merchandising CP

[Jaleatonbro]

Hello all, I am going to be moving in for the Disney College Program on August the 12th, 2013. I am in merchandising and just can't hold my excitement. What is in your opinions the best shops on property to get for merchandising? Also, is main street as awesome as it would seem?

 

[Joanna71985]

I did merchandise in Fantasyland, and it was fun.

Well, any place will be what you make of it. Just know with Main Street- it will be quite busy at times. And there will be late hours

 

[leeg229]

I'm currently a merch CP on Main St. West (Emporium/Baby Care). You will be working very very late hours. Next week my schedule has me leaving at 3:15am twice and 4am once and I haven't had a shift end before midnight in 3 weeks. On the bright side I usually average 40+ hours per week so my checks aren't so bad. Keep in mind the Emporium accounts for 9% of WDW merchandise sales so we are extremely busy. It is very intimidating and difficult to learn at first. We have 6 stockrooms spread over 3 different floors and 6 different merchandise zones that stretch the entire length of main st. Overall I like my location but hate the late hours.

 

[joybeth]

My daughter did spring advantage 2012. When she got her assignment she was dissapointed that she got the one assignment that she didn't want, Downtown Disney, Pleasure Island, West Side. It turned out to be awesome! She worked Glow Carts, Disney Quest, Candy Caldron, and D-Street. Unlike her roommates, her hours were fairly regular. The stores all closed at mid-night, so she usually worked 4-Midnight. She didn't have to get up early and she had time during the days to visit the parks. She loved the locations she worked. She especially liked working the glow carts. She got a lot of guest interaction and got to enjoy the night atmosphere with the live music on the West Side, and the Irish dancers and music near Raglan Road.

Bottom line is, an assignment that you may think you would not like could turn out to be fantastic for reasons that you cannot even thing of now. DCP was a great experience for her and she hopes to return for a PI spring 2014. Enjoy!

jb

 

[MrsSparrow..]

Hi there, I also did Merch on my ICP last summer at the Emporium, Main Street USA. I have no other merch locations to compare it with, but from what I can gather, the expectation for the Emporium is higher than at other merch locations. It is the most popular in-park shopping experience and the second in the whole resort (first is World of Disney). Yes, the hours for the CP are crazy - anything around 40 hours is considered a good week, and I would have at least two 4am finishes per week. An 'early' shift for me would end around 10pm (and they were rare!) and I would often be scheduled 12+ hours.

BUT - I loved it. I loved the location, being at the heart of the action; welcoming people in the park and often, being one of the last cast members they see on their Disney vacation.

However, due to the business of the location, my hours were a lot more unsociable than merchies at other locations and we also had less time to perform 'magical moments' with guests and a lot less 'merchantaining' (essentially a guest interaction role) than other merch locations. I only got to do the 'wave' (waving to the guests as they enter) a couple of times on my program; but it was one of my favourite things to do from my program. Moreover, getting to see the 4th of July fireworks whilst at work was amazing!