DISers who are CMs?

[Fitswimmer]

To all the CM's-YOU MAKE DISNEY MAGIC!!! There is no way that people would keep going back again and again if the CM's were not so special. I have had great encounters with CM's at WDW, DL, HHI and VB. Can you please post and let us know the best way to make sure that our praise gets to the right people? I've sent emails and I've left notes at City Hall-but I want to know what really will get you all the recognition you deserve and I'm sure others want to know too!

 

[orljustin]

It gives me warm fuzzies to know that there are truly CM's that are Disney Geeks and that it's not just a paycheck.

It certainly isn't because of the paychecks at < $7 hour.

I wanted to thank everyone I saw for giving up their Christmas so my family could be at the MK.

Working Christmas is based on seniority. The higher you are, the better chance you have of getting off on a holiday. Missing work that day is especially likely to put a mark on your card.

 

[AngieBelle]

Hi there, I'm also an entertainment CM who is very close with Chip and Dale among others. I do parades, shows, and meet 'n greets. I love to talk about what I do, but I try to be careful as I have had a rather sour issue with people on this board complaining to Disney about something I said here which I'd rather not get into. I generally perfer to answer job related questions in PMs rather than post them for all to see as some people are very sensitive about character integrity, and I don't want to upset anyone. (Nor do I want someone at WDW to insist I've said too much...)

Anyway, I think I have a very special job, and even though one of these days I'll probably have to move on, breaking away from it will be difficult. There are times when I am exhausted and don't want to keep going, but the smiles and giggles will be with me forever.

One story that I love happened to one of the chipmunks at Garden Grill. Sometimes when parents ask the kids to give the character 5, the chipmunks show that they only have 4 fingers. This one particular family got very excited to see that. "He's special!" They said to a little girl. "He's special just like you!" The little girl held up her hand to reveal that she too had only 4 fingers. The chipmunk and the girl put their hands together.

*happy sniffle*

 

[Joanna71985]

Hi there, I'm also an entertainment CM who is very close with Chip and Dale among others. I do parades, shows, and meet 'n greets. I love to talk about what I do, but I try to be careful as I have had a rather sour issue with people on this board complaining to Disney about something I said here which I'd rather not get into. I generally perfer to answer job related questions in PMs rather than post them for all to see as some people are very sensitive about character integrity, and I don't want to upset anyone. (Nor do I want someone at WDW to insist I've said too much...)

Anyway, I think I have a very special job, and even though one of these days I'll probably have to move on, breaking away from it will be difficult. There are times when I am exhausted and don't want to keep going, but the smiles and giggles will be with me forever.

One story that I love happened to one of the chipmunks at Garden Grill. Sometimes when parents ask the kids to give the character 5, the chipmunks show that they only have 4 fingers. This one particular family got very excited to see that. "He's special!" They said to a little girl. "He's special just like you!" The little girl held up her hand to reveal that she too had only 4 fingers. The chipmunk and the girl put their hands together.

*happy sniffle*

Awwwww, that is so cute! Angie, what a beautiful story.

 

[Fitswimmer]

One story that I love happened to one of the chipmunks at Garden Grill. Sometimes when parents ask the kids to give the character 5, the chipmunks show that they only have 4 fingers. This one particular family got very excited to see that. "He's special!" They said to a little girl. "He's special just like you!" The little girl held up her hand to reveal that she too had only 4 fingers. The chipmunk and the girl put their hands together.

That's a perfect example of how something ordinary can turn into Magic. The chipmunks didn't know about that little girl when they did the 4 finger trick, I know it's common because they did it with my nephew 15 years ago! For him, it was a giggle and a moment-for that little girl and her family it's something that they will never forget.

 

[Tiffer]

I recently started a thread called give CM's props..

Is it true that it is helpful to you in some way, career wise, when guests stop and give you a thank you in writing at guest relations?

If it is verbal, is it as helpful?

And if it is helpful to you, how so? Like, so many praises, you get a raise?

 

[nzdisneymom]

We have a dear family friend who recently started working in Adventureland. We were at WDW this weekend and she came over to meet us; it was such a kick to do the attractions with her that she works and she was able to point out some extra details to us (like a hidden Mickey in the Tiki Room and stay to hear the end of the exit song).

 

[SnwflkCts]

Awww AngieBelle - You made me cry ... what a sweet and wonderful story!!

 

[Lindy Loo]

Perhaps as guests, we should do a year of a million "thank yous" to all the CMs.

I for one will be making sure we take names of outstanding CMs, so we can write and say thank you. I think they make the Disney magic, and we should write to say we recognised it !

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

Perhaps as guests, we should do a year of a million "thank yous" to all the CMs.

I for one will be making sure we take names of outstanding CMs, so we can write and say thank you. I think they make the Disney magic, and we should write to say we recognised it !

What a great idea!!!

I'm going to make up some 3x5 index cards with :

CM ___________________from ___________MADE MY DAY!!!

and carry them with me and drop them off a guest relations after a day in the park!!!

Thank you all for what you do!!! I'll see ya real soon!!

 

[mattsdragon]

Well AngieBelle, I hope it wasn't you, but I accidentally called Chip "Dale" in the Garden Grille, he smacked me upside my head. So did my wife.

I think the CM's on here should reveal more secrets .

Thanks to all you you for keeping the magic alive.

 

[Wendy1953]

I for one, am not/was never employed by Disney, but my DD is! She works in entertainment, is not well paid, but absolutely loves her job! She is a college graduate - 2005 (should have been 2004, but she was accepted for an internship in WDW and threw her degree off a year)...graduated from State University with a degree in Elementary Education......and will eventually persue that career, but has become enthralled with the MAGIC! Quote "Where else could you work, and every day hundreds of kids/adults come up to you, hug you, give you kisses, ask for your autograph,ask if they can take a picture with you, and tell you you're their favorite?"....No where else on this planet (of course except for CA, HK, France & Japan, not to mention some pretty neat Cruise ships)!

