Seasonal Employment at WDW

[Tinkerbells mom]

Hi,

I was wondering if there are any CM or seasonal employees on the dis tonight? Family friends were asking me how many hours per year they had to work to be eligible for seasonal employment at WDW. Thanks your help in advance. My friends could not beleive I did not know the answer..........

 

[JLindley2003]

Hi! It depends on the role. I really can't give any set number, cause it just all depends. But for merchandise, the most it has to be is 40 hours, and is often (much) less. Attractions are more of how frequent than how many hours. I believe they are every 4 months, but things change, so you'd want to check. The rest, I dunno; but hope that helps a little! And if I'm not mistaken, you must work 3 months "full time" to be eligible for seasonal status.

 

[sugahappy]

It all depends on your role, your manager, etc. I have found that Disney is very very disorganized when keeping track of their CMs in their systems, creating a paper trail, etc...

I did a CP in the summer of 2006 and really wanted to go seasonal. I asked several of my managers how one does this and I got lots of conflicting answers. I went down with some other ex-CPers last year before Christmas, and I emailed my old manager to see if I could work. It turns out I had been purged from the system immediately after ending my CP. Technically, I would have to be reinterviewed, rehired, etc by Casting.

However, my very nice manager simply sent a memo to Casting telling them to reenter me into the system. When I arrived in Orlando, I had to go to Casting and get refingerprinted before I'd be allowed to get an ID and work.

All this bad crazy stuff happened, either Casting lost my manager's memo or she never sent it, but I ended up not getting approved to work until the second to last day of my trip. However, when they issued my a CM ID, they issued it for all of 2007. So, I worked *one* day last year, and I'm statused as a seasonal CM for 2007.

Anyway, my point to this drawn out story is...it really all depends on how long your CM ID is good for. I think technically you are only supposed to be issued an ID that is good for as long as you are working. And I think the *official* rule is like 40 hours a year to stay statused as Seasonal. I hope that made some sort of sense!

 

[Feralpeg]

Too few. Sorry, but I have a real problem with the folks who work a few hours in a year and get, for the most part, the same benefits that the other CMs get.

 

[Endeavour105]

Too few. Sorry, but I have a real problem with the folks who work a few hours in a year and get, for the most part, the same benefits that the other CMs get.

Due to their exceedingly high turnover, WDW offers a limited perk package to entice people to work there, even if only on a seasonal basis...it's that simple. And, for seasonal CMs, it ain't much.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Too few. Sorry, but I have a real problem with the folks who work a few hours in a year and get, for the most part, the same benefits that the other CMs get.

1) Let's see
. . . you are 6,500 hourly people short of manpower requirements
. . . you have revolving door employee turnover that spins faster than a top
. . . you can't even recruit enough seniors/retirees to fill the ranks
. . . you have a huge team of recruiters holding job fairs every month
. . . you run full-page help-wanted ads every weekend
. . . you offer $1,000-$1,500 hiring bonuses and still the people don't come
. . . you pay temp-help services $15.00/hr to bring in 7.50/hr help
. . . you are getting a reputation for new lows in employee service
2) I guess offering some short hours to Seasonal employees can be good.

NOTE: I was full-time then went Seasonal when I got lured from semi-retirement back to the "real" world. It works great for me, and several others I know. By the way, I have to "offer" 30 hours per year of service. If they don't need me and I don't work, that still fulfills my requirement.

 

[One Year Pin]

My wife is a seasonal CM. She had to work at least one season (3 months) of full or part time before she could go seasonal. She went seasonal because of health reasons and she has worked about 3 or 4 days since March. She only needs to work 1 day every 6 months in order to keep her assessments current.

She is in Merchandise and from what my managers tell me, the rules have been standardized for all CMs except those in entertainment roles.

She does get some of the benefits that she used to get, but not nearly as many now.

 

[Feralpeg]

Due to their exceedingly high turnover, WDW offers a limited perk package to entice people to work there, even if only on a seasonal basis...it's that simple. And, for seasonal CMs, it ain't much.

The only CMs that get good benefits, IMHO, are the full time people. Even then, they pay for things like health care. It still seems wrong to me that a person can work a week and get access to the parks for a year. The part time CM often works more hours than a full time CM and gets very little more than the seasonal person.

At Disney, seasonal, part time and full time are very misleading labels. They work the part time people as much as they possibly can until the reach a magic number for the year where they will have to start paying overtime. At that point, they cut their hours. Full time people tend to have more steady hours, but usually work less in a week than many of the part time people. The seasonal people are all over the place.

I could easily work at Disney as a seasonal person and get my yearly AP for free. I won't because I don't think it would be right to do so. That is just my opinion.

 

[sugahappy]

I don't think most seasonal CMs have chosen to be seasonal because they are trying to get free passes or get into the parks for free. Like a few people said above, it's nice for post-retirement, health reasons, or in my case, I don't live in FL so staying seasonal allows me to still work for the company on holidays.

That being said, whatever benefits Disney decides to give or not give to seasonal CMs is up to them, it's not necessarily CMs trying to take advantage of an "unfair" system. We're just taking what they are offering to us. If the system is unfair or it's because Disney made it that way.

