Are WDW parks really overflowing with trash?

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Reporting a trash can in the wide open which should be monitored regularly.

I have a CM friend and just spoke with them last night. They said the best thing people can do is tell someone when they see it and they can get someone on it immediately. They previously worked in transportation (is now in a different role)and when they were told about issues they would contact custodial CMs who would get right on it. We both agreed if you saw something in a queue to just tell the CM as you're being loaded/at the front of the queue and they'll get someone. Out in the open if you see a CM let them know. The trash, at least according to them, is emptied (or at least monitored) roughly every 45-50mins or so. That of course doesn't mean that every single trash can in the WDW property is done at that interval, there are more trash cans than custodial people but rather they do regular rounds. At least according to my CM friend while they can visually see an overfilling trash they are to call custodial to actually deal with it (that may not be the same for every single CM role out there just giving their information).

 

[piccolopat]

Anyone confusing grocery stores and theme parks needs to be seen by a licensed professional

I really take offense at this statement. In my opinion, all places of business should put a premium on the cleanliness and safety of their facilities and I, as a customer, will point out unacceptable situations whenever possible. Yes, I go to Disney to be entertained, but they also provide dining and other services and so there are similarities to other establishments. I think it is just as unacceptable to see an overflowing trash can at Disney as I do at my local market. I don't have a "it's not my job" attitude about notifying someone. I also don't think that means I need professional help.

 

[Orion Nebula]

It looks like WDW is turning into a Six Flags.

 

[rojen]

It's always disheartening to see how many people have been conditioned to excuse and/or defend any decision a corporation makes.

$14 an hour part time no benefits with an insane shift availability requirement. That's the problem.

 

[Lilsia]

I have a CM friend and just spoke with them last night. They said the best thing people can do is tell someone when they see it and they can get someone on it immediately. They previously worked in transportation (is now in a different role)and when they were told about issues they would contact custodial CMs who would get right on it. We both agreed if you saw something in a queue to just tell the CM as you're being loaded/at the front of the queue and they'll get someone. Out in the open if you see a CM let them know. The trash, at least according to them, is emptied (or at least monitored) roughly every 45-50mins or so. That of course doesn't mean that every single trash can in the WDW property is done at that interval, there are more trash cans than custodial people but rather they do regular rounds. At least according to my CM friend while they can visually see an overfilling trash they are to call custodial to actually deal with it (that may not be the same for every single CM role out there just giving their information).

I agree with you. It is so easy to just tell the cast member that you see as you walk by, that you noticed an issue. Contrary to what people believe, they can not be everywhere at once and sometimes things do get overlooked. I really do not understand the mentality of those who think "I paid too much to be here for me to lower myself to saying something". Things happen, maybe the cast member for that area went on break and it filled up, maybe they got called away to do something else, etc. We don't know what the issue is. But, as someone who has worked in food for a long time, I can tell you that nobody wants to miss emptying the garbage can before it starts to overflow, that is just more work. Trust me, they do appreciate when you can notify them. We are all human and I can't see helping the cast members out a bit as anything but a decent, human thing to do. If they are understaffed, that is not their fault. Be mad a Disney all you want, call, email, tweet them with your displeasure. But I don't see why a person can't take the 3 seconds to tell a cast member of an issue. I guess maybe since I have been on that side, that I really don't understand that kind of mentality.

 

[Lilsia]

It's always disheartening to see how many people have been conditioned to excuse and/or defend any decision a corporation makes.

$14 an hour part time no benefits with an insane shift availability requirement. That's the problem.

I don't see anyone excusing anything. What we are talking about is notifying a cast member if you see this because it has obviously been overlooked. I like to give the cast members the benefit of the doubt and help them out by taking a few seconds to inform someone. That is NOT the same as excusing Disney's policy. We should all be mad at those conditions, but sticking it to a cast member does not solve anything and kind of jerk thing to do. Whoever took these pictures should send them to corporate so that they are aware.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

It's always disheartening to see how many people have been conditioned to excuse and/or defend any decision a corporation makes.

$14 an hour part time no benefits with an insane shift availability requirement. That's the problem.

Not defending anything, but it appears the national median hourly rate for custodial work is around $12 an hour. And based on recent job postings, Universal appears to pay more in the $11-12 an hour range for their custodial team members. Looking back at hourly rates for Disney, they were around that $12 an hour mark in 2019 or so. Is $14 an hour great pay? No, but it does appear to be a marked improvement over the hourly rate from 2 years ago. It’s likely that the unions negotiated for that rate, and possibly even more incremental increases over the coming months/years.

 

[71 Truck]

It's always disheartening to see how many people have been conditioned to excuse and/or defend any decision a corporation makes.

$14 an hour part time no benefits with an insane shift availability requirement. That's the problem.

