Quick Guide to possible CP Roles

[TerminationStation]

So during your process of applying to the College Program they are going to ask you what would be your preferences. They will give you details about each role but let me outline what my experience was.

So I worked in Quick Service Food and Beverage and I LOVED it. This however all depends on where you get placed. I was placed in the Be Our Guest Restaurant, it was a truly amazing experience. It was very busy and everyday I was doing something different. The days at work flew by because I was so busy, but I got a lot of guest interaction, and with most Quick Service places you will get that guest interaction big time. Not all Quick Service places are fun to work at, I heard horror stories about Pecos Bill's just about the management and the way that it was run. However, I had a friend that worked there and he never complained about his job, so to each his own I suppose.

You could get placed in outdoor foods. Again mixed reviews on this. First off, it's hot. Like center of the earth hot outside so that's always a downfall. Also most of the time you end up at a cart by yourself, while this does provide you with tons of guest interaction you are left with no coworker to talk to, so you don't get to meet a lot of cast members this way. One more thing, you are in charge of taking your cart to your location and closing it up and taking it back. So keep that in mind. But with all that being said I truly think that any role is what you make of it, and I think outdoor foods could be a great place to work.

You could also get placed in attractions. Which, in my opinion would have been amazing. You get so much interaction with the guests and it's not as strenuous as some of the other roles. Depending on what attraction you work however could affect your experience. But I would definitely place this high on my list.

You could also get to be a photo pass photographer. Uhm…. awesome! You literally get to create magic for people everyday, but you're out in the sun all day with long hours and you have to carry around your camera all day, which you are responsible for if it breaks. But again if you're into photography… do it!

You could try out to be a performer, which is hard to actually get but definitely worth the shot!

Retail is another role that is pretty popular with Cps. If you have retail experience they will probably place you here. From what I heard it's a lot of work, between stocking the shelves and taking care of guests, but awesome. You're in the air conditioning all day and really thats a big deal.

There are other roles you can be placed into as well, you could get to be a Fairy Godmother and makeover little Princesses all day, or cleaning hotels, or end up being a custodian sweeping the streets (which is not the worst thing in the world I promise you). The important thing is that you research these roles for yourself and pick which ones would be your perfect choices. Whenever you get there and find out what your role is, if it is not what you hoped don't panic! You'll be fine, chances are you will love it, and if you don't you can always pick up extra shifts doing parade control and things along those lines. I had also had friends that worked in Disney Quest and ESPN wide world of sports and while some people would have been upset at not actually getting to work in the parks both my friends made the best out of it and absolutely loved their roles. Like I said it is all what you make of it. If you see you got a custodial role and you go into work with a positive attitude you can make it fun and make tons of friends, and end up with a great experience.

Don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed but I promise you no matter what you do you will have the experience of a lifetime!

 

[Musings]

Not sure where you're getting merchandise gets to stay inside all day. That depends entirely on the location one is placed. There are several merchandise places that involve carts and certainly aren't indoors only. In fact, it is rare for merchandise positions to be indoors only.

I was one of the lucky ones that did but most merc I knew worked outside and inside. They rotate you but rain or shine, they were out there.

 

[TerminationStation]

Didn't mean to offend you. Like i said I was in Quick Service so all that I know about merchandise came from friends I had that worked in it. Obviously there are multiple different places you could be placed in any role. Just stating my opinions based on my experience.

… If you were trying to be helpful to future Cps you probably could have phrased that nicer and not like an attack on me. I don't claim to know everything about the program, just trying to help.

 

[ladypage]

Didn't mean to offend you. Like i said I was in Quick Service so all that I know about merchandise came from friends I had that worked in it. Obviously there are multiple different places you could be placed in any role. Just stating my opinions based on my experience.

… If you were trying to be helpful to future Cps you probably could have phrased that nicer and not like an attack on me. I don't claim to know everything about the program, just trying to help.

I really don't think they were trying to attack you. I wouldn't take it personally, and I didn't read it as an attack at all.

