Best time for CP?

lordofhaladin

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 11, 2008
Messages
22
Hello, I was just wondering if there is a best time in your opinions to work for Disney in the CP. I was thinking I would try out for fall, yes I would get hot, but that would only be for a month or two (I live in the south so... ;) ) but would I also be there in time to see/work at/play t the pirate princess parties, the halloween parties and xmas parties? that was my line of thought, what are your opinions? and what would be the best part to ask for? I have heard custodians are the diamond in the rough. ;)
 
Hello, I was just wondering if there is a best time in your opinions to work for Disney in the CP. I was thinking I would try out for fall, yes I would get hot, but that would only be for a month or two (I live in the south so... ;) ) but would I also be there in time to see/work at/play t the pirate princess parties, the halloween parties and xmas parties? that was my line of thought, what are your opinions? and what would be the best part to ask for? I have heard custodians are the diamond in the rough. ;)

I don't know too much about roles but many have said custodial is very free and independent, but I have also heard great things from people who did merchandise, attractions, and QSF&B...so I'm sure they're all great

as for seasons, it is more a personal preference....if you do the fall season you won't be "home" for Christmas but you will be in a new home with great people and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!
 
I would vote Fall. I agree, there are halloween parties, christmas parties, holidays at Disney, Food and Wine Festival, Festival of the Masters. All Spring has is Easter and Flower and Garden Festival.

I was custodial over one summer, hottest Disney time, and I absolutely loved it. Although I was at Downtown Disney 'and it was a little more laid back but I did do some extra shifts in the parks. I am almost regretting not selecting Custodial as my role for this Fall program. I enjoyed it because I got to meet so many guests. I helped people choose where to eat dinner, where to shop, where to hang for the night. I loved dealing with the guests. The cleaning 'half of it only takes about a week to get 'used to and its really not that bad.
 

I've been accepted to the Fall 2008 CareerStart Program. And you're the first person i've found that has mentioned the custodial position. I know someone who was a part of the college program and she has told me about the downs of custodial, She was not a custodial cast member, but she says she saw custodians pushing garbage cans and pushing water into drains and... I'd like to know a little more about your resposibilities as a custodial cast member. Were there many female custodial cast members?
 
I'm glad I am doing Fall because then if/when I extend into Spring I get a new set of Maingate passes (one set for 2008, the next for 2009), or so I understand it from reading here! :cool1:

If I had done spring extending to fall you only get one set of Maingate passes because it is all one calender year.
 
Im doing fall mostly because the parks wont be as busy so i can enjoy them more on my days off.
 
Hello, I was just wondering if there is a best time in your opinions to work for Disney in the CP. I was thinking I would try out for fall, yes I would get hot, but that would only be for a month or two (I live in the south so... ;) ) but would I also be there in time to see/work at/play t the pirate princess parties, the halloween parties and xmas parties? that was my line of thought, what are your opinions? and what would be the best part to ask for? I have heard custodians are the diamond in the rough. ;)

I have done both Spring and Fall. And I by far prefered the Fall. I loved being down there for the major holidays. Such a festive time in FL.

As for roles, I have done merchandise, character attendant, custodial (and am now doing QSFB). They have all been fine (though I absolutely love CA).

I've been accepted to the Fall 2008 CareerStart Program. And you're the first person i've found that has mentioned the custodial position. I know someone who was a part of the college program and she has told me about the downs of custodial, She was not a custodial cast member, but she says she saw custodians pushing garbage cans and pushing water into drains and... I'd like to know a little more about your resposibilities as a custodial cast member. Were there many female custodial cast members?

I did custodial last summer. And I would say at least half the CMs in my area were female.
 
I've been accepted to the Fall 2008 CareerStart Program. And you're the first person i've found that has mentioned the custodial position. I know someone who was a part of the college program and she has told me about the downs of custodial, She was not a custodial cast member, but she says she saw custodians pushing garbage cans and pushing water into drains and... I'd like to know a little more about your resposibilities as a custodial cast member. Were there many female custodial cast members?

