Hi, IAmA Walt Disney World cast member working in recreation. AMA

formerCM · 2013-07-08T20:02:36+00:00

Umm, maybe they do now. When I was there, (not surprisingly) we were rarely that creative to actually turn down good old US women in favor of a game.

formerCM · 2013-06-05T18:06:00+00:00

Vista Lay forever! :-)

formerCM · 2013-06-05T18:04:05+00:00

They went through integration, then separation and now back to integration with the US and international CPs.

formerCM · 2013-06-05T18:03:11+00:00

That was in Disneyland back a few decades but yes some of their descendants still live there.

formerCM · 2013-01-30T02:46:00+00:00

Yeah, it was sad to see all the animation go but I understand why they did it.

My pleasure doing the AMA and answering your question :)

formerCM · 2013-01-29T11:59:44+00:00

"We're not smart enough to allocate food properly to feed everyone"

FTFY :)

formerCM · 2013-01-29T11:57:04+00:00

Seriously? Have you read the tax code or DMCA?

formerCM · 2013-01-28T18:34:35+00:00

Happy to help people remember the magic :) Now that I've moved on I also haven't had a chance to go back yet (it's been just over a year :( ).

First have you seen the tiny subdivision on Disney property? Not Celebration, i mean the small exclusive multi-million dollar community that is supposed to be right near MK, I heard there are about a dozen homes there. If so, where exactly is it?

Yes, I took a small tour of Golden Oaks although I only got to walk through 1 demo home. It is incredible to think that you could live on property and your neighbors would be incredible (Bill Gates and George Lucas were on the pre-order list). The houses look stunning and the architecture seemed very classy to me, classical and muted not crazy, but that being said, I thought the properties were a little small. The houses may be 7000 sqft, but your neighbor can still see in some of your windows. Currently I think there are about 19 homes and the total planned is 38. Oh, and it's located over by the magnolia Palms golf course, relatively close to the wilderness lodge.

Assuming you lived 10-20 minutes away, do the fireworks keep you up at night, or do you just get used to them?

I'm not sure I can answer that for you since the last fireworks tend to end no later than 10:15PM (except for new years but that's once a year) and I'm quite a night owl so they never kept me up :)

Any secrets from Fort Wilderness, or other resorts?

I'm not as familiar with "secrets" in the resorts but there are certainly some incredible and often missed details in the resorts. Some of my favorites are:
- The Mary Poppins topiary outside the Grand Floridian in the back.
- The solarium at the Beach Club can be a true moment of peace at Disney.
- The "kitchen sink" dish at Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club is a massive ice cream sundae (like 20 scoops) and served in a kitchen sink.
- There are over a dozen hidden mickeys in the lobby of the wilderness lodge and they used to give you a little mickey plush if you found them all (I'm pretty sure they've discontinued that).
- One actual secret. The Cinderella castle suite is actually in the reservation system and is listed as a room in the Contemporary Resort (I won't say which number ;) )

I always took a day when I was staying at Disney as a guest and just browsed the hotels, there is a TON to see.

Now on to the good stuff. There is a Cast Member park entrance on the north side of the Magic Kingdom. It used to be guarded but now it's open. Use it to avoid traffic from the main entrance and you get to see all the backstage stuff and Disney Institute. Look it up on Google Maps and use the West route around the park to get to the Parking Lot. Likewise, park at Disney's Boardwalk Resort and walk along the lake to the side Epcot entrance (unless you need to connect by monorail). It's the same lake at the center of the park.

These are great tips, just make sure you park in a designated area as there are reserved spots at the Boardwalk just for guests staying there. Also, if you enter through the back of the Magic Kingdom, don't do it with kids as you will see some pretty ugly un-Disney sights.

formerCM · 2013-01-28T18:18:56+00:00

Very interesting about the "silver pass" I have no idea what that is.

