How Much are you willing to pay?

[PhotoDave219]

I'm all for paying the cast more because they do a great job and have to take alot of c**p from people all day. However, $10 per day would leave me $140 per person out of pocket for our two week vacation which makes the whole thing very, very expensive. Selfish perhaps but If I think like this so will 1000's of others which would severly change the figures you quoted and, as such, Disney would not be able to afford the increase in wages.

Forgive my ignorance about the US pay / tax / NI system but I think I am right in thinking that raising an additional $3 per CM per hour does not mean that a CM will actually get the full $3.

Youre correct. When i get a raise from my bosses, usually the taxes take it all. But i got a raise nonetheless.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I could probably see a few dollars for an increase but $10 is a LOT by market standards. Maybe if they had been raising the prices slightly more each time over the last ten years or so? But another thing to remember is that, if you increase salaries, you'd also have to increase employer-based taxes. Which cuts into any direct benefit unless you're going to increase prices even more. Very slippery slope.

I was wondering how long it would take to bring this up. I used the idea of $10/hr being a fair salary; thats what the McDonalds in Mount Dora is advertising as a starting wage.

I figured $10 a hour would attract better quality CMs and just might be a way to 1) encourage existing CMs to put forth a better effort or 2) replace dead wood with better people.

When i started doing the math, i had no idea that in order to give this sort of a raise you'd have to drastically increase gate admission so much; These are huge numbers we are talking about.

But the general point is to find out whether or not guests would support a gate increase to give CMs a raise. Its completely non-scientifc of course.

 

[KeithVH]

You know, I am an extremely strong laissez-faire/invisible hand kinda person. But I have no problem with anyone getting ahead by getting a better paycheck. I'm wondering if, rather than just gate prices, the potential could come from all manner of minor increases that would add up (gate, food, retail, rooms)?

The funny thing is, up until I spent a lot of time reading here, I never worried about how CMs would impact my trip or how much CMs make or their working conditions would affect me. For good or ill, I'm now worried about just how bad this year's trip will be. Maybe it's a glass half empty thing. Or an ignorance is bliss issue.

Can only think of one bad experience in the last ten years and it wasn't the end of the world. In the past, I've normally gone out of my way to be nice to CMs in whatever way I interact with them. I will continue to do so and just hope they'll do the same for me.

 

[Laura]

Couldn't really find an option that suited me.

If the cost of my disney vacations went up $70 a week, would I stop going to WDW? Of course not! I will keep going as long as I can afford to.

With that said, here's how I feel about Cast Member wages.

1. If you have a family to support, working at WDW with a low wage job is not the best way to go about it. If that's how you choose to support your family, that's really your own problem. You knew you'd have a low paycheck when you took the job, and you took it anyway. So don't whine.

2. If you are on your own with no one to support except yourself (like most CM's are) then I think working at WDW would be an absolute blast. Obviously most of the people working there are there because they want to be. Otherwise, they could go get a low paying job anywhere else in the country. If you want to work at WDW so badly, do you really care THAT much about your paycheck? How often do you hear people say "It's always been my dream to work at McDonalds"? But yet you hear people say that about being a CM all the time.

3. In the 20 or so times I've been to WDW, I can't recall a single time that I've encountered a grumpy/miserable CM. And if there WAS a grumpy CM, I honestly don't believe any amount of pay raise is going to give them a friendlier nature.

4. How many other jobs give you the perk of being able to visit the world's best vacation destination any time you want for free? That alone would make up for the low pay check for me.

5. A couple hundred dollars of my vacation budget already goes straight into the pockets of CM's through gratuities.

 

[WaltzingMatilda]

I am sorry but my feeling is if you accept a job you do your best at it no matter what the wages are. When i was in my 20's (in mid 90's) i work in retail. I made 8.50/hr as an assistant manager where i was responsible for a 1.4mil a year store. I showed up to work everyday and did my best while i was there regardless of the pay. This needs to be an employees mentality.
I get aggrivated when i see an employee how just doesn't care for what they are doing and take it out on the customers

:sohappy:

I agree. When I worked retail I always did so with a smile on my face because it was my JOB to provide a friendly customer experience. I had a boss who taught me that customer service is a reward unto itself...the store I worked in was so popular because of our customer service, honestly none of us could go anywhere without having to say hello to half a dozen people. I still work for the same boss in a different industry because of how in sync we are on the customer service front.

Having patted myself on the backrolleyes: ) to address the topic I will say that if I knew that the ticket increase would in fact make for a more pleasant experince (not that I've ever had a bad one), then yes I would gladly pay it. I think that customer service reps in general are underpaid. If you think about it, nobody NEEDS McDonalds's, but we all want it. People in these types of industries should be better compensated.

 

[LoriMistress]

IMHO, I say yes. My reasoning is I guess personal. I use to work in retail, even hire managment position, and just like the "Disney" way, I got screamed, yelled, cursed, etc. almost on a daily basis if someone didn't have a particular item they wanted immediately. Just like Disney, you would HAVE to take the abuse. It was awful. I would cry in the backroom after a customer would call me dirty names and think to myself, "Getting paid $7 an hour isn't worth the humilation--expecially, if you can't stand up for yourself or kick the "customer" out of the store."

Another reason: most people are not friendly. We've all encountered people who were just plan jerks who don't care about anyone else around them, expecially at the parks. People on these boards state how much they love Disney and the parks, but I'm sure at least a good 1/2 of the people on here doesn't love Disney that much to work at one of the parks for minium wage and work there for a month straight, during the busy season, and have to deal with rude families on a daily basis.

