Is burnout really a serious concern for Disneyland employees?

[AstroBlasters]

Wait until the CM’s have to deal with the more inebriated guests now that DL is turning into a giant bar just like DCA.

 

[Foxhound3857]

Wait until the CM’s have to deal with the more inebriated guests now that DL is turning into a giant bar just like DCA.

Imagine what the children must think.

Edit: Age restrictions. Le sigh.

 

[chezcurrie]

For clarification, how close to the ocean/harbor is a 1200sq for short term rental?

It was 10 min from ocean. Furnished rental that would take a dog. Completely ridiculous. But still… the rent I posted in Anaheim is what my cousins who are amazing teachers pay… that’s exorbitant under any terms!

 

[Mags2002]

I'm hearing a lot from regulars saying that the employees there just seem strained and even stressed out while on the clock, and I'm curious what's leading to it if it's true. Is there still a lot of fatigue from the COVID years weighing on the cast members, is it having to deal with the Karens and otherwise unruly park visitors?

Or is it just being an employee at Disneyland is stressful in and of itself?

Absolutely. It’s the same at WDW and DCL to some degree. It can be stressful being a CM, there are a lot of rules and people are fearful of making a tiny mistake and being given a warning or even fired.
And yes, the Guests’ behavior definitely factors into it. People go on a Disney vacation and have ridiculously high expectations and if even the tiniest thing goes wrong they lash out at the nearest CM. I am sure that everyone would agree that no one should be treated like that in their place of work, or in their home (in the case of DCL)

 

[AstroBlasters]

It was 10 min from ocean. Furnished rental that would take a dog. Completely ridiculous. But still… the rent I posted in Anaheim is what my cousins who are amazing teachers pay… that’s exorbitant under any terms!

Are Air BnB or other short term rentals an issue in Anaheim?

 

[chezcurrie]

Are Air BnB or other short term rentals an issue in Anaheim?

Not sure what you mean by an issue. Do you mean what would an extended stay look like?I just looked on Airbnb and there are rooms or a 1br for rent as low as $129/night up to an apartment in orange at $345. Adding up to a monthly cost that’s a range of $3,870-$10,350. That hurt my brain to look at. Lol

 

[AstroBlasters]

Not sure what you mean by an issue. Do you mean what would an extended stay look like?I just looked on Airbnb and there are rooms or a 1br for rent as low as $129/night up to an apartment in orange at $345. Adding up to a monthly cost that’s a range of $3,870-$10,350. That hurt my brain to look at. Lol

I was thinking in the context of the supply of long term rentals or starter homes being taken up by investors who use the properties for short term rentals because of proximity to Disneyland/Knotts.

 

[China Expat]

For clarification, how close to the ocean/harbor is a 1200sq for short term rental?

far

 

[starry_solo]

Are Air BnB or other short term rentals an issue in Anaheim?

I thought the city stopped those...

 

[AstroBlasters]

far

It was referencing the post about $8500 a month in San Diego. Seems like it was very close based on the OP’s follow up.

I know Anaheim is not “close” to the ocean.

 

[irlandaise]

I thought the city stopped those...

They started to several years ago but then backed off. Unless they changed their minds again more recently?

 

[kristensideaoffun]

For clarification, how close to the ocean/harbor is a 1200sq for short term rental?

It was referencing the post about $8500 a month in San Diego. Seems like it was very close based on the OP’s follow up.

I know Anaheim is not “close” to the ocean.

Anywhere in the city of San Diego is about 15 minutes or less to the beach. We live just east of San Diego State and about as far east as you can get and still be in the city of San Diego. I can get my teen to junior lifeguards in 20 minutes. You have to drive a ways down Mission Blvd to get to jr lifeguards, so if I was driving straight into the first beach parking lot I got to I’d be there in 15 minutes. That’s one of the reasons the COL is so high here. We have pretty great weather year round and you are pretty close to the beach just about wherever you live.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Anywhere in the city of San Diego is about 15 minutes or less to the beach. We live just east of San Diego State and about as far east as you can get and still be in the city of San Diego. I can get my teen to junior lifeguards in 20 minutes. You have to drive a ways down Mission Blvd to get to jr lifeguards, so if I was driving straight into the first beach parking lot I got to I’d be there in 15 minutes. That’s one of the reasons the COL is so high here. We have pretty great weather year round and you are pretty close to the beach just about wherever you live.

I get what you are saying, but $8500 is not an “average” rent in San Diego.

I hypothesize that $8500 a month is 10 minutes walking from the beach….

Something like the best room here https://www.zillow.com/apartments/san-diego-ca/luma/BMK5Dc/ which is 1200sq ft and in the Gas Lamp.

 

[Karin1984]

I think anyone in the service industry has the chance of getting a burn out nowdays, and it is usually because management thinks it is a department where you can save money by downsizing. And not just downsizing in the amount of people, but also in cutting back in training, in not giving your frontline staff the knowledge, skills and tools to do their work. Also not making them feel valued. And that is more than just in money (though, very important aspect especially nowadays).

I am currently re-reading The Customer Rules by Lee Cockerell who used to be Chief Operations at Disney World. Of course he worked in a completely different time at Disney, but I do think some of his points of view on how to treat your staff to create a better customer experience still stand.

