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LSPoorEeyorick
01-14-2004, 07:48 AM
Hello, CMs (or, possibly, friends or family members of CMs,)

I am tossing around the idea of getting a secondary part-time job as an Attractions CM. Although I have plenty of CM friends in the Entertainment department, none of them can advise me on Attractions CM benefits... that is, not medical/dental, but the "important" ones (heh,) the sign-in passes to the parks.

Can anybody advise me as to the system, how long it takes to accumulate passes? My Entertainment CM friends said that their passes are good at WDW as well; is this true for Attractions?

Thanks!

Uncle Dick
01-14-2004, 07:52 AM
Originally posted by LSPoorEeyorick
Can anybody advise me as to the system, how long it takes to accumulate passes?
90 days after you start you'll get your first sign in book. Each year, you get a new one.

Until you get your first book, you can still buy discounted tickets at Team Centers or receive the occasional comp pass in the mail. Or you could ask some of your coworkers to sign people in for you and repay the favor when you get your own sign-in book.


My Entertainment CM friends said that their passes are good at WDW as well; is this true for Attractions?
Yep. A mighty good deal, if you ask me.

dude
01-14-2004, 09:50 AM
This is a bit off topic, but I must ask:

I am thinking of applying to work at DLR. Can anyone who works there give me some advice as to what I should do or say that will help me get hired? Please?

I need a job.

Loric
01-14-2004, 10:22 AM
Sign-in books?

You're kidding right? Like little papers you sign people in with..? That sound so ancient..



Or you could ask some of your coworkers to sign people in for you and repay the favor when you get your own sign-in book.

First off, that's a no-no. Specificly stated in the company policies, CMs may not barter or trade or sell admissions, and CMs may not admit guests for fellow CMs. Even if complimentary admission media is given to a third party (such as the 2 twice a year 1 day park hoppers) and the third party sells the admission, the CM will be reprimanded. Anyone found violating the policy will have their pass privilages revoked and may face termination.

Back to the silly-sounding "sign in passes," at WDW CMs after 90 days are issued a Main Gate Pass. It's a blue plastic card with a sleeve ala AP's or such. It admits the CM and 3 guests (standard) or the number of dependants the CM has, 12 times a year. This pass is given to Casual Regular CMs and Full Time CMs, not Casual Temporary or College Program.

Number of hours worked will determine wether you're CR or CT. CR's generally work 2 or more days a week through the year.

Niwel
01-14-2004, 01:25 PM
Just visit our Cast Place section by clicking on the link in my signature. It has anything you want to know about dos and don'ts to being a CM. :)


Originally posted by dude
This is a bit off topic, but I must ask:

I am thinking of applying to work at DLR. Can anyone who works there give me some advice as to what I should do or say that will help me get hired? Please?

I need a job.

Uncle Dick
01-14-2004, 03:52 PM
Originally posted by Loric
First off, that's a no-no. Specificly stated in the company policies, CMs may not barter or trade or sell admissions, and CMs may not admit guests for fellow CMs.
Technically, you are correct. Realistically, it's one of those things that CMs do all the time, and since it really doesn't hurt the company, I don't think there's any harm in doing it.


Originally posted by dude
I am thinking of applying to work at DLR. Can anyone who works there give me some advice as to what I should do or say that will help me get hired? Please?
All the stuff listed at Cast Place is great information. In addition, I would recommend that you expect some questions from your interviewer regarding "diversity." I think it's all rather lame, personally, but Disney (and all the other big corporations) are on a big "diversity" kick these days so it pays to play along.

I was asked questions about my previous work experience and how diversity made the work environment stronger or some such claptrap. Try to formulate some responses in that vein before you go in.

Loric
01-14-2004, 03:58 PM
Originally posted by Uncle Dick
Technically, you are correct. Realistically, it's one of those things that CMs do all the time, and since it really doesn't hurt the company, I don't think there's any harm in doing it.

The company is giving away about $2400 in admission media with a maingate. I don't think asking CMs to respect a few rules is asking for too much.

Loric
01-14-2004, 04:01 PM
Heck, if you use your maingate, your holiday pass, and your summer and winter comps, you can get 10 people in on a single day.

Uncle Dick
01-14-2004, 04:02 PM
Originally posted by Loric
The company is giving away about $2400 in admission media with a maingate. I don't think asking CMs to respect a few rules is asking for too much.
Maybe not. Then again, the managers don't seem terribly vigilant when it comes to enforcing this particular provision (among others). Perhaps they know something we don't.

Loric
01-14-2004, 04:10 PM
Originally posted by Uncle Dick
Maybe not. Then again, the managers don't seem terribly vigilant when it comes to enforcing this particular provision (among others). Perhaps they know something we don't.

No, i'm fairly certain the managers in general dont have a clue. There are of course exceptions, but as a rule, most of them don't have any idea how the attractions or the park operate.

tikiboy
01-14-2004, 04:54 PM
Don't go into attractions!!!

If you do, make sure you get on a slow paced attraction. Preferably one that will allow you to talk to other CMs.

I found attractions to be very boring, and you have no
time to get to know your fellow cast members. The only
exception being Fantasmic.

I worked on Indy and asked to be moved because of the working conditions.(Hot, loud, etc...) and they moved me to Big Thunder. :rolleyes:

I quit 3 weeks later.


But in my first stint at Disneyland, I worked restaurants, where I met a lot of great people(including my wife!)

If I were to go back again, I would go to restaurants in a heartbeat.

Loric
01-14-2004, 04:57 PM
Originally posted by tikiboy
Don't go into attractions!!!

