How easy is it to take a few days off during the program?

[jjj943]

Hello,

I want to do the program in Spring 2013 but I have a trip planned for spring break. It is the first week of March. How hard would it be to take a few days off, like 4-5, to meet my friends in Panama City? Also my family would probably want to come down so I would want to take a day or two off to see them. For people that have already done the program how hard was it to take a few days off? Thanks

 

[ArielinWonderland]

Unfortunately, especially during Spring Break, that's going to be very difficult. As far as I know (at least in California) we get no vacation time. You can, however, request an RDO (regular day off) for two of the days you are going to be away, and just take the points for the other days, I guess.

 

[jjj943]

Alright thanks. Do you get points if your requested time off gets accepted ahead of time?

 

[HyperionDreamer]

One of my best friends/roommates is getting married on an unspecified weekend in mid-to-early October. I'm just hoping I can get time off for that...

 

[taigirl87]

I went home to visit my family in February after I had extended my program and I had about 6 days off I believe. All approved through the hub and no need to call in. As long as you get it in ahead of time, it doesn't hurt to try.

 

[jjj943]

So it seems like it just depends on your job how easy it is to take off? What was your job?

 

[dsnyprincess22]

getting time off really isn't tooo difficult. If you know the dates already and way in advance then it is best to submit it on the hub ASAP!! I requested off all of my family and friend visits within the first month of being there and all of mine were approved. I don't know about spring break, but again do it as early as you can. The only date I didn't get approved was New Years Eve! Also, if your time gets denied, there are usually a lot of part time people or other CPs who may be willing to take your shifts!

 

[taigirl87]

So it seems like it just depends on your job how easy it is to take off? What was your job?

I worked main street operations at that time. I also was able to get days off when my family visited me while I worked fantasyland merchandise.

 

[grannyannie]

my daughter is currently doing the college program. she asked for time off when her family comes to visit and her boyfriend graduates college near by, but because it is the last week of her internship she is denied. she is told it is policy no time off the last week of the program. anyone know if that is true, if she could talk to someone about this?? do they take in consideration for special events like a college graduation??

 

[Caitlin1990]

my daughter is currently doing the college program. she asked for time off when her family comes to visit and her boyfriend graduates college near by, but because it is the last week of her internship she is denied. she is told it is policy no time off the last week of the program. anyone know if that is true, if she could talk to someone about this?? do they take in consideration for special events like a college graduation??

No, it's true. You can be terminated just days before the end of your program if you try to take off the last few days. You can't switch shifts or anything either; you have to work the last days they schedule you. They want to make sure you keep your end of the bargain on your contract with them and don't go off playing in the parks, etc. your last few days.

They do, however, give you the very last two days of your program off, so you have time to pack and move out of your apartment, etc. since you have to be out by 11am on your last day. So, let's say her last day/departure day is Friday, May 11th. Her last day of work would be Wednesday, May 9th; she would get both the 10th and 11th off. If her BF graduates on the 11th, she'd be able to go. If he graduates the previous Friday, the 4th, however, she would not be able to get it off because it is technically part of her last days of work. If she called off or called in sick, she could face termination.

 

[grannyannie]

If I had known she can not take any time off the last week of her program I would of planned our trip the week before. I have bought airline tickets and reserved lodgeing. Sucks when we haven't seen her since mid December and she is going to be living in Florida with her boyfriend after he graduates. So not sure the next time we will see her since we live in Maine. Her program ends the 11th, boyfriend graduates may 5th which she probably can't attend. We arrive may 2 and leave the 9th. They don't take in consideration family from out of state, or graduations huh??? Very disappointed!!!!

 

[Caitlin1990]

If I had known she can not take any time off the last week of her program I would of planned our trip the week before. I have bought airline tickets and reserved lodgeing. Sucks when we haven't seen her since mid December and she is going to be living in Florida with her boyfriend after he graduates. So not sure the next time we will see her since we live in Maine. Her program ends the 11th, boyfriend graduates may 5th which she probably can't attend. We arrive may 2 and leave the 9th. They don't take in consideration family from out of state, or graduations huh??? Very disappointed!!!!

