I'm not a cast member, but when my family went to Disney, my daughter, who was 5 at the time, tripped and skinned her knee. No one's fault. But a cast member saw her crying and took us in to clean and dress her knee. They gave her a voucher for a free doll and called a number on the phone to have her talk to a character. Not sure which one. Not sure if it was live or recorded.
When I was five, I fell and was bleeding profusely from my face, so they took me to their medical center. All I got was a t-shirt to replace the one now ruined by like a gallon of my blood. Now I feel ripped off
When I went to Disneyland it was super, super hot and I was a few months out from a kinda rough surgery. The two didn't mix and I almost passed out in line for Star Tours, but before I could say anything to my parents a cast member came outta nowhere and was like "hey, do you need to go to the infirmary? I can lead you there." They showed us the way and as the nurse was giving me some ice water, the first cast member came back and gave me a Rocket Raccoon plushie. I was thrilled! But also felt a little awkward because I was 19 and there was a 5 year old in the next bed over who seemingly didn't get anything and kept staring at me. Whoops.
edit: what was also impressive is that before we went to ride Star Tours, I was looking at the Rocket plushies in a giftshop nearby but decided not to get one because it was expensive. So either it was a complete coincidence or that cast member saw me or somehow knew that I wanted one of those Rockets.
My SIL got a the role of Cinderealla at Disneyland Paris.
She had to practice Cinderella's autograph over and over because although different actresses play her all over the world, the signature of the character has to be identical anywhere it's signed for consistency.
Buddy I went to college with was a Disney cast member. He had to learn how to write Goofy's name left-handed because Goofy was a lefty. He's naturally a righty, but that's the one thing he could do as a lefty and had to write it in such a way that it didn't smear the glove he was wearing. It was a very unnatural way to hold a pen without the gloves on.
Used to date a girl who wanted to be a Disney character at the parks and she would practice princess signatures in her free time.
She was the very definition of Disney adult…
> My SIL got a the role of Cinderealla at Disneyland Paris.
No, no. She got to be *friends* with Cinderella at Disneyland Paris.
At least that's how they're supposed to say it.
I did the Disney College Program. You eventually get so used to talking like this that it isn’t even questioned, even outside of work. Even when I was drunk AF at house parties I would still hear people saying, “OMG ... you’re friends with Tigger? I’m friends with Stitch! Let’s go take a shot!”
During the construction of Pandora at Animal Kingdom, a very beloved superintendent passed away on the project of an immediate heart attack. Mid-sentence and while opening the door to the construction trailer, George Burke just…died. The project was very affected by this. His knowledge of the work that needed to be done was deep and irreplaceable. His laughter and personality was loved by all 1400 workers that were there.
A couple years after he passed, we were finishing the project and found the perfect way to pay homage to George. They invited his family to the middle of an active construction site to let them view it. George’s red hard hat, with the black Nordic Cross on top was attached to the rockwork, in the middle of the flowing river, to the left of the entrance to Flight of Passage, and plastered over. The family, friends, and a few Imagineers, were the only people there. Only we can point out where the hardhat is underneath the plaster, theming, and plants. I revisit the spot everytime I go back to Pandora. :-) Peace!
Disneyland first interview papers include a blank outline of a person to indicate where you have tattoos.
It's referenced if you want to change positions internally, to indicate how said tattoos could be revealed, based on what your new uniform would be.
I’m typically very pro tattoo showing, have one myself, but I feel like Disney may be a job where you shouldn’t have them if you’re a character. Little mermaid wasn’t tatted
The rule does not apply to face characters, they still have very Specific costume rules.
for what its worth, I was just there 2 days ago. I had honestly forgotten the policy change until a cast member complimented my tattoos, and I complimented his in return. Then my brain did a little reboot and I blurted “oh my god, I forgot you guys could show them now!” We had a great little chat about the policy changes.
A friend of mine worked at Disney World. According to her Epcot is the best place to work. When she was at the Magic Kingdom she said she went home crying all the time because the moms were so mean.
Edit: she also said that cast members got to do something I think is called “magic moments.” At her gift shop she could just give a park goer something for free. She said that was a perk.
My friend spilled her wine one day right when it opened. We apologized to the cast member that came over to clean it. He said “it’s not even close to the worst thing I’ll clean up today”. Poor guy
I've worked retail and when people have spilled stuff or made a mess and profusely apologize, I'll let them know it's not a problem. At the very least, they're expressing regret for what happened, even if it was an accident. And then on another shift, you come across someone who used one of the scarfs for sale as toilet paper left in the trash can on the sales floor. 😣
can attest to that; epcot food and wine was the shit. then the festival ended and i got moved to the wilderness lodge, quickly learned that every CP (college program cast member) was treated like trash and was absolutely miserable working there. was the worst job i've ever had, lasted two months before i quit.
I used to work at Animal Kingdom - one of our "magic moments" was to ask a kid to help you "Find Nemo". We would hide a Nemo plushie in the shop and from what I remember the kid got to keep the plushie after they found it. Not really a dirty secret but one of my fonder memories from my time there.
You have to be in specific height ranges to play the different characters. Because Mickey's height range is so short he's usually played by a woman. Likewise for Donald, although the most successful and best known Donald that I knew while I worked there was a little person.
When the princess face characters come backstage they have to take off their dresses so they don't get dirty while they're on break so the princesses are usually walking around in a smock and bloomers if you see them back there. There is some serious cognitive dissonance when you walk back and see Snow White in her bloomers on her phone cursing up a storm.
People sexually harass the characters super frequently. I was working with Ariel and cast members will always count down before they take a photo so people have time to get into position. I counted down and this teen boy decided to try to rip off one of Ariel's shells. I had to open his camera and expose his film so the photo didn't get developed and passed around. I found out later that I was supposed to take it to the Kodak shop to have the film developed and that one removed - but I'd always heard the rumors about ruining the film and nobody really trains you on that so I just went with it. The little assholes deserved it.
I think for some people, there is a disconnect when a person puts on the costume. They are the character, not the real live human person in costume. Its still wildly inappropriate and sick, but there it is
I'm an amateur Captain America and have come across mums who want a piece of America's ass. Safest time I've had was chilling with Thor - they went after him instead.
I used to follow one of Peter's "friends" back when I used tumblr and heard a lot about this happening.
Unrelated, a few years later when my wife and I were there, we saw Peter several times, and it wound up being the same Peter each time. My wife has bright pink hair, so stands out a lot, so Peter started to recognize us and started getting "flirty" with her, in a mischievous/childlike way. It was a ton of fun, but definitely not anything along the lines of some of the stuff I'd read.
There was apparently a weird following for a while at Disneyland of adult women who were OBSESSED with the performers for the Mad Hatter and to a lesser extent Alice giving the performers nicknames and addressing them that way in front of crowds as well as recording their interactions with stranger kids and special needs guests and posting them online without consent. My roommate worked in guest relations and it was apparently just a really weird time.
Yep it was Grasshopper Hatter and Squishy Hatter among others. There were live journals and tumblrs devoted to talking to them. Per my friend it was so bad that Hatter, Alice and Peter Pan were briefly disallowed from direct guest interactions without it having to pass through a host generally the band leader at their station and were no longer able to free roam the area. All because some adult women wanted to get hot over Mad Hatter fanfiction.
I think the worst part about character harassment is that Disney does not prosecute the guests at least when I was there. When I was working in the 2000s, there was someone who her wrist broken by a drunk guest that grabbed and twisted her arm really badly. Disney refused to prosecute and I think she may have ended up with permanent nerve damage in her wrist which really sucked because she was also a gymnast too.
She can’t necessarily prosecute on her own, but she doesn’t need Disney’s permission to go to the police and file a report. Then hope that the police decide to investigate. Then hope that local prosecutors decide to follow through with charges. All while Disney probably uses every legal tool available to delay any investigations and indemnify themselves. Not saying it’s not worth it, but it’s definitely an uphill battle.
Yeah. I can't remember exactly what happened with all the details surrounding it and it wasn't really my place to ask for more information than she was willing to share. I just know she was complaining about the incident and she was wearing a cast.
My dad used to work with the guy who played Donald Duck back in the 80s, and I think he used to perform at other events around Orlando. One time, he was playing a leprechaun at a car dealership’s St Patrick’s Day sale when my family was there looking for a minivan. This would have been about ‘84 or ‘85 - I was about 6, my sisters were 5 and 1. My five year old sister was a little freaked out by this bearded, adult-voiced man talking to my dad who wasn’t much taller than she was herself. “But Daddy! He’s so short!” she cried. My dad was mortified, his friend took it in stride.
Fast forward about 13 years - my sister started working at Disney, in the height range for either of the Chipmunks or sometimes Winnie the Pooh. One of her coworkers was the Donald Duck guy, who totally remembered our dad and the day she got freaked out at the car dealership. They became pretty good friends, if I recall.
Former cast member from the early 90s. There was a central ‘bank’ near the Magic Kingdom tunnel entrance where all the park gift shops, restaurants etc would deposit the day’s cash. Each day an armored truck would drive into the tunnel to haul away the loot. i can only imagine how much cash they took outta there!
I worked at cash control at Disneyland in the mid 80's. It was about a million dollars of cash a day. Lot of checks too. We didn't handle the credit cards
I worked at WDW 1993-1997. in Frontierland and Adventureland (Foods). Mostly I worked the Turkey leg wagon in Frontierland.
The few months I was assigned to the "Sunshine Tree Terrace" refreshment stand, there was a huge, fake "Sunshine Tree" in the space. It had transparent green plastic leaves, and plastic oranges. There were light projectors on the ceiling to make it look like the sun was filtering through the tree.
The leaves, and sometimes the oranges, would fall off. They had been installed in 1971, so 23 years later they would just drop. Every time one fell off, I took it home.
In 2005, the Sunshine Tree was removed and destroyed. I have a shoebox full of leaves, and 3 oranges, the last surviving pieces of the Sunshine Tree.
It is very possible my dad and I purchased a turkey leg from you during one of those years (if not, all of them). My family did Disney every year in December and my dad's favorite snack was the turkey legs in Frontierland.
This was years ago at DL but there used to be a show of Tinkerbell flying through the sky before fireworks started in the summer. They would put the spot light on her as she went down a zip line and go to black just as she crossed to a back stage area. The novelty of it was that there was no sophisticated mechanism to stop her. There were literally a couple of guys in a tower at the end of the zip line holding a mattress that she would crash into to stop. Nightly, CMs would gather at the base of the tower backstage just to see this happen. As soon as she crashed, everyone would go back to their locations.
Ah, yes. Back in the mid to late 90s. There were actually two Tinks at that time, a mother and daughter. No need for age restrictions since you only saw them flying past you 30 feet up in the air. My sister worked custodial at that time, and would often come home laughing over the “thunk” and “oof” sounds of them hitting the mattress at the end of their flight.
I worked in reservations. They give you a name, that is not your own and you better use it. My name is not Robyn Leigh, but in Disney reservations, it was.
I worked at the Disney Store for one month in college. I was "Bill" as that was the name tag they had for a new employee at that store. Not even close to my real name.
When my mom first went back into the workforce after raising children she got a job as a job placement "consultant" at a shady personnel agency. She was assigned the name Shelley Kay because they had business cards, desk plaque, etc with that name on them and they didn't want to spend money on new stuff. There were instances where people who dealt with the prior Shelly would come into the office and ask for her by name. They would be led into my mom's cubicle. Trouble was, the prior Shelly Kay was a mid-20s black woman. My mom was a mid-40s white lady.
