Merchandising

[_frazzle]

I know that with merch you can pick up shifts anywhere. What happens with the costuming situation? Say, if my default location was in Animal Kingdom at the Mombasa Marketplace and I wanted to get a shift in EPCOT, would I just dress up at the location or do you get your costume beforehand?

 

[Joanna71985]

I know that with merch you can pick up shifts anywhere. What happens with the costuming situation? Say, if my default location was in Animal Kingdom at the Mombasa Marketplace and I wanted to get a shift in EPCOT, would I just dress up at the location or do you get your costume beforehand?

You would have to get your costume before the shift, but if costuming is nearby you could get it day of (the only exception might be for any AK shifts, because costuming isn't at the park the way DHS, Epcot, and to an extent MK are).

 

[raerae28]

I have some questions!!

So are you in the same store every day? Or do you rotate?

Is closing/opening the register hard? I worked at a theme park where it was a long complicated process with a bunch of paper work & took me FOREVER to learn how to do.

How do they decide where to put you (like you mentioned stocking, cashier) I would HATE to have to stock all the time.

 

[Joanna71985]

I have some questions!!

So are you in the same store every day? Or do you rotate?

Is closing/opening the register hard? I worked at a theme park where it was a long complicated process with a bunch of paper work & took me FOREVER to learn how to do.

How do they decide where to put you (like you mentioned stocking, cashier) I would HATE to have to stock all the time.

*It depends on where you work. Some places only have 1-2 shops (like resorts). Others have several shops. When I worked in Fantasyland, there were 7 shops/carts I could work (and there were days I worked at all 7).

*I never really opened. But closing down wasn't too bad. You learn it all in training.

*You get rotated. There is a computer system that gives out breaks and assignments, and this is how you rotate. For some places, you may have to be trained for certain positions (in Fantasyland, you had to be trained for stocker and for Hat Sewer).

 

[borntoshop96]

nope i have not been there...

 

[GApeach0407]

I worked at the Emporium on Main Street for my first CP. I LOVED IT but that's just because it stayed busy (except for EMH and parties) and i have worked retail before and I hate when stuff dies down because it does get a little boring.
But here are some descriptions of what I did at the Emporium.

Register: obviously i ran the register and checked guests out.
Stock: stock the merchandise that was close to empty or empty
Runner: had to "run" the entire store, getting full hanger racks and taking them to the back & then also getting ALL PACKAGES that guests wanted delievered to their room ( i believe onsite only and a few hotels that were super close to DTD were included) or to the front of the park so they did not have to carry them around all day, log them in the book. However, after Spectro started you had to take them to the package place yourself because they had already made their last run for the day.

 

[CTKris10]

GApeach, when did you do your first CP? I worked in the Emporium in Spring 2007 and I miss it like crazy!

 

[DisneyTampa]

What are the biggest differences between working merchandise in the parks versus a resort? What are the pros and cons?

 

[Joanna71985]

What are the biggest differences between working merchandise in the parks versus a resort? What are the pros and cons?

I don't know. I did merchandise in a park, and I enjoyed it. I guess resort shops wouldn't be as busy? Travel to the resort locations could also be a pain (espcially if you depend on the buses, since you have to transfer to get to the resorts).

 

[cbgb72]

What are the biggest differences between working merchandise in the parks versus a resort? What are the pros and cons?

I work DTD PI/Westside, and am a floater.

The biggest con is, it's not a park. Which can also be a pro. I look at it both ways. Some people hate the parks after they work in them, others don't.

Another con, it can get really slow, depending on location.


From what I can gather, the biggest difference is whether or not you're a floater (I don't think they call it that in the parks). I know for me, I rotate between 7 different shops and carts on DTD Westside. Others that work one location only say "Oh my gosh, you're SO lucky." because we get a lot of variety, and are almost always doing something different than the day before.

 

[cbgb72]

by the way...thank you for the informative posts everyone has left. they have been SO helpful!! : )