Everyone has to remember $14 dollars is the starting pay right now. I think it goes to $15 this October.
It tops out much higher over time also their are shift differentials pay based on starting time from what I was told.
Based on some web searching it tops out at just under $20 per hour. This was based on the contract negotiated for years 2017 to 2022. The research information was based on a full time cast member contract.
This means there will be new contract negotiations soon so pay may go up again.
I would think part time get the same pay just no benefits.
So lets say you have been at Disney for 10 years it's possible you could be making just under $20 dollars an hour.

I know Disney is listing for part time custodial right now however if you spend some time and as full time retire there will be opening for full time.
I know people who have gone to Disney looking at part time positions and have been offered full time jobs during their interview. The jobs were different then the original job they applied for.

I could post a link to the Disney World labor contract but I do not know if I am aloud.

So if you spend some time at Disney you can do well pay wise.

 

[NickC]

I would probably tell someone about the trash overflowing, but I think, at that point, it's too late. I don't think it is strictly a Covid era or pay rate thing. I've noticed that the parks have been clean, but not spotless like they were 8 years ago. My theory is more about what they are focusing on. The new lands are beautiful, but also very expensive. I was NOT excited when they announced SWGE because I thought that the budget to keep the parks spotless, and to train the staff would be exhausted with the new lands. I really wish that WDW had focused more on the 'magic' that they offered instead of the latest and greatest rides. They seemed to be doing great financially with the 'magic' model. Maybe they are doing better now, who knows. But, their model has changed, or so it seems. I haven't been since 2019. Even though I didn't really agree with their direction, I still went and had a great time. I'm keeping an eye on their current operations and if/when I think it's time to go again, I'll go.

 

[EveDallas]

Not defending anything, but it appears the national median hourly rate for custodial work is around $12 an hour. And based on recent job postings, Universal appears to pay more in the $11-12 an hour range for their custodial team members. Looking back at hourly rates for Disney, they were around that $12 an hour mark in 2019 or so. Is $14 an hour great pay? No, but it does appear to be a marked improvement over the hourly rate from 2 years ago. It’s likely that the unions negotiated for that rate, and possibly even more incremental increases over the coming months/years.

https://www.clickorlando.com/theme-...ises-wage-to-15-per-hour-for-team-members/#//

 

[cakebaker]

https://www.clickorlando.com/theme-...ises-wage-to-15-per-hour-for-team-members/#//

Good for Universal! $1 an hour when you're talking this low of a wage is a big difference. That could well be part of Disney's problem. They are no longer offereing a competitive wage.

 

[jade1]

Everyone has to remember $14 dollars is the starting pay right now. I think it goes to $15 this October.
It tops out much higher over time also their are shift differentials pay based on starting time from what I was told.
Based on some web searching it tops out at just under $20 per hour. This was based on the contract negotiated for years 2017 to 2022. The research information was based on a full time cast member contract.
This means there will be new contract negotiations soon so pay may go up again.
I would think part time get the same pay just no benefits.
So lets say you have been at Disney for 10 years it's possible you could be making just under $20 dollars an hour.

I know Disney is listing for part time custodial right now however if you spend some time and as full time retire there will be opening for full time.
I know people who have gone to Disney looking at part time positions and have been offered full time jobs during their interview. The jobs were different then the original job they applied for.

I could post a link to the Disney World labor contract but I do not know if I am aloud.

So if you spend some time at Disney you can do well pay wise.

Curious if custodial pays the same as most everything else? And if they are hiring for most everything else, if custodial isn't the choice of most new hires maybe?

I mean even Disney currently doesn't exactly glamorize the position.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

https://www.clickorlando.com/theme-...ises-wage-to-15-per-hour-for-team-members/#//

Ok, so Universal has increased their staring rates. Thank you for correcting that. Disney’s current starting rate for custodial is $14 an hour. Based on their careers page, it is also the starting rate for Laundry Helper & Food & Beverage Host, Food & Beverage Handler, Dishwasher. $1 an hour is not exactly a huge difference.
But there are many roles with starting rates above $14 and even above $15.
Security is $16 an hour
Housekeeping is $16 an hour
Culinary Cook 1 is $18 an hour
Culinary Cook 2 (Prep Cook) is $15.40 an hour
Chefs Assistant is $19 an hour

So, while Universal has jumped to $15 ahead of the Florida requirement (by 2026) it appears Disney has chosen to jump to $14 for now for many of the entry/less specialized roles.

 

[Orion Nebula]

It's always disheartening to see how many people have been conditioned to excuse and/or defend any decision a corporation makes.

$14 an hour part time no benefits with an insane shift availability requirement. That's the problem.

Confused, are you saying the increase in trash around the parks is due to the wages? Or is it due to not finding enough people to work there?

