Previous CPers pleas review your role!

[BeastlyKingdoms]

For those of you who have already been on a CP, could you tell us a bit more about your role? I'm unsure what to choose. If you could please include:
Role
Department
Location
Pros
Cons

 

[psherman42]

Role: Quick Service Food & Beverage
Department: Not entirely sure what you mean by this haha.
Location: ABC Commissary at Disney's Hollywood Studios
Pros: I had good hours for the most part since ABC didn't open until 11, closed a half hour before the park and was only open an hour into EMH, the people I worked with were fantastic
Cons: I wasn't particularly fond of the work I had to do, but that was mostly because I'd worked in fast food before and it would have been nice to do something different.

 

[ohsnapxitsamanda]

Role: Full Service Food & Beverage
Department: same as psherman, not sure what you mean
Location: Coral Reef Restaurant in Epcot
Pros: We were only open from 11am-9pm, so my hours were really good. Also, I worked with amazing people.
Cons: We were pretty much always busy at dinner, and guests could get testy. But you'll deal with testy guests no matter what (on stage) role you have. Also, I worked pretty long days most of the time (9-10 hours mostly). But I wouldn't have traded any of it for anything.

 

[AliSW]

Role: Custodial
Department ...
Location: Epcot future world!
Pros: tons of freedom, you can walk around wherever (should stay in your area though hah) and talk to guests, got to learn mickey water art, usually easy work, didn't encounter many angry people even when there were lines there were actually a lot of nice people that told me how nice the restroom was, I don't know about other areas but most of the people I worked with were great and laid back and helpful! also got to watch the fireworks if I wanted every night.
hours were very consistent and always worked with all the other cps, I only had maybe 5 morning shifts and then a bit more open and close but mostly easy 2:30-10 or 3-11
Cons: yeah it can be gross.. and smelly... and sometimes trash runs are annoying because some get really full and people get in your way, when you get calls to clean up a "spill" which could really just be water.. also I thought it was pretty terrifying when a toilet would overflow haha

 

[kytiam]

Speaking on behalf of my son who isn't on the DisBoards, but just finished his CP a few weeks ago.
Role: Custodial
Location: Main Street USA, Magic Kingdom
Duties and Responsibilities: Different every day, but could include pan and broom (aka Sweeping) your area; restrooms (DS only had this assignment about 10% of the time but he said it was really easy); bussing the tables at Caseys Corner or the Ice Cream Shop; dancing in the Move It Shake It Celebrate It Parade; emptying trash cans; an occasional "code V"; Lots of guest interaction like answering questions and giving people directions; etc.
Pros: Lots of freedom to move around your area; Lots of great guest interrection, pin trading, taking photos, etc.; painting Water Mickeys, Minnies, and Goofys (and enjoying the crowd reaction when you do); Got to watch the nighttime parade, Wishes, and Castle projection show every night; worked with lots of great people!
Cons: Crazy, Crazy hours. Worked til 4:00 a.m. every Monday night and til 1 1/2 hours past closing every night. Most of his roommates worked roles where they were gone during the day and home at night whereas DS was home during the day and working til all hours every night so they didn't really have much chance to "bond". Some of the jobs could be kinda nasty, but not as bad as you might think. Some managers were easier to work with than others.
Can't remember all the questions on the OP's list, but that's the most of it for that son. Other son did a CP the year before in Merchandise in Tomorrowland. Again, Crazy hours, an occasional obnoxious guest, hard work but overall, the best experience of his life.

 

[Berlioz70]

Role: Character Performer

Department: Entertainment

Location: Global (everywhere)

Pros: fun Guest interaction, worked at all parks and several resorts, idea of working in Entertainment has a certain allure about it and I'm glad I had the opportunity.

Cons: since Performers are global it's hard to get to know Managers, which makes scheduling more difficult, networking more difficult, and you don't work with the same people very often making it harder to have regular connections at work.

 

[blearbear4]

Role: cashier, cook (fries, hot dogs, corn dog nuggets, chili), stocker, person who would take order and get food (we called it "counter"), buffet set-up-er, person at podium who would sign in guests and ring up walk ups, greeter.

Department: quick service food and beverage. Not my first choice, offered by my phone interviewer. So glad I agreed to it!

Location: Magic Kingdom. Casey's Corner,
Tomorrowland Terrace, Fireworks Dessert Party.

Pros: location! I saw every fireworks show, castle show, and parade (even the filming of the XMas parade), my coworkers were amazing, my multiple locations meant I met alot of new people, jobs were not hard, guests were overall great.

Cons: Casey's could be open til 3 am, and closers (usually CPs) could be there until 4 am (although it is cool to see a deserted Main Street!)- this made the finance class I signed up for early in the morning more difficult. Getting a bus back to Vista was a nightmare if I got off at closing!