I would tell her to talk to her managers. See if she can at the very least be given a manager-approved RDO on May 5th for her BF's graduation. Managers do have the authority to change your schedule; some are more accommodating than others, however. Have her ask them as soon as possible and see if they'll give her the one day off.

Family vacations, however, are different. She could ask her managers about this as well (and she should preferably ask for either the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th off, especially if she's getting the 5th), but, sadly, they're not as big a deal as, say, a graduation because you technically could have checked into this when she began her program and then planned your vacation accordingly (not attacking you at all, by the way; this is just probably something they'll tell you). The 2nd-9th is a whole week as well, so she will more than likely already have at least a couple of those days off. They normally will only work you 5 days a week (except during the holidays sometimes, but May isn't crazy busy--unless she works at Studios during SWW). She could request to have certain days off to spend with you guys, but this call will honestly be up to her management.

This whole situation really is a bummer and I hope she's able to get at least a couple of those days off!

 

[grannyannie]

I would tell her to talk to her managers. See if she can at the very least be given a manager-approved RDO on May 5th for her BF's graduation. Managers do have the authority to change your schedule; some are more accommodating than others, however. Have her ask them as soon as possible and see if they'll give her the one day off.

Family vacations, however, are different. She could ask her managers about this as well (and she should preferably ask for either the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th off, especially if she's getting the 5th), but, sadly, they're not as big a deal as, say, a graduation because you technically could have checked into this when she began her program and then planned your vacation accordingly (not attacking you at all, by the way; this is just probably something they'll tell you). The 2nd-9th is a whole week as well, so she will more than likely already have at least a couple of those days off. They normally will only work you 5 days a week (except during the holidays sometimes, but May isn't crazy busy--unless she works at Studios during SWW). She could request to have certain days off to spend with you guys, but this call will honestly be up to her management.

This whole situation really is a bummer and I hope she's able to get at least a couple of those days off!

she requested the time off on the Hub yesterday. She spoke with a manager at work yesterday, and they told her she would only be able to take may2, may 3 and may 4 off. May 2 we do not get into Orlando until late so we won't see her much that day, May 3 she will be off, but has to go to classes all day, so we get the evening to spend with her. May 4 would be the only day we could spend the whole day together. Then she works the rest of the time we are there, and gets the last two days off and we are gone. I know this is NOT disney's problem, but it would be nice to have a long weekend with her. If she knew the last week of the program was like this she would of picked different dates. I really didn't expect her to get the whole time off while we were there, but 3 or 4 out of 7 days would of been nice. It is so disappointing since we have made sacrafices finanically to be able to do this trip.

by the way what is a manager-approved RDO?? (requested day off) ??? Hopefully they will at least give her the 5th for the graduation since it is a once in a life time event.

Is there someone with the disney college program I can talk to?? Or would that be a waste of time??
thanks for listening......

 

[Caitlin1990]

she requested the time off on the Hub yesterday. She spoke with a manager at work yesterday, and they told her she would only be able to take may2, may 3 and may 4 off. May 2 we do not get into Orlando until late so we won't see her much that day, May 3 she will be off, but has to go to classes all day, so we get the evening to spend with her. May 4 would be the only day we could spend the whole day together. Then she works the rest of the time we are there, and gets the last two days off and we are gone. I know this is NOT disney's problem, but it would be nice to have a long weekend with her. If she knew the last week of the program was like this she would of picked different dates. I really didn't expect her to get the whole time off while we were there, but 3 or 4 out of 7 days would of been nice. It is so disappointing since we have made sacrafices finanically to be able to do this trip.

by the way what is a manager-approved RDO?? (requested day off) ??? Hopefully they will at least give her the 5th for the graduation since it is a once in a life time event.

Is there someone with the disney college program I can talk to?? Or would that be a waste of time??
thanks for listening......

Yes, an RDO is a requested/regular day off.

Honestly, I don't think there's really anyone else besides her managers that you can talk to. They already gave her three days off... Depending on what role she has, this could be a lot. They're not going to give her the majority of the days off--especially this close to the end of her program. That's just kind of the way it is. When I did my program and my family came to visit, I wasn't given any special days off; I was able to arrange to have my normal two days off on certain days I wanted, but I wasn't given any extra days. I worked into the night as well, so I didn't even get that with my family very much. Was I disappointed that I was working while they were out having fun at the parks? Of course, and they were disappointed as well. But, that's just the way it is sometimes. She essentially signed a contract giving them her full availability from the start to the end of her program.