I know you're trying to be helpful, but misinformation is worse than no information. I wouldn't want someone to read that and go into merch thinking they would never have to be outside, and then they get stuck in the heat! It's a recipe for being miserable unfortunately.

 

[Joanna71985]

When I worked in merchandise, I worked in Fantasy. I rotated between 5 shops and 4 carts (there was an additional shop in the castle, but I didn't work there as I wasn't trained). My favorite location was one of the carts, because I could hear the castle show, and Storytime with Belle (at the time)

 

[JillyBean1899]

You could also get placed in attractions. Which, in my opinion would have been amazing. You get so much interaction with the guests and it's not as strenuous as some of the other roles. Depending on what attraction you work however could affect your experience. But I would definitely place this high on my list.

Tell that to my legs after running up and down 2 flights of stairs every 10 min when working at Earthquake, or when walking constantly on the moving load platform at Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges.

If you work attractions, you're going to need very thick skin. You *WILL* be cussed at ("what the **** do you mean, my kid's too short to ride?!? I paid $100 to get him in this ***** park, he's gonna ride EVERY*****THING and like it!!!"), your job will be threatened by guests on a regular basis ("if you don't let my kid that's 2 inches too short ride, I'm going to have you fired" ... yeah, right, good luck with that buddy), and you will sometimes be in fear for your safety (mostly from drunk/oblivious people trying to drive their ECV into a queue that wasn't meant for it, or trying to do a 3 point turn in 3 feet of space). But you'll have a blast. Attractions employees pretty much stay at one location (because of the training involved to run all parts of the ride, at Universal it was a full 40 hours *AFTER* the overall "this is Universal" training 40 hour week, plus another 20-40 if you worked a spieling attraction like Kong/Quake/Jaws, *PLUS* another 40 when you got trained in the control tower), so you'll see the same coworkers over and over.

 

[pharaoh]

I'll share some of my experiences and those of my roommates because we all had different jobs.

I was Quick Service food at Epcot. I was lucky, because I got to work Food & Wine and it was SO MUCH FUN. The bond I had with my fellow F&W CP's was stronger than any bond I had with any other coworkers or even my roommates. Those kids were my ride or dies for the duration of my CP, even after F&W ended and most of us didn't work in the same places anymore. I also loved getting to work in World Showcase around a lot of the International CP's because it was so cool to meet so many people from around the world. It was just a great experience overall.

Before F&W started, I worked at a few of the QS locations around Epcot, mostly Electric Umbrella and Liberty Inn. That wasn't so bad, but it wasn't my favorite either. It was kinda meh.

The absolute worst was after F&W ended, my CP BFF and I got thrown into outdoor foods, and it was awful. The CMs who worked ODF hated us because we were "new" and were so rude and unwelcoming to us. Basically would not give us the time of day because we were F&W CP's and we would only be working with them for another 6-7 weeks. Just a bunch of jerks. It was also awful having to empty out huge ice carts in 40 degree weather at the end of the night. Or being the ONLY Ice Cream cart open in Future World because it's cold and no one wants ice cream. I think there was a day where I had a 10 hour shift and I only sold ONE. And pushing those carts around the park a few times a day wasn't a highlight either, although I lost a ton of weight during my CP because of all the walking, lol. Basically, I friggen hated Outdoor Foods.

---

I had 5 roommates and we all worked in different areas. One was in Entertainment (she was a fur character); One worked at the All Star Sports resort; Two worked in Attractions (one in Epcot and the other at Big Thunder), one worked in Merch at HS.

The girl who was a character probably had the most fun. She was super outgoing and loved being the center of attention, so she lived for that stuff. I know we all hear crazy stories about characters but nothing crazy really happened to her that I can recall.

The two girls who worked in Attractions both also had a lot of fun at their jobs. The one who worked at Epcot worked at The American Adventure, and I think I remember at some point they asked her to audition to be a face character, although I can't recall if she actually ever got it. But that's definitely an exciting opportunity either way!

