PDA

View Full Version : If I moved to Anaheim and became a cast member...



Pages : [1] 2

letitsnow
06-02-2009, 11:13 AM
would I be able to survive on the pay? We are a family of soon to be 6, and say my hubby still worked at the hospital making about $25/hr would we make it??? I so want to move there!

adriennek
06-02-2009, 11:25 AM
would I be able to survive on the pay? We are a family of soon to be 6, and say my hubby still worked at the hospital making about $25/hr would we make it??? I so want to move there!

What do you do now?

What kind of rent do you expect you can afford?

What will the child care cost? Keep in mind that as a new hire you won't be guaranteed your hours - either how many you'll get or what time of day.

Adrienne

cstephens
06-02-2009, 12:22 PM
would I be able to survive on the pay?

What kind of cast member job are you thinking about? Front-of-the-line as in attractions/foods/etc. or more of a management-level job or an office job in the Team Disney Anaheim building? They're all considered CMs.

danyoung
06-02-2009, 12:59 PM
Off the top of my head I'd say no, you can't make a full income working at DL, at least not at first. You start at the bottom of the pay scale, which I think is around $8/hour these days. And you're not guaranteed a minimum number of hours either, so you may be getting 20 hours instead of a guaranteed 40. Eventually you can work up in seniority to where you'll be making more per hour and guaranteed a weekly minimum. My older brother has been a CM for almost 20 years, and for most of that time it's been his main income. His wife also works full time. They've never been even close to rich, but they've at least been able to pay the bills.

letitsnow
06-02-2009, 01:25 PM
I would really love to work either in reservations. I'm not sure what else I can do. Right now I work in a call center for Kaiser Permanente. I would rather work for a call center where people calling in are happy and not sick!

petesimac
06-02-2009, 01:26 PM
Off the top of my head I'd say no, you can't make a full income working at DL, at least not at first. You start at the bottom of the pay scale, which I think is around $8/hour these days. And you're not guaranteed a minimum number of hours either, so you may be getting 20 hours instead of a guaranteed 40. Eventually you can work up in seniority to where you'll be making more per hour and guaranteed a weekly minimum. My older brother has been a CM for almost 20 years, and for most of that time it's been his main income. His wife also works full time. They've never been even close to rich, but they've at least been able to pay the bills.

Them there's the makings of a pretty good story! Seriously. How did your older brother come to do this and did he meet his wife there at Disney or before. I'd love to hear more. I would like to work at Disney one day, but to do that I'll either have to move back to Orlando (yuck), or to California (can we say expensive). But still, the imagination does wander and I see myself working there happily one day.

fairestoneofall
06-02-2009, 01:40 PM
Off the subject a little bit.....but my dad swears he wants to retire and be a conductor or engineer on the Disney RR at the Magic Kingdom. Funny. He's a train nut, but that is his dream.

Hannahbelle
06-02-2009, 01:56 PM
Funny you say that because my husband and I always joke (but somewhat seriously) about when the kids are on their own moving down to So Cal and work at DL too! He is awesome at sound and lighting so he would want to run Fantasmic and I want to be the person that decorates all the main street windows! We can dream....

Donald Duck Fan68
06-02-2009, 03:01 PM
My wife and I would also love to work at DL someday, after the kids are out and I've retired from education. I'm not sure what I'd want to do, but I've always dreamed about acting, so a character or part in a show, or the like.

jcruise86
06-02-2009, 03:16 PM
I'm also interested in working back in attractions (or maybe guest relations, or custodial) when I'm about 60.

I'm 44, but I felt really old when I went on the subs and told a grey-haired cast member there, "I used to work on these subs over 25 years ago."

For me, nothing beats going to Disneyland with my three-year-old, but I do miss working there.

