I was a cast member for over a year at a Disney Store in a major tourist area with outlet malls. (I would still be there if not for relocating due to my husband's job. I loved it!)
The year I was there we opened on Thanksgiving night at 10pm and were open for nearly 24 hours. Everyone had to pull at least one shift, PLUS we were allowed to hire temp workers just for that 24 hour time period (they were children/siblings/SOs/parents of current workers)
Typical shifts for our Disney store are 4 hour blocks, sometimes you have call in shifts attached (or just on their own). During the Thanksgiving/Black Friday ordeal, we were required to work at least one 6 hour stretch (4 hour shift/2 hour call in). I got two 4 hour back to back blocks from 3am - noon, with an hour "lunch" break at 7am.
It was way more fun than a regular work day. The guests were all generally in a good party mood. Part of the enjoyment was that our team all got along freakishly well. We had awesome managers and cast members (some of whom are HARD CORE Disney people. One guy does a Princess tree every year and buys new classic dolls every time they get a costume update to put on it. It's nuts. And also kind of amazing.)
I've never done any black Friday shopping myself, but I think most people who do make it a fun activity. We had people showing up in matching outfits, chugging coffee, singing, having a good ol' loopy time.
I can see how working in certain places on Tgiving/BF would SUCK, but at our store it was amped up and lots of fun. Maybe part of it was because the guests who want to shop at the Disney store at 3am are naturally cheerful???
I realize this is not the case for many workers, but it was fun to see everyone so happy and excited. Plus we had great flash sales, so we saw some REALLY excited people, LOL!!