Okay, so I will be completely honest. As I have already said before, I was located in Downtown Disney and there are definitely differences in DTD from the parks in terms of custodial. DTD is split up into zones and there is a male and female for each zone. Each zone had a minimum of one bathroom but could have up to about 3 bathrooms. The female is responsible for the female bathrooms and male to male. We also had to complete at least 2 trash runs on an 8 hour shift. If it was an incredibly busy day or there were one or two cans that filled up quicker, additional pulls were made. The trash runs were usually done together so that there is always a male and a female and you are not working alone to pull the cart, etc. Bathroom cleaning is exactly what it sounds like. You wipe down sinks, mop floors, wipe down toilets, stock toilet paper, etc. This did not bother me, but I also have a pretty tough skin. Public restrooms do not usually bother me. After working at Disney, I have an even stronger skin when it comes to public restrooms. The cleaner you keep the bathroom though, the cleaner it stays. If you neglect your bathroom, then when you do get to it, it seems really bad, and will be really difficult to clean, as people will still be trying to use them. You have the option of wearing gloves at all times and they supply you with more than enough terry cloth towels and every type of cleaner available. Toilets are not usually that bad although sometimes you just want to kill women and you don't seem to understand why they cannot clean up after themselves. I have seen only one bathroom horror story, but I had help in cleaning that one and I closed the restroom. Besides trash runs, which I usually had fun on, because I was always paired with another CPer and we joked around a lot, your other duties include water pushing, which is just pushing water with your broom into drains (not bad at all) and this is only when it rains. You also help in protein spill clean up, which you are also provided with the proper tools, and you can usually sweep most of it up. You also sweep constantly and pick up trash but that is expected from every CM. The only other bad thing that I had happen was probably a rare occurance, in which I had to clean up a blood spill, when a guy had a heart attack in front of Virgin Records and fell. Again, provided with all of the proper cleaning supplies and help from my managers.

Now for all of the positive. I met so many amazing people, including all of my coworkers. Custodial teams usually have team meetings before each shift and its easy to make friends. I also got to meet a lot of families. One of my shifts, in which we had extra people, I was assigned to stand at the large map and help people. You are also the first person that someone lost goes to and it is really rewarding to help them find stuff or talk to children. PIN TRADING!!! is a lot of fun and as a custodian you are stopped quite regularly for trades. Also, as I had said before, it was pretty laid back in terms of rushing and being serious.

The couple of shifts I did at DHS I realized they change it in the parks. Your shift in the park may be just bathrooms where you are to just run 5 bathrooms for the shift and keep them clean. This is great on a super hot day because restrooms are AC. Another shift may just be doing trash runs. Joanna may be able to offer more info here.

Custodial will be a positive experience if you let it be. I do not know of one other custodial CPer that I worked with that did not enjoy it.

Sorry so long!!!
 
Okay, so I will be completely honest. As I have already said before, I was located in Downtown Disney and there are definitely differences in DTD from the parks in terms of custodial. DTD is split up into zones and there is a male and female for each zone. Each zone had a minimum of one bathroom but could have up to about 3 bathrooms. The female is responsible for the female bathrooms and male to male. We also had to complete at least 2 trash runs on an 8 hour shift. If it was an incredibly busy day or there were one or two cans that filled up quicker, additional pulls were made. The trash runs were usually done together so that there is always a male and a female and you are not working alone to pull the cart, etc. Bathroom cleaning is exactly what it sounds like. You wipe down sinks, mop floors, wipe down toilets, stock toilet paper, etc. This did not bother me, but I also have a pretty tough skin. Public restrooms do not usually bother me. After working at Disney, I have an even stronger skin when it comes to public restrooms. The cleaner you keep the bathroom though, the cleaner it stays. If you neglect your bathroom, then when you do get to it, it seems really bad, and will be really difficult to clean, as people will still be trying to use them. You have the option of wearing gloves at all times and they supply you with more than enough terry cloth towels and every type of cleaner available. Toilets are not usually that bad although sometimes you just want to kill women and you don't seem to understand why they cannot clean up after themselves. I have seen only one bathroom horror story, but I had help in cleaning that one and I closed the restroom. Besides trash runs, which I usually had fun on, because I was always paired with another CPer and we joked around a lot, your other duties include water pushing, which is just pushing water with your broom into drains (not bad at all) and this is only when it rains. You also help in protein spill clean up, which you are also provided with the proper tools, and you can usually sweep most of it up. You also sweep constantly and pick up trash but that is expected from every CM. The only other bad thing that I had happen was probably a rare occurance, in which I had to clean up a blood spill, when a guy had a heart attack in front of Virgin Records and fell. Again, provided with all of the proper cleaning supplies and help from my managers.