If you do, make sure you get on a slow paced attraction. Preferably one that will allow you to talk to other CMs.



Heaven forbid you work... :rolleyes:

Actually, I formed a very tight knit group of friends working in attractions - you do have to want to work though.

tikiboy
01-14-2004, 06:10 PM
Originally posted by Loric
Heaven forbid you work... :rolleyes:

Actually, I formed a very tight knit group of friends working in attractions - you do have to want to work though.

There is a difference between working, and standing around like a robot pushing buttons. Attractions is not work, it's boredom.

And the fact that now I'm an engineer just goes to show how lazy I am....;)

Loric
01-14-2004, 06:17 PM
Originally posted by tikiboy
There is a difference between working, and standing around like a robot pushing buttons. Attractions is not work, it's boredom.

And the fact that now I'm an engineer just goes to show how lazy I am....;)

Quoth Iam Malcolm: "God help us, our lives are in the hands of engineers."

tikiboy
01-14-2004, 06:32 PM
Originally posted by Loric
Quoth Iam Malcolm: "God help us, our lives are in the hands of engineers."

Hey Man, who do you think designed those attractions you work on? You got it! Engineers :D

Loric
01-14-2004, 06:44 PM
Originally posted by tikiboy
Hey Man, who do you think designed those attractions you work on? You got it! Engineers :D

Actually, the engineers just adapt a system for a concept... Show writers create the parts I enjoy. The ride isn't the important part - that's why we like Disney, we could "ride" anythwere, but we get to experience at Disney.

Engineers *sigh* so often only care about movement and the mechanics, completely forget about theme, story, catharsis and other such factors which are far more important. Motion and means are secondary.

tikiboy
01-14-2004, 06:57 PM
Originally posted by Loric
Actually, the engineers just adapt a system for a concept... Show writers create the parts I enjoy. The ride isn't the important part - that's why we like Disney, we could "ride" anythwere, but we get to experience at Disney.

Engineers *sigh* so often only care about movement and the mechanics, completely forget about theme, story, catharsis and other such factors which are far more important. Motion and means are secondary.

Go tell that to people waiting to go on Mission:Space.

Loric
01-14-2004, 07:00 PM
Originally posted by tikiboy
Go tell that to people waiting to go on Mission:Space.

You haven't noticed the large number of bad reviews? How the story seems truncated?

And people only ride it once.. Body Wars was the same thing at a different period and died a slow agonizing death...

Good thing I actually talk to imagineers and such, so I know you're completely off-base. Otherwise, i'd be worried about the future of attractions.

Loric
01-14-2004, 07:02 PM
Also:

Has anyone ever asked you if you can see past the end of your nose?

tikiboy
01-14-2004, 08:08 PM
Originally posted by Loric
Also:

Has anyone ever asked you if you can see past the end of your nose?

What is that supposed to mean?

I've expressed the opinion that the attractions dept at Disneyland is not fun to work for. Then you started trashing
the engineering profession. Now you're calling me a liar.

The fact being that this has gone off topic, I can see the moderators very soon closing this thread. Especially after
what you've written.

Have fun pushin' those buttons....

marron-cream
01-14-2004, 08:43 PM
At the end of your probation, you received your maingate pass, which isn't actually a little book, it's a piece of paper folded over. At DLR, you are allowed 16 sign-ins a year. There are more blackout days for 2004 than there have been for the last two years. You can use your pass for WDW and DLP, but if I read the latest little bulletin correctly, you yourself have to use your main gate pass to get in those parks, meaning just showing your Cast ID at the Magic Kingdom or Epcot won't be enough. You'll have to sacrifice one of your slots. Cast IDs are still good for admission at DLR though.

To Loric: Many managers at DL are well aware of cast members signing in people for other cast members. They often participate in it themselves. I'm guessing you work at WDW, which would be why you are so unknowledgeable about CM practices at DL. And who cares if our main gate pass is a piece of paper? It serves the same purpose, high tech or not.
And gosh, just because someone didn't think Attractions was the be all and end all of everything doesn't mean you have to rip their head off.

PhilMP
01-14-2004, 09:19 PM
:laughing maniacally:

Finally!!! Somebody who agrees with my entire 'Attractions=Robot CM or Trained Monkey' theory!!

And yes, CMs, including me, sign people in for other people in all the time. My managers do it also, and the Main Gate CMs don't seem to mind, nor do their leads or managers. It's one of those little rules that don't really hurt anybody, since we're not getting an advantage at all from signing other people in, so management just pushes it under the rug.

Ohhhh, and you WDW people are sooooo special, you get a little plastic card and we get a credit-card sized piece of paper.

One more thing, the imagineers need the engineers as much as the engineers need the imagineers. WDI can design the attractions, but who's going to build them? On the same note, engineers can build attractions, but who's going to design them?

Oh, and Loric, watch out for those engineers. One day they're going to make an automated system that's going to make your position obsolete. It's only a matter of time.

Phil

MrVor
01-15-2004, 03:09 AM
Heh, well, vending machines have existed for years...yet somehow you still have a job ;)

Loric
01-15-2004, 05:04 AM
Originally posted by Loric
Also:

Has anyone ever asked you if you can see past the end of your nose?

What saddens me is that none of you know where this quote comes from...

PhilMP
01-15-2004, 09:36 AM
Originally posted by MrVor
Heh, well, vending machines have existed for years...yet somehow you still have a job ;)

Ahhhh, but no machine can be engineered to roll a churro correctly, it's just impossible. It takes a special eye and technique to put just the right amount of sugar on there, and not break the churro. :D

And have you ever seen a machine sell balloons?? Or glow???

Phil