How much would you have left?

[ZiPaD3doDAH]

Hey guys!

This question is for former or current Cast Members!

If you don't mind, please state on average how much money you would have at the end of the week when your rent is deducted. And is rent deducted every week or every 2 weeks?

I did the math and figured it would be around $150 extra per week and that's like....nothing

 

[PrincessDream]

Rent is deducted automatically every week. $150 leftover sounds about right from when I lived there. Out of that I had to pay for my gas money (I brought my car because it helps a lot) and groceries so I didn't have much money left after. However; somehow my roommate was able to set aside and save $20 every week (she didn't bring her car though). In order to help us along, two of my roommates came with savings, and two or three of us were lucky enough to have additional financial support from our families.

 

[touchthesky]

I usually made a little less than 150 once you took out rent and taxes. Of course, it depends on how much rent you're paying (I lived in Commons which was a bit more expensive than Vista or Chatham because of the washer and dryer in the room). Also, I typically didn't work as many hours as two of my roommates because I worked at Hollywood Studios whereas they worked at Magic Kingdom and Epcot, so they got a lot of OT that I didn't get. I'd say 150 is a good estimate, but it really will vary based on where you live, what park you work at, and your role.

ETA: It's also good to remember that if you want to make extra money, you can always try to pick up extra shifts or sign up for extra hours on the hub (that will be explained when you get there)

 

[leeg229]

From my experience, on weeks where i worked ~36hrs I put $130 in the bank. Being in the Magic Kingdom I ended up working 40+ hours and getting overtime about 75% of the time and accumulating 3rd shift premium pay for working those crazy late shifts. Those weeks I'd put about $210-250 in the bank.

To get extra hours you can pick up extra shifts from your coworkers or off of the hub. You can also do the extra hours sign up on the hub where you can request to be scheduled more/longer shifts.

 

[BobbyT]

I was making $8.45/hr working at least 38 hrs a week and I'd usually get around $190 after rent and taxes. It sucked because literally half of my check was gone every week from rent and taxes.

Rent at vista may sound cheap but when you pay $86 a week and theres 6 people living in the apartment they take $2,064 a month to live there, which is crazy. If I ever did it again I'd definitely live off site

 

[ZiPaD3doDAH]

I was making $8.45/hr working at least 38 hrs a week and I'd usually get around $190 after rent and taxes. It sucked because literally half of my check was gone every week from rent and taxes.

Rent at vista may sound cheap but when you pay $86 a week and theres 6 people living in the apartment they take $2,064 a month to live there, which is crazy. If I ever did it again I'd definitely live off site

Yeah it's absolutely ridiculous how much they make off a single apartment in a month. I love Disney but it's sketchy as heck at times

 

[Cais]

Yeah it's absolutely ridiculous how much they make off a single apartment in a month. I love Disney but it's sketchy as heck at times

Did you know they actually lose money on the apartments?

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[eadavis]

Yeah it's absolutely ridiculous how much they make off a single apartment in a month. I love Disney but it's sketchy as heck at times

So the "money they make" also goes toward the CP busses, CP events, utilities, and maintenance of the grounds. Disney only owns Vista Way, the other three complexes are on Master Leases. Having worked for College Housing, the margins aren't that great. And hey, Disney is a business...they're out to make money...

 

[BobbyT]

Did you know they actually lose money on the apartments?

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

So the "money they make" also goes toward the CP busses, CP events, utilities, and maintenance of the grounds. Disney only owns Vista Way, the other three complexes are on Master Leases. Having worked for College Housing, the margins aren't that great. And hey, Disney is a business...they're out to make money...

I find this incredibly hard to believe. Admittedly i know nothing about the expenses that are involved with running a complex like vista but a quick breakdown of numbers leads me to think that they have to be making some amount of profit.

Most of the buildings in vista have 4 - 3 bedroom apartments on the first 2 floors and 4 - 2 bedroom apartments on the top floor. So just if 1 of the 3br apartments brings in $2,064 a month (based on my rent when i was there last summer which has probably gone up since my program ended) ok multiply that by 8 = $16,512 then add the four 2br apartments on top of that for a grand total of $22,016 per building/per month. And thats just one building. And theres about 40 buildings in vista way and I know some aren't completely residential so lets just say we can multiply that by 37 to be safe and you get a total of $814,592 a month. Just for Vista Way. I understand there's the expense of utilities and and maintenance and I honestly cant see that taking more than half of that money. And then yes, there is the (horrible) Bus system and CP events but I'm assuming that those are paid for with pooled money from all 4 complexes.

