Extra MK Hour

[jimbaker84]

I can tell ya it's a welcome relief for the CM's. The mandatory OT gets a little ridiculous. I've seen CM's sleeping in their cars because going home takes up time. What many guest don't take into account is besides the holidays we have a lot of other events going on like the marathon this past weekend. Marathons are scheduled to run around 5am so they can open the roads back up before the parks open. All the departments are involved one way or another, so it becomes a 24/7 operation. Hence the OT if you are short handed. Some of my security friends were working 16 hour shifts. That only gives you 8 hrs. to go home shower,eat,sleep (a little) and drive back . Early closing is a sigh of relief, trust me. I've said this before many things have to happen behind the scenes to make the Magic seamless. And it's discouraging to a CM to put in the effort only to get treated badly by guest. So we suck it up, and keep going.

I can understand where you are coming from, the MK and other parks are crazy busy most of the time i have been there and the Cast Members deserve and need a break from time to time, however that also needs to be balanced with the guest expectation that they will want to be in the parks until a certain time. WDW needs to hire more CM's to make this a realistic objective. I'm sure this will make living and playing in the parks a more pleasant experience (this would be easier said than done however it is what WDW should be aspiring to put in place).

 

[ParksAndPixels]

I can tell ya it's a welcome relief for the CM's. The mandatory OT gets a little ridiculous. I've seen CM's sleeping in their cars because going home takes up time. What many guest don't take into account is besides the holidays we have a lot of other events going on like the marathon this past weekend. Marathons are scheduled to run around 5am so they can open the roads back up before the parks open. All the departments are involved one way or another, so it becomes a 24/7 operation. Hence the OT if you are short handed. Some of my security friends were working 16 hour shifts. That only gives you 8 hrs. to go home shower,eat,sleep (a little) and drive back . Early closing is a sigh of relief, trust me. I've said this before many things have to happen behind the scenes to make the Magic seamless. And it's discouraging to a CM to put in the effort only to get treated badly by guest. So we suck it up, and keep going.

From someone who used to work at a park, thanks for the hard work you do. Average guest has no idea how tiring being a CM really is at times. That said, don’t think anyone faults the CMs, but would rather see Disney as a company change it’s practices.

That's easier said than done. They are constantly hiring, but no one can control people quitting. So if a spike in activity happens at a low in staff you have the perfect storm. How do you fix it fast? OT

Same issue my old park would encounter. Bottom line you treat staff with more respect and retention improves. Then if more staff is needed, the swings are not as great.

 

[larryz]

I don't even know where to begin with all the inaccuracies stated in this post.

Go ahead -- start anywhere.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

I look back at my times guides from early 2000s and every weekday MK closed at 6:00! Wishes and Spectro were only on weekends (in the off season).

That was after 9/11 and the fear of traveling by planes. Plus, the stock market crashed. The AP’s kept the parks going during this time. I remember going the week of Labor Day and everything was a walk on. Before taking kids out of School trend.

 

[TrojanUSC]

The 8pm close that day was to allow crews more time to remove the Christmas lights.

 

[mikejs78]

Go ahead -- start anywhere.

Ok.

1. Last Jedi was not a box office disappointment by any stretch of the imagination - its one of the highest grossing films of all time and has made an enourmous profit.
2. Parks have always closed earlier at times. I remember when the parks used to close at 6PM regularly during the off season.
3. Star Wars merchandise sales are down from TFA but still strong in the realm of merchandising. For both this and the Last Jedi, it's more of a case of Star Wars coming back down to earth after the hype and pent up demand that occurred in 2015. Still one of the strongest movie and.merchandising franchises of all time.
4. Irrespective of the above, tying the parks to Star Wars revenue doesn't make sense. They are separate business units and responsible for their own budgets, P&L, etc. Conflating the two makes no sense.