Anyone who's done Merch, Hospitality, or Concierge?

[Holly_Golightly]

Those are my top three role choices for Fall 2010, and I was wondering if anyone had done any of these roles could share your experiences with the roles--where you worked, what you did, etc. I just want a better idea of what I would be doing in those roles.

Even if you had a different role other than those three, please share, because I know that I need to check off more than three choices . . .

Thanks!

 

[disneychickforever]

I have Merch but I don't start til the 19th of August, so I'm not to much help now, but when I start working in my location I'll tell you about it.

 

[chevyrules05]

I do merch in Down town Disney zone 2 (toy store, pooh corner and mickeys pantry) and also west side disney quest and mickeys grove, but I am moving to epcot in aug because we are over staff and they need people for food and wine festival, its fun alot to remeber at first but after you do it for a week you know everything like the back of your hand the only thing i hate is closing registers becaue the small stores the money has to be counted by hand but the big stores like once upon a toy the money is counted by a machine, if you want to know anything else just ask

 

[Lukas87]

Concierge is a new role, I believe, so it will be difficult finding anyone to share about their CP experiences in concierge. I'm sure there are some non-cp concierge CMs around though that can give you general information about it.

 

[Joanna71985]

I did merchandise in 2005 (I worked in Fantasyland in the MK, as well as short stinks in Liberty Square and Adventureland). It wasn't too bad. I mostly closed (so I would work anywhere from around 3-5pm until park close, which could be anywhere from 10pm to 3am). I usually worked the registers, and assisted the guests in the shops. But once in awhile I would also be stocker.

As for other roles- I have also done custodial, QSFB, character attendant, and will be doing attractions starting in Aug.

 

[Holly_Golightly]

What was the character attendant role like?

 

[BethAnne Sthrn Belle]

I'm going to be doing Merch starting August 10th

And my roommate will be Hospitality...She was going to be Concierge but then they switched that option to only Fall Advantage.

So this seems like the catagory thread just for us...

Let you know about it next month.

Found out my possible location and am excited to get there and try it out!

 

[Joanna71985]

What was the character attendant role like?

It's such an awsome role! I love getting to work in so many locations, and interact with the character(s) and guests.

 

[Holly_Golightly]

And my roommate will be Hospitality...She was going to be Concierge but then they switched that option to only Fall Advantage.

So this seems like the catagory thread just for us...

Let you know about it next month.

Found out my possible location and am excited to get there and try it out!

Glad I'm doing Fall Advantage since concierge is definately one of my top choices. And please do keep us posted! I would love to hear all about it

It's such an awsome role! I love getting to work in so many locations, and interact with the character(s) and guests.

I was considering adding this role to my choices and you just made it an easy add for me. That sounds like a really fun role . . . I think I may have a top 4 roles now

Although I think I would love any of the roles I plan on checking off, I'm still unsure as to what role would best suit me. As much as I think I would be good in hospitality or concierge roles, I also think that I would do really well working in the parks and interacting with the guests in the parks . . . but I think I'd like interacting with them in regards to their resort experiences . . . I just don't know!!! I wish I hadn't waited so long into my college career (I'll be a senior when I do the program) so I could do more than one semester down there, but I guess that's life for ya.

 

[epfootballcutie04]

I'm currently doing the hospitality role!! If you have any questions, feel free to private message me!

 

[chrstina]

Seems as though they have broadened the rhelm of choices from when I was in the CP. I was in an 8-person room at Chatham so I had a lot of roommates with different roles. I was attractions - LOVED IT!

I worked EPCOT Fastpass (team no longer exists ( ) but I mainly worked the Future-World fastpass attraction entrances and handled the "merge" points for where fastpass would merge with stand-by. I also did the tip booth (the message board behind Spaceship Earth where the maps are) and we also did Illuminations Crowd control since Future World closes at 7. The way they run attractions (or at least did) was that when you clock-in at your location, there is a computer you type your id number into. It would then tell you where to go.....whether it be a person that needs to go on break or you'd get a "bump." If you were to relieve someone for break, your receipt would say, relieve "Mary" at Test Track Stand-By. So you would go to the Test Track Stand-By area and give "Mary" the receipt you printed and she would go back to the computer to print out her break slip with her times. If it would be a "bump" you would initiate a domino effect of positions, starting with the first. You would go to the first position, which I think was HISTA, hand over the bump slip to who was at that position, and they would go to the next and "bump" everyone down the line until the last position where they would most likely go on break. It was a pretty neat system and I am interested to see if it is still the same now. I like it a lot since you are constantly moving, aren't at the same point for more than 20 minutes. When I was there, most "attractions" roles were like this.

I had 3 other roommates in attractions, one was Splash Mountain, another was the Jungle Cruise and the third was It's Tough to be a Bug. One roommate was in Merch at AK in Dinoland and her costume was HORENDOUS! But she was able to stay Seasonal since merch is an easy position to come back to for peak seasons. 2 were Quick Service, one was in the Sunshine Season place in the Land that is COMPLETELY different now and another was at Cosmic Rays. The last roommate was Transportation and she did AK front gate - ticket people. She was the one that checked in a week after 9/11 due to her flight so I am not sure if that was a real Transportation role or not.

