney, says the biggest cons of photography is that most of your work is outside (in Florida heat... there's few posts that aren't in the sun) and you often get your breaks late and sometimes non-existent. It's also hard to get a hold of a coordinator or a manager.

Which those spots are where you could advance, but most people higher than that in the parks are those that were truly from operations - meaning they worked on the rides to start with.

My experience from operations - those that are happiest truly love Disney and would possibly agree to working for them even for free. The perks are awesome - 16 times per year you can get 3 people in free (though there are plenty of block out periods), you get in free any time, you get 2 passes to do with what you will 2 times per year, and Christmas time you get some nice perks. Pay starts at under $8/hr (not sure what it is for photography) which I think is low. Full timers only get 1 day guaranteed off per week and the days are picked on seniority. You also get an second day off, but it can easily be a working day if "operational need" deems you should work. Overtime is based on how many hours you work per day - not per week. So you could work 8 hours per day 6 days per week and not get overtime pay. The upside is you get overtime for over 8 hours per day - so I got overtime pay as a part timer. During busy times, it's not out of the ordinary for you to work 60+ hours per week. As the low end of the seniority, he's more likely to get the worse hours - so magic hours times where he's there early or really late.

The coordinators and managers do not make that much more than those they manage from what I've heard. I was working part time after I earned my masters and once I heard what managers make there's no way I had any desire to go that route. There's a union there that dictates a lot of things. It can be your savior, but I've also seen it be the reason why management got rid of people they don't like. I've heard mixed review on  how easy it is to actually use your vacation time. My trainer was running up on her max (it's an accrual basis) and they kept denying the vacation she put in. But I know someone else that has gotten her vacation. Their sick and clock in time is rather draconian if you ask me for a service job (you get points against you for clocking in more than 59 seconds late). And the managers were doing a lot of things I had just learned in my masters classes that are exactly what managers shouldn't do.

It wasn't all negative, I got a lot of help on some things. I switch locations and found out I got a FT job elsewhere the day before my training and they agreed to still train me and have me step down to seasonal. They also let me "retrain" when I was out for a broken foot when they didn't have to according to their rules - but my trainer also OKed me after 4 hours instead of making me go through 3 hours of retraining. But I also had an excellent record and high tests scores on my proficiencies. There's also sometimes when the guests are awesome, you just have a great moment with them or overhear something. Though the guests being crazy/stupid might over rule that. I could tell you several instances I had to yell at guests, but couldn't come up with a sweet guest moment right now.

Do you know how much more management makes?  Would you be available today for him to PM you with some questions?  This is the last day he has to set up an interview.

[justme]

May 2, 2014 13:49:37 GMT -5 ilovedolphins said:

Apr 27, 2014 23:26:10 GMT -5 justme said:

Most of the people that have chimed in are those that aren't on the operations side. And, from my little grasping, the operations side is completely different. It's the people working front and center dealing with all the guest - and trust me most of the ones you deal with are upset.

My friend that works there, and loves it and Disney, says the biggest cons of photography is that most of your work is outside (in Florida heat... there's few posts that aren't in the sun) and you often get your breaks late and sometimes non-existent. It's also hard to get a hold of a coordinator or a manager.

Which those spots are where you could advance, but most people higher than that in the parks are those that were truly from operations - meaning they worked on the rides to start with.

My experience from operations - those that are happiest truly love Disney and would possibly agree to working for them even for free. The perks are awesome - 16 times per year you can get 3 people in free (though there are plenty of block out periods), you get in free any time, you get 2 passes to do with what you will 2 times per year, and Christmas time you get some nice perks. Pay starts at under $8/hr (not sure what it is for photography) which I think is low. Full timers only get 1 day guaranteed off per week and the days are picked on seniority. You also get an second day off, but it can easily be a working day if "operational need" deems you should work. Overtime is based on how many hours you work per day - not per week. So you could work 8 hours per day 6 days per week and not get overtime pay. The upside is you get overtime for over 8 hours per day - so I got overtime pay as a part timer. During busy times, it's not out of the ordinary for you to work 60+ hours per week. As the low end of the seniority, he's more likely to get the worse hours - so magic hours times where he's there early or really late.

