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[Euro1989]

Hi all,

So when I first introduced myself on this forum a long time ago, I mentioned that I once worked as a Cast Member at Walt Disney World and a few people asked me to post about my experience there, I remembered this before so I thought better late than never!

I was a Park Greeter at Disney's Animal Kingdom (I am now biased in the fact that AK is my favourite park). My costume consisted of maroon shorts, brown shoes and a yellow shirt with pink and green dinosaurs on it. I remember my first day after travelling on my own half way across the world. I was so scared meeting my roommates at Patterson Court for the first time and getting a bus to Wall-Mart and deciding what I would need (I had never lived away from home before). I have been travelling two days straight, from Liverpool to London, stop over, London to Orlando, Orlando to my housing. I was so sleepy but excited, if a little lonely. After an awful night sleep (I woke up in the middle of the night covered in ants, my bed was infested! Spend the rest of my time there on the sofa!) I got up and went to my first class, Disney Traditions, I waited in line with everyone else and when I got to the door I was looked up and down, the man whispered to the woman next to him who turned around, looked in a box and passed me a plastic bag with soap and a razor. The man then told me where the bathroom was and said to enter the class I needed to shave so I has the Disney look. I thought what the hell have I got myself into. I returned clean shaven to complete the class and and work through my Disney Traditions work book, which I still have and successfully passed. I was then told my park and my job. I was thrilled, you see Animal Kingdom closed the earliest so I never had late shifts, also I was outside all day talking to people and having a great time, most people agreed that I had been given one of the best roles.

Being a Cast Member is totally surreal, the Disney Point, the way you are meant to pick up litter, how you are meant to know what the guest needs before they ask you, how you are never to say no but give an alternative, how 13 hour shifts nearly finish you off. But the benefits are amazing, for one you are working in the most magical place in the world and to add to that you have free access to all Disney theme parks and water parks whilst you are there. I also got a Florida resident pass for Universal, there was always something to do. I never had more than 4 hours sleep as I didn't want to miss out on a thing. I made amazing friends, visited Miami, hired a car and went to the beach, had a pool in my apartment complex, literally never stopped smiling. But from then on I became a life long Disney fan and fell in love with WDW and DLP.

I may add more to this or if anyone has specific questions I am happy to answer

[Alexz]

Really nice to read about your time as a Park Greeter! I have always wondered how it is to be one.

[moonloo]

I could read this stuff all day, thank you for sharing! I love finding out little insider tidbits like the way CMs pick up litter, I find myself seeing it when Im there and I love it!

[Euro1989]

Awwww thanks for the nice words, trying to think if there is anything else I can you in on haha! I will come back to that one!

[guest8408]

Aaaaah, you're so lucky! Glad you had such an amazing time, I would love to do this too

[DLRP Roundup!]

Fair bit to ask, if you don't mind:

1. Why 13 hour shifts?

2. How often was the park undergoing small maintenance - small paint jobs, new fencing etc?

3. Any secrets on the upcoming night entertainment or new stuff coming to AK?

4. What did you enjoy best about being a cast member?

5. What really annoyed you as a cast member?

6. What would surprise us most?

[Euro1989]

Fair bit to ask, if you don't mind:

1. Why 13 hour shifts?

2. How often was the park undergoing small maintenance - small paint jobs, new fencing etc?

3. Any secrets on the upcoming night entertainment or new stuff coming to AK?

4. What did you enjoy best about being a cast member?

5. What really annoyed you as a cast member?

6. What would surprise us most?

Firstly sorry for the late reply! Here are my answers

1. Well this is an interesting one, a lot of us who were there on the College Programme would be given 13 hour shifts, half spent on welcoming guests and half spent saying goodbye. That way guests would see the same faces at the beginning and at the end and therefore feel like we had been on the adventure with them.

2. Up to four times a week, if I noticed something I would let a Manager know, few days later it would be sorted. Although it was easier in AK as the park as a much more lived in feel.

3. No sorry, it was 5 years ago now and most of the Managers I knew have moved on to other areas/parks/roles.

4. Being part of the Disney magic, loved wishing people to have a terrific adventure each day, talking about what they had done or what they where going to be doing. Having lunch with the charatcers in the canteen was a hoot too!

5. Some guests sometimes could be very impatient. On one occasion a man who was pushing his wife in a wheel chair threw his tickets at me when he got to the gate so I had to pick them up off the floor. Whilst I was doing this he opened the pram gate and walked in with his wife, I checked his tickets and none were valid so he pushed the wheelchair past me saying to check again and went over my foot with the wheelchair. I was in agony and security had to go find him and ask him to leave.