If you'd really like to speak with someone within the program, I'd send an email here and see what they say:

wdw.college.recruiting@disney.com

 

[Andtototoo]

Honestly, I don't think there's really anyone else besides her managers that you can talk to. They already gave her three days off... Depending on what role she has, this could be a lot. They're not going to give her the majority of the days off--especially this close to the end of her program. That's just kind of the way it is. When I did my program and my family came to visit, I wasn't given any special days off; I was able to arrange to have my normal two days off on certain days I wanted, but I wasn't given any extra days. I worked into the night as well, so I didn't even get that with my family very much. Was I disappointed that I was working while they were out having fun at the parks? Of course, and they were disappointed as well. But, that's just the way it is sometimes. She essentially signed a contract giving them her full availability from the start to the end of her program.

That is quite right. Disney is not interested in making your kid available to visit during their program; they are interested in having them work when they want them to work. Period.

I have a family friend there in Attractions right now and she's found it quite difficult to get days off. She would be thrilled if she'd been able to get three days off! She would have also been thrilled to get her normal two days off on a day she wanted, but those requests were always refused -- she was told that she'll get the days off they want her to have off. Period.

She also found that it doesn't matter how early you ask for the time off, you won't find out if you got it off until at most the Sunday before the week you're requesting. (In other words, if you had requested time off in the week of April 8, you wouldn't have found out about it until the morning of April 1.) So it either leaves family visiting with the option of waiting until the last minute to book flights and hotels (and paying a lot more for airfare) or booking early and taking a chance that the CP may not have the time off. So the family in this case has to decide if it's worth it to visit or not, knowing you may see little of your CPer.

Other CPers she knows who work in other areas have had an easier time getting days off.

No, it's true. You can be terminated just days before the end of your program if you try to take off the last few days. You can't switch shifts or anything either; you have to work the last days they schedule you. They want to make sure you keep your end of the bargain on your contract with them and don't go off playing in the parks, etc. your last few days.

They do, however, give you the very last two days of your program off, so you have time to pack and move out of your apartment, etc. since you have to be out by 11am on your last day. So, let's say her last day/departure day is Friday, May 11th. Her last day of work would be Wednesday, May 9th; she would get both the 10th and 11th off. If her BF graduates on the 11th, she'd be able to go. If he graduates the previous Friday, the 4th, however, she would not be able to get it off because it is technically part of her last days of work. If she called off or called in sick, she could face termination.

I have a family friend who is in the CP right now and i asked if she knew about either of the bolded items above. She did not and asked her roommates and several of her coworkers. Between them they work at every park and ESPN and none of them knew about these rules/practices. They were all glad to know this information, but are wondering why no one at Disney told them of it.

 

[Traveliz]

"She also found that it doesn't matter how early you ask for the time off, you won't find out if you got it off until at most the Sunday before the week you're requesting. (In other words, if you had requested time off in the week of April 8, you wouldn't have found out about it until the morning of April 1.) So it either leaves family visiting with the option of waiting until the last minute to book flights and hotels (and paying a lot more for airfare) or booking early and taking a chance that the CP may not have the time off. So the family in this case has to decide if it's worth it to visit or not, knowing you may see little of your CPer."

Really because when my daughter was a CP and now as a CM she has always been able to look under requests and within a day or two of the request found out whethere it was approved, denied or wait listed. She has never not known until the week before...I am sure of this as I have gotten airfare for her based on the decisions months in advance.

Liz

 

[Caitlin1990]

Really because when my daughter was a CP and now as a CM she has always been able to look under requests and within a day or two of the request found out whethere it was approved, denied or wait listed. She has never not known until the week before...I am sure of this as I have gotten airfare for her based on the decisions months in advance.

Liz

You are correct. You can easily look under your requests and see if they've been approved or not. It might take a few days sometimes, but you certainly don't have to wait till the week you're looking at wanting off...