Anyone work at Walt Disney World? (rent, live, move to)

[turtlefire]

Hi! Was wondering if any of you work for the Mouse? If so how is it to work there? Is it as cool as it seems? I'm thinking about applying there when I move to Florida.

[florigidge]

hi, i'm not sure how it is now, but i worked with a really nice man in his early 40s around 1995. he had previously worked at disneyworld and didn't have much good to say about it. he was underpaid for the hours worked, and employees were treated shabbily and with disrespect. he gave me the impression that it was no better than working at a mcdonalds - it is after all, a service industry.

he worked in the horticulture division, i believe, since his training was in that field and his position was apparently a step above an entry level job. but from everything he told me, he was not treated well, and was glad to leave.

and i repeat: this was a very nice man. intelligent, considerate, thoughtful, hard worker, not a trouble-maker. so it forever disenchanted me, so to speak, about ever working for walt disney world.

hopefully, other more recent employees will sign on here and offer more current opinions.

[pianogal]

I have heard good and bad. I know a number of the musicians that work there. You can have a job today and be canned tomorrow. One drummer friend had played there for 22 years, came in one day and was told the venue was changing - his job was history. However, this can happen anywhere it is not specific to Disney.

I know people who work in costuming that love it. One friend is in engineering and works terribly long hours, but is very well compensated and the benefits are wonderful. He is in management however. One friend's parents worked there from the time Disney opened until they retired and now enjoy a nice retirement. They were not management, but in security and costuming.

However, I have HEARD other stories, ones not so positive. I just don't know those people. I have told you the experiences of the people I know firsthand.

[Racelady88]

My husband used to work for Disney. He didn't take anything very positive away from his experience there. The pay was low, and they manage to get most of it back from most of their employees in food during their shift.

[turtlefire]

Thanks for the responses....anyone else???

[loulou_tropicana]

Originally Posted by turtlefire

Thanks for the responses....anyone else???

Hi there, in response to your question, I guess it depends on what you're looking for? is it a long term job/career? I'm from England and got a job with disney for a year, their international programme, this was around 6 yrs ago now but i had the most magnificant time, and everyone I worked with loved it and we can definately say it was the best year of our lives, none of us wanted to leave, the atmosphere was great and disney were great to work for. I met a lot of americans who were working there for the summer and they had a fab time too. Pay isn't great but I worked in food and beverage so I made a lot of tips which enabled me to be able to afford to do all sorts of things like take a cruise round the caribbean, visit new york x2, new orleans, washington DC, go all round florida! I don't know what it would be like to work for them permenant but 1 year was definately not long enough x

[bmurphy]

I know the pay is low. VERY low. I also heard - if this matters - that working in the parks takes away any fun of visiting there. In other words, once you work there, it's not a special place ever again.

[MaryLou2007]

One of our clients works for Disney in the Customer Service dept at WDW. She said IF you can work in management, then yeah, you will get paid a lot. All "cast members" (that is everyone else who is not on the administrative side) will "eat cake", so to speak.

She has been there 3 years, and she wants to get a new job, but has found it to be hard to get a new job. Many people consider Disney workers to be "tainted" as Disney was the only job they could get.

She gets treated like crap, her supervisor called in a meeting to say "he was coming out of the closet and wanted to know if anyone had a problem with it" (many employees felt sexually harassed by it, but were afraid to report as the GM is also gay), and she only gets .50 cent raises every year. She makes $10.50 now. That is after 3 years. You will start between $7.50 - $9.00/h at Disney.

Honestly, stay away from Disney jobs. They jobs suck and they pay nothing. You cannot afford anything @ $9.00/h, believe me, just rent will be $900/month at a studio. You will be out in the heat all day and the "magic" will be shattered once you work there.

But again, if you cannot find any other job, then go for it. Desperate people have to do desperate things...

Ps. If you are stuck on working for a park, try Universal or Sea World or Discovery Cove. You will be treated better and maybe even make more Money. Disney just sucks.

[RavenRose]

SeaWorld treats their employees very very well, with decent (not the best) benefits.

Universal has great benefits (very cheap with some of the best hospitals in the area), but not so great pay and, depending on the position, sometimes not treated the best.

I have worked for both, and would consider going back for a second job. Actually, I still work at Universal, have for over 2 years, albeit in different departments, and while it hasn't always been the greatest, I wouldn't give it up.

SeaWorld has a reputation for treating the animals badly, but from working there, I can tell you firsthand that they are almost treated better than the team members, lol . So don't worry about that if you apply there.

I've personally heard bad things about Disney and the way they treat their employees.

[luvthatmouse]

Seasonal or part time is great if you are going to be hourly. If you are full time I would not want to be in an hourly position. Salaried is good but still less than most salaried positions in other areas. It is VERY hard to get a salaried position-lots of people trying for it.