Tell me about working at WDW (past or present) About This Page:

[GreenAppleSea]

What are your most and least favorite things about it? Are the benefits good? What other info can you give me?

TIA!

[iamgrumpy]

I did the college program and I had a good time at work interacting with the guests and it was the guest who actually showed me a side of my grandfather i hadn't realized he had it was magical for me. My grandfather was never really very open and this guest happened to know him from his working at walmart and them shopping there. They mentioned their trip and he mentioned me they happened to pay at my cashier register. Its moments like that made the job awesome among the great people i worked with.

Pay wise its different as i was on internship but we did get into the 4 main parks free.

[BabieeMelly]

A distant relative of mine works at Disney, and the pay is BAD. It's minimum wage, which is crazy for such a high-stress job. It won't be all fun and games... a lot of guests are very demanding and inconsiderate. If you can deal with these setbacks, though, it must be a lot of fun!

[statelady01]

I don't know how folks make it on entry level wages- when I worked there in HS, it was a great job for me but I knew then I couldn't survive on what I was making. But everyone is different and I know that some people did.

Pluses:

Access to the parks free
Chances to cross train and move around
You do meet some really neat guests
I remember a store or some kind of event where CM's could buy merchandise ridiculously cheap- don't know if that is still offered
Special recreation area for CM's (not sure if that's still there either)

Cons:
Weekends and holidays, for a large part of CM's, are a must
I found the drive time and time it actually took to get to my work station a real pain (I worked mostly in MK, may be different in other areas)
Wages
And the guests who make you want to cry, then quit. It takes tough skin to shrug it off- I tried for two years and never was quite able to do it really well.

[christiejay]

My sister worked at Epcot's Art of Disney store for a few months which was as long as she could manage. She had just graduated from college with an art degree, so it was the perfect time for her to work there. She was pretty disappointed that she didn't get placed in the performance area, since she had many years of dance experience, even up through the college level.

By the way, she just simply walked into Casting one day while on vacation and applied. Down side? She had to make the long drive back down a couple of weeks later for her interview.

She enjoyed her actual job, although some of the coworkers weren't her favorites. On the other hand, she did make friends with other coworkers that she still keeps in touch with and sees on her trips down there.

The pay is ridiculous; my parents had to send her money every month to pay her bills with. If she'd had a roommate she might possibly could have broken even. It is more about the experience than anything else.

She did enjoy the perk of getting in the parks free, but didn't use it very often because of having to make the drive in on an off day. Too much traffic to put up with. She did, however, a few times take her bike to Fort Wilderness and ride the trails (sidewalks) for a change.

She finally quit and came back home because she was so lonely. For some reason she couldn't understand why nobody came to see her. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] Hello, it's a 12-hour drive!!! In our defense, me and husband spent Labor Day weekend with her, her then boyfriend's mother came down for Food & Wine Festival, and my parents and grandmother went down at Thanksgiving, so I thought that was pretty good.

If you can get into an office-type job with WDW it would be better pay-wise, I'd assume. But if you're looking for a job in the parks, be prepared for long hours, low pay and hard work. Figure out your finances beforehand.

[GreenAppleSea]

Hey there. I actually have a good friend who is one of the heads of reservations. His name is Greg. If you talk to him, tell him I said hi.

Pay is low. Ridiculously low..even at reservations. Cost of living is pretty high here, so it makes it rough. Guests are tough to deal with at times. Surprisingly, I think it's the hardest part of the job. You have your guests that make the job worthwhile..but most of the time, that's not the case. Don't get me wrong, I love my job..but I've learned how inconsiderate people are in general. I do this job for the kids and the guests who understand the magic.

Traffic is bad in and around Orlando. It makes it difficult to get to work sometimes. Especially in the summer and on holidays.

Have I said how low pay is??? I pay a little less than $1000 a month for a two bedroom apartment 20 minutes from work. (for a safe, secure apartment complex with a nice gym, two pools and a playground). I get paid $9.00 an hour. You do the math. LOL

But our benefits are excellent. I get excellent health care, eye insurance and dental insurance for $27 a week for Alex and I. We get stock options and a good 401K if you sign up. Admission to the parks is free and we get passes for friends and family. Excellent discounts at Disney and surrounding businesses.

Kelly