Not starting an argument here, so don't bother arguing with me--because I won't respond.

 

[FantasMickeyM]

I voted no, but not because I think they get paid enough, cause they really don't! But a trip to Disney World from Europe does cost quite a lot of money already, and for some people £140 extra for 2 weeks is a lot.. I think they should pay the staff more somehow though, most of them seem to be really amazing and lovely people!

 

[jozzmenia]

I don't think $3 bucks an hour would make a difference.

Disney trains their employees very well to be "magical".

I've never had a problem, though I have gotten that "I've been on my feet for 8 hours, I'm hot and tired, and have faced some rude guests today so please don't bother me" look. It's to be expected though. You can't be PERFECT at work no matter how much you get paid. They're only human after all.

 

[Senderella]

Yes, I'd be willing to pay more if in fact I knew that the extra money was going to the front line only and not lining the pockets of the executives, which is what I think would happen.

I have to agree. I think you get what you pay for and for CMs to constantly put on the smile and work the magic, they need to be paid better. Not all guests are ... ok... let me back up... A lot of guests will treat CMs like second class citizens. Many CMs will continue to smile and keep on going with the magic, but they're human and they're bound to have the human response of :fork: :fork: for a good part of the day.

If I knew an increase of prices were to go directly to the CMs and NOT the execs who aren't exactly hurting for money.. I would pay it. I think Disney CMs need to be treated better by their employer and paid better too...all the CMs from the people who pick up the trash to the restaurant servers on up to the "stars" like Mickey & Princesses. Low pay = low morale.

A job may be an agreement to work for a certain wage, but for a multimillion (multibillion? anyone?) company to hold out on the people who are making the money for them in the parks is ABSURD. AND they need to do away with the TPS reports as well. :lookaroun

 

[Shaman]

Quick question...what type of benefits does the company offer the average employee?

 

[loveyloo2]

Wages...

About 15 years ago I applied and was accepted into the Disneyland College Program. I really wanted to do it, but the pay was so low and on top of it you had to pay Disney for housing or find your own that there was no way I could afford to do it. My good friend did do it (she was able to live with her grandparents) and ended up staying with the company for a few years afterward, but the money (or lack thereof) drove her out of Disney. Anyow, the unfortunate thing is that if Disney wants to attact and keep good people, they really need to consider paying more and try to do it without gouging guests...

Just my thoughts...

:shrug:

 

[DisneyMusician2]

This system assumes that the CM's in question would be better getting paid more money...With the rapid increase in employee opportunites in the parks, they have quickly had to bring on more CM's and some may simply not be up to the usual standards from 30 years ago. This happened whenever you can't handpick a staff. I'd be interested to see what the employment numbers were at park opening as compared to what they are today. Your "magic missing" answer is right in those numbers.

 

[WDWFigment]

I think this soon all may be a moot point. For the first time in ten years, it is very likely that Congress will increase the minimum wage. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 calls for a increase in the minimum wage to $7.25 within the next two years. While there were concerns that it would die due to Republicans tacking on small business tax breaks, the two parties ironed out differences and agreed on a bill. The only issue now is that Democrats want the minimum wage provisions attached to Iraq spending bills that Bush has (and probably will again) vetoed. As soon as they are content with the political statement they've made, they will pass the bill in stand-alone form. Estimates predict this piece of legislation will cost the average nuclear family $161 per year, so WDW ticket prices increasing may not be your only concern.

Anyway, what this means for WDW workers: the Disney Corporation will not pay their workers minimum wage; other companies catch too much flak for this, and Disney does not want to be one such company. They are willing to pay below industry average, and can get away with this because Disney is a more desirable employer than others in the industry. My guess would be that they will increase starting wages to $9 or $10. While this will take two years to implement, it will happen. For them to raise wages now would be foolish, as America's low-skilled workers will see an across-the-board raise in the near future, and if Disney raises its wages now, their workers may become discontented when that said raise occurs for all others.

Granted, a lot of this is speculation, but it's fairly well grounded in reality.

 

[Lucky]

The question assumes all increased costs from raising wages would be passed through to ticket prices, and that the product would remain unchanged. The product could change in several ways. Higher wages would attract more applicants, potentially allowing Disney to be more selective about who is hired. This could tend to improve guests' experience. On the other hand - as we economists like to say - with higher wages Disney is likely to have fewer staff in the parks at any given time, and might even shorten park hours slightly during non-peak periods. There are quite a few tradeoffs going into these decisions.

Considering what they're paid CMs overall seem to do their jobs remarkably well. If it took a pay increase and higher ticket prices to maintain that quality, sure, I'd be willing to pay a little more. But I might not go quite as often or stay quite as long if the prices were higher. Those are the sorts of tradeoffs guests have to make.

 

[Dayma]

I think that attendance may drop if you raise the cost $10 per day. that's a significant increase for a 1 week vacation. Just my opinion...

 

[Lucky]

It would definitely drop. The only question is by how much.

 

[bruiser659]

Be glad you have a job,the more you pay them the more they want.

 

[dolbyman]

amousement park tickets here in germany cost around 40-70$ .. so a little turn on the price tag wouldn't hurt much ..

 

[PhotoDave219]

Be glad you have a job,the more you pay them the more they want.

Have you not seen the price of gas? Its doubled since i've been in orlando, all of 3 years.

Have you not seen the price of rent in Orlando? The average 1 bedroom apt went from $671 to $767 over that time period.

People gotta live..... Gotta pay the bills.

 

[bruiser659]

Its like that everywhere.Its hard to make it all over the country.Just be happy you have a job.