I wouldn't mind saving money and going back to the days of no internet or cell phones and living in a small apartment, if I could work at Disneyland and had time to read and write.
Then again, maybe I would mind. :rolleyes:

HorizonsA
06-02-2009, 05:56 PM
Being a current Cast Member myself, I think I could help. Starting pay for most roles is $9.05/hour. There are other roles that pay higher, but you need to have the specific skills to perform them. Unfortunately, since Disneyland made it possible for people to apply online from home, applications have been piling up. Before January, you could only apply in person at the Casting Center, making it possible to have an interview the same day you apply, but now you have to wait for them to call you to schedule an interview. I'm lucky to even be a Cast Member right now. I applied back in October of last year and didn't get hired till March because of the enormous wait list and also the economy. From October-April, there was a hiring freeze. They hired me in March for the Spring season, but luckily they've kept me on and now I'm working all through summer and hopefully will go up to a Regular. With the aforementioned said, if you apply now, you will be hired as a Casual Temporary (CT). With this status, you ONLY work during holiday seasons (ie Spring, Summer, Grad Nites, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). You will not receive many hours when you start. But if they decide to keep you, you can apply for a higher status. Oh and when you do start working, you will tend to get all closing shifts, meaning you work till 1 or 2am.

So, my advice to you is if you want to work for Disneyland, you should apply RIGHT NOW to get your name on the waiting list and I couldn't be more serious about that. Working at Disneyland is a lot of fun, but the door to backstage is a hard one to get through right now.

pixar
06-02-2009, 07:47 PM
Oh and when you do start working, you will tend to get all closing shifts, meaning you work till 1 or 2am.

This got me wondering. What shift is most sought after, if the closing shift is the least?

Andrew
06-02-2009, 08:51 PM
I would totally love the closing shift.

HorizonsA
06-02-2009, 08:55 PM
This got me wondering. What shift is most sought after, if the closing shift is the least?


Not all Cast Members dislike working closing shifts. I for one, love it. I get to stay in the park after park hours fixing up my store, then at the end of my shift, I get to walk across the park with the music still on and no guests nearby. It's one of things I look forward to because it makes me all the more happier to be working there. But generally, most Cast Members like to work opening or midday shifts. When you are hired, they make you fill out a planning sheet for them to schedule you properly, but regardless, if you're a new hire, you will work closing shifts and you only work in your land. For the first 120 days of employment, you are "landlocked."

danyoung
06-03-2009, 05:15 AM
How did your older brother come to do this and did he meet his wife there at Disney or before.

My brother met his wife at church. In his early Disney days he also worked a variety of day jobs, at the Orange County Register (newspaper), at a lock manufacturing company, etc. He eventually got to the point (and his kids got old enough to move out and get off the parental dime) to where he could quit the "day job" and keep his DL job. He's actually made several financial sacrifices over the years to keep his dream job. And his family has always been...well, disfunctional, as their dad was working 16 hours a day to try to pay the bills. They've always had financial woes, but for my brother it was all worth it to keep his dream job. He's currently a happy merchandise lead in DCA.


...my dad swears he wants to retire and be a conductor or engineer on the Disney RR at the Magic Kingdom.

Sounds like a great dream. I'm 52, and am seriously planning to retire when I hit 64, move to Orlando, and pilot boats around the property till I'm too old to move!

petesimac
06-03-2009, 07:31 AM
Interesting story, Dan, thanks for sharing. My long range plans have me doing something similar to your plans, although not on the boats. I think I'll probably wait until my kids are out of college and in their careers before pulling the trigger, but I do see myself at WDW when I'm 60+ years old. Let's hope I make it! Who knows, maybe we'll run into each other down the road, as fellow old-guy CMs.

danyoung
06-03-2009, 07:42 AM
pete, I really enjoy chatting with the older CM's in the parks, especially the folks in Epcot who are basically guarding the entryway to some of the private party areas around the World Showcase. They're more or less traffic cops, but they have plenty of time to chat. I talked to one old guy last year whose wife is also in guest relations in the parks. They couldn't have been happier!

xsilverxstarsx
06-03-2009, 08:50 AM
I would really love to work either in reservations. I'm not sure what else I can do. Right now I work in a call center for Kaiser Permanente. I would rather work for a call center where people calling in are happy and not sick!

the park really isnt hiring anyone right now, only casual temporary (seasonal) positions. And I know for a fact that reservations isn't hiring... they just layed off people in April...