 

[saturdaygirl]

Role: cashier, cook (fries, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches), stocker

Department: quick service food and beverage, i wanted the .50 raise, LOL

Location: disney's(now espn's) wide world of sports & deloyed to epcot futureworld outdoor foods

Pros: location, atlanta braves spring training, it was fun to see the different sports, very slow compared to the parks, some freedom

Cons: SPORTING EVENTS; especially the cheerleading events, cheerleaders EVERYWHERE lol when there wasn't anything going on, we were deployed to epcot and the water parks(i was there during the spring), hot hot hot

 

[Lermy]

I did 2 summers:

Role: Bus Tables, serve Food, Cashier

Department

Location: Hollywood & Vine at HS(it was MGM when I was there)

Pros: This was before H&V became a character meal location. Food was served cafeteria style. It was an easy job. Got to make shakes, serve food, bus tables. Tons of interaction with guests and other CM's.

Cons: Not exactly glamorous when you bus tables, but who cares, it's Disney! Shifts were all over the place. You could work until midnight and then have to be in at 6 am the next morning. Generally worked well over 40 hours.


Role: Front Desk Agent
Department
Location: Fort Wilderness
Pros: I absolutely loved this job!! I don't think they offer it for summers anymore, since it takes a long time to learn about RV/Camper placement and all the goings-on at the Campgrounds. But I always enjoyed meeting people at the front desk.
Cons: A lot to learn in a short period of time, but honestly, I really liked it! It's kind of a pain to get to as far as transportation goes.
__________________

 

[ColonelHathi]

WARNING: I was CP Spring '95!!!
Role: Jungle Cruise Skipper
Department: Attractions
Location: Magic Kingdom
Pros: To this day it's still the best job I have EVER held. Incredible team, was part of the inagural team of women jungle skippers, more than 20 CPs on the attraction, just a blast. I stayed on as a summer seasonal with other 2 CPs. The guest interation was amazing, and it really helped me to this day with public speaking. There's nothing like telling bad scripted jokes over and over (and over) again in front of boat loads of people when you are not actually very funny! Got to see a small, but very real, alligator in water up close! Easy to pick up some shifts as PAC (loved this) and a greeter at Pirates. Back "in the day" we also got to shoot a pistol at the Hippos (loaded with blanks).
Cons: LOTS of talking, so much so that I lost my voice a couple of times, had a couple of bad colds/bronchitus as did others on the attraction, out in the elements wearing polyester costume (which ranges form really cold in Jan/Feb to extrememly hot in Jun/Jul), had to find/wear horrible black men's shoes! Long hours, monotonous at times.

 

[Joanna71985]

This could turn into a novel (as I've done 6 CPs)!

Role: merchandise
Location: Fantasyland, MK
Pros: I loved being able to see Wishes everynight, and the guest interaction. Plus, it was nice rotating around the different shops (there were 5 shops and 3 carts, plus one store you had to be specially trained in). And I got to be deployed to Adventureland, Liberty Square, and Main Street (so it was fun getting to work in other locations)
Cons: I had problems dealing with money, and there were times it was hard clearing out certain stores right before the fireworks

Role: character attendant
Department: entertainment
Location: CP #1- global, CP #2- DHS (now attendants are bid in one park)
Pros: being able to pick up shifts in the other parks, interacting with the guests and characters, and just having fun
Cons: it's hard to get close to co-workers at times. Also, it's never fun turning people away after the lines are closed

Role: custodial
Location: Epcot World Showcase
Pros: the freedom! Custodial is a very laidback role. And there is a lot of guest interaction in this role. I also loved getting to see Illuminations every night, and the shows in the different countries
Cons: not being in the role long enough to get used to the amount of walking

Role: Casey's Corner
Department: QSFB
Location: Main Street, MK
Pros: the location (fireworks and parade everynight), and the costume is adorable. Plus, this location never got too busy (except around parade/fireworks)
Cons: money thing again (but not as bad as merch). and it could get a little cramped behind the counter

Role: Toy Story Midway Mania
Department: Attractions
Location: DHS
Pros: the people I worked with. and it was fun getting to meet celebrities
Cons: I'm not one to complain, however...I was not very happy here. I HATED dealing with fastpass, and the line was usually pretty hectic. I don't miss working there

Role: Great Movie Ride
Department: attractions
Location: DHS
Pros: Love this ride! It's always been one of my favorites, so it was a dream come true going there. I love acting, so I love doing shows. Plus you rotate around a lot, so you don't really get bored
Cons: actually, I don't have any for this one

 

[DisneyGirlie]

Hi! I did my program Fall Advantage 2011.

Role: Merchandise
Location: Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood Studios
Pros: Getting production trained. Sweet Spells is part of our merch area so I got trained on how to make the candy apples, the chocolate dipped strawberries, the chocolate covered pretzels, etc etc. Working in the kitchen like that was so much fun and production shifts were my favorite. Not every merch location has a confectionery like this so I felt very lucky with the opportunity. Also, the cast cafeteria was pretty much right behind my work location so breaks were very convenient. Lots of variety store wise. The confectionery (Sweet Spells), Once Upon a Time (clothes), Animation Courtyard stores which were kids stuff, and the Animation Gallery where we sold fine art. There's just so much to do and so many places to work in my one area, it never got boring.
Cons: Nothing really? People/crowds are annoying when Fantasmic lets out. Obviously people who work merch in the back of the park "backlands" don't really have this problem, but people exit through sunset so we get a lot of business.