 

[SuzErwin]

$14/hr is below the living wage in Orlando. Per Payscale.com, a living wage in Orlando is $15.44/hour. If you have 3 kids and 1 salary, the living wage is $35.50/hour. (A living wage is the bare minimum necessary to afford basic living accommodations and food.). And the labor market is tight across the country; lots of competition for filling entry level hourly roles.

Part time workers don’t receive benefits, which usually total 50% or more of full time workers’ total compensation. So part time workers have to pay for all medical and dental associated expenses, plus they miss out on company-provided life and disability insurance, among other benefits.

Disney lost $70B last year and it has a new CEO eager to demonstrate his profit-generating prowess to the board of directors and Wall Street. Coming back from a shutdown gives the company room to experiment with theme park capacity vs. staffing levels, restaurant quality, cleanliness, productivity, etc, before guest dissatisfaction triggers an internal tipping point. And demand is high thanks to pent up desire to travel, so they’re not risking much by increasing prices and decreasing their costs and guest benefits; any bumps can be spun as due to the unusual circumstances caused by coming back online after the pandemic.

I’m not going to WDW until December (if then; seriously considering putting it off for another year or so) but I definitely plan to leave complaints/compliments at Guest Services and to answer any guest surveys I’m asked to take.

 

[thingaboutarsenal]

I agree with you. It is so easy to just tell the cast member that you see as you walk by, that you noticed an issue. Contrary to what people believe, they can not be everywhere at once and sometimes things do get overlooked. I really do not understand the mentality of those who think "I paid too much to be here for me to lower myself to saying something". Things happen, maybe the cast member for that area went on break and it filled up, maybe they got called away to do something else, etc. We don't know what the issue is. But, as someone who has worked in food for a long time, I can tell you that nobody wants to miss emptying the garbage can before it starts to overflow, that is just more work. Trust me, they do appreciate when you can notify them. We are all human and I can't see helping the cast members out a bit as anything but a decent, human thing to do. If they are understaffed, that is not their fault. Be mad a Disney all you want, call, email, tweet them with your displeasure. But I don't see why a person can't take the 3 seconds to tell a cast member of an issue. I guess maybe since I have been on that side, that I really don't understand that kind of mentality.

Sure it's easy, but pictures and accounts here are multiple. The people changing this topic from WDW's failing into guest responsibility to notify are missing the point that management is to blame. This isn't a one off and "man if we just told a CM". This is happening enough that it's clearly management's fault.

 

[thegash35]

Confused, are you saying the increase in trash around the parks is due to the wages? Or is it due to not finding enough people to work there?

They are related. If people can earn more elsewhere doing the same job for more money, then they aren't going to choose Disney. So Disney needs to ante up or they will never be able to staff to levels they need.

FWIW, in 2019 we went to Universal and Disney and CMs overall seemed happier and were more friendly at the Universal resorts and parks. The impression many Universal CMs gave was that Universal overall treats people much better than Disney and that is why they were there.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

Disney lost $70B last year and it has a new CEO eager to demonstrate his profit-generating prowess to the board of directors and Wall Street. Coming back from a shutdown gives the company room to experiment with theme park capacity vs. staffing levels, restaurant quality, cleanliness, productivity, etc, before guest dissatisfaction triggers an internal tipping point.

This right here is all that matters. It's a balancing act. Tip too far in one direction and lose profits.

And demand is high thanks to pent up desire to travel, so they’re not risking much by increasing prices and decreasing their costs and guest benefits; any bumps can be spun as due to the unusual circumstances caused by coming back online after the pandemic.

Strike while that iron is hot baby$$!!

I’m not going to WDW until December (if then; seriously considering putting it off for another year or so) but I definitely plan to leave complaints/compliments at Guest Services and to answer any guest surveys I’m asked to take.

I'm considering doing the same. My oldest turns 5 and youngest turns 3 next January and February which to me is Disney golden age so i may go against my better judgement and go around then, but I know to have somewhat lowered expectations. They'll have a blast therefore I will too.

 

[Karin1984]

Sure it's easy, but pictures and accounts here are multiple. The people changing this topic from WDW's failing into guest responsibility to notify are missing the point that management is to blame. This isn't a one off and "man if we just told a CM". This is happening enough that it's clearly management's fault.

Saying it is a decent thing to notify a CM (which is different from guest responsibility) does not equal management is not failing.

It can be both. Management is failing, and you can still tell a CM a trash can is overflowing. One doesn't exclude the other.

 

[thingaboutarsenal]

Saying it is a decent thing to notify a CM (which is different from guest responsibility) does not equal management is not failing.

It can be both. Management is failing, and you can still tell a CM a trash can is overflowing. One doesn't exclude the other.

They're not saying it's a decent thing to do. They're ignoring the pictures and saying we who see it should say something, completely absolving WDW from responsibility.