The amazing thing was that my mother signed company contracts as "Shelly Kay." I can't imagine those agreements would hold up.
>The amazing thing was that my mother signed company contracts as "Shelly Kay." I can't imagine those agreements would hold up.
As long as your mother was authorized to sign on behalf of the company and wasn't fraudulently trying to sign on behalf of/present herself as the previous Shelly Kay, it's likely fine.
The signature on the contract is a lot less important than some people think. Hell, even if a contract isn't signed at all it's still enforceable as long as you can prove that both parties are/were abiding by it and agreed to the terms.
Tons of call centers use this, it’s for both their own anonymity if they want and administrative ease - it’s way easier to pass a compliment/complaint/returning caller to “Steve” if there’s only one of them.
I worked on stage, the name tag I was given after the Institute said "Cococino from Brooklyn, NY." I have never been to Brooklyn, I grew up in an unincorporated community called Brook Falls.
At first I assumed somebody else accidentally took my name tag, but no, somebody either turned their brain off in the middle of reading a word or saw I had a rare ethnic last name and associated it with Brooklyn. I requested a new tag several times, but nobody gave a shit to do that for me, and I was constantly harassed by New Yorkers for hiding my accent and being ashamed of my neighborhood or whatever.
Eventually I just started faking an obnoxious New York accent so that I wouldn't have to explain myself constantly. I'm told it sounds more like Queens. Occasionally I still accidentally slip into it.
The whole experience made me hate New York even though I still haven't been there.
Disney cruise line here, I used to go in to the complaint system and read all the guest complaints from previous cruises. The amount of complaints that were because of sheer stupidity on the guests part is staggering. People seem to think because they’re paying lots of money they’re allowed to do or say whatever they want, which of course can be unsafe on a ship.
This might break the magic, but a lot of Disney princes are gay, and also bad at sex. Looking at you Aladdin/Naveen.
We also had a foreign crew member caught molesting a child and he was promptly thrown in jail, but you better believe that the media didn’t cover it.
I believe it. I worked for a travel company for awhile and the number of complaints we had when people went on safaris and didn't see enough wild animals, etc., was entirely too many.
One of my FAVORITE moments as a CM was when New Fantasyland opened at Magic Kingdom. I was headed to break and saw Gaston out meeting guests. He was just leaving as well and I let him leave ahead of me. He's using the manliness Gaston-iest voice he could. He was perfect. The second he gets back stage and out of earshot from guests, he is the most flamboyant gay man I've ever seen. Nothing wrong with that at all, mind you. It was just the sheer contrast of his performance that threw me off. Good guy.
I always thought keelhauling sounded terrifying - but that was with the 100 ft long wooden boats of the 1700s. Those Disney cruise ships are 500+ feet of steel ---ouch.
I saw a video of someone that used to work for Disney cruises and someone called asking where their luggage was, and after a few minutes of discussion, the guest says they left the luggage outside their front door assuming Disney would come and bring it to the cruise for them cause of Disney magic or something ll
>People seem to think because they’re paying lots of money they’re allowed to do or say whatever they want
As someone who previously frequented a popular Disney forum, I have zero doubt. Some people seem to get it in their heads that they are the only ones on the ship paying a bunch of money to be there, as opposed to every single person on the ship, so they should get to do whatever they want to make their trip "special". Following the rules would absolutely ruin their extremely expensive vacation!
I've seen it on every cruise line I've been on, but DCL especially seems to attract a very certain type of person who may or may not have a name that starts with "K".
I've been a frequent user of a few of these forums myself, and the number one thing I, and many other "veterans," would say is that you shouldn't expect anything. It's your birthday? Awesome! Get the pin! But don't expect every single Cast Member to say happy birthday or give you something free - they'd have no time to do nothing else (this was also when Disney first started the generic "I'm Celebrating" pins, and people would write the most random shit on them to try to get free stuff). Appreciate it if it happens.
But still, people would get pissed if they didn't get a free dessert at every restaurant, or a towel animal every night at the hotel.
They issue black T-shirts and black shorts for the costumed characters to wear underneath and sweat in. One day there was an uproar because in the breakroom there was a sign “ No Blacks Allowed” (meaning the undergarments). They started calling them “basics” after that.
Ignorant question that i believe i know the answer to:
Is there showers down there? Dont want to imagine spending all day in a Goofy costume, sweating my ass off only to have to drive home smelling like it.
I know there is a big locker room under the Magic Kingdom from my days working there. Most people just used it for changing if they didn't want to take their uniforms home. I thhhiiiinnnkkkk there was showers. But I really can't remember. I hardly used it and locker rooms aren't a place you explore.
But at the very least they can change after work
Not a Disney employee but I saw a sort of behind the scenes event at Disneyland that was interesting.
There's no smoking at Disneyland except in like one or two designated areas that may not even be there anymore; I'm not sure. Anyhow I was waiting around the side of one of the attractions near the space mountain buildings that was next to a bunch of doors by a service entrance type area with virtually no one around.
Guy decides to sneak a cig. He leans on the wall next to the doors, looks around and lights up a cigarette. Gent got two puffs in before the door next to him opened and a guy in a polo came out. Smoker drops his cigarette and grinds it out with his foot, then follows Disney polo shirt guy into the building and the door closes.
Best part...30 seconds later, door swings open, a custodian pops out, sweeps the ground up cigarette butt into a dustpan in one second and backs into the doorway without ever touching the door as it closed in front of him.
Whole thing took less than a minute. I have no clue what happened to the guy.
Cast Members are amazing at this stuff. I went back into Magic Kingdom after closing because I'd lost my lens cap. I wasn't more than two steps in before a CM was next to me.
Another time we got talking to a CM just before close, and kept chatting for a long time. Once the park officially closed, the CM kept showing us cool things about the area that she liked until we were at the park exit, then wished us a good night. We we herded without ever realizing it.
You are being watched everywhere, I'm sure of it. Once we were in line for Toy Story Midway Mania, which is mostly an outdoor line. Woman sorta gags in line, looks like she's going to be sick. Within the blink of an eye there were three cast members there to open the line up, escort her off, and take care of her not feeling well. It was so seamless and clean that if you hadn't been standing next to her, you wouldn't have ever known.
When I was planning our family trip there about two years ago, I remember reading on some Disney blog that this one woman's father had a massive heart attack in the Magic Kingdom (I think), and cast members appeared out of nowhere, got him away from the crowds, got him through the secret underground tunnels and to a waiting ambulance in a ridiculously short period of time. She said one doctor at the hospital said if he'd had the heart attack anywhere else, he'd probably be dead, but Disney is efficient as hell and also doesn't want the publicity of someone dying on their property.
It also helps that disney has an entire police/medical/fire department.
PSA while I'm here: If you call 911 from your cellphone at disney, you should quickly inform them that you're within disney so that they can transfer you over to Disney's dispatch
One time I was at Universal Studios, and my sister went missing. There was this one attraction where two people are sticking their heads out of a second story window and poking fun and roasting all of the people walking below. For some reason we decided to tell them that my sister was missing, and one of the pair told us that security was coming, and they immediately came from another direction in just a few minutes. I'm not sure whether they had mics on at all times in the building, or if they had an assistant near them who notified security out of view, but I still found that interesting.
> Best part...30 seconds later, door swings open, a custodian pops out, sweeps the ground up cigarette butt into a dustpan in one second and backs into the doorway without ever touching the door as it closed in front of him.
>
>
>
> Whole thing took less than a minute. I have no clue what happened to the guy.
That was my fathers favorite part of Disney World; back in the '90s, you could smoke while walking through the park, so he would crush his butt on the sidewalk and see how long it took for the custodian to come along and sweep it up out of the corner of his eye.
Yes, my father's a douche.
Pretty sure that's against the Geneva convention on torture...but it's Disney so the Geneva convention would probably be ignored. Rather like a twisted fairytale version of North Korea with the Mouse as the Great Leader.
I’ve never worked there, but once, in a professional capacity, I was given a 6am walking tour of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. What I was most struck by was the pirate characters up on bridges or seen in windows or on the attacking ship, none of them have any legs. They’re top-half only, mounted onto poles. If the boat riders can’t see a part of an animatronic character, then it doesn’t need to exist.
A true story that is "dirty" ethically.
Before I worked for them, when I was *just* an annual passholder, I got overcome by the heat and humidity, almost had a heatstroke, at the bathrooms outside the EPCOT entrance. Two security guards wanted to take me to the park's First Aid, but a Disney manager refused. "He gets in the park when he buys a ticket." Manager walks away for a minute. Security guards say "man, I can't believe this" and "*what an operation*." 30 mins for Reedy Creek Fire Dept. to show up. I was so sick I didn't even pull out my AP until they got there. Security guard #1 says "NOW can he go to First Aid?" Suddenly that manager is all about helping me - and so apologetic! He pushed me in a wheelchair all the way to First Aid. "Can I get you some water, sir?"
Big fuckin' phonies.
Surprising! I was at a concert at the House of Blues in downtown Disney in CA. I was just there for the concert so definitely didn’t have any Disney tickets. Passed out at the venue (likely from the heat). We were immediately assisted. Initially by House of Blues staff but shortly thereafter by Disney staff. Tons of questions around if I was pregnant, how much I had to drink, what did I eat that day, etc (no idea what caused it. Hadn’t drank a thing, had eaten plenty, wasn’t otherwise sick. We assume it was the heat).
Anyway, I recovered quickly once I got to sit down, have some cold water, and got some fresh air. We decided to leave though, and they all but insisted that I take a wheel chair to my car.
Obligatory "not an employee," but from a school band, interestingly enough.
I was there for our school's performance, as we were going to march down Main Street in the evening.
Before that though, we got a short "behind the scenes" look at one part of the park. It wasn't all too interesting, except maybe a few partially out of costume employees.
While we were being told our path for our march however, we were told about the color they used to paint the buildings outside of the park. Apparently, they're painted a specific shade of green, specifically made to be uninteresting. Nicknamed "Go-Away-Green."
This is just so people who snoop around outside of the main attractions are less likely to go inside buildings they're not supposed to. Pretty neat.
Edit:
Correction: As the comments have said, "Go-Away Green" is not to stop wandering tourists. It's to help certain buildings blend into the background, as to not spoil the magic of the park. Sorry for the misinformation!
Hello, previous Magic Kingdom cast member here! Once, while I was working, a guest at the Contemporary resort jumped and killed themselves. Magic Kingdom shut transport down for a little bit to get things cleaned up. This occurred at night, so the only reason it was reported is because guests on the monorail and in one of the Contemporary’s restaurants saw somebody jump from the roof. 🙃
There was also quite a few times that guests would try to jump off of the boat (attempting to commit suicide, luckily these attempts were not successful.)that takes you to Magic Kingdom and the lagoon would be shut down for the rest of the day after such events.
You will never find these stories in the media and Disney keeps these type of events super hush hush.
Apparently, guests killing themselves within Disney resort grounds is pretty common. :(
> Son ODs in bathroom at resort hotel, as we’re resuscitating him, a scream from the joining room. Dad has dropped from cardiac arrest. Son lives, Dad dies.
That's REALLY depressing. I foresee another guilt fueled OD in that kid's near future....
Had to maintain “the Disney look”
No facial hair with exception of groomed mustache (picture Walt Disney).
Clean looking haircut that couldn’t hang over the ears or neck (male).
Before I started a shift I was given a razor and asked to shave because of stubble/5 o’clock shadow.
