Trending blog post: "What it's really like working at Walt Disney World"

[thelookingglass]

This blog post is currently trending around Facebook, especially among my Cast Member friends. It was posted in Spirit's current thread, but it will soon get buried deep, and I feel that it deserves its own thread.

http://fyeahjonathanlewis.tumblr.co...-was-really-like-working-at-walt-disney-world
(Warning: contains some foul language)

For many, this is business as usual and will be no surprise. For others, it might be an eye opener.

Thoughts? Discuss.

 

[rct247]

100% Accurate. There are many positive sides to The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney World. Magical moments still exist, some do love their job, and sometimes the quality is top notch, but I can also agree to that entire article.

The article will come across as blunt and pessimistic. It honestly is a more realistic approach minus the positive sides of it as well.

 

[tigger1968]

Sad to read, but not at all surprising, and that's what I hate about it.

Over the years I have met and interacted with so many absolutely amazing CM's and seen so many situations where they are put upon and harangued by rude and clueless guests. On more than one occasion, we have come up to them after and reminded them that not all of us are that way, and that we appreciate what they do.

I think what disappoints me the most is that TDO is perfectly content to underpay and overwork the people that are the face of WDW. I know its not a new problem, but I think that reading this was a good reminder of the deeper issues that WDW faces. In light of all the other recent moves by TDO regarding cuts, reading this kind of takes the wind out of my sails regarding the AK and DHS expansions. I am not sure about how excited I can be to visit WDW now that I can't afford to stay there, can't see quality entertainment, and get to have my day managed to the Nth degree by a smart phone app. Couple that with knowing the challenges that the cast face to do the work they do, and it just kind of hurts my heart.

 

[stevehousse]

Glad this got its own thread as everyone on this board should be reading this. this Isnt going to be everyone's experience with working at the mouse, but the sad part is that you will find more people that this does happen to than not...

 

[Tom Morrow]

This blog post strikes an impressive note because I've never seen SO many common frustrations of CM's compiled so astutely in one public post. Everyone knows how unruly, entitled, and selfish WDW guests can be. Most of us on here are well aware of WDW's maintenance and upkeep woes. However, the post highlights some very unsettling issues that CM's deal with that aren't often brought up. The lack of depth into some of the statements made is going to make this read like a hyperbolic, cynical rant to those unfamiliar. Unfortunately, even the most magical, positive CM is going to have a hard time denying any of this.

I'd say, if you take one thing away from this article, it should be how abysmal the Guest Service Managers (title for leadership for frontline cast) can be, and how desperately the entire leadership system at WDW needs a complete reevaluation and overhaul. Everything mentioned about the way (the average) Guest Service Managers handle situations here is not an exaggeration and is par for the course.


A few unnecessary statements in the article that don't support the overall message that I'd like to get out of the way:
- "iPod stolen on first day" - not really Disney's fault
- "WDW is no better than a Six Flags" - no.
- "They said I would get Haunted Mansion" - there may have been a miscommunication, or he heard "You will be going to Adventureland/Liberty Square, which is where Haunted Mansion is." When hired, or when any CM transfers to a new location, they are told there is no guarantee they will get the attraction they want. Of course, that does bring up another good point made in the article - why are attractions all paid the same hourly rate when some demand SO much out of the CMs and others require hardly any work? Why randomly place CMs in attractions like Jungle Cruise, when some may not want that level of work and responsibility, and deny others who actually do want it? This is why the performance of your CM on Jungle Cruise or GMR or Safaris varies so greatly - placement is random, no auditions, no consideration, no pay compensation for the harder attractions.

- "Haunted Mansion is boring to work at." - well, duh. People always site Haunted Mansion as where they would want to work because of the attraction itself, and assume working there would be a blast, but its actually one of the most dull attractions to work at.
- "Your holiday bonus is a cheap ornament." - actually, in addition to holiday pay, CM's get a booklet full of free admissions and huge discounts for experiences around WDW. (okay, so its a way to get the cast to pour it's hard earned money back into WDW, but, it's more than an ornament).
- "They forced a CM to stay longer which meant he could not turn in his paper by midnight." - sucks, but if all he had to do was turn in the paper, then why wouldn't he do it before work and not the very last minute?

 

[s&k'smom]

WOW jut wow.

 

[copcarguyp71]

It feels both good and bad to know that my own feelings about what I see from the outside are in fact vindicated from within.