After my CP run, I transferred to FT and moved back. At one point I was a V&A's reservationist and we worked close with the GF Concierge. Mainly you are like a "guest relations" for the elite. You handle check-ins and reservations for people in Concierge level. When I was on CP, I think Concierge was an Advanced Internship program so maybe the non-Advanced program would be setting up and cleaning up concierge areas of the resorts. Trying my hand at answering since I have been around the block or two.

Sorry I ended up being so winded.

 

[Holly_Golightly]

No! The more long-winded the better! I need all the info I can get, especially from an insider Thank you for all the helpful insights!

 

[CTKris10]

I worked Merchandise during my Spring 2007 CP and LOVED it!! I worked in the Emporium on Main Street in the MK. Going to work everyday and listening to the parades/fireworks was awesome! My favorite job was stocking the shelves which I did most of the time, but I would also work on the registers from time to time. A lot of Merchandise shops also give you the opportunity to do a lot of "Magical Moments" for guests, but I won't spoil the surprises. I was also deployed (a fancy way to say I was sent to work in other areas of MK) several times to Main Street Strollers, Adventureland and Glow. It was cool to be able to work at other places and wear different costumes. Even if your location does not deploy, you can pick up extra shifts anywhere on property.

All of my roommates worked Merchandise as well (Adventureland, Downtown Disney Pleasure Island Shops/Westside, and the World of Disney). We all usually had later shifts, which gave us time to either sleep in, go grocery shopping or park hop in the morning. Some times there were a lot of late nights (especially during holidays or grad nights). A lot of the locations are inside and air-conditioned, but keep in mind there are also a lot of outside carts and stands.Overall its a really great role and I hope you consider it!

 

[grownoats]

where do you think are the best places to be put if doing merch?

 

[Lukas87]

where do you think are the best places to be put if doing merch?

If you want 'normal' hours -- anywhere in DAK

If you want lots of oppurtunities for overtime -- Mainstreet USA

 

[_frazzle]

At the beginning of my CP in Spring 09 I was at Animal Kingdom Lodge and it was the BEST!! During my time there I was deployed to All-Star resorts, Boardwalk and the Grand Floridian. Out of those, I hated the BW and the Grand only because the guests were more rude than I had ever experienced. All-Star wasn't bad, the people who worked there were great and SO inviting!

My location was permanently moved halfway through to Zone 3 at Downtown Disney which included Design-A-Tee, Days of Christmas, Art of Disney, and World of Memories. I only ended up working at Memories and 90% of the time DAT. The people who worked at DAT were amazing and I met friends for life there! However, the guests can be very inconsiderate there since shirts are made to order and they can get very mad when their shirt isn't ready on time or if the "production time" is not to their liking. You get over it VERY quickly though because when you see the look on satisfied Guests faces for something that you actually made (because we at DAT are trained on the shirt printing machines) it's extremely rewarding.

Sorry for the horribley long reply, but I loved being in Merch so much and one of the best things about it...PIN TRADING!

 

[Holly_Golightly]

So what was your official role title? Merchandise? Because whatever it was, it sounds like it was GREAT!

Also, what was it like working at DTD? I'm thinking I'd love to work merchandise there, especially Days of Christmas and Art of Disney. What were your hours like?

 

[ashliejere]

I do merch in Down town Disney zone 2 (toy store, pooh corner and mickeys pantry) and also west side disney quest and mickeys grove,

So if you do merch you could end up in a few different locations?

 

[spectroaddy]

So if you do merch you could end up in a few different locations?

It depends on what area you are working in, but don't worry you will be trained in all the locations you will be working in. For example : I work at Magic Kingdom, Main Street East I would work in confectionary, Town Square, Firehouse, Pin Cart, Tip Board Cart, East Train Cart, Gallery and Uptown Jewelry. At first I was a little overwhelmed at all locations I would be working, but after you do a few days you start getting used of it. I hope to go for my 2nd CP in spring 2010, hopefully I will be back at MK!!!

 

[_frazzle]

So what was your official role title? Merchandise? Because whatever it was, it sounds like it was GREAT!

Also, what was it like working at DTD? I'm thinking I'd love to work merchandise there, especially Days of Christmas and Art of Disney. What were your hours like?

Yup, I was Merch! Working at DTD was very nice. Busy and lively atmosphere, and with House of Blues right on the other side you get a lot of people coming over that'll tell you what's going on over there which I loved! If you'd like to work in those two stores, request to be put in Zone 3. You'll be trained at all of the stores I was in DTD shops open at 9:30am and I think my earilest shift was 8:00am. Not bad at all! However, the Design-A-Tee shifts were usually long because they're understaffed a lot of the time. Sometimes I got 13-hour shifts and a lot of the time we're scheduled up to 3am because we're making shirts in the back, but it's pretty much getting paid to talk with your coworkers and listen to non-Disney (!!!!) music for a few hours after closing. No guests =) I forgot to mention that Goofy's Candy Company is also in Zone 3.

There's a BUNCH of great people working over there! You'll make friends fast