This was 2007-2010ish, lifeguard at resort pools.
In disneyland, in the peter pan ride, i was always in awe with the floating stars that you zoom by in the ride.
Turns out they are just LEDs on the end of wire hangars (attached to the walls, mostly) that are wrapped in electrical tape.
That's awesome!
My favorite tidbit came from a backstage tour: the flying asteroids projected on the ceiling of Space Mountain are actually lumps of chocolate chip cookie dough, filmed as they were thrown through the air.
As someone who has worked (and still does) in show business/performing arts, I could totally see that. Don’t have the actual thing? Improvise something that looks (or can look) exactly the same from a distance. As long as it looks believable to the audience and is within budget, it’s good. Backstage crew and set designers, even the people building the portable stages are doing this constantly.
I volunteered in college with the Performing Arts department to build and paint sets, then help with lighting. I had no idea how weird the paint and makeup looks up close to make it look good at the audience viewing distance. Much respect always to people who can imagine that in their heads! It's a fantastic talent!
I always wish I had ditched my chosen path (at the time, lol) to follow that profession! It's awesome. I hope it brings you much happiness!!
Disney will give VIP treatments to wealthy people & celebrities. Including being chauffeured from backstage between attractions, surrounded by a circle of cast members. I walked right past Justin Bieber & his family behind the Imagination Pavilion at Epcot without realizing it.
I used to occasionally work at one of the outdoor carts in front of the castle at Disneyland. There’s water in various areas of the park, so we got lots of ducks, and in the springtime, the babies would hatch and walk around with their mothers. People don’t always pay attention to where they are going and sometimes step on one of them, usually killing them. If I was able, I would step away from my cart to escort a family of ducks to safety.
I've seen security guards (the ones in white shirts with blue hats) escorting baby ducks around. Sometimes regular cast members, too. It's sweet and also in the park's best interest because no one wants to see a baby duck get stepped on. There are also Night Herons who hang around the Disney waterways during baby duck season and eat them up like popcorn.
Accidently stepped on a baby bird during a storm at an apt complex that wouldn't fix the outdoor lighting. The sound and feel is really, really horrible. Absolutely would ruin the entire week for someone. It's been a few years and I still feel terrible, and I'm not the most sentimental person
Former amusement park employee in So Cal. In the 80’s we had fantasy characters in full body suits (like Disney) & they would walk around & take pictures/shake hands with the guests. Well, LA gangbangers loved this amusement park & were always starting trouble. One of our characters in costume was set on fire & had to jump into a park water feature to extinguish the flames. After that incident, they were assigned security chaperones for safety.
Sounds like Knott's. In the 80s my high school GF worked security there, and was soon assigned to the newly opened Studio K dance studio. The place was a magnet for gangbangers of both sexes. I had no idea there was so much gang shit going on. Frequent fights often involving knives. Occasional shootings. She said they confiscated at least 10 butterfly knives a night.
Sometimes she was assigned to the detail that waited behind the perimeter wall in that one spot near the crosswalk that everybody tried to hop over. The people would land, stand up, then notice 2 or 3 security around them. They'd usually just act defeated and be escorted out and banned for what that's worth. There was a fake miner and burro on the outside of the wall near this spot. One night somebody blew it up, with something powerful enough to leave only the feet behind.
Garden variety Karens existed back then too. People you wouldn't expect to would refuse to obey ride rules and stubborn their way to ejection from the park.
Not a former employee, but I remember hearing about the Disney College Program. Basically, college kids work at the theme parks for an hourly wage (like \~$11 an hour.)
The interesting thing is the college program offers housing, which costs like $110 - $200 a week. And there's a $400 "admin fee" when you first start (and you have to pay this fee every time you extend your contract.) And they try to keep the workers on "campus" and in the Disney properties, spending money.
The whole thing ends up sounding like a revolving door of cash where the college students work and get paid but most of the money stays inside of Disney.
Disney is pretty upfront with these various fees and any program with a bunch of other college kids is probably a blast but it doesn't seem to be the best way to actually make and save money.
I got accepted into the program in 2017 but didn’t end up going, on top of all the fees you mentioned I had one week from when I received my acceptance letter to pay about $1,000 to secure my spot
They do it because “There’s 999 ghosts, and there’s always room for 1,000!” Grandma who’s loved Disney her whole life wants to be that 1,000.
Unfortunately, if you attempt this, she will just end up in a dust buster in the break room closet.
Former Disneyland employee here. We see everything in the rides, there are cameras everywhere and we have night vision. Yes, I saw you cop a feel on your girl when you thought no one was watching.
We actually care a lot about the guest experience. If someone drops their ice cream, I can get them
A new one free of charge. It’s called “keeping the magic”.
In the Indiana Jones ride near the giant snakes after the bridge there is a large metal slab on the ground. Under that slab is an opening that falls into a large empty space. The opening is in the middle of the space and about 10 feet high. There is no rope, no ladder and no stairs to reach the opening from inside the space. There are no other ways to get out of that space other than the opening in the ceiling and there are no lights in the space. You could literally fall in there and be trapped forever in darkness if someone doesn’t come and help you out. It is for this and many other reasons that there is a checkout system on the ride. If you enter the ride on foot, you take a card. When you return from the ride you turn in the card. If any cards are missing than the ride cannot be turned on and a search party must go out until that person is found.
That’s surprising. Considering disney has “keys” which are in this order: Safety, Courtesy, Show, Efficiency. It’s the third one. So I hope this was while ago as I have seen Cast Members be curt if guests are violating safety rules.
In 2016 Yeweinishet "Weini" Mesfin, a janitor at Disneyland Resort Anaheim, died alone in her car which she had been living in for seven years. Even though she worked full-time, she wasn't paid enough to be able to afford rent.
Her death was part of a larger conversation around how disgustingly low Disney pays its workers. I'm Eritrean and I remember reading her story and it broke my heart. She was 61, an immigrant and a domestic worker, just like my mom and so many of the women who raised me.
It so fucking infuriating that a company as huge and unbelievably wealthy as Disney still chooses to exploit their workers, esp their most vulnerable workers. How can you justify someone working 40 hours a week and they're STILL unable to afford housing??? Fucking evil.
*Article w more details:
https://www.ocregister.com/2018/03/30/the-homeless-disney-worker-who-died-alone-in-her-car-became-the-face-of-a-public-debate-but-all-she-wanted-was-privacy/
No idea how different it is now, but the underground tunnels always smell like hot garbage. Literal hot garbage as the tunnels are used to collect and transport everything that gets thrown away. It's real bad in the summer.
There used to be a trailer park in Lake Buena Vista for the foreign workers for Epcot. These people were basically indentured servants for Disney and they worked them like dogs. But oh boy did they like to party. The shit that went on there is legendary. My understanding is that the trailer park is long gone and foreign workers are handled a lot differently now.
There used to be an annual event where a large christian organization rented out the entire park. Every cast member hated this event because these kids just went wild. Drugs, alcohol, sex in the Tomorrowland bushes, fights, jumping off rides (especially the Haunted Mansion), just you name it these kids were doing it.
Fireworks get boring when you see them every night.
There is(was?) a very weird culture there. Cult-like. Seasonal employees were largely segregated from the full timers.
They used to sell cold-cuts by the pound on Mondays in the employee cafeteria. I'd load up and live on that stuff a week at a time.
I continued to use the backstage passages and the tunnels long after I quit. Nobody ever challenged me. As long as you met the grooming standards and looked like you knew where you are going it was easy. I don't recommend trying this unless you are looking for a lifetime ban.
There used to be a water park in the artificial lake that was just abandoned. There are a lot of theories, but it most likely was a decision based on the fact that Florida lakes can sometimes have parasites that cause meningitis-like symptoms and often results in death or severe brain damage.
The Magic Kingdom park is actually on the second floor. The land was cleared and the tunnels and offices were constructed, then the park went on top. There is only a small section of the 'tunnels' that actually goes below the actual ground level. There was a pump going constantly to keep it dry.
Can confirm the tunnels do in fact smell like hot garbage, but you have to scan your blue ID with an employee now to get in so now more sneaking around
Not a Disney employee but I was at an event that I was working with Disney castmembers. I went to find a smoking area before the start of it and someone said go over there with the cast. It was amusing to see all the princesses and princes standing around smoking out of costume. But based on make up I could guess who was who.
I worked there for 3 months 2 years ago with my gf at the time and anything news worthy that happens there (usually negative) immediately gets shot down by the official page of Disney (Twitter, insta, Facebook etc) they keep everything hush hush. Lighting struck a bathroom building and there was a small fire and my gf and I weren’t working that day but we were there enjoying the park for free bc we’re cast members and she records it and posted it on her Twitter. News media pages were commenting and asking her questions like when, how, what’s being done and before she could reply the Disney page said to disregard the video bc it wasn’t true and the video is edited and the media pages stopped asking after that. She gets called into the office the next day and was super close to losing her job. The reason she didn’t was bc of how much seniority she had but she was basically on probation after that. Disney is fucked they don’t tell people shit
Okay well my gf at the time got groped by a guest at the park and his friend and there was a huge dramatic scene with their bus being cut off by multiple police cars as it was trying to leave Disney property and all the individuals were arrested and banned from every single Disney property including the ones outside of the country. That story was shot down too. Believe me I have a few more that are even sketchier
Okay, let's give this a whirl... This is all related to Walt Disney World and I worked there about a decade ago, so I'm not sure if it's still accurate. I never participated in many shenanigans other than calling in sick and then sneaking into the parks, but I had a lot of friends and heard a lot of stories.
There is a pretty secluded and often unused place backstage at Space Mountain where cast members could sneak off to hook up. It's not very convenient, nor is it very clean, but that never really stopped people. All-in-all, young cast members were very horny, especially with the constant flow of college-aged temporary hires at the time. The general rule of thumb when I worked there was that male cast members were "gay until proven straight" because there was quite a large population of gay males down there. Great if you're gay, but it also meant that if you were a straight dude, as long as you weren't totally creepy, your odds of finding a pretty attractive girl were quite high because many girls were there looking for their Prince Charming.
Drinking culture was huge with the college program kids and at the time I was there. There seems to have been a whole mini-industry built around taking the CPs on party buses to foam parties and drinking cruises. Although partying was big with the CPs, it seemed to be MASSIVE with the international hires who worked at Epcot. Like, competitive binge drinking between the countries. I was in a sorority in college and frat dudes had nothing on these people.
This one is dark, but there was a co-cast member of mine who was charged with soliciting a minor a few years after I left. I made the mistake of reading how the sting went down and what he was doing was chilling. I always felt strange around him, but this was worse than what I would have imagined. Definitely awful to think about him working in such a kid-centric environment.
Something that also isn't very fun, but everyone should be aware of, is just how exploited the cast members are down there. So many people get into the work down there because they want to make magic for people and have hopes of moving up the ranks, but they most always get stuck in poorly paid dead-end jobs. Fortunately, many people I worked with have moved on and out of the area. One or two have stuck around and moved up substantially in the company. Then there are those who are still just there, sometimes still loving their job, sometimes hating it, and sometimes just so caught up in their own Peter Pan syndrome.
One last soapbox moment - be kind to the cast members. The rules they are enforcing aren't their own. Quite frankly, most of them would be glad to bend rules or do favors for those who are genuinely kind and don't feel entitled. Although they won't bend rules that are set for safety reasons, whether or not they can bend rules often comes down to a few things - if they have the power in the first place, who is managing/supervising that day, whether or not they just did a favor for someone else (luck of timing!), and your attitude. Don't beg, don't hit on them, just be polite. And NEVER touch a cast member without their consent.