The coordinators and managers do not make that much more than those they manage from what I've heard. I was working part time after I earned my masters and once I heard what managers make there's no way I had any desire to go that route. There's a union there that dictates a lot of things. It can be your savior, but I've also seen it be the reason why management got rid of people they don't like. I've heard mixed review on  how easy it is to actually use your vacation time. My trainer was running up on her max (it's an accrual basis) and they kept denying the vacation she put in. But I know someone else that has gotten her vacation. Their sick and clock in time is rather draconian if you ask me for a service job (you get points against you for clocking in more than 59 seconds late). And the managers were doing a lot of things I had just learned in my masters classes that are exactly what managers shouldn't do.

It wasn't all negative, I got a lot of help on some things. I switch locations and found out I got a FT job elsewhere the day before my training and they agreed to still train me and have me step down to seasonal. They also let me "retrain" when I was out for a broken foot when they didn't have to according to their rules - but my trainer also OKed me after 4 hours instead of making me go through 3 hours of retraining. But I also had an excellent record and high tests scores on my proficiencies. There's also sometimes when the guests are awesome, you just have a great moment with them or overhear something. Though the guests being crazy/stupid might over rule that. I could tell you several instances I had to yell at guests, but couldn't come up with a sweet guest moment right now.

Do you know how much more management makes?  Would you be available today for him to PM you with some questions?  This is the last day he has to set up an interview.

I'm available to answer what I can. Since I was part time it was a lot more what I observed and heard vs actually experienced. Like I heard the operations managers started at $35k (sounds about right, double what you'd make if just 40/week at $8, though managers are salaried - but your perks are better). I know if you get trainer you get $1/hr more while you're training and coordinators started at $1/hr more (which I thought was a rip off because I see them do more work than managers). 

[Chocolate Lover]

Never worked at a part, worked at one of their outlet stores way back when it was under the Childcraft brand (kids furniture and stuff, but most of the store was Disney). I was there about a year and they sold Childcraft and closed the store. Even working that separated from the park, the employees got a pass for the park for themselves and any dependents/family. Singles got 2.  I never did use mine and have no clue where they are. Lol 

Pass may have been for one day, it's been 20 years, and that is all I can recall. Except for having to listen to Disney music all day. Loved Lion King and Little Mermaid's, but HATED Pocahontas. Funny the things that stick in the memory.

[constanz22]

My mom's BF worked for Disneyworld from its conception and retired with 40 years.  He worked maintenance, building, grounds, etc.  helped build the castle and many other areas and attractions.  Disney used to be a wonderful employer.  Recently, not so much.  He had to go out on disability while he had cancer recently and the new management treated him horribly while he was out and when he went back (had less than a year to get his 40 years.)

[ilovedolphins]

Did anyone mention how long it took them to move into management?  Is it an attainable goal?  

[justme]

It depends what your definition of attainable is. Disney does mostly move up from within - especially on the operations side. The VP of Epcot started out on the rides and I'm sure pretty much every other higher up did too. But the numbers aren't exactly on your side and there is a lot of "office politics". It varies from ride to ride, place to place, etc how long and what the numbers are.

If I'm remembering the numbers right, in my area I think there were between 10-15 managers, maybe a few more. That covered 8 rides. I would say that 100 is a good guess for CMs at each ride. (It's a little hard to get a good number - several are cross trained, CPs come and go, and there's also PT and seasonal in the mix.) So that's ~50 CM per manager. As for coordinators, I would guess there's probably double the amount of mangers, if not a few more than that as I would think they'd try not to get the coordinators over time (managers are salaried so they don't get OT). Above the managers is the area coordinator - there's only one per area.

My one friend had been working at Disney ~4 years before he got a trainer position. Now some of that was because he was in several spots (you have to be somewhere for a certain amount of time to get trainer) and some of it was there was a manager that had it out for him and kept vetoing him until there was a manager that went up for him. It's definitely a game you have to play, and it helps if you get someone higher up on your side.

Now, in something like photography it could be better numbers simply because there's not as many photographers, but I don't know the manager/CM ratio in photography.

ETA: I know someone who was a PT coordinator when I started (meaning she'd fill in if someone was sick or people wanted time off, things like that, but still worked as a regular CM often enough). That was beginning of 2010, and I'm not sure how long she was a PT coordinator. I know for sure she was a FT one in Sept 2010 (I switched rides in May so I don't know when she got FT exactly.) She's still a coordinator. To be fair, I don't know if she's trying to move up or not - but I also know she won coordinator of they year for her area last year so if she does want to she'd have a good shot when a place opens up.