She's young, and having a ball! She's also paying her own bills!

I have noticed that several people on here are/were employed by Disney. Every time we go to WDW, watch a video, look at pictures we always agree that working for Disney would be a dream job. So, let me live vicariously. Who out there works for Disney and what do you do?

 

[idofabric]

My DS, 20+, and his GF has a very good friend that is "close and personal" with a pink character at MK. We are all going down for MNSSHP in a week+ and she is going to work for a few days. I would love to give her props.... and I will ask her how to do so, so that the CM gets the credit they deserve.This poor CM has been punched out by jealour boyfriend/husbands for hugging there SO several times this year, cause the idiot husband/BF thought it was a "guy in there" trying to "make it" with their SO.... I don't know how CMs do it, really!
It must be magic!
I try to stop and let a CM know just how much difference they can make in our visits. 99.9% are the absolute best! the other .1% are sometime having a "human" day, and there is no one in the world that can be happy all the time. I just am gratefull that they try so hard!

 

[princessgirl2238]

giving props to people that are "good friends with ...." is really hard to do, but i absolutely love when guests draw picture or write notes to their favorite people and ask the attendents to give it to so and so when they go to get hunny, find her prince, get some peanuts, etc....
i know when my father and sister came down in july, they made sure that i was working on one of their vacation days just so they could see me wear my pretty blue dress and glass slippers and get a picture with me- and honestly it is one of the greatest things in the world to see your family waiting in line to visit and have pictures taken with you in costume (i almost cried and my father did have tears cause he was seeing his daughter living her dream to be a princess)

 

[Off2DisIGo]

This poor CM has been punched out by jealour boyfriend/husbands for hugging there SO several times this year, cause the idiot husband/BF thought it was a "guy in there" trying to "make it" with their SO.... I don't know how CMs do it, really!

That is awful! Some people.......

 

[hoosiergirl7]

I'm not a CM, but one of my best friends since childhood and her husband were character CM's during their 3 or so years there. They moved back to the midwest a little over a year ago, I think. I know they haven't been away from Disney for more than 18 months. One of her big jobs was playing all 4 Mickey's in the Fantasmic show (01-04ish? - so if you saw the show between those years you probably saw her as Mickey). We saw her perform while we were there 4 years ago twice. She nearly tackled me in the MGM parade dressed as Pain from Hercules (she's done both Panic & Pain). That was lots of fun because when the character CM's go into work every day, they have no clue what they will be playing until they show up - it changes daily. So I had no idea until she almost knocked me down that was her. She said she would come up to us in the parade. It was also fun having my picture taken by about 25 different people because they wanted a photo of her. I think she said that all told each character CM does about 15 different Disney characters and they have to learn each characters signature. Anyhow, the night we saw Fantasmic she was the Mickey who pulls the sword out - for those of you who have seen the show. It was so cool knowing I knew it was her in the costume. The #1 character she played was Mickey though. She also did some entertainment work that wasn't a Disney character. I know she played a harem from Aladdin in the MGM parade too. I know her primary roles were Mickey, Minnie and Donald. Her husband worked over at MK playing Tigger & Eeyore to name the ones I know he did often. A few times they worked together (Tweedle Dee & Dum) but mostly they worked at seperate parks. They pay isn't that great. I don't know what character CM's make (I do know they must become Teamsters in order to do it - not sure if it's a Disneywide thing). They really enjoyed their jobs and miss them, however, she was starting to develop some spinal problems from the extremely heavy heads she was wearing every day. She said that Mickey's head alone for each costume weighs about 15 to 20 lbs, not including the heavy outfits. And her husband decided he wanted to pursue his comedy and improv career so they moved to Chicago where he is currently a member of Second City hoping to be hired by SNL in New York.

I'm not trying to be mean by saying this, but I think it takes someone extremely special to be a character CM vs. a regular CM. Granted I know that there are some great CM's that work for Disney, but I have NEVER had an unpleasant experience meeting or dealing with a character CM. I know that Disney used to be really picky about who they hired as characters and I still think it's that way.

 

[Mecha Figment]

actualy 9 out of 10 times we know what character we are doing.

 

[MsLeFever]

My son worked on a show in Pittsburgh with a guy that was a Survivor finalist. DS has actually watched that season and thought it was pretty cool....BUT no where as cool as when he found out that the guy was "friends" with Goofy! Wow! Television shmelivision - he knew GOOFY!

I want to add my THANKS to all of the CMs who work so hard. I hope to get a sabbatical in a few years and hope to make a Disney research connection so that I can join you for awhile!

Special thanks to Joanna who showed me how amazing the Disney magic boomerang can be! They give so much magic, we give some back....and before you know it ...it is coming back to you.

I Disney!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I have posted these links a few times here on the Theme park board, and here again on this thread.......


http://130.94.75.33/showthread.php?t=770432

http://130.94.75.33/showthread.php?t=775161

I do firmly believe that the CM's are those who make Disney what it is, magical, and carry on Walt's dreams. And so many of them just for the love of it all.

I have had the opportunity of meeting up with a pretty good number of DIS CM's while there on past trrips, hope I can continue to do so.

Guys, gals.....thank you.

AB.....what a wonderful story.

Eric

To others here on this thread I may have met over the years.

 

[disprincess287]

I have a friend who just got an internship down in FL she plays many diff characters but works very hard, but loves what shes doing...she got it through her school, my school offers nothing like this...how do I get an internship as a CM...anyone know???