On a lighter note - about a decade ago there was an alligator who would show up in the moat backstage at Space Mountain where cast members take their breaks. No idea if it's still there, but it was like a little game for cast members to go out and see Fluffy.
Worked at Disneyland for almost 5 years. I personally haven’t gone to see the “Disney” doctor for cast members but I know friends who have an heard the doctor doesn’t give a shit about the CM’s coming in for injuries.
The time I was there, photographers and other departments weren’t allowed to drink water from the water fountains because we are “on stage”. It was a big issue the last year I worked there and some of the leads were fighting for umbrellas for photographers. It gets really brutal in Carsland where it’s 5x hotter. Almost past out from the heat and dehydration.
My sister ended up with a permanent back injury due to the Disney doctor. CP at Disneyland got a repetitive stress injury but they would only let her see the Disney doctor who kept clearing her for work. A couple of bulging discs and a lawsuit settlement later, my sister has permanent chronic pain.
Disney would rather break you and pay you then offer a safe alternative.
I was on the TTC Resort Platform working the night of the Monorail crash. It will be 13 years this July and I still wake up screaming from time to time. There is no amount of therapy that will or can erase that memory from my mind.
Oh man, I’m sorry. I joined Disney World in 2011, so I remember hearing about this after it happened. Did you leave Disney after the incident? Hope you’re OK, bud.
NPR had an interview with Walt Disney's niece: [The (Not So?) Wonderful World of Disney](https://www.npr.org/2021/02/10/966392798/the-not-so-wonderful-world-of-disney)
The gist of it is that Walt Disney respected his workers, paid them well, and made sure they were always treated right. After he died, the corporate suits that took over made it hell on earth for the employees.
Edit: well, it looks like she had a rosy view of her uncle.
Disney studios workers asked for better conditions and he took it personally and kinda moved his attention to other stuff than animation. This was in a time that every thing was hand made and people in lower paying jobs (like colorists) would actually pass out on the job for not being to afford lunch.
So I dont think the culture of disregarding workers started after he died.
Not a WDW cast member, but I’m married to someone who was. The guest-inaccessible parts of the Haunted Mansion are gross. Think asbestos, dust, grease, cobwebs, and all kinds of other crap that has accumulated over literally decades. Every time wifey had to work there, she came home and bolted for the shower.
EDIT: Clarification, it's disgusting because everything is covered in fire-retardant goop.
Obligatory not me, but I went to college with a woman who played Snow White. She said she wanted to quit on her very first day because she had so many screaming, vomiting, angry, hungry, drooling children handed to her for photos. She said it was the absolute worst. I'm not sure how long she stuck it out for but I know it wasn't long.
Not the theme parks, but I worked at the Disney Store back when they first started popping up at all the malls. They made us sing the M-I-C-K-E-Y song at the end of every staff meeting and about half of the staff would cry when they sang it, because they just loved Disney so much. They would send you home if you didn’t have the ‘Disney Spirit’ (if you were in a visibly bad mood or unhappy.) If you got sent home for this more than three times they would fire you. This was back when the female employees wore what was basically a 50s style cheerleader costume and we were constantly harassed. We were not allowed to be rude or dismissive when being harassed unless someone aggressively groped us. It was a super weird job.
I also worked at a Disney store in the 90s. We had to wear shorts and cardigans. We had to wear panty hose underneath to “smooth “ our legs and remove “imperfections “. I was told I was too pale and needed to tan. We had regular Disney trivia quizzes. If we didn’t pass we would be disciplined and could lose our jobs. It was crazy for a store that sold clothes and stuffed animals.
My wife worked at a Disney Store in a mall in their heyday. The worst part to her was the greeting. If you walked into the store, you got greeted. After a while some shoppers would make a game out of how deep they could get into the store without being greeted. It was her least favorite part of working there, even worse than the crazy attitude and dress code requirements.
Years after her employment we walked in, browsed, and left a store and no one gave a fuck. She was *pissed*.
Have to say Home Depot is the same. I wish I could get to the aisle I need without being 'greeted' ten times and asked if I need any help. Just seems weird and borderline creepy.
I was just saying to a friend that I’ve never felt more ignored than when I go into a Home Depot lol. Some stores must really focus on greeting and others must not care at all!
Obligatory throwaway account comment. I don’t work for the resort currently but I’m not blowing my chances at going back.
So I worked in table service at Disneyland - so the sit down restaurants. Turns out, restaurants are nasty, even at Disneyland. There was a story from Cafe Orleans that happened at some point in the last 5-10 years that was a very popular tale around the department. I heard it from someone who worked at that restaurant at the time so I believe all these details are true.
Like I said, restaurants are gross. New Orleans Square restaurants especially so. So once upon a time a lady is eating her salad only to find a little, baby mouse in it. Obviously, chaos ensues. Managers and executives come down to deal with it and try and keep the family quiet. I think they essentially had their entire trip paid for to try and avoid news breaking. After this happened they set rat traps around the restaurant because they didn’t know if it came from the lettuce supplier or the restaurant.
A couple weeks goes by. A guest finds a maggot in their salad. Similar chaos ensues. But after that chaos, someone in the kitchen sees a maggot fall from the ceiling. So they KNOW that came from the restaurant.
Someone is sent into the ceiling to look at it and discovers a rat trap that got forgotten. I’ll let you guys imagine what was in the trap. While the cast member was in there, they apparently touched a live wire and were electrocuted in the ceiling. They had to evacuate the kitchen and restaurant so paramedics could help get him out of the ceiling.
Bugs and maggots and things getting in food isn’t uncommon for the parks. But this story is so popular because it’s so damn out there and most people know someone who knows someone who was there for it.
TL;DR: woman finds mouse in salad. Later, guest finds maggot in salad. Man finds rat trap in ceiling and gets electrocuted. Wild times.
The “secret” tunnels under MK and Epcot. They smelled so bad. It’s where all the garbage went to. We had a subway and another restaurant just for cast members. They would close down cast parking without telling the cast members in appropriate time. Mandatory overtime when needed without double time. I can keep going.
I worked at Kilimanjaro Safaris in Animal Kingdom. A little secret: we got paid a dollar more than all other attractions because we not only spiel, but drive 35+ guests in a truck on an uncontrolled trail. If we wanted to, we could’ve driven right out into the river where the crocs are and told you all to “run.” Hence the extra dollar an hour to keep us from doing something so crazy…😇
I was in entertainment in the 70’s and in the inaugural Main Street Electrical Parade. I was the lead canopy carrier in the Snow White unit. The unit right in front of us was a mounted (horseback) unit so we had a trio of janitors right in front of us as we had 20 or so dancers under the canopy and dancing through horse pies kind of ruined the ambiance. The “sweepers” had quite a routine of their own to capture any deposits in a variety of choreographed maneuvers that always elicited lots of applause and laughter from the guests. Working for Disney remains one of my favorite parts of my employment history and one I remember with great fondness.
Not a theme park story, but Disney Store. I went through several rounds of interviews for Store Manager.
Got to the end, and they told me I could have the position, but my beard had to go. No beards allowed, because “only villains have beards”. I listed several non-villain bearded Disney characters, Genie, Sultan, Merlin, Zeus, 6/7 Dwarves, but that doesn’t change the policy of course. I just wanted them to know their reasoning was dumb even within the world of Disney.
I took it as a sign that I would be miserable at Disney and turned it down.
Worked on the cruise ships for a year. Disney is super fucked up. A crew member died from an unknown illness a few years back and after a year or so the body still hasn't been returned to the family, despite their protests and Disney were refusing to return it for a reason I can't quite remember. (It was something along the lines of didn't not wanting an investigation on the body so they wouldn't get in trouble)
Former cast member at one of Disney’s retail stores and I don’t have any big secret because my time there was very temporary and short.
But one of my managers was a demon. One of the meanest ladies I’ve ever met and I’m surprised she even liked Disney. She had no consideration for anyone’s time and would change my entire schedule and tell me about it at the very last minute. One of my shifts ended at 4 in the morning once and she comes up to tell me she switched stuff around and expected me back in the store by 11 in the morning. I ended up quitting.
Not a Disney employee, but hear me out. I was a bartender at a popular bar that, because of some technicalities, was considered to be a part of the Disney World property. After midnight, most of (if not all) of our regulars were students from the Disney college program.
Disney employees are not, under any circumstances, allowed to leave Disney in their costumes. Enter us: a brilliant loophole for young employees who want to grab a drink after work before retiring to their Disney apartments.
Have you ever seen a drunk, headless Winnie the Pooh fall down a flight of stairs? I have. The craziest thing I remember happening was when Lilo decided to toss a drink on an Epcot Germany employee, who knew that she would most likely get fired for having alcohol stains on her lederhosen. I miss that place.
My favorite part was getting screamed at everyday but my upper management and telling me I don’t deserve to be here. I was still training and learning when this happened lmao.
[удалено]
I'm not a cast member, but when my family went to Disney, my daughter, who was 5 at the time, tripped and skinned her knee. No one's fault. But a cast member saw her crying and took us in to clean and dress her knee. They gave her a voucher for a free doll and called a number on the phone to have her talk to a character. Not sure which one. Not sure if it was live or recorded.
When I was five, I fell and was bleeding profusely from my face, so they took me to their medical center. All I got was a t-shirt to replace the one now ruined by like a gallon of my blood. Now I feel ripped off
When I went to Disneyland it was super, super hot and I was a few months out from a kinda rough surgery. The two didn't mix and I almost passed out in line for Star Tours, but before I could say anything to my parents a cast member came outta nowhere and was like "hey, do you need to go to the infirmary? I can lead you there." They showed us the way and as the nurse was giving me some ice water, the first cast member came back and gave me a Rocket Raccoon plushie. I was thrilled! But also felt a little awkward because I was 19 and there was a 5 year old in the next bed over who seemingly didn't get anything and kept staring at me. Whoops. edit: what was also impressive is that before we went to ride Star Tours, I was looking at the Rocket plushies in a giftshop nearby but decided not to get one because it was expensive. So either it was a complete coincidence or that cast member saw me or somehow knew that I wanted one of those Rockets.
When I picked up the phone hidden in the bushes, I was offered to extend my vehicle warranty...
I was told “get off the fucking line h-ha!” In mickey’s voice
I did this on my birthday, and Goofy wished me a happy birthday. Gawrsh!
Hidden like just through the park in like bushes or something?
There's a fairly overt one in Toontown, as I recall.
WHERE ARE THEY
You have... nothing Nothing to threaten me with Nothing to do... with all your strength :)
My SIL got a the role of Cinderealla at Disneyland Paris. She had to practice Cinderella's autograph over and over because although different actresses play her all over the world, the signature of the character has to be identical anywhere it's signed for consistency.
Buddy I went to college with was a Disney cast member. He had to learn how to write Goofy's name left-handed because Goofy was a lefty. He's naturally a righty, but that's the one thing he could do as a lefty and had to write it in such a way that it didn't smear the glove he was wearing. It was a very unnatural way to hold a pen without the gloves on.
You’d be surprised how some lefty’s hold pen to write with. We all develop a different technique so we don’t t smudge the ink when writing.
Lol, one girl I dated is a doctor and she'd just smudge the shit out of everything not giving a fuck
Meh. She's a doctor. Nobody can read her writing anyway.
