Disney Irish
Premium Member
Thank you, sir! I have a degree and have been successful in the workplace for many years. However my former career is not an option any longer so I had to start over. I’ve been at the Disneyland Resort now for several years and I love it. I love Disney, I love my job, and I love creating happiness! But it is a challenging place to work. In my opinion it does not equate to employment at a fast food restaurant. Disney has very high expectations of CMs. (Higher than anywhere else I’ve been employed.) So do Guests! I am happy to meet those expectations and prefer to work at that level. I went in knowing this and agreeing to the pay offered and the late hours. Still, I wish that I earned something closer to what I need to pay my bills. I need the cast shuttle given how far away from my work location I am required to park. I accept that when Guests need the spaces I will be parking twice as far that distance. I am grateful for the paid walk time and consider it a privilege. At the same time in all my working years I have never parked so far from my location. I don’t think I am spoiled in receiving partial compensation for the time it takes to get to and from my car to where I work, which takes far more than twenty minutes. (How much time I spend commuting to the lot is entirely separate and on me.) All I ask of the online community is respect for the experience of Cast Members and reserve judgement if you haven’t been one yourself.
I have respect for the CMs, and I empathize with the situation. While I have never worked for Disney, I have worked for a local amusement park in the Bay Area. I know how it is to have to deal with long commutes, public transit, and having to be at my work assignment by an assigned time. Going through security, having to go to costuming before being "on-stage", checking in with your lead or supervisor, etc. All this before I even clocked in. I just had to budget my time and know when I needed to leave my house in order to do all this. I wish I got the perk of "walking time", that would have been heaven.
Point people have been trying to make is that Disney CMs aren't in a unique position. Its something that lots of people deal with and not just in the theme park business.