Now for all of the positive. I met so many amazing people, including all of my coworkers. Custodial teams usually have team meetings before each shift and its easy to make friends. I also got to meet a lot of families. One of my shifts, in which we had extra people, I was assigned to stand at the large map and help people. You are also the first person that someone lost goes to and it is really rewarding to help them find stuff or talk to children. PIN TRADING!!! is a lot of fun and as a custodian you are stopped quite regularly for trades. Also, as I had said before, it was pretty laid back in terms of rushing and being serious.

The couple of shifts I did at DHS I realized they change it in the parks. Your shift in the park may be just bathrooms where you are to just run 5 bathrooms for the shift and keep them clean. This is great on a super hot day because restrooms are AC. Another shift may just be doing trash runs. Joanna may be able to offer more info here.

Custodial will be a positive experience if you let it be. I do not know of one other custodial CPer that I worked with that did not enjoy it.

Sorry so long!!!

Thank you so much for sharing that and being so honest. I originally was thinking custodial would be all cleaning and sweeping but I am glad to hear about the camaraderie and all the fun you had as well...and even when you mention the things I would hate the most, it doesn't even seem that bad!

Thanks for sharing your experience...that is great to know. Hopefully I will share a similar one when I head down (hopefully Spring 09)

It would be interesting to hear from someone who worked in the parks for the majority of his/her time to see how it may be a different experience being inside the parks instead of DTD, beyond of course your experiences in DHS.

Once again, thanks!
 
o
Thank you so much for sharing that and being so honest. I originally was thinking custodial would be all cleaning and sweeping but I am glad to hear about the camaraderie and all the fun you had as well...and even when you mention the things I would hate the most, it doesn't even seem that bad!

Thanks for sharing your experience...that is great to know. Hopefully I will share a similar one when I head down (hopefully Spring 09)

It would be interesting to hear from someone who worked in the parks for the majority of his/her time to see how it may be a different experience being inside the parks instead of DTD, beyond of course your experiences in DHS.

Once again, thanks!

Give the public everything you can give them, .keep the place as clean as you can keep it,, keep it friendly.
---Walt Disney -
 
Personally I have heard mix reactions about custodial. It really all depends where you are. I had a friend that hated it and ended up transfering to attractions when he extended and I know other people that loved it. I did attractions and honestly would not have done anything else. I am a very social person and I wouldnt cope well just walking around by myself all day in the park. i loved interacting with my fellow coworkers and some of my best friends are people that i saw everyday. Also I could never do custodial because i always remember thinking when we had a protein spill that I was so glad it wasnt me who had to clean that up.
I did the spring program and loved that time of year. I got to experience the first pirate and princess party and the flower festival. I really enjoyed having the slow down time throughout Jan, Feb, and March and then have to flow of people gradually pick up. Also it was nice to end the program at the end of the summer. I personally experienced Disney at Christmas time and I would never want to work those hours or deal with those crowds of people. However i believe that the program is all what you make of it. Your job could stink, you could hate you roommates, and make no money but still have the best time ever. I would change my college experience for anything in the world and hope to go back in the spring of 09
 















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