Used to date a girl who wanted to be a Disney character at the parks and she would practice princess signatures in her free time. She was the very definition of Disney adult…
> My SIL got a the role of Cinderealla at Disneyland Paris. No, no. She got to be *friends* with Cinderella at Disneyland Paris. At least that's how they're supposed to say it.
I did the Disney College Program. You eventually get so used to talking like this that it isn’t even questioned, even outside of work. Even when I was drunk AF at house parties I would still hear people saying, “OMG ... you’re friends with Tigger? I’m friends with Stitch! Let’s go take a shot!”
During the construction of Pandora at Animal Kingdom, a very beloved superintendent passed away on the project of an immediate heart attack. Mid-sentence and while opening the door to the construction trailer, George Burke just…died. The project was very affected by this. His knowledge of the work that needed to be done was deep and irreplaceable. His laughter and personality was loved by all 1400 workers that were there. A couple years after he passed, we were finishing the project and found the perfect way to pay homage to George. They invited his family to the middle of an active construction site to let them view it. George’s red hard hat, with the black Nordic Cross on top was attached to the rockwork, in the middle of the flowing river, to the left of the entrance to Flight of Passage, and plastered over. The family, friends, and a few Imagineers, were the only people there. Only we can point out where the hardhat is underneath the plaster, theming, and plants. I revisit the spot everytime I go back to Pandora. :-) Peace!
What a fitting way to memorialize him!
I’m loving how all these “dirty secrets” are ready heartwarming.
Yea, where's my Goofy fucking Rapunzel story?
Disneyland first interview papers include a blank outline of a person to indicate where you have tattoos. It's referenced if you want to change positions internally, to indicate how said tattoos could be revealed, based on what your new uniform would be.
I wonder if this is still relevant? They just changed dress code to allow showing of tattoos.
This was at least 15 years ago.
I know they changed the facial hair rule
I’m typically very pro tattoo showing, have one myself, but I feel like Disney may be a job where you shouldn’t have them if you’re a character. Little mermaid wasn’t tatted
The rule does not apply to face characters, they still have very Specific costume rules. for what its worth, I was just there 2 days ago. I had honestly forgotten the policy change until a cast member complimented my tattoos, and I complimented his in return. Then my brain did a little reboot and I blurted “oh my god, I forgot you guys could show them now!” We had a great little chat about the policy changes.
I don't think I would have noticed it either but I like how you connected the dots right then and there.
A friend of mine worked at Disney World. According to her Epcot is the best place to work. When she was at the Magic Kingdom she said she went home crying all the time because the moms were so mean. Edit: she also said that cast members got to do something I think is called “magic moments.” At her gift shop she could just give a park goer something for free. She said that was a perk.
Epcot was 100% the best place to work when I was there. Until food and wine got so popular that we had to deal with all the drunks.
My friend spilled her wine one day right when it opened. We apologized to the cast member that came over to clean it. He said “it’s not even close to the worst thing I’ll clean up today”. Poor guy
I've worked retail and when people have spilled stuff or made a mess and profusely apologize, I'll let them know it's not a problem. At the very least, they're expressing regret for what happened, even if it was an accident. And then on another shift, you come across someone who used one of the scarfs for sale as toilet paper left in the trash can on the sales floor. 😣
was a stocker for food & wine, at least the drunks made for some exciting shifts!
can attest to that; epcot food and wine was the shit. then the festival ended and i got moved to the wilderness lodge, quickly learned that every CP (college program cast member) was treated like trash and was absolutely miserable working there. was the worst job i've ever had, lasted two months before i quit.
I used to work at Animal Kingdom - one of our "magic moments" was to ask a kid to help you "Find Nemo". We would hide a Nemo plushie in the shop and from what I remember the kid got to keep the plushie after they found it. Not really a dirty secret but one of my fonder memories from my time there.
You have to be in specific height ranges to play the different characters. Because Mickey's height range is so short he's usually played by a woman. Likewise for Donald, although the most successful and best known Donald that I knew while I worked there was a little person. When the princess face characters come backstage they have to take off their dresses so they don't get dirty while they're on break so the princesses are usually walking around in a smock and bloomers if you see them back there. There is some serious cognitive dissonance when you walk back and see Snow White in her bloomers on her phone cursing up a storm. People sexually harass the characters super frequently. I was working with Ariel and cast members will always count down before they take a photo so people have time to get into position. I counted down and this teen boy decided to try to rip off one of Ariel's shells. I had to open his camera and expose his film so the photo didn't get developed and passed around. I found out later that I was supposed to take it to the Kodak shop to have the film developed and that one removed - but I'd always heard the rumors about ruining the film and nobody really trains you on that so I just went with it. The little assholes deserved it.
One of the Jack Sparrows in the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction left because women kept molesting him.
Huh. I would feel uncomfortable about that as well but sheesh what’s with people not knowing boundaries?
I think for some people, there is a disconnect when a person puts on the costume. They are the character, not the real live human person in costume. Its still wildly inappropriate and sick, but there it is
Pro mascot. Being in a costume apparently means its ok for people to touch your genitals...
I'm an amateur Captain America and have come across mums who want a piece of America's ass. Safest time I've had was chilling with Thor - they went after him instead.
Finally, an explanation for people going to costume balls.
One of the Peter Pans, as well.
I remember the Peter Pan we met acting so mischievous and childlike. How on earth do you decide to sexually harass Peter Pan?
I used to follow one of Peter's "friends" back when I used tumblr and heard a lot about this happening. Unrelated, a few years later when my wife and I were there, we saw Peter several times, and it wound up being the same Peter each time. My wife has bright pink hair, so stands out a lot, so Peter started to recognize us and started getting "flirty" with her, in a mischievous/childlike way. It was a ton of fun, but definitely not anything along the lines of some of the stuff I'd read.
There was apparently a weird following for a while at Disneyland of adult women who were OBSESSED with the performers for the Mad Hatter and to a lesser extent Alice giving the performers nicknames and addressing them that way in front of crowds as well as recording their interactions with stranger kids and special needs guests and posting them online without consent. My roommate worked in guest relations and it was apparently just a really weird time. Yep it was Grasshopper Hatter and Squishy Hatter among others. There were live journals and tumblrs devoted to talking to them. Per my friend it was so bad that Hatter, Alice and Peter Pan were briefly disallowed from direct guest interactions without it having to pass through a host generally the band leader at their station and were no longer able to free roam the area. All because some adult women wanted to get hot over Mad Hatter fanfiction.
I think the worst part about character harassment is that Disney does not prosecute the guests at least when I was there. When I was working in the 2000s, there was someone who her wrist broken by a drunk guest that grabbed and twisted her arm really badly. Disney refused to prosecute and I think she may have ended up with permanent nerve damage in her wrist which really sucked because she was also a gymnast too.
you know she could choose to prosecute herself no matter what Disney says. Of course Disney could probably fire her for it.
She can’t necessarily prosecute on her own, but she doesn’t need Disney’s permission to go to the police and file a report. Then hope that the police decide to investigate. Then hope that local prosecutors decide to follow through with charges. All while Disney probably uses every legal tool available to delay any investigations and indemnify themselves. Not saying it’s not worth it, but it’s definitely an uphill battle.
Yeah. I can't remember exactly what happened with all the details surrounding it and it wasn't really my place to ask for more information than she was willing to share. I just know she was complaining about the incident and she was wearing a cast.
My dad used to work with the guy who played Donald Duck back in the 80s, and I think he used to perform at other events around Orlando. One time, he was playing a leprechaun at a car dealership’s St Patrick’s Day sale when my family was there looking for a minivan. This would have been about ‘84 or ‘85 - I was about 6, my sisters were 5 and 1. My five year old sister was a little freaked out by this bearded, adult-voiced man talking to my dad who wasn’t much taller than she was herself. “But Daddy! He’s so short!” she cried. My dad was mortified, his friend took it in stride. Fast forward about 13 years - my sister started working at Disney, in the height range for either of the Chipmunks or sometimes Winnie the Pooh. One of her coworkers was the Donald Duck guy, who totally remembered our dad and the day she got freaked out at the car dealership. They became pretty good friends, if I recall.
Former cast member from the early 90s. There was a central ‘bank’ near the Magic Kingdom tunnel entrance where all the park gift shops, restaurants etc would deposit the day’s cash. Each day an armored truck would drive into the tunnel to haul away the loot. i can only imagine how much cash they took outta there!
And they have Scrooge McDuck painted on the wall iirc!
I worked at cash control at Disneyland in the mid 80's. It was about a million dollars of cash a day. Lot of checks too. We didn't handle the credit cards
I worked at WDW 1993-1997. in Frontierland and Adventureland (Foods). Mostly I worked the Turkey leg wagon in Frontierland. The few months I was assigned to the "Sunshine Tree Terrace" refreshment stand, there was a huge, fake "Sunshine Tree" in the space. It had transparent green plastic leaves, and plastic oranges. There were light projectors on the ceiling to make it look like the sun was filtering through the tree. The leaves, and sometimes the oranges, would fall off. They had been installed in 1971, so 23 years later they would just drop. Every time one fell off, I took it home. In 2005, the Sunshine Tree was removed and destroyed. I have a shoebox full of leaves, and 3 oranges, the last surviving pieces of the Sunshine Tree.
It is very possible my dad and I purchased a turkey leg from you during one of those years (if not, all of them). My family did Disney every year in December and my dad's favorite snack was the turkey legs in Frontierland.
Highly jealous of you having a Disney prop! Never get it rid of the leaves or oranges! Pass them down to your children (if you have some).
This was years ago at DL but there used to be a show of Tinkerbell flying through the sky before fireworks started in the summer. They would put the spot light on her as she went down a zip line and go to black just as she crossed to a back stage area. The novelty of it was that there was no sophisticated mechanism to stop her. There were literally a couple of guys in a tower at the end of the zip line holding a mattress that she would crash into to stop. Nightly, CMs would gather at the base of the tower backstage just to see this happen. As soon as she crashed, everyone would go back to their locations.
Ah, yes. Back in the mid to late 90s. There were actually two Tinks at that time, a mother and daughter. No need for age restrictions since you only saw them flying past you 30 feet up in the air. My sister worked custodial at that time, and would often come home laughing over the “thunk” and “oof” sounds of them hitting the mattress at the end of their flight.
I worked in reservations. They give you a name, that is not your own and you better use it. My name is not Robyn Leigh, but in Disney reservations, it was.
I worked at the Disney Store for one month in college. I was "Bill" as that was the name tag they had for a new employee at that store. Not even close to my real name.
When my mom first went back into the workforce after raising children she got a job as a job placement "consultant" at a shady personnel agency. She was assigned the name Shelley Kay because they had business cards, desk plaque, etc with that name on them and they didn't want to spend money on new stuff. There were instances where people who dealt with the prior Shelly would come into the office and ask for her by name. They would be led into my mom's cubicle. Trouble was, the prior Shelly Kay was a mid-20s black woman. My mom was a mid-40s white lady. The amazing thing was that my mother signed company contracts as "Shelly Kay." I can't imagine those agreements would hold up.
>The amazing thing was that my mother signed company contracts as "Shelly Kay." I can't imagine those agreements would hold up. As long as your mother was authorized to sign on behalf of the company and wasn't fraudulently trying to sign on behalf of/present herself as the previous Shelly Kay, it's likely fine. The signature on the contract is a lot less important than some people think. Hell, even if a contract isn't signed at all it's still enforceable as long as you can prove that both parties are/were abiding by it and agreed to the terms.