Good because my own observations ring true and that I am not a miserable curmudgeon through and through but bad...well, for the same reason. I want so badly to be wrong in the way the parks make me feel but articles like this only serve to reinforce those feelings that I truly wish I could push deep down inside and ignore but sadly on our last trip I guess the proverbial straw landed on the camel's back.

I do think though that if the author is going to consider himself any sort of journalist he should proofread before going to print...so many misspellings in that article. Although Disney cannot be held responsible for the entitled demeanor of guests it is sad to think how much they feed into and promulgate it but society as a whole seems to be quite a letdown anyway from public assistance programs being bilked by fakers and system abusers right up through to companies like IBM not paying any federal taxes. I myself do not think I would have the self control to deal with it. I wonder how the authors tenure at Disney came to an end though. Was it by his own hand....or theirs?

 

[DisneyRoy]

Wow. What an amazing and interesting read. I truly feel sorry for the cast members. I worked for 6 Flags for a number of years in my teens and know what these people go through on a daily...or even hourly basis. And it's definitely not worth what they are getting paid. Will I continue to vacation there? Absolutely. But I also make sure to do it in a respectable manner and tell the cast members thank you at every opportunity that I have.

 

[Bairstow]

Does anyone know more about the plastic/fiberglass boat situation he mentioned?

He says the new boats are causing other problems to the ride; does he mean the return ramp?

 

[Frankie The Beer]

Just a blog post about some guy who probably was fired and wanted to get even. Also I don't know if this blog article should be featured here do to its abundance of vulgar language.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

I never worked at Disney but I wouldn't be surprised if everything he wrote was accurate.
This sense of entitlement is beyond Disney Parks at this point.

Just a few weeks ago, I watched a 30 something man throw a fit (screaming that employees were dumb & deserve to be fired, that he was owed a refund, that he should also get a brand new burger, and leaning behind the counter to throw his meal in the employee trash) in Burger King because they put the cheese on top of his burger instead of in between both patties.

At pretty much every single customer service job I have worked at, I have seen guest with serious entitlement issues. But the writer was correct, it does teach you and humble you. It taught me to speak up for myself and others. I try to be extra kind to people working customer service and if I see someone giving them a hard time, I try to go give them words of encouragement.

Wow. What an amazing and interesting read. I truly feel sorry for the cast members. I worked for 6 Flags for a number of years in my teens and know what these people go through on a daily...or even hourly basis. And it's definitely not worth what they are getting paid. Will I continue to vacation there? Absolutely. But I also make sure to do it in a respectable manner and tell the cast members thank you at every opportunity that I have.

Yup, I worked at Six Flags when I need some extra money before going off to college. By far my least favorite job.
I always visited Six Flags Great Adventure as a guest but working there was horrible.
Guest would lie, pretend they don't speak English, and threaten us until management caved in and gave them what they wanted. No matter what happened, we were punished when things went wrong.

We once had two moms physically fighting in the loading area because "someones child was pushed." Well, we had no choice but to stop running the ride and try to intervene the fight until security could come. (our ride was packed, other adults/children were being hit while these women were fighting and other guest were upset that they were holding up the ride.)
We ended up getting them apart before security & management got there.
We got no pat on the back for taking control of the situation, instead, we all got yelled at for "not making our hourly ride quota because we choose to stop cycling the ride and left our stations." So much for guest safety then!

 

[Gig 'Em Mickey]

Was this written by a middle schooler? Obviously he had a bad experience, but he sounds like he's also part of the entitlement problem. SOme of it is pretty eye opening though, but he also seems like one who has an axe to grind so I'm curious how much was embellished here.

If he doesn't like the pay at Disney, work somewhere else. Or make lifestyle choices that fit the income. I'm sure the pay wasn't kept a secret from him. He knew how much he'd make. The kid with the paper due? Don't wait until the last minute to turn things in. And really? Whining about not getting a christmas bonus? Get over it.

I sympathize with the employees when guests are rude, but that is typical of any retail/hospitality job, and the rest is pretty typical stuff you'll encounter at any job. It is still a job. You won't always get along with the people you work with. People will stab you in the back. You won't always get your way. And sometimes you'll feel unappreciated. Customers will not always be nice. Get over it. Do your job. If you don't like it you are free to choose to work elsewhere.

Seems this guy went in with unreasonable expectations from the start and blames Disney for all the problems he encountered. I don't mean this to defend Disney or some of its business practices, and we all know maintenance of rides is lacking. But for the most part I think this kid has a "welcome to the real world" experience.

