Back from wonderful trip last week and...

[HereWeCome Mickey]

I am now obsessed. I have never been so depressed coming home from a holiday before. I have been going to WDW since about 82. My more recent trips as I remember as an adult are 91,95,99,2001 and 2005. I have always loved WDW but this time has been different. I actually went to the library this past weekend and checked out a book "The first 25 years of WDW" can't remember the author. I can't put it down, I am here on these boards at work and should be working .
My husband (who has only been on the 2001 and 2005 trips with me) is not into it at all and says we will never be back. Well I managed to talk him into coming back in 4 yrs (our youngest is 18 months)...I can't wait that long. I joked with my kids 11 yo DD and 8 yo DS that my dream is to work at WDW. They just all laugh at me. Ok sorry for the babbling...I really do have a question.

Has anyone on here actauuly just picked up and moved to FLA to work at WDW? Can we do it and raise a family on the salary? Does the company have benefits? How hard is it to get a job at WDW??

I am seriously thinking about all this. My Mom just thinks I am crazy and that I would get sick of it sooner than later...I disagree. My DH also thinks it's insane but says well I wouldn't mind living in FLA.

I know I sound crazy but the thoughts are circling in my head and I can't help it. Please help...is there such a thing as WDW Withdrawal Disorder? Some of you out there must be able to relate???

 

[live4christp1]

There is someplace on the web where you can get information about their job opportunities, benefits, etc. I looked at it last year when we came back. Several people have told me that they have family who work down there as characters and bring home $50,000 a year. That's more than I make in a years time. I'm just scared of the hurricanes. Will see if I can find the page for you, will post back tomorrow.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

My dh and I have actually talked about this too. We actually talked to some cm's on these boards about pay, benefits etc. I think the starting salary is around $7.00 per hour. Since they are union previous experience and seniority don't really help, you just have to start at the bottom and work your way up. I seriously doubt that someone who works as a character makes $50k a year, but if they do, I'm happy for them. There are lots of cm's here, you could pm them if you want detailed info.

 

[HereWeCome Mickey]

Any CM's out there that I can get in touch with? I am not familiar with the screen names. I have now taken it a step further and checked out Disney Careers and have found some interesting job openings even found a job very similar to what I am currently doing, I even have all the required qualifications! Again if you are a current CM can I please get some information, we can do it privately if you like or is there another board I could post on?

Thanks!

 

[TrickyFish]

Please, keep us updated HereWeComeMickey! I was going to respond with the website, but I see you found it. I'd love to work at WDW as well, but I'm still leary of leaving my extended family here. Good luck to you!! If you don't mind me asking, what field do you work in?

 

[HereWeCome Mickey]

TrickyFish,
Thanks! I know what you mean about leaving the family...that would be the hardest factor to overcome for me. My DH is from the UK so he has no family here and it would be a bit easier for him. I work for a global telecommunications company and I am in planning/procurement. I am not putting the house up for sale yet but what a great opportunity it would be to work at WDW!

Thanks again and I will keep you updated.

 

[macfamily]

Ooo, and just imagine the employee discounts you must get!!

 

[micksterlee]

Afew years ago I interviewed with Disney s retail department and what I found was that benifits were great but I couldn t live on the management salary they offered.I also talked to a cm at a down town Disney location on our last visit and she said she loved workingfor Disney and the perks were great but she was going to have to find something else or move back to Michigan.I am like alot of people if it was just myself I would probably pull up stakes and move to work at WDW even for not so great pay but my DW and DD don t seem to agree with that scenerio

 

[HereWeCome Mickey]

MicksterLee,
So I am going to guess that you never knew the salary until you went down for the interview? Unfortunately they don't post the salaries on the Disney Career website for the job openings I can't imagine all the CM's in WDW (I wonder how many CM's are employeed at WDW anyways?) having second jobs to raise their families? I do see a lot of younger CM's maybe paying their way through school and such but I must admit I seen just as many middle aged people.

 

[micksterlee]

I actually had the interview in my hometown at the time. Disney was opening a new Disney store and had a large crew on hand doing interviews for the store.I had considered working at the local Disney store since after a period of employment you can try for other jobs anywhere in the Disney organization.I mentioned that to the person I interviewed with and she said "well just hang on a minute the guy you need to talk to is here today". The guy I talked to was some type of corporate recruiter and we had an indepth conversation unfortuanately we just couldn t agree on salary.This has been several years ago so who knows money may be better now. One thing I got a kick out of was at that time I had a beard and mustache and he said if I wanted to work for Disney I would have to lose it.

 

[HereWeCome Mickey]

MicksterLee,
Whew...no beards or mustaches here If you don't mind me asking was the salary way off what you were asking? And what type of position were you going for?

 

[csuzannet]

I did the Disney College Program in the 90s, and weekly seminars about Disney work culture are part of the experience.

While all of this could have changed, here's what we learned that summer.