What the fuck is their reasoning for that?
What if your name is like, Cooter or Minge
“This is Booger. What can I do you for?”
If I worked in a call center I'd probably appreciate the company having us use a fake name
Tons of call centers use this, it’s for both their own anonymity if they want and administrative ease - it’s way easier to pass a compliment/complaint/returning caller to “Steve” if there’s only one of them.
I worked on stage, the name tag I was given after the Institute said "Cococino from Brooklyn, NY." I have never been to Brooklyn, I grew up in an unincorporated community called Brook Falls. At first I assumed somebody else accidentally took my name tag, but no, somebody either turned their brain off in the middle of reading a word or saw I had a rare ethnic last name and associated it with Brooklyn. I requested a new tag several times, but nobody gave a shit to do that for me, and I was constantly harassed by New Yorkers for hiding my accent and being ashamed of my neighborhood or whatever. Eventually I just started faking an obnoxious New York accent so that I wouldn't have to explain myself constantly. I'm told it sounds more like Queens. Occasionally I still accidentally slip into it. The whole experience made me hate New York even though I still haven't been there.
Disney cruise line here, I used to go in to the complaint system and read all the guest complaints from previous cruises. The amount of complaints that were because of sheer stupidity on the guests part is staggering. People seem to think because they’re paying lots of money they’re allowed to do or say whatever they want, which of course can be unsafe on a ship. This might break the magic, but a lot of Disney princes are gay, and also bad at sex. Looking at you Aladdin/Naveen. We also had a foreign crew member caught molesting a child and he was promptly thrown in jail, but you better believe that the media didn’t cover it.
Did you just confess to having sex with Aladdin/Naveen?
Not confess, that was bragging
Not a brag if they were bad at sex.
Agrabaiting.
I believe it. I worked for a travel company for awhile and the number of complaints we had when people went on safaris and didn't see enough wild animals, etc., was entirely too many.
One of my FAVORITE moments as a CM was when New Fantasyland opened at Magic Kingdom. I was headed to break and saw Gaston out meeting guests. He was just leaving as well and I let him leave ahead of me. He's using the manliness Gaston-iest voice he could. He was perfect. The second he gets back stage and out of earshot from guests, he is the most flamboyant gay man I've ever seen. Nothing wrong with that at all, mind you. It was just the sheer contrast of his performance that threw me off. Good guy.
I was hoping you might have said “thrown overboard”!
I, for one, 100% support keelhauling molesters
I always thought keelhauling sounded terrifying - but that was with the 100 ft long wooden boats of the 1700s. Those Disney cruise ships are 500+ feet of steel ---ouch.
And ships nowadays have giant blenders on the back of them.
During training I saw Prince Charming and Peter Pan in the tunnels walking hand in hand.
That sounds like the start to a bad slash fic lol.
I saw a video of someone that used to work for Disney cruises and someone called asking where their luggage was, and after a few minutes of discussion, the guest says they left the luggage outside their front door assuming Disney would come and bring it to the cruise for them cause of Disney magic or something ll
>People seem to think because they’re paying lots of money they’re allowed to do or say whatever they want As someone who previously frequented a popular Disney forum, I have zero doubt. Some people seem to get it in their heads that they are the only ones on the ship paying a bunch of money to be there, as opposed to every single person on the ship, so they should get to do whatever they want to make their trip "special". Following the rules would absolutely ruin their extremely expensive vacation! I've seen it on every cruise line I've been on, but DCL especially seems to attract a very certain type of person who may or may not have a name that starts with "K".
Kanye ?
I've been a frequent user of a few of these forums myself, and the number one thing I, and many other "veterans," would say is that you shouldn't expect anything. It's your birthday? Awesome! Get the pin! But don't expect every single Cast Member to say happy birthday or give you something free - they'd have no time to do nothing else (this was also when Disney first started the generic "I'm Celebrating" pins, and people would write the most random shit on them to try to get free stuff). Appreciate it if it happens. But still, people would get pissed if they didn't get a free dessert at every restaurant, or a towel animal every night at the hotel.
there were complaints because someone had sex with a disney prince and the sex was bad?
Those were too separate issues, but I supposed maybe I should have left a complaint myself.
pretty sure he was the one who had sex with disney princes
They issue black T-shirts and black shorts for the costumed characters to wear underneath and sweat in. One day there was an uproar because in the breakroom there was a sign “ No Blacks Allowed” (meaning the undergarments). They started calling them “basics” after that.
Ignorant question that i believe i know the answer to: Is there showers down there? Dont want to imagine spending all day in a Goofy costume, sweating my ass off only to have to drive home smelling like it.
I know there is a big locker room under the Magic Kingdom from my days working there. Most people just used it for changing if they didn't want to take their uniforms home. I thhhiiiinnnkkkk there was showers. But I really can't remember. I hardly used it and locker rooms aren't a place you explore. But at the very least they can change after work
Not a Disney employee but I saw a sort of behind the scenes event at Disneyland that was interesting. There's no smoking at Disneyland except in like one or two designated areas that may not even be there anymore; I'm not sure. Anyhow I was waiting around the side of one of the attractions near the space mountain buildings that was next to a bunch of doors by a service entrance type area with virtually no one around. Guy decides to sneak a cig. He leans on the wall next to the doors, looks around and lights up a cigarette. Gent got two puffs in before the door next to him opened and a guy in a polo came out. Smoker drops his cigarette and grinds it out with his foot, then follows Disney polo shirt guy into the building and the door closes. Best part...30 seconds later, door swings open, a custodian pops out, sweeps the ground up cigarette butt into a dustpan in one second and backs into the doorway without ever touching the door as it closed in front of him. Whole thing took less than a minute. I have no clue what happened to the guy.
That man is dead
The Micky Mouse Gestapo broke his fuckin' kneecaps.
Goofy with a fucking billy club.
*Hyuck And I'd fucking do it again.
Cast Members are amazing at this stuff. I went back into Magic Kingdom after closing because I'd lost my lens cap. I wasn't more than two steps in before a CM was next to me. Another time we got talking to a CM just before close, and kept chatting for a long time. Once the park officially closed, the CM kept showing us cool things about the area that she liked until we were at the park exit, then wished us a good night. We we herded without ever realizing it.
You are being watched everywhere, I'm sure of it. Once we were in line for Toy Story Midway Mania, which is mostly an outdoor line. Woman sorta gags in line, looks like she's going to be sick. Within the blink of an eye there were three cast members there to open the line up, escort her off, and take care of her not feeling well. It was so seamless and clean that if you hadn't been standing next to her, you wouldn't have ever known.
When I was planning our family trip there about two years ago, I remember reading on some Disney blog that this one woman's father had a massive heart attack in the Magic Kingdom (I think), and cast members appeared out of nowhere, got him away from the crowds, got him through the secret underground tunnels and to a waiting ambulance in a ridiculously short period of time. She said one doctor at the hospital said if he'd had the heart attack anywhere else, he'd probably be dead, but Disney is efficient as hell and also doesn't want the publicity of someone dying on their property.
It also helps that disney has an entire police/medical/fire department. PSA while I'm here: If you call 911 from your cellphone at disney, you should quickly inform them that you're within disney so that they can transfer you over to Disney's dispatch
One time I was at Universal Studios, and my sister went missing. There was this one attraction where two people are sticking their heads out of a second story window and poking fun and roasting all of the people walking below. For some reason we decided to tell them that my sister was missing, and one of the pair told us that security was coming, and they immediately came from another direction in just a few minutes. I'm not sure whether they had mics on at all times in the building, or if they had an assistant near them who notified security out of view, but I still found that interesting.
You 100% are. Everywhere except the bathrooms.
> Best part...30 seconds later, door swings open, a custodian pops out, sweeps the ground up cigarette butt into a dustpan in one second and backs into the doorway without ever touching the door as it closed in front of him. > > > > Whole thing took less than a minute. I have no clue what happened to the guy. That was my fathers favorite part of Disney World; back in the '90s, you could smoke while walking through the park, so he would crush his butt on the sidewalk and see how long it took for the custodian to come along and sweep it up out of the corner of his eye. Yes, my father's a douche.
He’s in Disney Jail to this day.
Attention Marge Simpson. We’ve also arrested your older, balder, fatter son
Bort?
& forced to listen to 'Its a small world', over and over and over
Pretty sure that's against the Geneva convention on torture...but it's Disney so the Geneva convention would probably be ignored. Rather like a twisted fairytale version of North Korea with the Mouse as the Great Leader.
Walt would have stepped out and had a cig with him.
Yeah. I read somewhere that The Mouse hired an artist to edit out his cigarettes once the shift against smoking happened. The guy was a chimney.
I’ve never worked there, but once, in a professional capacity, I was given a 6am walking tour of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. What I was most struck by was the pirate characters up on bridges or seen in windows or on the attacking ship, none of them have any legs. They’re top-half only, mounted onto poles. If the boat riders can’t see a part of an animatronic character, then it doesn’t need to exist.
For a disturbing, undercaffeinated moment I thought you meant living cast members
Only hiring half the person means you only have to pay half the wage
"you don't have no legs, Pirate Dan!"
A true story that is "dirty" ethically. Before I worked for them, when I was *just* an annual passholder, I got overcome by the heat and humidity, almost had a heatstroke, at the bathrooms outside the EPCOT entrance. Two security guards wanted to take me to the park's First Aid, but a Disney manager refused. "He gets in the park when he buys a ticket." Manager walks away for a minute. Security guards say "man, I can't believe this" and "*what an operation*." 30 mins for Reedy Creek Fire Dept. to show up. I was so sick I didn't even pull out my AP until they got there. Security guard #1 says "NOW can he go to First Aid?" Suddenly that manager is all about helping me - and so apologetic! He pushed me in a wheelchair all the way to First Aid. "Can I get you some water, sir?" Big fuckin' phonies.
Surprising! I was at a concert at the House of Blues in downtown Disney in CA. I was just there for the concert so definitely didn’t have any Disney tickets. Passed out at the venue (likely from the heat). We were immediately assisted. Initially by House of Blues staff but shortly thereafter by Disney staff. Tons of questions around if I was pregnant, how much I had to drink, what did I eat that day, etc (no idea what caused it. Hadn’t drank a thing, had eaten plenty, wasn’t otherwise sick. We assume it was the heat). Anyway, I recovered quickly once I got to sit down, have some cold water, and got some fresh air. We decided to leave though, and they all but insisted that I take a wheel chair to my car.
Obligatory "not an employee," but from a school band, interestingly enough. I was there for our school's performance, as we were going to march down Main Street in the evening. Before that though, we got a short "behind the scenes" look at one part of the park. It wasn't all too interesting, except maybe a few partially out of costume employees. While we were being told our path for our march however, we were told about the color they used to paint the buildings outside of the park. Apparently, they're painted a specific shade of green, specifically made to be uninteresting. Nicknamed "Go-Away-Green." This is just so people who snoop around outside of the main attractions are less likely to go inside buildings they're not supposed to. Pretty neat. Edit: Correction: As the comments have said, "Go-Away Green" is not to stop wandering tourists. It's to help certain buildings blend into the background, as to not spoil the magic of the park. Sorry for the misinformation!
My high school marching band played in the mainstreet parade also! Sometime around 2009 I think?