The roommate who worked at Big Thunder also LOVED her ridiculous job. She'd walk around the apartment practicing her Frontierland voice all day long. It was hilarious. She actually ended up coming back to Disney after she graduated college and still works there all these years later. Not sure what she does for WDW now but for several years she was a tour guide at MK.

The worst job was probably for the girl who worked at All Star Sports. She often had to work overnight, and it was just a boring Front Desk job. The only plus to that job was that when we got hit by like 3 hurricanes that season, she always got a MEGATON of extra hours, so her paychecks were huge while the rest of us were poor and stuck at Vista Way (bahahaha).

I can literally recall nothing about the girl who worked in Merch so I don't really have any info to share about that. She didn't talk much so she didn't share many work stories with us.

 

[Joanna71985]

I'm also going to post my experience on my roles:

Merchandise
As I posted earlier, I did merchandise in Fantasyland. At the time, there were 5 shops and 4 carts that you could work at (there was also an additional shop that required training). I mostly closed, which is normal for CPs. I liked working in Fantasyland because I could see Wishes every night

Character attendant
I loved this role (and am still there)! At the time, CPs were global (so could be scheduled in all 4 parks). I had a blast getting to interact with the characters. With this role though, you had to have a thick skin (with turning people away after the line closed). But there was a lot of variety, with so many locations to work at

Custodial
I worked Epcot WS. I was pretty split between opening (6:45 to either 1:15 or 3:15) and closing (1:15 or 3:15 to an hour after park close). I was mostly restrooms, but occasionally got streets. I also got an occasional speciality shift (events in AA Theater, bussing at Germany, ect).

QSFB
I worked at Casey's Corner at MK. Once again, mostly closed. It usually didn't get too crazy, except during parades/fireworks. I learned both BOH (kitchen) and FOH (the actual restaurant).

Attractions
Did 2 CPs in attractions. One at TSM, and one at GMR. Toy Story was crazy! I was not a fan of working there at all (especially with dealing with FP). However- I LOVED working at GMR! I had a blast doing shows, as each one was different.

 

[MeganRose]

I was Outdoor food and Beverage in Animal Kingdom...I LOVED IT! I worked in Africa and it was always a blast.

 

[theladyloki]

x

 

[hockeygirl14]

I worked in Merchandise over the summer at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique inside WOD. I was strictly merch - no hair for me... I will write a little about my experience.

1) This was the best job ever! I know everyone says that but it was really was the right fit for me. It's unique because even though as a merch cast member you are only on registers and stock, we still have to be in character and continue the experience. We got to do things like pixie dusting and tell stories to the little girls & boys.
2) At the BBB we are essential for the FGITs...we stock their carts, get dresses and shoes for them and help out where we can!
3) Stocking sucks. Although the BBB was air conditioned, the stock room was not. On days where it was super hot we would actually roll the hair in the training room because we literally couldnt be in the back room. Unlike other locations, we had to stay in our long skirts and long sleeve shirts all day. We did shipping and receiving and had a lot of stuff to do each day before we could go home. We shared a stock room with WOD - so our stuff was everywhere...always WOD people walking through and touching things or having meetings around CDS plus the elevators... it gets hectic!
4) No one can pick up BBB shifts unless they are approved by leaders. It sucks but thats life. If we were short they would try and get someone from WOD to come do registers for us but everything is completely different. HOWEVER, we were allowed to pick up shifts anywhere on property, which was awesome.
5) A lot of merch training didn't really apply to us except the computers. When I was doing my training I was always done before other people because I didn't have extra modules to do.
6) We never get deployed to the castle, and aren't really in contact with merch at the castle. I met a girl the last week of my program so we couldn't swap shifts but if you want to do that, just drop by and introduce yourself...its the easiest way! I wish I had done it earlier.

Overall, I would go back and do another program for merch. I know BBB @ WOD is much different than the castle so I can only speak for my own experiences - many people write it off as being an easy role but its a lot more work than people expect!