Disney salaries are not great. They many not even be competitive, and this in intentional. Disney wants CMs who want to work for Disney, not for dollars.

The benefits are great. They are very generous for entry-level, hourly positions.

Disney is very conservative and strict about appearance (the post about shaving facial hair was absolutely accurate).

In 1992, the Disney people were sharing some scary statistics about the Orlando area school systems. If these stats were true then and are true now, I'd be more worried about schooling my children than the hurricanes.

 

[HereWeCome Mickey]

That is interesting and a good point about the schools. Do you know where I can find some more information on that subject. I wonder if Kissimme would have better school districts? I know on the way to the hotel on my trip last week I seen some very nice, new schools on the side of the highway-now of course I know just because a school is nice and new on the outside doesn't mean much but they DID look nice.

 

[Daisy'sMom]

I've been quite curious about this topic, too. My dream job is to be a wedding planner at WDW, but I've never made the phone call to find out the specifics of the job. We are still a couple of years away from being able to actually make that kind of move, but I would love to know if the real job would live up to my dreams.

 

[VacationDad]

I talked to a guy working in the Main Street Emporium last year, and he was retired and living in the Orlando area. Both he and his wife were retired and both worked different jobs at WDW part time during the Winter and in return got to visit the parks whenever they wanted. That sounds like a pretty good setup if you are retired down there.

I would think that trying to make a career of working in WDW would make it lose its magic though. I like having my current career and having WDW be a vacation destination.

 

[pumpkinfish]

There is another thread running that talks about moving. DH and I have been talking about this for 5 yrs! honestly, the only thing keeping us where we are, is the fact that my parents live 7 mins down the road one way, and my grandparents will be living 5 mins down the road the other way.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=684871&page=1&pp=15

 

[micksterlee]

Salary was off several thousand dollars.Even at that I considered it because like the earlier post mentions I have that desire to work at Disney. I have read several business related books about Disney and really like the way they do business.I have even taken the travel course they offer for travel agents and proudly display my graduation ears and certificate even though I am just a part time web site travel agent.The clincher that kept me from making the move was the cost of living down there compared to the smaller pay checks and mywife s hatred of hot weather.With all that being said if your husband can find a better payingjob and you work at Disney you might be all right. Good luck (and yes I would lose the beard for Disney lol)

 

[VacationDad]

Salary was off several thousand dollars.Even at that I considered it because like the earlier post mentions I have that desire to work at Disney. I have read several business related books about Disney and really like the way they do business.I have even taken the travel course they offer for travel agents and proudly display my graduation ears and certificate even though I am just a part time web site travel agent.The clincher that kept me from making the move was the cost of living down there compared to the smaller pay checks and mywife s hatred of hot weather.With all that being said if your husband can find a better payingjob and you work at Disney you might be all right. Good luck (and yes I would lose the beard for Disney lol)

The cost of living in the Orlando area for New England area people is much less. I was amazed at the homes I could buy down there for what I could sell my current house for. But then everything up here is way overpriced right now.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

That's one of the things that got us too. We were looking at houses down there, and the least expensive one that we could find was around $150k. Which, honestly isn't that bad, but how can you make a mortgage payment like that on $7/hr.? My dh could transfer with his current employer, but even with that I don't think we could handle the cost of living right now. I have mgt. experience in retail/food, but I'm not sure what kind of a salary that would give me. I've interviewed with them before, but then got promoted into mgt. at my then current position, so we stayed here.

 

[dizprincess717]

This thread scared me about || that much. I've lived in PA all my life and have always hated the winters more than anything. Now that I'm in college and have to walk to get to everything in the snow and temperatures in the teens as highs, I hate it even more. Everything is just dead during winter up here and that mixed with the frigid temps are driving me crazy. So I've decided to look into schools in the south and of course Florida was the first that came to mind!

Right now I'm looking at Flagler College, which is in St. Augustine. It's 55 miles away from Daytona Beach and about 60 miles away from my aunt and uncle's house in Port Orange. They are going to spend a day with us on our trip (IN FOUR DAYS!) and I'm really excited to hear what they had to say about the college besides "It's beautiful and we have pictures."

I'd be close to family. I'd be paying a little over $12,000 a year for a private, liberal arts school instead of over $32,000 for the same type of school. And of course, I'd be about two hours away from Disney World instead of a 2 days drive!

My dream job is to be a vacation planner. Not just the person on the phone, but I want to set up everything for people. I'd do anything that involves planning vacations and love it. But ... All of this talk of it not being a great place to work is sort of raining on my parade.

Hmm ... It must be an okay place to work at, otherwise they wouldn't have as many people working there as they do.

Oh, here's some food for thought - My mom and dad went to Trout Pass Bar on our summer trip and got to talking to the bartender. He said that he and a friend live in a house, split the costs of the house, AND he's putting himself through school. I know about tips and all, but I mean honestly, if he's doing all that I think he's making some money.