Character Salaries

[calypso*a*go-go]

Originally posted by AngieBelle
Performers get money. Chipmunks get nuts and more nuts.

And all the nuts want their picture taken and an autograph!

As for the amorous Peter Pan...I guess he did grow up.

 

[PneumaticTransit]

I think peoples in shows are in a different job class than costumed characters

 

[WDSearcher]

Originally posted by SyracuseWolvrine
What about the performers in the Tarzan Rocks show?

Depends on the performer. Singers are Equity. Skaters and Fliers have separate contracts that take into account the risk level of their roles. Dancers are character-level. Band is AFM (musician's union).

 

[jhugge]

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

Brentwood on board!!

 

[Talking Hands]

Musicians in the orchestra at Candlelight Processional are equity as well

 

[Disney845]

Interesting question that recently came up for me. I was in Orlando with my closest friends for a bachelorette party a few Saturday nights ago. Our waiter at dinner was so sweet, but looked so young. Somehow we got to chatting and he told us his age (the same as ours...we were surprised to find out) and he was planning a wedding too!!! He was talking about working several jobs to cover the cost of his wedding and not seeing his fiance much. To my delight I found out he worked at WDW. Well this was all I needed to know and I started peppering him with questions, my friends laughing at how "into" Disney I am. One of my friends right away guessed what face character he plays (he looked the part). I won't mention what character in case he could get in trouble if someone finds out he was talking to us. He had worked there for 4 years and as a face character made only $10.00/hour. He had recently cut back on his WDW working to work more at the restaurant because they were scheduling him to work in fur costumed characters sometimes too and those only made $6.50/hour. I thought this was ridiculous. He has been there for 4 years and gets different pay for different day depending on who he is on the schedule. He plays one specific face and one specific fur character.

OT but in the course of our conversation one of my friends mentioned sitting on an airplane next to a Tigger character and how annoying he was, she was asking if he knew this specific guy. He did. Then he mentioned that the Tigger (different one) who was in the news recently on trial had a ton of internal harassment incidents against him that weren't mentioned in the news.

 

[WDSearcher]

Originally posted by Talking Hands
Musicians in the orchestra at Candlelight Processional are equity as well

Actually, the Candlelight orchestra members are AFM (American Federation of Musicians). Equity is an actor's and stage manager's union. AFM covers musicians.

 

[RadioNate]

Oh why not, I no longer work for Disney and probablly won't ever again.....and since you can call casting and ask..........

FWIW 6 years ago I started at $6.10 per hour for basic fur.

Like others have metioned there are different rates for different things and your pay can vary depending on what you are doing.

 

[puffkin]

When we took the Keys to the Kingdom tour last summer, our guide Rae was very knowledgable about character pay. She had been a character for a while, plus was eventually equity when she performed as the Fairy Godmother in the Cinderella show for a year.

She said non-costume characters get something like $6-$6.50 an hour. They are assigned a character group to play based on their height.

Face characters got significantly more. She said around the $10-$11 range. The highest paid non-equity characters top out at around $14, but they must do a character meal, parade, ect.

She said most people do it for the experience and to put it on their resume, not for the money.

 

[gr8tpanther]

Originally posted by AngieBelle


There are also times when a character has the best job in the world....the hugs from the little toddlers, the children who say "I love you!" and kiss the character's nose... the adults who've waited their whole lives for the moment...just how excited everyone gets.

Do you know that being 36 years old, my one and ONLY dream has always to go to Disney to see MICKEY MOUSE, well, I still have not been there, but am planning my first trip next september and whoever is Mickey Mouse that day will receive the biggest hug ever! Just because even though I am an adult, this is a childhood dream that is finally going to come true!

I have never been there, but being on this board sure helps me feel the magic of a place that is only in my head. And when I come back, even if I never get to go again, I will have not only the thought, but the memories too.

 

[frndshpcptn]

QUOTE]Originally posted by katerkat

katerkat - quite a few of my friends were guards or ride ops at Blizzard during Summer '99. I'll bet we know some of the same people!!

 

[mtblujeans]

Most of my DH's work is in the Worker's Compensation field and he helps people with injuries get retrained or educated into new jobs when they can't go back to their old one. He is very assertive and will approach anyone and ask details about their job. It amazes me that he has never had anyone react in an offended manner to his questions - but he is a very professional person.

Every time we have gone to WDW over the years he has approached people and asked them details about their jobs. He has never yet found 1 person over those years that is a "paid employee" at WDW! Every person he has spoken to, in a variety of job positions, is an unpaid student intern. Most of them are in the business education or travel industry "fields". We have been wondering if there are any paid employess at WDW.

 

[RadioNate]

Originally posted by mtblujeans
Every time we have gone to WDW over the years he has approached people and asked them details about their jobs. He has never yet found 1 person over those years that is a "paid employee" at WDW! Every person he has spoken to, in a variety of job positions, is an unpaid student intern. Most of them are in the business education or travel industry "fields". We have been wondering if there are any paid employess at WDW.

I'm very confused by this because I don't know anyone who worked at WDW that wasn't paid. I worked there from 1995-1998.

If people said they were interns they could have been college programmers who are definately paid (not paid well but still paid).

There's more info on the College Program at wdwcollegeprogram.com

WDW has tons of paid cast members.

 

[WDSearcher]

Originally posted by mtblujeans Every time we have gone to WDW over the years he has approached people and asked them details about their jobs. He has never yet found 1 person over those years that is a "paid employee" at WDW! Every person he has spoken to, in a variety of job positions, is an unpaid student intern. Most of them are in the business education or travel industry "fields". We have been wondering if there are any paid employess at WDW.

WDW has about 55,000 paid cast members. Every intern, college program worker, part-time, seasonal, full-time, hourly, salaried person at WDW is paid. Disney would be breaking the law otherwise. Perhaps it's the terminology. Lots of people who have been here a while or who have just gone through training will say that they're not "paid employees." And then you're supposed to say, "well ... what are you then?" and they respond, "I'm a Disney Cast Member!" (We like to brainwash them while they're young. ) There are no unpaid staff at WDW anywhere on property. It's pretty tough to find someone who will talk about salary rates, though. That's a big no-no.

 

[RadioNate]

Originally posted by WDSearcher
Perhaps it's the terminology.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[funhouse8]

Wayne Brady started out as tigger in WDW. I thought you had to be 5 foot 2 to be a character.

 

[puffkin]

Wayne Brady started out as tigger in WDW. I thought you had to be 5 foot 2 to be a character.

Different character groups have different height requirements. I would think that Tigger, Goofy, ect. would have a much taller requirement than Mickey or the Chipmunks.