Transportation

[Prock]

I was accepted into fall '11 for a transportation role. What roles fall under transportation? I am hoping for watercraft operations because I have boating experience, which is something I put on my application.

For anyone who has done transportation for the college program what were your experiences with it?

 

[t-ho]

I was accepted into fall '11 for a transportation role. What roles fall under transportation? I am hoping for watercraft operations because I have boating experience, which is something I put on my application.

For anyone who has done transportation for the college program what were your experiences with it?

I don't mean to get your hopes up with a post, because I know nothing about the transportation role, but I just wanted to say how awesome that sounds. I hope you do get to drive(?) one of the boats. I like the boat trip through Port Orleans. But you could also drive the monorail which would be legit too.

 

[TinkStitch]

I didn't do transportation, but one of my closest friends during my program did. He was a bus greeter. Basically, he went to the TTC every morning (like 6:30ish) & took a van to one of the resorts. At the resorts, he kept track of how often the busses showed up & where they were going. He helped load wheelchairs on the busses & just kinda hung out answering people's questions when there weren't a lot of busses. I think he usually got off around 12:30, so they were early days, but short.

 

[Frizzbird]

I had 2 friends in transportation during spring 10. One was a monorail pilot/driver and the other was like a monorail greeter. The second one was one of the people you see on the platforms working the gates to let you load and things like that.

 

[YesIStillLoveDisney]

I was for Fall 2009! I had the best job in the world...in my opinion I worked the FriendShip Boats that run in Epcot and between Epcot and Hollywood Studios. They were a blast to drive, especially since they have a 360 degree propeller and turn on a dime

It is a very safety oriented job though so keep that in mind. It is even more so now than on my program because the overhauled a lot of our requirements last fall.

The one thing about that location though is that it pays less than the others I think. While the CP offer says transportation, the actual department in an attraction so you don't make as much as if you were in a transportation department.

I think a big part of why I ended up there is because I talked a lot about my boat experience in the interview but I was the only one out of like 12 CPs that had any.

 

[Prock]

I was for Fall 2009! I had the best job in the world...in my opinion I worked the FriendShip Boats that run in Epcot and between Epcot and Hollywood Studios. They were a blast to drive, especially since they have a 360 degree propeller and turn on a dime

It is a very safety oriented job though so keep that in mind. It is even more so now than on my program because the overhauled a lot of our requirements last fall.

The one thing about that location though is that it pays less than the others I think. While the CP offer says transportation, the actual department in an attraction so you don't make as much as if you were in a transportation department.

I think a big part of why I ended up there is because I talked a lot about my boat experience in the interview but I was the only one out of like 12 CPs that had any.

Thats what Im hoping for, that or the magic kingdom area boats or the water taxi's to downtown disney. Im almost wondering if they picked me to do some sort of watercraft operation because I did put down I have boating experience and a pleasurecraft operators card. Plus I put down 7 roles and ended up with transportation, which seems like the smallest role. I have doubts though because I'm in the fall program, not the fall advantage so they wont have as much time to train me.

What hours did you work for the friendship boats? And what exactly did you do.

 

[YesIStillLoveDisney]

Well, I am not sure if DTD even has CPs on their boats, I have generally heard that they do not.

Magic Kingdom does I think but it is limited and you will never really have the time to work your way up from the smallest ones. You would also be working by yourself mostly on those smaller boats.

As for only being Fall, there were quite a few like that in the programs after me. They even train people who just extend into the summer and get put on the boats for 3 months so the entire Fall is usually fine.

As for the FriendShips, the job itself is awesome. You will be paired up with a co-captain (it changes every boat you get on) and will go from Epcot down to Studios and back, picking up and dropping off at the resorts along the way. One will drive down while the other deckhands (ties up the boat, does the safety spiel, talks to guests) and then you would switch at Studios most of the time. You really have to be someone who can handle things by yourself to an extent though because it is an hour long trip and you coordinator and manager are both back at Epcot. The other routes are in the Epcot lagoon going between the countries and there are always managers around, even if they aren't yours, lol.

The boats themselves are pretty awesome but kind of intimidating at first. They have 360 degree pod propellers on the back so there is no reverse or anything because everything is done with the wheel. They are very different from the boats most people have driven so it takes awhile to get used to them but once you do it is easy and so much fun.

As a CP of the FriendShips you will always close...always. If you get 1 non-closing shift in your entire program you are lucky, lol, unless you pick up a HUB shift of course and even then they sometimes try to convince you to stay. You will close with the other CPs and the part timers who are all retired guys in there 60's or above, lol.

I am not sure how much to describe but I LOVED every minute of my program. The department has there problems like they all do but the actual ob was a blast and I go back and pick up shifts whenever I can.