And spare me the "underpaid" argument. If you're underpaid either go work somewhere else with higher pay, or develop skills that will get you higher pay. If you're willing to work for a certain rate of pay then you can't say you're underpaid. It's your choice to sell your labor to Disney for $9/hr. No one held a gun to your head and said you had to take this job.

 

[Frankie The Beer]

Was this written by a middle schooler? Obviously he had a bad experience, but he sounds like he's also part of the entitlement problem. SOme of it is pretty eye opening though, but he also seems like one who has an axe to grind so I'm curious how much was embellished here.

If he doesn't like the pay at Disney, work somewhere else. Or make lifestyle choices that fit the income. I'm sure the pay wasn't kept a secret from him. He knew how much he'd make. The kid with the paper due? Don't wait until the last minute to turn things in. And really? Whining about not getting a christmas bonus? Get over it.

I sympathize with the employees when guests are rude, but that is typical of any retail/hospitality job, and the rest is pretty typical stuff you'll encounter at any job. It is still a job. You won't always get along with the people you work with. People will stab you in the back. You won't always get your way. And sometimes you'll feel unappreciated. Customers will not always be nice. Get over it. Do your job. If you don't like it you are free to choose to work elsewhere.

Seems this guy went in with unreasonable expectations from the start and blames Disney for all the problems he encountered. I don't mean this to defend Disney or some of its business practices, and we all know maintenance of rides is lacking. But for the most part I think this kid has a "welcome to the real world" experience.

Or this guy, if he actually did work at WDW, thought working there was going to be like visiting the parks when working at WDW is actually a real job that requires actual work.

 

[Alexis]

Wow. That's definitely a shocker to me.

 

[LAKid53]

Was this written by a middle schooler? Obviously he had a bad experience, but he sounds like he's also part of the entitlement problem. SOme of it is pretty eye opening though, but he also seems like one who has an axe to grind so I'm curious how much was embellished here.

If he doesn't like the pay at Disney, work somewhere else. Or make lifestyle choices that fit the income. I'm sure the pay wasn't kept a secret from him. He knew how much he'd make. The kid with the paper due? Don't wait until the last minute to turn things in. And really? Whining about not getting a christmas bonus? Get over it.

I sympathize with the employees when guests are rude, but that is typical of any retail/hospitality job, and the rest is pretty typical stuff you'll encounter at any job. It is still a job. You won't always get along with the people you work with. People will stab you in the back. You won't always get your way. And sometimes you'll feel unappreciated. Customers will not always be nice. Get over it. Do your job. If you don't like it you are free to choose to work elsewhere.

Seems this guy went in with unreasonable expectations from the start and blames Disney for all the problems he encountered. I don't mean this to defend Disney or some of its business practices, and we all know maintenance of rides is lacking. But for the most part I think this kid has a "welcome to the real world" experience.

And spare me the "underpaid" argument. If you're underpaid either go work somewhere else with higher pay, or develop skills that will get you higher pay. If you're willing to work for a certain rate of pay then you can't say you're underpaid. It's your choice to sell your labor to Disney for $9/hr. No one held a gun to your head and said you had to take this job.

Would YOU accept the $9/hour pay to have guests treat you the way he's experienced/seen? And if Disney ups the hourly rate, who do you think is going to cover that? Us, that's who. I've seen the behavior he wrote about. I've been on the tail end of some of that entitled guest behavior. We've ALL complained about it, some have stated they won't return because of it. And you berate him? I've experienced somewhat disinterested CMs (imagine having to say, over and over, for 8 hours "please keep moving" - I'd need a padded cell after 2 days), but 99.99% of my interactions with front-line CMs have been positive and helpful. I've recommended special tours to friends, not just because the tour was amazing and I learned so much about the park, but because the interaction with the CM guiding the tour was outstanding and made the $201 I paid for the Wild Africa Trek well worth it, so much so I plan on going again. I've worked retail. Yeah, it's a job and so is the pay. But I would hope that if a customer in the store physically threatened or assaulted me, my manager would (1) stand up for me and (2) either escort the ***hole out of the store or arrest him/her.

After reading this, I want to give every CM I interact with a big hug and tell him/her I appreciate them for trying to make my experience magical.

 

[JohnD]

Just a blog post about some guy who probably was fired and wanted to get even. Also I don't know if this blog article should be featured here do to its abundance of vulgar language.