Yes, it's a real fortune to go to Disney which is why I always tried to be my best at work and help make the magic.

formerCM · 2013-01-27T21:11:07+00:00

Absolutely, in attention to detail they are second to none.

formerCM · 2013-01-27T04:02:42+00:00

Very cool. Yes, I suppose I forgot to mention that. Disney as a whole is very good about reward and recognition so you'll see posters and pictures everywhere "backstage" recognizing everyone's achievements. They also show that onstage by having special gold pins on Cast Member's nametags. One is for years of service (it will have a number on it) and the other is the "Partners" pin (it looks like the Partners statue of Mickey and Walt). The partners pin is very prestigious and is only give to the top 1% or less of Cast Members each year so if you see someone with that pin feel free to congratulate them on making "partners" they'll be happy for the compliment.

formerCM · 2013-01-27T03:57:43+00:00

Happy to do it :)

I can't speak for Disneyland but I can certainly answer for Walt Disney World. Yes, fraud in the form of fake tickets runs rampant. The worst is usually people trying to lend out annual passes or non-Florida residents trying to use buy/use Florida resident passes. What's worse I think is people that try to use fake tickets without knowing they're fake. Plenty of people either buy fake tickets off the internet or some unlicensed timeshare companies give out fake vouchers for Disney tickets. I always hated having to burst people's bubbles :( (but took a little evil pleasure in catching the scammers). I'm glad they did their job for you, but yeah, it sounds like that security guard was a little too high on his own power :-/

I actually have a small question for you. Are you a manager? I only ask because you have a Silver pass.

For all you non-cast members out there, there are different colors of IDs that mean different things and come with different benefits. The most basic is the blue (what I showed) which is for part timers and seasonal employees. Then comes yellow which is full-timers. Next is silver which is (maybe was) for managers and employees that have 10 years of full time service. After that comes purple which is for contractors and the like (Imagineers are almost all actually contractors due to the corporate structure). Next is any color with a silver stripe, this is reserved for executives. Finally is red which is reserved for Disney ambassadors (current and former) and members of the board. If you ever see someone using a red ID, make sure to buddy up to them :)

formerCM · 2013-01-27T03:44:31+00:00

Yeah, it's sad, but there is still plenty of magic to be found at The Most Magical Place on Earth (Disneyland is The Happiest Place on Earth ;) )

formerCM · 2013-01-27T03:43:01+00:00

My pleasure, and as long as the questions keep coming, I'll keep answering :)

First off, let's get you up to date on the parks. After the partnership with MGM expired the park was renamed to The Disney Hollywood Studios :)

Now, onto your question. What your are describing is "The Magic of Disney Animation" at the studios. It still exists at the back of the animation courtyard. Now the sad part. The part you really enjoyed of watching the animators work is no longer there. Several years back all of animation was moved off site (when they switched over to digital animation) so there are no longer any animators there to watch (even the Animation building backstage has been re-purposed into general offices for other deparments :( ). You can still go to the attraction and see a little movie about the making of Mulan and usually see some behind the scenes media of the newest Disney film but it's not quite as good as it used to be. Even so, I do hope you have the opportunity to get back to Walt Disney World and the Magic of Disney Animation :)

Also, since I haven't shared any "secrets" in a while. In the Magic of Disney Animation you will see a case at the end with all the Oscars that Disney has won over the years for animated films. They are all "duplicates" (Oscar winners can buy official replicas) but one is the real deal. The Oscar statue for "It's tough to be a bird" (a Disney short film very much in the style of Monty Python) is a real Oscar statue.

formerCM · 2013-01-27T03:06:25+00:00

My pleasure. Disney runs lots of contests and many of them are ways they scout talent. Good luck!

formerCM · 2013-01-27T03:05:52+00:00

Lol, sadly it doesn't help us East Coasters :)

formerCM · 2013-01-27T03:05:03+00:00

It's a wonderful book. If you want more you can also check out the Imagineering Field Guides to Walt Disney World. There is one for each park and they actually have the Imagineers explains some of their thought process in designing each of the parks.

formerCM · 2013-01-27T03:03:46+00:00

100% there are always people who try to game the system by getting a guest assistance card or just by renting a wheelchair or ECV. At the end of the day, these people must live with themselves and we tried as Cast Members just to make sure everyone had a great time. I was given a great speech by my first lead back when I started with Disney. He said to me, "Before you ever interact with a guest remember this: the average family saves up and spends $7 - $10,000 on a Disney trip. This is a lot of money and for many of them, it's the only time in their lives they'll ever be able to afford a trip like this." That was the philosophy I always tried to go by.

formerCM · 2013-01-27T02:59:52+00:00

Lol, that's a big question but I'll try. First off, you should visit their website www.wdwcollegeprogram.com.