If vista is the cheapest complex and it brings in almost $815k a month and theres 3 more complexes that are all more expensive to live in, you'd have to be dumb not to think that they dont bring in at least $2.5 million in revenue a month ($30 million a year ) from all four complexes and extremely dumb to think that they lose money on these complexes (like eadavis said, Disney is a business). I'm not saying that they get a lot, but at least 10% of that has to be profit.

It's not like we're given anything premium in the complexes. Yes we're given the pools and the clubhouses, a terrible bus system, and a few CP events a week, but other than that, what are we getting for all that money?


And now with the triple occupancy "value" bedrooms they'll be making even more!! Losing money??

 

[eadavis]

I find this incredibly hard to believe. Admittedly i know nothing about the expenses that are involved with running a complex like vista but a quick breakdown of numbers leads me to think that they have to be making some amount of profit. Most of the buildings in vista have 4 - 3 bedroom apartments on the first 2 floors and 4 - 2 bedroom apartments on the top floor. So just if 1 of the 3br apartments brings in $2,064 a month (based on my rent when i was there last summer which has probably gone up since my program ended) ok multiply that by 8 = $16,512 then add the four 2br apartments on top of that for a grand total of $22,016 per building/per month. And thats just one building. And theres about 40 buildings in vista way and I know some aren't completely residential so lets just say we can multiply that by 37 to be safe and you get a total of $814,592 a month. Just for Vista Way. I understand there's the expense of utilities and and maintenance and I honestly cant see that taking more than half of that money. And then yes, there is the (horrible) Bus system and CP events but I'm assuming that those are paid for with pooled money from all 4 complexes. If vista is the cheapest complex and it brings in almost $815k a month and theres 3 more complexes that are all more expensive to live in, you'd have to be dumb not to think that they dont bring in at least $2.5 million in revenue a month ($30 million a year ) from all four complexes and extremely dumb to think that they lose money on these complexes (like eadavis said, Disney is a business). I'm not saying that they get a lot, but at least 10% of that has to be profit. It's not like we're given anything premium in the complexes. Yes we're given the pools and the clubhouses, a terrible bus system, and a few CP events a week, but other than that, what are we getting for all that money? And now with the triple occupancy "value" bedrooms they'll be making even more!! Losing money??

Even if the bus system is terrible, it still isn't cheap, annual contract is definitely in the millions...At least 30 busses running almost 24/7, labor costs, insurance, etc. those costs add up. But they still are probably making a slim margin.

Also, Disney doesn't manage the properties or provide security. Those are all contracted out. Think of those expenses, labor for clubhouse, maintenance, grounds keeping, security...

Disney also provides services/resources exclusively for College Program Participants. All the CP events, I remember my program, they definitely didn't seem to spare expense. Yeah, the "rent" is more expensive if you're just thinking about it covering your apartment. But it really pays for a lot more than that...

And again, Disney is a company, they are out to make money...if you don't want to utilize their housing...don't. All you have to do is bring a car, find an apartment complex that will let you have a less than six month lease, furnish it, get all utilities hooked up and connected, and find roommates all on your own.

 

[Cais]

The rent has also gone up like, 20 bucks since the 90's. I wanna say my leader paid 65 a week for vista in the early 90's. I paid 78.

I also paid 900/month for a 1BR back home.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[jewjubean]

Rent is actually not bad when you consider the cost to them- between maintaining the apartments, electric, water, transportation being paid for up to six people... It's actually a deal.


I live in a similar apartment and I pay almost 1000 for rent alone plus utilities. 200+.

 

[::Snow_White::]

I'd say about $150-200 is about right, I definitely suggest taking some cash with you if you can save some up for whatever fun things you want to do. It's definitely going make a difference.

And I paid about $100 or less a week at Patterson, it's a pretty good deal for one person. The apartments are extremely nice, pool, clubhouse, workout room, gated security is the biggest thing. Those aren't cheap elsewhere. Yeah you have 6 girls living in one apartment which brings in big bucks for Disney but on the whole $400 a month in rent is cheap.