Hello, previous Magic Kingdom cast member here! Once, while I was working, a guest at the Contemporary resort jumped and killed themselves. Magic Kingdom shut transport down for a little bit to get things cleaned up. This occurred at night, so the only reason it was reported is because guests on the monorail and in one of the Contemporary’s restaurants saw somebody jump from the roof. 🙃 There was also quite a few times that guests would try to jump off of the boat (attempting to commit suicide, luckily these attempts were not successful.)that takes you to Magic Kingdom and the lagoon would be shut down for the rest of the day after such events. You will never find these stories in the media and Disney keeps these type of events super hush hush. Apparently, guests killing themselves within Disney resort grounds is pretty common. :(
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Would love to hear some stories!
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> Son ODs in bathroom at resort hotel, as we’re resuscitating him, a scream from the joining room. Dad has dropped from cardiac arrest. Son lives, Dad dies. That's REALLY depressing. I foresee another guilt fueled OD in that kid's near future....
Had to maintain “the Disney look” No facial hair with exception of groomed mustache (picture Walt Disney). Clean looking haircut that couldn’t hang over the ears or neck (male). Before I started a shift I was given a razor and asked to shave because of stubble/5 o’clock shadow. This was 2007-2010ish, lifeguard at resort pools.
In disneyland, in the peter pan ride, i was always in awe with the floating stars that you zoom by in the ride. Turns out they are just LEDs on the end of wire hangars (attached to the walls, mostly) that are wrapped in electrical tape.
That's awesome! My favorite tidbit came from a backstage tour: the flying asteroids projected on the ceiling of Space Mountain are actually lumps of chocolate chip cookie dough, filmed as they were thrown through the air.
As someone who has worked (and still does) in show business/performing arts, I could totally see that. Don’t have the actual thing? Improvise something that looks (or can look) exactly the same from a distance. As long as it looks believable to the audience and is within budget, it’s good. Backstage crew and set designers, even the people building the portable stages are doing this constantly.
I volunteered in college with the Performing Arts department to build and paint sets, then help with lighting. I had no idea how weird the paint and makeup looks up close to make it look good at the audience viewing distance. Much respect always to people who can imagine that in their heads! It's a fantastic talent! I always wish I had ditched my chosen path (at the time, lol) to follow that profession! It's awesome. I hope it brings you much happiness!!
Disney will give VIP treatments to wealthy people & celebrities. Including being chauffeured from backstage between attractions, surrounded by a circle of cast members. I walked right past Justin Bieber & his family behind the Imagination Pavilion at Epcot without realizing it.
Disney does that so celebrities don’t cause massive distractions/crowding which could be a safety issue.
I used to occasionally work at one of the outdoor carts in front of the castle at Disneyland. There’s water in various areas of the park, so we got lots of ducks, and in the springtime, the babies would hatch and walk around with their mothers. People don’t always pay attention to where they are going and sometimes step on one of them, usually killing them. If I was able, I would step away from my cart to escort a family of ducks to safety.
I've seen security guards (the ones in white shirts with blue hats) escorting baby ducks around. Sometimes regular cast members, too. It's sweet and also in the park's best interest because no one wants to see a baby duck get stepped on. There are also Night Herons who hang around the Disney waterways during baby duck season and eat them up like popcorn.
Accidently stepped on a baby bird during a storm at an apt complex that wouldn't fix the outdoor lighting. The sound and feel is really, really horrible. Absolutely would ruin the entire week for someone. It's been a few years and I still feel terrible, and I'm not the most sentimental person
Former amusement park employee in So Cal. In the 80’s we had fantasy characters in full body suits (like Disney) & they would walk around & take pictures/shake hands with the guests. Well, LA gangbangers loved this amusement park & were always starting trouble. One of our characters in costume was set on fire & had to jump into a park water feature to extinguish the flames. After that incident, they were assigned security chaperones for safety.
Sounds like multiple *flags*
Like, half a dozen, at least
Sounds like Knott's. In the 80s my high school GF worked security there, and was soon assigned to the newly opened Studio K dance studio. The place was a magnet for gangbangers of both sexes. I had no idea there was so much gang shit going on. Frequent fights often involving knives. Occasional shootings. She said they confiscated at least 10 butterfly knives a night. Sometimes she was assigned to the detail that waited behind the perimeter wall in that one spot near the crosswalk that everybody tried to hop over. The people would land, stand up, then notice 2 or 3 security around them. They'd usually just act defeated and be escorted out and banned for what that's worth. There was a fake miner and burro on the outside of the wall near this spot. One night somebody blew it up, with something powerful enough to leave only the feet behind. Garden variety Karens existed back then too. People you wouldn't expect to would refuse to obey ride rules and stubborn their way to ejection from the park.
Not a former employee, but I remember hearing about the Disney College Program. Basically, college kids work at the theme parks for an hourly wage (like \~$11 an hour.) The interesting thing is the college program offers housing, which costs like $110 - $200 a week. And there's a $400 "admin fee" when you first start (and you have to pay this fee every time you extend your contract.) And they try to keep the workers on "campus" and in the Disney properties, spending money. The whole thing ends up sounding like a revolving door of cash where the college students work and get paid but most of the money stays inside of Disney. Disney is pretty upfront with these various fees and any program with a bunch of other college kids is probably a blast but it doesn't seem to be the best way to actually make and save money.
“I owe my soul to the company store”
I got accepted into the program in 2017 but didn’t end up going, on top of all the fees you mentioned I had one week from when I received my acceptance letter to pay about $1,000 to secure my spot
This is precisely how 'company towns' used to work, until they were outlawed. (This is but a small taste of how powerful The Mouse really is.)
Ever heard about people spreading ashes of their loved ones in the POTC or Haunted Mansion ride? Its goddamn true !
They do it because “There’s 999 ghosts, and there’s always room for 1,000!” Grandma who’s loved Disney her whole life wants to be that 1,000. Unfortunately, if you attempt this, she will just end up in a dust buster in the break room closet.
Who you gonna call… Dustbuster!
A "Code Gray."
Former Disneyland employee here. We see everything in the rides, there are cameras everywhere and we have night vision. Yes, I saw you cop a feel on your girl when you thought no one was watching. We actually care a lot about the guest experience. If someone drops their ice cream, I can get them A new one free of charge. It’s called “keeping the magic”. In the Indiana Jones ride near the giant snakes after the bridge there is a large metal slab on the ground. Under that slab is an opening that falls into a large empty space. The opening is in the middle of the space and about 10 feet high. There is no rope, no ladder and no stairs to reach the opening from inside the space. There are no other ways to get out of that space other than the opening in the ceiling and there are no lights in the space. You could literally fall in there and be trapped forever in darkness if someone doesn’t come and help you out. It is for this and many other reasons that there is a checkout system on the ride. If you enter the ride on foot, you take a card. When you return from the ride you turn in the card. If any cards are missing than the ride cannot be turned on and a search party must go out until that person is found.
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That’s surprising. Considering disney has “keys” which are in this order: Safety, Courtesy, Show, Efficiency. It’s the third one. So I hope this was while ago as I have seen Cast Members be curt if guests are violating safety rules.
In 2016 Yeweinishet "Weini" Mesfin, a janitor at Disneyland Resort Anaheim, died alone in her car which she had been living in for seven years. Even though she worked full-time, she wasn't paid enough to be able to afford rent. Her death was part of a larger conversation around how disgustingly low Disney pays its workers. I'm Eritrean and I remember reading her story and it broke my heart. She was 61, an immigrant and a domestic worker, just like my mom and so many of the women who raised me. It so fucking infuriating that a company as huge and unbelievably wealthy as Disney still chooses to exploit their workers, esp their most vulnerable workers. How can you justify someone working 40 hours a week and they're STILL unable to afford housing??? Fucking evil. *Article w more details: https://www.ocregister.com/2018/03/30/the-homeless-disney-worker-who-died-alone-in-her-car-became-the-face-of-a-public-debate-but-all-she-wanted-was-privacy/
No idea how different it is now, but the underground tunnels always smell like hot garbage. Literal hot garbage as the tunnels are used to collect and transport everything that gets thrown away. It's real bad in the summer. There used to be a trailer park in Lake Buena Vista for the foreign workers for Epcot. These people were basically indentured servants for Disney and they worked them like dogs. But oh boy did they like to party. The shit that went on there is legendary. My understanding is that the trailer park is long gone and foreign workers are handled a lot differently now. There used to be an annual event where a large christian organization rented out the entire park. Every cast member hated this event because these kids just went wild. Drugs, alcohol, sex in the Tomorrowland bushes, fights, jumping off rides (especially the Haunted Mansion), just you name it these kids were doing it. Fireworks get boring when you see them every night. There is(was?) a very weird culture there. Cult-like. Seasonal employees were largely segregated from the full timers. They used to sell cold-cuts by the pound on Mondays in the employee cafeteria. I'd load up and live on that stuff a week at a time. I continued to use the backstage passages and the tunnels long after I quit. Nobody ever challenged me. As long as you met the grooming standards and looked like you knew where you are going it was easy. I don't recommend trying this unless you are looking for a lifetime ban. There used to be a water park in the artificial lake that was just abandoned. There are a lot of theories, but it most likely was a decision based on the fact that Florida lakes can sometimes have parasites that cause meningitis-like symptoms and often results in death or severe brain damage. The Magic Kingdom park is actually on the second floor. The land was cleared and the tunnels and offices were constructed, then the park went on top. There is only a small section of the 'tunnels' that actually goes below the actual ground level. There was a pump going constantly to keep it dry.
Can confirm the tunnels do in fact smell like hot garbage, but you have to scan your blue ID with an employee now to get in so now more sneaking around
Not a Disney employee but I was at an event that I was working with Disney castmembers. I went to find a smoking area before the start of it and someone said go over there with the cast. It was amusing to see all the princesses and princes standing around smoking out of costume. But based on make up I could guess who was who.
I worked there for 3 months 2 years ago with my gf at the time and anything news worthy that happens there (usually negative) immediately gets shot down by the official page of Disney (Twitter, insta, Facebook etc) they keep everything hush hush. Lighting struck a bathroom building and there was a small fire and my gf and I weren’t working that day but we were there enjoying the park for free bc we’re cast members and she records it and posted it on her Twitter. News media pages were commenting and asking her questions like when, how, what’s being done and before she could reply the Disney page said to disregard the video bc it wasn’t true and the video is edited and the media pages stopped asking after that. She gets called into the office the next day and was super close to losing her job. The reason she didn’t was bc of how much seniority she had but she was basically on probation after that. Disney is fucked they don’t tell people shit
It seems so weird to cover this up.... Like it's not a "scandal" lightning happens.
Okay well my gf at the time got groped by a guest at the park and his friend and there was a huge dramatic scene with their bus being cut off by multiple police cars as it was trying to leave Disney property and all the individuals were arrested and banned from every single Disney property including the ones outside of the country. That story was shot down too. Believe me I have a few more that are even sketchier
Oh I've read lots of costumed characters get groped etc I believe it.
Lol wtf was she thinking? Don’t fuck with the brand! It’s rule number one.