I saw it too and would have posted it myself. I would have added a disclaimer that it contained profanity but that is by no means a reason not to post it. It's worth reading and discussing, agree or disagree.

 

[stevehousse]

Does anyone know more about the plastic/fiberglass boat situation he mentioned?

He says the new boats are causing other problems to the ride; does he mean the return ramp?

I remember on our visit last year with the new boats that right after the drop there is a turn and the boat literally started tipping to the side and water was pouring in and our boat got stuck. It was actually scary.

 

[Gig 'Em Mickey]

Would YOU accept the $9/hour pay to have guests treat you the way he's experienced/seen?

No, I wouldn't. I've chosen another career path. And if employees begin leaving in droves due to the wages and treatment then Disney will open their eyes and change. But as long as people are willing to work, and guests are willing to spend then I think it will continue.

And if Disney ups the hourly rate, who do you think is going to cover that? Us, that's who.

Yep. That's how business works. And if Disney ups their prices to where my perceived value is not worth what I've paid I choose to take my business elsewhere. This guy's perceived value of his labor is higher than what HE HAS CHOSEN to work for. At that point he needs to move on.

I've been on the tail end of some of that entitled guest behavior. We've ALL complained about it, some have stated they won't return because of it. And you berate him?

Nope. Not berating him for guest interactions. Many guests are scumbags, I've seen it too. But he needs to realize that crap is going to happen and learn how to deal with it. If he can't, or it's too overwhelming he needs to re-examine his chosen job.

99.99% of my interactions with front-line CMs have been positive and helpful.

As have mine. And if this guy was a typical CM he probably would've been positive and helpful a majority of the time as well. Not saying he's a bad person.

Yeah, it's a **** job and so is the pay. But I would hope that if a customer in the store physically threatened or assaulted me, my manager would (1) stand up for me and (2) either escort the ***hole out of the store or arrest him/her.

Agree 100%. The customer is not always right. As a manager that has some interaction with internal customers I realize this. I don't think I defended his managers anywhere in my statement, so please don't add words or inference to what I wrote.

 

[LSUxStitch]

Just a blog post about some guy who probably was fired and wanted to get even. Also I don't know if this blog article should be featured here do to its abundance of vulgar language.

We're mostly all adults here, I didn't find the language all that bad.

As a past castmember, a lot of this is sad, but very true. I don't think it's fair to pass judgement on this blogger or assume he was fired (aka TERMINATED) by the way he wrote this. There are far too many sunshine pumpers out there who only see Disney as one thing and don't want to believe there is a much darker side to the parks. He isn't he first one to share the inner secrets on how castmembers are treated by day guests and won't be the last to share either.

From a guests' point of view, everything is roses and lollipops, but they often forget the work that needs to be done for that to happen for them by the workers in the parks. The girl who sits behind cart all day selling ice cream listening to others complain about things non-related to their job, but all you see is the 30 seconds of interaction at that cart.

Again, it's just one bloggers thoughts on working at Disney. He's right when he says that the frontline, underpaid, castmembers are the real show and they're such awesome people.

 

[BJones82]

We always try to thank CMs especially when we are there super late or the hours were extended in the middle of the day like he explained. I do feel his emotions were high when he wrote this and it comes across that he did not plan the blog and it was more of a rant. I think there are a lot of important things stated in there and it is a huge problem that Managers wont stand up for their employees when a guest treats them that way and it is something that should be brought to light. That being said to do this and to instigate change you cannot write an angry blog you have to go about it a different way. I don't think his goal was to instigate change but it was hard to take his points seriously at times because of the unnecessary use of vulgar language and insults to others. Like I said, he clearly was upset and wanted to vent but maybe a blog post about your previous employer of almost 2 years is not the place to vent... It will never go away and will be something a new employer will have to think long and hard about before hiring them.

There are things here that are not Disney's fault that are listed, his iPhone getting stolen is one of them. Also the cast member's paper story is irrelevant to this post... CMs know that hours can be extended randomly and they should have planned better because an hour with travel time to their home I am sure would have left them very little time to do the upload especially if something went wrong like having to stay late for work...

I know there are a lot of sad truths in this blog post and I am sorry for every CM that goes through those things which I am sure they all do, all I can control is how I treat them and I do my best to treat them with respect and show my appreciation. With that being said I just think there is a better way to vent and talk about these issues than how he chose to...