6. The underground city at Magic Kingdom, its surreal!

[moonloo]

There is an underground city!!!? Wowsers that sounds amazing!!!

If I could have my time again, I would definitely have made it a goal to become a cast member!!!!

Thank you for your answers!!

[DisneyRon]

There is an underground city!!!? Wowsers that sounds amazing!!!

If I could have my time again, I would definitely have made it a goal to become a cast member!!!!

Thank you for your answers!!

How do you think all those CMs and characters get around the park when it's in Phase A closure due to crowds.

The entire Magic Kingdom is slightly elevated above the surrounding area and there's a huge network of tunnels underneath the park purely for logistical reasons (staff and everything else). I can certainly imagine that being the most surreal sight at WDW, seeing the huge logistical nightmare that is keeping that massive park running smoothly.

[moonloo]

Why, I guess I never really thought about it DisneyRon, Disney is magical after all, so no need for the likes of me to consider logistics until it is presented by someone in the know 

I love the idea of there being a whole secret tunnel system, I know some towns in the UK have tunnel systems below them too which I LOVE!!
I have no idea what a Phase A closure would be, but I guess I just assumed like at DLRP, when it is crowded and characters have to get around, they just have CMs beating a trail through the visitors for them!

[DisneyRon]

Why, I guess I never really thought about it DisneyRon, Disney is magical after all, so no need for the likes of me to consider logistics until it is presented by someone in the know 

I love the idea of there being a whole secret tunnel system, I know some towns in the UK have tunnel systems below them too which I LOVE!!
I have no idea what a Phase A closure would be, but I guess I just assumed like at DLRP, when it is crowded and characters have to get around, they just have CMs beating a trail through the visitors for them!

Phase A Closure is what happens when the park is so crowded that they close the entrance of the park, and tell people with tickets to visit one of the other parks instead, it's literally the maximum capacity of the park.
They usually don't reopen the park until the crowds drop to a more acceptable level. EasyWDW mentioned it in his piece about the New Year’s Eve celebrations, as the park is really crowded then

New Year’s Eve Walt Disney World Wait Times @ EasyWDW

Magic Kingdom went into Phase A closure at 9:30 in the morning, and didn't reopen until 17:30 in the afternoon.

Staff needs to get around, Characters with CMs would probably be fine doing it like DLP, but garbage disposal and stuff like that also runs all day, and it's easier to do all that underground. Also, it prevents Characters that aren't supposed to be in a certain area from showing up there, they can just get to where they need to be underground.

[norhel]

Phase A Closure is what happens when the park is so crowded that they close the entrance of the park, and tell people with tickets to visit one of the other parks instead, it's literally the maximum capacity of the park.
They usually don't reopen the park until the crowds drop to a more acceptable level. EasyWDW mentioned it in his piece about the New Year's Eve celebrations, as the park is really crowded then

New Year's Eve Walt Disney World Wait Times @ EasyWDW

Magic Kingdom went into Phase A closure at 9:30 in the morning, and didn't reopen until 17:30 in the afternoon.

Staff needs to get around, Characters with CMs would probably be fine doing it like DLP, but garbage disposal and stuff like that also runs all day, and it's easier to do all that underground. Also, it prevents Characters that aren't supposed to be in a certain area from showing up there, they can just get to where they need to be underground.

WDW has infact 6 different phase closings.
See here: http://www.wdwmagic.com/park-closing-phases.htm
Phase A closings:

Phase A Closing

No admission of guests with one day tickets, and no admission of guests even with FastPass+ reservations unless they have one of the following:

WDW Resort Guests, including The Four Seasons Resort, Swan, Dolphin or Shades of Green, Hotel Plaza Boulevard hotels arriving by bus (Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort Hotel, The Buena Vista Palace, DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel, B Resort, Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort, Hilton), Golden Oak residents and guests.
WDW Premier Passport, Annual & Premium Passholders
Guests with Park Hopper tickets re-entering or crossing over from another WDW Theme Park
Guests with Memory Maker
Guests with dining reservations
Magic Kingdom Guests with reservations for Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, Harmony Barber Shop or The Pirates League.

At New Years Eve, MK went Phase A at 925 am, Phase B at 145 pm, and open to all at 530 pm
http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/magic-kingdom/news/31dec2014-magic-kingdom-currently-closed-to-some-guests-due-to-reaching-capacity.htm

The park is full at phase 4, witch I believe is at around 100.000 guests (I'm not exactly sure on that number)

[DisneyRon]

The park is full at phase 4, witch I believe is at around 100.000 guests (I'm not exactly sure on that number)

Cool, more knowledge for me, I did not know most of that. Thank you for posting it.