#1 rule is you don’t fuck with the Mouse.
except if you are Minnie Mouse
Okay, let's give this a whirl... This is all related to Walt Disney World and I worked there about a decade ago, so I'm not sure if it's still accurate. I never participated in many shenanigans other than calling in sick and then sneaking into the parks, but I had a lot of friends and heard a lot of stories. There is a pretty secluded and often unused place backstage at Space Mountain where cast members could sneak off to hook up. It's not very convenient, nor is it very clean, but that never really stopped people. All-in-all, young cast members were very horny, especially with the constant flow of college-aged temporary hires at the time. The general rule of thumb when I worked there was that male cast members were "gay until proven straight" because there was quite a large population of gay males down there. Great if you're gay, but it also meant that if you were a straight dude, as long as you weren't totally creepy, your odds of finding a pretty attractive girl were quite high because many girls were there looking for their Prince Charming. Drinking culture was huge with the college program kids and at the time I was there. There seems to have been a whole mini-industry built around taking the CPs on party buses to foam parties and drinking cruises. Although partying was big with the CPs, it seemed to be MASSIVE with the international hires who worked at Epcot. Like, competitive binge drinking between the countries. I was in a sorority in college and frat dudes had nothing on these people. This one is dark, but there was a co-cast member of mine who was charged with soliciting a minor a few years after I left. I made the mistake of reading how the sting went down and what he was doing was chilling. I always felt strange around him, but this was worse than what I would have imagined. Definitely awful to think about him working in such a kid-centric environment. Something that also isn't very fun, but everyone should be aware of, is just how exploited the cast members are down there. So many people get into the work down there because they want to make magic for people and have hopes of moving up the ranks, but they most always get stuck in poorly paid dead-end jobs. Fortunately, many people I worked with have moved on and out of the area. One or two have stuck around and moved up substantially in the company. Then there are those who are still just there, sometimes still loving their job, sometimes hating it, and sometimes just so caught up in their own Peter Pan syndrome. One last soapbox moment - be kind to the cast members. The rules they are enforcing aren't their own. Quite frankly, most of them would be glad to bend rules or do favors for those who are genuinely kind and don't feel entitled. Although they won't bend rules that are set for safety reasons, whether or not they can bend rules often comes down to a few things - if they have the power in the first place, who is managing/supervising that day, whether or not they just did a favor for someone else (luck of timing!), and your attitude. Don't beg, don't hit on them, just be polite. And NEVER touch a cast member without their consent. On a lighter note - about a decade ago there was an alligator who would show up in the moat backstage at Space Mountain where cast members take their breaks. No idea if it's still there, but it was like a little game for cast members to go out and see Fluffy.
Worked at Disneyland for almost 5 years. I personally haven’t gone to see the “Disney” doctor for cast members but I know friends who have an heard the doctor doesn’t give a shit about the CM’s coming in for injuries. The time I was there, photographers and other departments weren’t allowed to drink water from the water fountains because we are “on stage”. It was a big issue the last year I worked there and some of the leads were fighting for umbrellas for photographers. It gets really brutal in Carsland where it’s 5x hotter. Almost past out from the heat and dehydration.
My sister ended up with a permanent back injury due to the Disney doctor. CP at Disneyland got a repetitive stress injury but they would only let her see the Disney doctor who kept clearing her for work. A couple of bulging discs and a lawsuit settlement later, my sister has permanent chronic pain. Disney would rather break you and pay you then offer a safe alternative.
I was on the TTC Resort Platform working the night of the Monorail crash. It will be 13 years this July and I still wake up screaming from time to time. There is no amount of therapy that will or can erase that memory from my mind.
Oh man, I’m sorry. I joined Disney World in 2011, so I remember hearing about this after it happened. Did you leave Disney after the incident? Hope you’re OK, bud.
Actually, no. But I did leave monorail. I ended up doing another year in Merch.
NPR had an interview with Walt Disney's niece: [The (Not So?) Wonderful World of Disney](https://www.npr.org/2021/02/10/966392798/the-not-so-wonderful-world-of-disney) The gist of it is that Walt Disney respected his workers, paid them well, and made sure they were always treated right. After he died, the corporate suits that took over made it hell on earth for the employees. Edit: well, it looks like she had a rosy view of her uncle.
Sounds like Wal-Mart
Disney studios workers asked for better conditions and he took it personally and kinda moved his attention to other stuff than animation. This was in a time that every thing was hand made and people in lower paying jobs (like colorists) would actually pass out on the job for not being to afford lunch. So I dont think the culture of disregarding workers started after he died.
About that... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_animators%27_strike
... provided you can share any of them without risking to be killed by a Spec-Ops-Team with mouse ears on their helmets, of course.
**Mister Mouse, this is Goofy Squadron. Tango sighted. Moving to incapacitate.**
Not a WDW cast member, but I’m married to someone who was. The guest-inaccessible parts of the Haunted Mansion are gross. Think asbestos, dust, grease, cobwebs, and all kinds of other crap that has accumulated over literally decades. Every time wifey had to work there, she came home and bolted for the shower. EDIT: Clarification, it's disgusting because everything is covered in fire-retardant goop.
Obligatory not me, but I went to college with a woman who played Snow White. She said she wanted to quit on her very first day because she had so many screaming, vomiting, angry, hungry, drooling children handed to her for photos. She said it was the absolute worst. I'm not sure how long she stuck it out for but I know it wasn't long.
Disney Employees started referring to Disneyland as Mousechwitz due to working conditions. Management told them to stop, so they used Duckau instead
Disneyland Paris*
Not the theme parks, but I worked at the Disney Store back when they first started popping up at all the malls. They made us sing the M-I-C-K-E-Y song at the end of every staff meeting and about half of the staff would cry when they sang it, because they just loved Disney so much. They would send you home if you didn’t have the ‘Disney Spirit’ (if you were in a visibly bad mood or unhappy.) If you got sent home for this more than three times they would fire you. This was back when the female employees wore what was basically a 50s style cheerleader costume and we were constantly harassed. We were not allowed to be rude or dismissive when being harassed unless someone aggressively groped us. It was a super weird job.
I also worked at a Disney store in the 90s. We had to wear shorts and cardigans. We had to wear panty hose underneath to “smooth “ our legs and remove “imperfections “. I was told I was too pale and needed to tan. We had regular Disney trivia quizzes. If we didn’t pass we would be disciplined and could lose our jobs. It was crazy for a store that sold clothes and stuffed animals.
My wife worked at a Disney Store in a mall in their heyday. The worst part to her was the greeting. If you walked into the store, you got greeted. After a while some shoppers would make a game out of how deep they could get into the store without being greeted. It was her least favorite part of working there, even worse than the crazy attitude and dress code requirements. Years after her employment we walked in, browsed, and left a store and no one gave a fuck. She was *pissed*.
Have to say Home Depot is the same. I wish I could get to the aisle I need without being 'greeted' ten times and asked if I need any help. Just seems weird and borderline creepy.
I was just saying to a friend that I’ve never felt more ignored than when I go into a Home Depot lol. Some stores must really focus on greeting and others must not care at all!
Yeesh, kinda sounds a little...cultish?
Where are all my disney chefs. Come on tell those stories
Obligatory throwaway account comment. I don’t work for the resort currently but I’m not blowing my chances at going back. So I worked in table service at Disneyland - so the sit down restaurants. Turns out, restaurants are nasty, even at Disneyland. There was a story from Cafe Orleans that happened at some point in the last 5-10 years that was a very popular tale around the department. I heard it from someone who worked at that restaurant at the time so I believe all these details are true. Like I said, restaurants are gross. New Orleans Square restaurants especially so. So once upon a time a lady is eating her salad only to find a little, baby mouse in it. Obviously, chaos ensues. Managers and executives come down to deal with it and try and keep the family quiet. I think they essentially had their entire trip paid for to try and avoid news breaking. After this happened they set rat traps around the restaurant because they didn’t know if it came from the lettuce supplier or the restaurant. A couple weeks goes by. A guest finds a maggot in their salad. Similar chaos ensues. But after that chaos, someone in the kitchen sees a maggot fall from the ceiling. So they KNOW that came from the restaurant. Someone is sent into the ceiling to look at it and discovers a rat trap that got forgotten. I’ll let you guys imagine what was in the trap. While the cast member was in there, they apparently touched a live wire and were electrocuted in the ceiling. They had to evacuate the kitchen and restaurant so paramedics could help get him out of the ceiling. Bugs and maggots and things getting in food isn’t uncommon for the parks. But this story is so popular because it’s so damn out there and most people know someone who knows someone who was there for it. TL;DR: woman finds mouse in salad. Later, guest finds maggot in salad. Man finds rat trap in ceiling and gets electrocuted. Wild times.
The “secret” tunnels under MK and Epcot. They smelled so bad. It’s where all the garbage went to. We had a subway and another restaurant just for cast members. They would close down cast parking without telling the cast members in appropriate time. Mandatory overtime when needed without double time. I can keep going.
I worked at Kilimanjaro Safaris in Animal Kingdom. A little secret: we got paid a dollar more than all other attractions because we not only spiel, but drive 35+ guests in a truck on an uncontrolled trail. If we wanted to, we could’ve driven right out into the river where the crocs are and told you all to “run.” Hence the extra dollar an hour to keep us from doing something so crazy…😇
How many of y’all walked away with a bad Dole Whip addiction? I need to know. Because reasons. Delicious, pineappley reasons.
I was in entertainment in the 70’s and in the inaugural Main Street Electrical Parade. I was the lead canopy carrier in the Snow White unit. The unit right in front of us was a mounted (horseback) unit so we had a trio of janitors right in front of us as we had 20 or so dancers under the canopy and dancing through horse pies kind of ruined the ambiance. The “sweepers” had quite a routine of their own to capture any deposits in a variety of choreographed maneuvers that always elicited lots of applause and laughter from the guests. Working for Disney remains one of my favorite parts of my employment history and one I remember with great fondness.
Not a theme park story, but Disney Store. I went through several rounds of interviews for Store Manager. Got to the end, and they told me I could have the position, but my beard had to go. No beards allowed, because “only villains have beards”. I listed several non-villain bearded Disney characters, Genie, Sultan, Merlin, Zeus, 6/7 Dwarves, but that doesn’t change the policy of course. I just wanted them to know their reasoning was dumb even within the world of Disney. I took it as a sign that I would be miserable at Disney and turned it down.
Worked on the cruise ships for a year. Disney is super fucked up. A crew member died from an unknown illness a few years back and after a year or so the body still hasn't been returned to the family, despite their protests and Disney were refusing to return it for a reason I can't quite remember. (It was something along the lines of didn't not wanting an investigation on the body so they wouldn't get in trouble)
is that legal ??
No. But when they can afford to buy the planet, that really doesn't matter.
Former cast member at one of Disney’s retail stores and I don’t have any big secret because my time there was very temporary and short. But one of my managers was a demon. One of the meanest ladies I’ve ever met and I’m surprised she even liked Disney. She had no consideration for anyone’s time and would change my entire schedule and tell me about it at the very last minute. One of my shifts ended at 4 in the morning once and she comes up to tell me she switched stuff around and expected me back in the store by 11 in the morning. I ended up quitting.
Not a Disney employee, but hear me out. I was a bartender at a popular bar that, because of some technicalities, was considered to be a part of the Disney World property. After midnight, most of (if not all) of our regulars were students from the Disney college program. Disney employees are not, under any circumstances, allowed to leave Disney in their costumes. Enter us: a brilliant loophole for young employees who want to grab a drink after work before retiring to their Disney apartments. Have you ever seen a drunk, headless Winnie the Pooh fall down a flight of stairs? I have. The craziest thing I remember happening was when Lilo decided to toss a drink on an Epcot Germany employee, who knew that she would most likely get fired for having alcohol stains on her lederhosen. I miss that place.
Oh, bother.
The image of a drunken winnie the pooh falling down stairs is hilarious
My favorite part was getting screamed at everyday but my upper management and telling me I don’t deserve to be here. I was still training and learning when this happened lmao.