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[DisneyAngie]

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[Toffy]

That's an insanely good question... IDK but I'm soooooooo curious to find out I'm also *guessing* you get a lot of crowd control duity too

 

[hyperflame]

This is really random, but I was thinking about this the other day. What happens if you're a CM, and you work at an attraction (say you're a CP person so you really only work at one attraction), and it gets shut down for a rehab? I know some rehabs last months (Space Mountain), while others can last only a day or two. Do you get unexpected time off, or do they find something else for you to do? I imagine some people need to stay by the attraction to explain to people that it's closed (especially for unplanned downtime), but it doesn't seem likely that a lot of people are needed for that. So what do they do?

The last time I went to Disney, there was a ride closed at Epcot (I forgot what it was, it was close the The Land I think). They had 6 employees standing outside the passage, doing nothing except redirecting traffic, informing people that the ride was closed, giving directions, etc.

So yeah, I could see a lot of the CMs being "wasted" by just doing traffic control. At the time, it just struck me as so wasteful, using up 6 people to do nothing except say a ride was closed, when a sign could have done the same thing.

 

[Lintasare]

Attraction CMs are cross trained. For example when I did my CP I had friends who were trained on both Splash Mountain and Big Thunder. Another friend was trained on Living with the Land and The Living Seas. A CM in Fantasyland could conceivably work at all the attractions there. If you work Merchandise you could pretty much work anywhere, the only thing that changes is the costume you wear.

As a food and beverage CM I was trained in various aspects of the front of the house at The Brown Derby as well as next door in Starring Rolls Bakery.

 

[Traveliz]

Attraction CMs are cross trained. For example when I did my CP I had friends who were trained on both Splash Mountain and Big Thunder. Another friend was trained on Living with the Land and The Living Seas. A CM in Fantasyland could conceivably work at all the attractions there. If you work Merchandise you could pretty much work anywhere, the only thing that changes is the costume you wear.

As a food and beverage CM I was trained in various aspects of the front of the house at The Brown Derby as well as next door in Starring Rolls Bakery.

Not all Attraction CPs are crosstrained - my daughter did MS and ITTBAB on her CP (two semesters) and that was the only attraction she was trained on at the time. She is now at Soarin as a regular CM and is only trained there and has had paperwork in since the beginning of the year to be cross trained (so she can pick up more hours) and has not been trained anywhere else yet.

I do know she had a couple of friends who worked at Attractions that were closed and they did the stand in front of the attraction and let people know what was going on and then got trained elsewhere. She had one who was at BB when it went down for the season and he moved into merchandise.

Liz

 

[Loves Disney]

If the attraction is going to be down for an extended period of time, they will give a CP training at another attraction (if the attraction they currently work at is single trained i.e. Space Mt., Splash Mt., Thunder Mt., etc -- this excludes Fantasyland and other areas were you get trained on a cluster). If the attraction is only down for a day or two, they will not cross-train. If they cannot give the CP these as regular days off, they might assign work at an area that does not require specific training (you are allowed to pick up shifts at some locations that do not require specific training).

I worked at BTM this past Spring but I had a few friends over at Space Mountain before it went down for refurbishment. Since Space Mountain is down for an extended period of time, they were cross-trained around the Magic Kingdom. Some got placed at the Tomorrowland Speedway and one came over to Thunder. As an attractions CP, you are guaranteed 30 hours a week in attractions so if the attraction you work at goes under referb., you will be accommodated.

Now, another case would be with Splash Mountain. It went down for technical difficulties for about 2 days. The CMs were not cross-trained - they could pick up shifts elsewhere.

If you are working a cluster of attractions such as in Fantasyland where you are trained at many, if one attraction goes under refurbishment, you will simply just continue working the attractions that are still operational.

ETA: They do have CMs outside the attraction directing guests elsewhere if the attraction is down for a while such as Space Mountain. It is my guess that working in Tomorrowland attractions, you are able to pick up these shifts or are assigned. In Frontierland, we have shifts called Stroller parking where all you do during that shift is organize strollers in front of the Country Bear Jamboree. I never got scheduled one of these shifts but I did see them available to pick up occasionally.

 

[DisneyAngie]

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[Loves Disney]

Thanks to those who responded. That's kind of what I thought (although, I'm not going to lie, I was kind of hoping they all get some unexpected vacation time, lol).

What kinds of roles require no additional training? I know PAC (parade crowd control, I believe) is one of those. What are some others? Is it possible to work normally, say, in EPCOT, but pick up shifts that don't require additional training in the other parks? Or are you generally encouraged to stay in your home park?

PAC requires training in attractions in the past 6 months. So any attractions CM can pick that up. PAC in the MK used to be assigned to Main Street, AdLib (Adventureland and Liberty Square) and Frontierland. I used to get scheduled for those shifts and LOVED them. So much fun However, Main Street now does PAC entirely.

And yes, there are often times lots of available random shifts that you can pick up that require no specific training. A couple of people I worked with at BTM picked up shifts in a restaurant in Animal Kingdom. You aren't obligated to stay in the park you work in. The place you can see these available shifts will indicate what kind (if any) training they require. It's very easy to pick up shifts if you chose to.

As far as specific training, QSFB is very easy to pick up shifts in other places. You can pick up shifts in any park including water parks. Merch is also easy because once you are trained with money, you can pick up shifts in most stores. Attractions are rather limited, however, because of the specific training.

 

[glendalais]

Thanks to those who responded. That's kind of what I thought (although, I'm not going to lie, I was kind of hoping they all get some unexpected vacation time, lol).

What kinds of roles require no additional training? I know PAC (parade crowd control, I believe) is one of those. What are some others? Is it possible to work normally, say, in EPCOT, but pick up shifts that don't require additional training in the other parks? Or are you generally encouraged to stay in your home park?

Actually, most PAC Shifts these days requires that the Cast Member have worked in or trained on a Disney Attraction within the last six months.

Eligible Cast Members may pick up Extra Hours Hotline shifts outside their Statused Personal Area (Park/Resort) so long as they have the required training (or if the EHH shift doesn't require Training).

EHH shift restrictions can change based on business needs. Indeed, it seems most EHH shifts these days require some form of Training. There are still a few QSR Filler/Busser (serving QSR meals and cleaning tables) shifts around, but even most QSR shifts require at least MATRA (Merchandise/F&B/Recreation Cash Register) training.