Chadsgal
06-03-2009, 12:12 PM
I would really love to work either in reservations. I'm not sure what else I can do. Right now I work in a call center for Kaiser Permanente. I would rather work for a call center where people calling in are happy and not sick!

Their travel reservations starts at $11.55 an hr.

http://disney.go.com/disneycareers/disneyland/travel_reservationist.html

soccerlady16
06-03-2009, 11:19 PM
Am planning to work at the Baby Care Center after I retire! HEHEHE!

foolishmortal
06-03-2009, 11:59 PM
I'd love to be the person who contracts the produce for DL! I almost ...years ago, applied for a DL job when they were recruiting heavy in the AG department at Fresno State.
Alas The Dh and I farm and I also dec. weddings.
Plus After living in BFE for 40yrs i don't think I could live in town.
i know the Dh can't..he can't even go to Fresno with major fits!;)

Now if DL wanted a piece of the Indian/bollywood wedding market I could gladly fill that role after 16 yrs of working with them!:fez:

Hummm chief park decorator! Now I like the sound of that!
Now to just get a piper plane!

Burnt Toast
06-05-2009, 04:06 PM
I would really love to work either in reservations. I'm not sure what else I can do. Right now I work in a call center for Kaiser Permanente. I would rather work for a call center where people calling in are happy and not sick!

I used to work in Reservations at the Walt Disney Travel Company. It's a call center that spans two buildings now and it's a nice place to work. You are technically a travel agent so you get benefits like an IATAN card and such. You will also receive the basic benefits that all non-Seasonal Cast Members get.

You will be offsite, a few miles away from the Resort. That can be a plus or minus, depending how you look at it. Walt Disney Travel includes consumer calls, travel agent/AAA/CostCo calls, Adventures by Disney, and specific market calls. They'll probably add Disney Cruise Line as well when the Disney Wonder relocates to the West Coast in 2012.

According to http://disney.go.com/disneycareers/disneyland/index.html, the starting rate at the Walt Disney Travel Company in the Reservations department is $11.55/hr, which tied for second highest in the "starting rate" at the Resort that is entry-level. If it hasn't changed since I last worked there, which it probably hasn't... pay increases are yearly and are merit-based (that means no fixed pay scale per year) and the department is non-Union. There are a LOT of Cast Members that work in Reservations that have very long tenures.

Hours do tend to vary WILDLY per week, I will say. Some weeks it might be completely slow and you will have very little hours or opportunities to go home early will come up... and some weeks there'll be an unexpected upturn and your managers will be begging you to stay for overtime, work a shorter lunch, or work a sixth day. The "peak" season for Walt Disney Travel is different then it is at the Parks, so keep that in mind.

DVCmom
06-05-2009, 05:19 PM
My DH and I want to move to WDW too once we retire. He is a computer programer and would also navigate the boats. I am an Early Childhood teacher and love to help people plan their vacations, meal reservations, pretty much anything as long as it is in WDW. We have a 4 bedroom house here and would gladly downsize and enjoy the magic.

bag3lbit3s
06-05-2009, 07:04 PM
I would love to work at the place, especially since I'm only 20...but the distance, the money, poor hours, and gas just won't work.

I have plans to retire as an engineer on the train. I'm studying to become an engineer right now. I like to tell people I'd like to be an engineer when I'm older and retire as one on the trains at Disneyland. :D

9volt
06-13-2009, 10:53 AM
When I retire, I would love to work as a fireman for the Disneyland Fire Department. :)