From my own experience in customer service, nothing can kill your motivation as much as when you do not feel heard. If your frontline staff stops caring because it doesn't matter what they do, then your customer service is ruined.

 

[DizMe]

As I said earlier, I think it depends on the department you're in and what your job is. My daughter works as a plush character (mainly Pluto). The pay isn't huge (I think it's $17/hr?), but the plush characters work 1/2 hour on and then get 1/2 hour off all shift. CMs have their own (free) Starbucks backstage. There's a gym, and physical therapist, and other things that are gratis for the cast. They have a cafe with what she says is great food at a very small cost. They get health benefits, they get up to 40% off the on site hotels for themselves and friends/family, a number of free passes to the park for others and they can get in free any time. They get a great discount on merch and a lot of other perks that are pretty nice.

While all of that is very cool, it doesn't necessarily help pay the bills. It IS a pretty sweet place to work for someone like my daughter. She absolutely loves it, though it is physically tiring (the head alone weighs a ton and requires a brace thing because it's so heavy and sticks out so far). It can also get pretty hot, which is why they work half hour on, half hour off.

 

[wabbott]

I think anyone in the service industry has the chance of getting a burn out nowdays, and it is usually because management thinks it is a department where you can save money by downsizing. And not just downsizing in the amount of people, but also in cutting back in training, in not giving your frontline staff the knowledge, skills and tools to do their work. Also not making them feel valued. And that is more than just in money (though, very important aspect especially nowadays).

I am currently re-reading The Customer Rules by Lee Cockerell who used to be Chief Operations at Disney World. Of course he worked in a completely different time at Disney, but I do think some of his points of view on how to treat your staff to create a better customer experience still stand.

From my own experience in customer service, nothing can kill your motivation as much as when you do not feel heard. If your frontline staff stops caring because it doesn't matter what they do, then your customer service is ruined.

Cockrell is still active as a consultant. I corresponded with him briefly several years ago about his former boss, Richard Nunis. I was asking if he knew of any plans by Nunis to write a memoir or bio. Nunis did indeed write a memoir last year which I plan to read when we visit DLR/DCA week after next.

Cockrell's description of Nunis: "He was a force of nature."

https://www.leecockerell.com/

 

[kristensideaoffun]

I get what you are saying, but $8500 is not an “average” rent in San Diego.

I hypothesize that $8500 a month is 10 minutes walking from the beach….

Something like the best room here https://www.zillow.com/apartments/san-diego-ca/luma/BMK5Dc/ which is 1200sq ft and in the Gas Lamp.

They said they are in a short-term, fully furnished rental which are typically far more expensive than regular long-term rentals. Usually, short-term rentals are rented by the week or month. If you divide $8500 by 30, it’s just over $283/night. That’s a good price for the San Diego area.

 

[chezcurrie]

They said they are in a short-term, fully furnished rental which are typically far more expensive than regular long-term rentals. Usually, short-term rentals are rented by the week or month. If you divide $8500 by 30, it’s just over $283/night. That’s a good price for the San Diego area.

That’s correct, it was a short term furnished rental while we sold our home, etc.

That said, I just did a search and the cheapest rent for a 1 bR in my area is $3500. We have friends that pay $5-7k/month rent for a house here. And not an extravagant one. Those are even higher. I worry for my own kids when it comes time for them to hopefully buy as salaries have certainly not increased in pace with housing costs.

For kicks I just looked up the value of my childhood home in Anaheim - a modest 2 story, and it increased 12 fold since my parents sold it in 1992… 12 fold!!!??!!! My parents could afford that house on one salary then, and we had friends in our church who were cast members and had a similar home. Pretty sure the average salary of someone now buying that home hasn’t increased 12 fold.

To bring it back to the OP, I wonder how much all the bloggers and influencers (bias warning: I call them cloggers and instupiders) affect the frontline CM. I know they drive me batty with their costume changes and take a pic of this seasonal item, take a bite and trash it. I can only imagine the difference it would be for say a character CM to interact with a child who is full of wonder and magic vs a grown adult creating “content.” Ok, rant over!

 

[FLCA026]

I mean it's all of the above and more

Even at Full time you can't pay for your own apartment near the park and food. Some Guests seem to be acting worst then ever, Also unlike other normal jobs you have extra travel time because you don't get paid parking your car very far away from the parks and either have to walk or take a bus back leading to even less free time.

Back in the day Disney Employee's were treated with respect, many got paid enough to make house payments and DIsney seemed like they wanted to move people up if they stayed long enough

Isn’t it that way everywhere? i have thought that people don’t respect others anymore.

 

[FLCA026]

Trust me, the stress is present in WDW too, and even though Florida isn't at the exorbitantly high level that CA is, the Orlando area is getting very expensive. Many of my fellow CM's in MK Parking were working obscene amounts of overtime just to be able to get by (think 30+ hours beyond 40). They would look like zombies in the parking lot and would sleep in the break room. It was pathetic. Add in the Florida heat and humidity and worsening behaviour by guests (check out the many fighting videos on YouTube) and yeah, it's pretty darn stressful.

People aren’t respectful anymore. I worked during the holidays in gift wrap at a store and couldn’t believe how customers were.