Well when I think of the labor issues I mainly think of fairness and equality. I may work up to 60 hours a week, but I'm still looked at on a smaller scale than maybe seasonal people. It's one of the first things they flat out admitted to me. We also don't get benefits as CPs. It's not like a "real" job where you have much say in your hours or schedule- because you have absolutely none unless you have a scheduled Disney class. However, part-time and full-time people who work just as much or way less than you will have those kind of benefits. Or even just, like I said, the ability to have the slightest control over your schedule and when (or where) you work.
And I wouldn't feel *too* sorry for Disney, personally, as far as money goes. I mean, look how much they probably spend on just, say, fireworks, for one week. I think they could afford to pay me a little bit more than minimum wage, especially when we're moving across the country, taking a semester out of school, and working over 40 hours a week for them.
If you're serious about it and make the program work for you then it can make you look really good. If you're like me and you were just wanting to get away from school that plan usually seems to backfire on people. I actually missed school while I was down there! I missed it terribly, lol! I never imagined a job could make me want to be back in biology class!
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As far as driving goes I HATED it. I loved the roads because they were nicer than our roads here, but the drivers were crazy. Everybody speeds and nobody's nice. You have to U-turn to turn around just about anywhere, which drove me crazy. There were way too many one-way streets. And gas was a lot more expensive there than it was back at home.
While I respect your opinion and perspective, I would like to reflect with my own experience (and that of my daughters who were also CP, then went into FT, PT, and seasonal, so we've all done at least one of those statuses) just to offer an alternate viewpoint.
"Fairness and equality" are relative. I'm getting my master's and I'm in an HR seminar right now where we are talking about defining "fair" for employees, much less 60,000 of them. When one is hired into the CP, one is treated the same as other CPs. Of course one is not going to be given the same benefits as a full- or part-timer as they are the ones who have made a long-term commitment to the company and the company is recouping their training investment. CPs are there for 5-8 months MAYBE, so not much chance for ROI there.
I've never had a "real" job where I got to have control over the days/times I worked. I agreed to work a certain schedule or have certain availability. Again, however, I was being hired for the long-term, not a short stint, so that gave me the privilege of asking for certain days off. The CP asks up front if you can give full availability, so it's not like you are blindsided by that notion.
You mention the 60 hour weeks, but it should be noted that you are paid overtime and often that overtime goes to CPs before it goes to statused CMs. I loved me some 60 hour paychecks!
CPs also are given housing and transportation at greatly reduced prices. Try seeing how much a similar (close to property, gated) apartment would cost with all of the deposits, utilities, etc. Those are costs incurred by statused CMs that CPs do not have to worry about.
Please remember that Disney is a corporation and profits matter to its shareholders. It has to find a balance of expenses, including wages, so, no, it's not going to drop some fireworks to bump up paychecks. The Company is well within the minimum wage laws and from an HR perspective, that simply isn't going to change, particularly when so much is invested in training and educational opportunities. That is an opportunity cost they are simply not going to make.
I think the above poster hit the nail on the head, though, about being serious about it. Life (and the CP) is what YOU make it. If you come with a positive attitude and a clear understanding of what you are in for (easily gleaned from threads like this one or blogs) and understand that it is work and not a big party all the time, you should be just fine. Yes, there are opportunities for friendship and fun, but there are also tremendous opportunities to learn and grow, IF you are serious about taking advantage of them and those are what will give you equity on your resume and in your life.
As far as driving goes, gas is the same here as it is in Ohio most days (my husband is there, we compare prices). I recently did a road trip through FL-GA-TN-AR-OK-TX-LA-MS-AL-FL and gas was within .10 everywhere I stopped. When my DDs were on the CP, they kept a "gas cup" in the car and friends who hitched rides made a donation. They generally never had to pay for their own gas. We also have not found it a difficult place to drive with the exception of their being tourist traffic and they sometimes don't know where they are going. You learn routes around the usual and which stores to go to in order to avoid them.
