Character Salaries

[ttichenor]

I've been curious too....

Hey, to you Middle Tennesseans - Mt. Juliet checking in!

 

[Simba's Mom]

OK, I'm in shoock here. You mean chipmunks like Chip and Dale actually get money? I thought they just got room and all the peanuts they could eat for running around WDW. Now I hear they get money?

 

[AngieBelle]

Performers get money. Chipmunks get nuts and more nuts.

There is no age limit on dancers as far as I know. Go try again!

 

[tinkerbell27]

Hey middle tennesseans, waving at you from Hendersonville !

 

[Amirah95]

Anybody run into that spunky Captain Hook by the Pirate's of the Carribean gift shop? Hook was snatching autograph books and pens from children and throwing them back at them. He would fold his arms and look away and as children approached he would stare at them for a minute and snatch their things from out of their hands. He/she really cracked us up. I put a picture of Hook and my DD on our webpage.

 

[MouseClubMom]

Originally posted by judykay53
Hey, you could also meet your future spouse, like Kevin Richardson of the Backsdtreet Boys did. They met while working there.

Yep, Kevin was originally a tour guide on the Backstage Tour then started working as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. His wife was a dancer in the Beauty and the Beast show.

Kevin is the NICEST guy. We were tour guides together and he played on our CM softball team too.

Hey, all us Nashvillians need to have our own DIS meet!

MCMom

 

[Tootsietoo]

Originally posted by KevinM
I know it's a strange question, but I have always wondered what characters such as the Princesses are paid by Disney.

Does anyone out there know?

P.S. - This is only out of curiosity - I have no plans to get a job as Prince Charming!

About 4 summers ago my daughter was in the Disney College Program and got paid somewhere around $6.50 an hour. The face characters received about a dollar more. These were the college kids - don't know about the full time Disney employees. One week she was sick a day and got someone to take her shift another day so that she could go to the beach. She stayed in Disney housing, so that week, after they took money out of her pay for her room; her paycheck was exactly $1.00. I still have it on my refrigerator! It was a wonderful experience for her - one she'll never forget.

 

[Kendra17]

UGH! We moved last year, and I can't find this photo album! I just spent probably 2 hours looking for it, and did find our other vacation albums.

Sorry to those who were interested in finding out who this Peter Pan was!

 

[katerkat]

Originally posted by Tootsietoo
About 4 summers ago my daughter was in the Disney College Program and got paid somewhere around $6.50 an hour. The face characters received about a dollar more.

Heck, five years ago when I was a CP, we got $5.65 an hour! I had a friend who was good friends with Goofy ( ) and he made the same amount. Nice to hear there's some pay raises over there! Of course, I bet rent went up, too!

Originally posted by Tootsietoo
One week she was sick a day and got someone to take her shift another day so that she could go to the beach. She stayed in Disney housing, so that week, after they took money out of her pay for her room; her paycheck was exactly $1.00. I still have it on my refrigerator!

Hee! I have that paycheck too! I was sick for three days and my paycheck was 62 cents.

 

[TN Traveler]

HELLO to all Tennesseans on here!
WOW! I can't believe all of the posts from Mid-TN folks. How cool is that?!?! I'm from Gallatin.......Someone said we should have our own TN disboard....perhaps so! What a great idea! Have a Disney party! Feel free to PM if anyone would like to talk one on one. Email address is listed. I'm also in TransWestern phone book for Sumner County under The Travel Planner. Yes, I'm a travel agent.....Tinkerbell......is that my friend Christie?!

Thanks for posting this question. I've often wondered the same question. I agree....the charcters have to stay in character for the kids. When we went in June, we "met" Cruella D'Ville. She has a sassy little attitude that was perfect for her. Despite the attitude she was still very polite to my girls.

 

[Kendra17]

Originally posted by MouseClubMom


Hey, all us Nashvillians need to have our own DIS meet!

That sounds good to me!

 

[ttichenor]

Sounds good to me too. Do we need to start one on the DIS Meet?

 

[higgin704]

I would love to see that pic, lol

Originally posted by Kendra17
I have a comment and question. At a Cinderella's breakfast in '95 or so, Peter Pan was WAY out of character. He was flirting unbelievably with Wendy, practically ignored my then-three year old daughter and tried to converse with Wendy about her trip to California. Wendy, by the way, was completely professional, continually tried to get Peter Pan back in role, and gave special attention to my daughter.

Needless to say, I was traumatized! (hahaha, my daughter didn't really even notice).

So, I did stop in Guest Services to mention our experience. They were very kind and seemed to think being out of character was a big deal. (if you're interested, I can post Peter Pan's pic!)

Anyways, AngieBelle, you seem to have insider knowledge. What happens to these characters when they do this? This must happen more frequently than we realize, considering the number of characters and guests daily. Do they lose their role immediately? Do they get warned? Is this something Disney takes very very seriously, or do they just remind the actor?

Just wondering!

oh! hauntedmansionfreak--we're in Nashville, too. . .Bellevue!

 

[MouseClubMom]

Originally posted by ttichenor
Sounds good to me too. Do we need to start one on the DIS Meet?

Just started one! http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=612883

 

[Tootsietoo]

Originally posted by katerkat
Heck, five years ago when I was a CP, we got $5.65 an hour! I had a friend who was good friends with Goofy ( ) and he made the same amount. Nice to hear there's some pay raises over there! Of course, I bet rent went up, too!

I think the $5.65 might be right. I called my daughter before posting, and she said $6.50; but I thought it was under $6.00. Her memory might be a bit cloudy....... I know the kids in the college program party a little bit.

 

[HauntedMansionFreak]

I'm getting a kick out of seeing all my fellow Tennessean's posting here. This is cool!

 

[4DisneyfansinNC]

What's the aftermath of Ivan like up your way? We thought about going up that way to the Mt. State Fair this past weekend, but passed not knowing the road conditions.

 

[alicenwonder99]

Originally posted by Amirah95
Anybody run into that spunky Captain Hook by the Pirate's of the Carribean gift shop? Hook was snatching autograph books and pens from children and throwing them back at them. He would fold his arms and look away and as children approached he would stare at them for a minute and snatch their things from out of their hands. He/she really cracked us up. I put a picture of Hook and my DD on our webpage.

Our last trip to WDW, we ran into about 3 or 4 of the villians. They crack me up! But they did scare the little ones in our family...lol. We saw the Queen of Hearts, Captain Hook, and Radcliffe...and maybe one more, but can't think of who it was right now. My little kids would probably run screaming if they saw Cruella!!!!

Mary

 

[WDSearcher]

Originally posted by KevinM
Bump...No idea on salaries yet?

Technically, WDW CMs are not allowed to discuss salaries, and are not allowed to give specifics. In some departments, that's a fireable offense! (And don't think that a screen name on a computer board keeps you anonymous -- most of the folks here have posted enough personal info about where they work and what they do over the years to have them ID'd pretty quickly! ) I think AngieBell said earlier that characters get "a few dollars above minimum." That may be as specific as you'll get.

You can, of course, call Casting at WDW and simply ask them.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

Originally posted by AngieBelle
Actor's equity is a performers union- they are generally the most professional dancers, the singers, and the live actors. The non-equity performers at Disney are the character performers- most parades and shows.

Equity= Beauty and the Beast at MGM, Cinderella and fairy godmother in the castle show, streetmosphere folks at MGM, Ariel at MGM, singers and flying bird dancer in Lion King at AK.

Non-equity=Lion King players not listed above, Jammin Jungle players, butterflies and dragon flies in Spectro, trolley show on Main Street...etc

What about the performers in the Tarzan Rocks show?