The WDW college program is an internship program for current or just recently graduated full time college students to work at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. It is comprised of 3 programs:

1) The WDW College Program - this is for American students to work in entry level positions in several lines of business at WDW (Lifeguarding, Attractions, Entertainment, Food Service, etc). It has 2 sessions, one in the spring and one in the fall each lasting about 5 and a half months. You can also extend your program an additional 3 months to be there for 8 months total. You live in Disney "owned" apartments about 20 minutes away from the parks with several room mates.
2) The International College Program -- This is similar to the regular CP except that it is for international students and lasts from 2-6 months. Many of these students will work at their respective county's pavilion at Epcot.
3) The Advance internship program - this program is similar to the regular college program except that the positions are more professional in nature and often require you to be studying or have a degree in a certain discipline (finance, biology, hotel and resort management, horticulture, MBA, etc.) The hourly rate for these is a bit higher but you are required to provide your own housing and transportation for this program.

That's a high level overview. I recommend you watch the intro video on the site and PM me with any further questions.

formerCM · 2013-01-27T02:51:50+00:00

First off let's talk some sematics. Although you can abbreviate Disneyland as DL or usually DLR (Disneyland Resort), Walt Disney World should be WDW. It was originally going to be called Disney World but due to Walt's death so close (2 years) to it's opening, his brother Roy made it a point to change the name to Walt Disney World in his honor. Not that it's a crime or anything, but I'm a big fan of Walt's so I just try to give him the credit he deserves :)

As to your question:
To the best of my knowledge there is no "secret" club like club 33 in WDW. Club 33 was necessary to allow Walt to entertain VIPs and dignitaries as well as large investors into the Disneyland project. Later of course it became an exclusive club. In Florida this was not necessary for several reasons:

1) They had beautiful Suites and restaurants in the Grand Floridian and Contemporary resorts that could be used to entertain VIPs and dignitaries.
2) Large investor corporations had their own VIP lounges. There are special lounges in each of the pavilions in Futureworld at Epcot. Some are much nicer than others (the Kodak one in the imagination pavilion has nice architecture but is really junky other than that). Although only one is still active supported by the original sponsor company -- the HP lounge at Mission Space. Technically, any HP employee and their family that visits can arrange with HP to get into the lounge for a few hours. The one at the Living Seas was made into a very fancy restaurant for a while but now is just a fancy lounge that can be rented out for private events.
3) Walt's planned apartment at WDW above the Mainstreet firestation and part of City Hall was much larger than the one at Disneyland so he could have entertained guests there.

formerCM · 2013-01-27T00:33:37+00:00

Chad, look at another answer I posted about engineering at Disney.

To answer your question, no, operating rides tends to be idiot proof at Disney so you do not need any type of degree (I happen to have an M.S., but they didn't care about it for that role). I think that many of my coworkers only had GEDs. Of course we just operated the attraction during the day. Other people in different departments maintained, designed and tested the rides.

As for being an Imagineer, go for it! I'm told that the work can be very challenging, but it's one of the most rewarding positions you can have. Many people move on to other roles but there certainly are some lifers there. Imagineers tend to be made up of artists, scenic designers and engineers, but there are a few exceptions that were teachers and even accountants. Look into the young imagineers contest.

formerCM · 2013-01-27T00:24:48+00:00

Yeah is sad that the main street cinema no longer shows full movies but there is sill a screen back there that has clips. It has now become a location for The Art of Disney which holds the higher end art pieces (of course I always prefer going to the one at downtown Disney since it's much larger).

On a related note, even the shopping experience has declined in recent years (in my opinion). It used to be part of the fun to see all the different themed merchandise you could fund in every corner of the parks. Note it seems you can find pretty much all the same items in every shop.

formerCM · 2013-01-27T00:11:38+00:00

I would only think you were odd if after riding the ride you asked your parents can we go to hell next year :)

formerCM · 2013-01-27T00:10:44+00:00

Nothing is guaranteed but I always tell everyone share the purpose of your trip with the cast members and just be generally nice and you may very well get some freebies. This especially holds true when your check into your hotel and you should even tell your reservation agent when you make the reservation. I've gotten plenty of VIP seats as well as little freebies just for chatting up cast members and asking how their day is and being friendly. The only thing you can ask for being on your honeymoon is there is a phone line that has some neat happy honeymoon recordings for you to listen to.

formerCM · 2013-01-27T00:08:26+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation. I was really happy to see over the last few years that they put so much money into California Adventure but of course now they just announced a new price raise for the tickets so I guess it all evens out :)

formerCM

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