Calling all CM or former CM's

[christa112]

Note that the poster stated she worked at WDW in 1990. I'm sure Florida's current minimum wage rate is higher than $5.25 now.

Oh yeah, you are right. I forgot it was 2008 already LOL. I took it as 2000, not 1990.

 

[christa112]

6. What is the pay like (don't tell me an amount)- Not good, but I wasn't really there to make money. Even so, if I had wanted to remain there and move up the ranks, the pay would have dissuaded me.

It amazes me that a place like Disney would not pay their employees well. I mean to have a reputation like Disney one would think the pay would be pretty decent. I guess I was way off, to assume that.

 

[Tonya2426]

WOW!!! What is minimum wage is Florida??? I live in Ma and it is $8.00 per hour.

Note that the poster stated she worked at WDW in 1990. I'm sure Florida's current minimum wage rate is higher than $5.25 now.

In 1990, minimum wage was $3.65. (Pretty sure about that but don't bet the entire farm on it, it could have been $3.25ish.) Most retail places at the time paid minimum wage to $4 so WDW paid more.

I was on the newly formed Career Start program which at the time was for new college graduates. (It is now for new high school graduates.) We ended up calling it the Career Stall program and most of the people only lasted the year. I think we were a little more ambitious than WDW had anticipated and wanted to see promotion results a little faster. But it was always something I wanted to do and I have fond memories of my tme there which is more than I can say for some of my other previous jobs.

 

[MyGoofy26]

It amazes me that a place like Disney would not pay their employees well. I mean to have a reputation like Disney one would think the pay would be pretty decent. I guess I was way off, to assume that.

It's not just Disney, it's the entire Central Florida job market. Disney's pay is on par with everyone else, actually maybe *slightly* above, depending on who you're comparing to and what job you're looking at. If you peek around Craigslist or Monster, you'll see a lot of "office" jobs in the area paying about the same as Disney pays their front of the line CMs. In most places, an office job should net you more than your local fast food or mall job.

I planned to move back down after graduation. By the time that rolled around, housing prices were skyrocketing because so many people were flooding into central Florida. With that came a lot of people looking for jobs. Most employers could offer a lot less than in other areas, simply because there are (were) so many people competing for the job that they'd almost always find someone willing to work for the lower pay.

 

[Shir Kahn]

Do you think it would be possible for 2 adults working at Disney full time to make enough to pay for the basics without having to live in a slum? Are schedules at Disney fixed so that you can have another job on the side?

 

[MyGoofy26]

Do you think it would be possible for 2 adults working at Disney full time to make enough to pay for the basics without having to live in a slum? Are schedules at Disney fixed so that you can have another job on the side?

Housing costs are dropping in Orlando, if you're looking at buying. Some of the projections over the next couple years, you may be able to afford to buy something nice if you wait it out a little, depending on how much other debt you're carrying, obviously. I was looking at moving back once the housing market bottoms out and recently CNN posted a list of which markets are still dropping and Orlando was at the top of the list. I think they project prices to drop by 1/3rd over the next few years. It's the city with one of the biggest drops over a longer period of time. Some areas will have bottomed out in the very near future, but what has happened in central Florida is just the tip of the iceburg right now.

IIRC, the full-timers did have fixed schedules. Every so often, they'd bid on what shifts they wanted. In my area, I remember people talking about getting the same shifts. So you do have a set schedule (CPs didn't - we filled in all the gaps left by regular CMs) if you could find a job that worked around that.

I don't know how lenient they are on OT now, but they let us pick pretty much as much as we wanted. And the policy was VERY generous.

*anything over 40 hours in a week, time and a half
*anything over 8 hours in a day, time and a half
*anything over 16 hours in a day, double time
*any shift that started less than 8 hours after the last shift ended, time and a half
*anything over 8 hours in a shift that starts less than 8 hours after the last shift ended, double time
* any 6th or 7th day in a week, regardless of total hours worked, time and a half


So it was VERY easy to bump your paycheck with just an extra shift or two. You aren't tied to your area. Whatever you're trained for, you could pick up a shift in other areas. It was VERY popular at the studios to pick up a shift at Fantasmic. It was, I think a 3-4 hour shift and you could easily bump yourself into overtime - either for the night, or if it's on your day off and will push one of your full 8 hour shifts into a 6th or 7th day.

 

[Shir Kahn]

I could see myself doing a lot of OT because I just don't think it would feel like work to me. Guess being happy at what you do for a living would help!

 

[Joanna71985]

Ah, OT. I loved getting OT in certain areas (including MS PAC and Fant shifts).

 

[dvc at last !]

interesting ...

 

[Keels]

Keep in mind, certain areas pay higher starting pay than others as well. They tend to be more specialized. For instance, entertainment paid almost $8/hour back when minimum wage was $5.25/hour. I know lifeguards pay more than minimum-wage as well -- my brother is a deep-water guard. I guess I should text him and ask how much he gets paid.

 

[RNRcoasterGrl07]

1. What do/did you do? Most Sunset Attractions...Rock'n'Rollercoaster, Fantasmic! High School Musical, Parade, occasionally Tower of Terror

2. Did you have a favorite area to work in if you got moved around? I love working Rock'n'Rollercoaster, but the best shift has working th parade in the middle of it. Its a nice break from long days of Aerosmith

3. How did customers treat you? the guests treat me decently. The majority are just get it get out don't want to interact, but i like talking to the ones who will talk to me back. There are the selct few who are mean and yell if they don't get there way. Its a common misconception that most are rude. I see alot of good nice guests everyday.

4. What are the benefits to working for WDW? At first you think it is the getting into the parks for free and the discounts, but after a while you realize the day to day benefits are making the magic. Call me old fashion (at 19), but i went to work for disney so i could make the magic because that is what it is all about.

5. Are you sorry you are no longer working there? Still workin there!

6. What is the pay like (don't tell me an amount) just wondering if it is decent or not so good. If you work for Disney, its not for the pay. Its not that good.