Besides, the pay rate at Disney is so ridiculously low that I think they should and do offer the intangible perks (like getting into the parks free, maingates, etc) to all CMs to compensate for that. They need all the people they can get, and that's why they have such a thing as Seasonal CMs.

 

[Endeavour105]

The only CMs that get good benefits, IMHO, are the full time people. Even then, they pay for things like health care. It still seems wrong to me that a person can work a week and get access to the parks for a year. The part time CM often works more hours than a full time CM and gets very little more than the seasonal person.

At Disney, seasonal, part time and full time are very misleading labels. They work the part time people as much as they possibly can until the reach a magic number for the year where they will have to start paying overtime. At that point, they cut their hours. Full time people tend to have more steady hours, but usually work less in a week than many of the part time people. The seasonal people are all over the place.

I could easily work at Disney as a seasonal person and get my yearly AP for free. I won't because I don't think it would be right to do so. That is just my opinion.

You are incorrect - a seasonal CM does not get an AP - they get a Main Gate Pass that allows only 6 visits to any of the 4 theme parks (with up to 3 guests/visit on any one day). And, there are black-out periods, like Christmas week. However, a CM's ID can get the CM (sans guests) into any theme park virtually at any time within the theme park operating hours.

 

[WDSearcher]

At Disney, seasonal, part time and full time are very misleading labels. They work the part time people as much as they possibly can until the reach a magic number for the year where they will have to start paying overtime. At that point, they cut their hours. Full time people tend to have more steady hours, but usually work less in a week than many of the part time people.

This may be true, but no one's forcing anyone to work at Disney. Those people who choose to work seasonally are earning their annual pass -- it's part of their compensation. Whether they work one day or 300 days doesn't really matter. Those rules, as someone upthread said, are Disney's to make. If I work for a department that only needs me three days a year and they'll let me keep my AP, great. Disney knows that when I visit, I'm probably bringing along a few friends, I'm buying food, I'm buying souvenirs. They're not losing money on me. So I don't quite understand why you feel it's "not right" to maintain a seasonal status to keep your AP or that it's "unfair" for Disney to offer it to seasonal CMs. If Disney was paying the same or more than other seasonal employers and seasonal people were STILL getting annual pass and discount benefits, that would be one thing. But clearly Disney is saying "We're paying you less than you'd get at Company XYZ, but the free pass to the parks helps even that out."

As for paying for health care, I don't know that there are many companies out there these days where employees are NOT contributing to health care costs, either directly or indirectly. If it's not coming out of their paychecks as a deduction, it's likely that other benefits (raises, bonuses, etc) were cut in order to maintain health care.

 

[Jason71]

You are incorrect - a seasonal CM does not get an AP - they get a Main Gate Pass that allows only 6 visits to any of the 4 theme parks (with up to 3 guests/visit on any one day). And, there are black-out periods, like Christmas week. However, a CM's ID can get the CM (sans guests) into any theme park virtually at any time within the theme park operating hours.

For 40 hours a year, you get a pass that gets you into the four main parks 365 days a year and free parking...that's an AP in everything but name.

It's actually better than an AP, in that even seasonal CMs get some nice discounts (40% this time of year, though the rest of the year it's not as high as full-timers), get into PI free 5 nights a week, and get into Jelly Rolls free every night. You also have an ID card that gets you perks at non-WDW business all over town--10% off pizza, no cover at bars...

I'm not a CM myself, but I know a few people who work seasonal "just for the benefits." I don't think it's unethical on their part, but I am amazed how much WDW feels they need to give away.

 

[Endeavour105]

For 40 hours a year, you get a pass that gets you into the four main parks 365 days a year and free parking...that's an AP in everything but name.
It's actually better than an AP, in that even seasonal CMs get some nice discounts (40% this time of year, though the rest of the year it's not as high as full-timers), get into PI free 5 nights a week, and get into Jelly Rolls free every night. You also have an ID card that gets you perks at non-WDW business all over town--10% off pizza, no cover at bars...

I'm not a CM myself, but I know a few people who work seasonal "just for the benefits." I don't think it's unethical on their part, but I am amazed how much WDW feels they need to give away.

See red highlighted above. Sorry, that's a CM's ID and not to be confused with an AP.

 

[tomandrobin]

My son was thinking of going done to WDW and applying for work. Any guidance in what he should do?

 

[SweaterInJune]

At Disney, seasonal, part time and full time are very misleading labels. They work the part time people as much as they possibly can until the reach a magic number for the year where they will have to start paying overtime. At that point, they cut their hours. Full time people tend to have more steady hours, but usually work less in a week than many of the part time people. The seasonal people are all over the place.

I'm not going to comment on the ethics of people working for the benfits. Benefits are part of a non-competitive wage. It is Disney's offer to its employees and almost anyone who fits Disney's image could do this. Enough said.

However, in regards to Full-time and Part-time status: please show me a single job in this pay bracket that DOESN'T do this! You probably can't because almost every employer does that. Few employers even offer Full-time status now because of the extras they must provide(like insurance options).

I have college degree and I still have to deal with this. Which is why I plan on returning to Disney in a year, full-time. If I'm going to get paid next-to-nothing, I'm certainly going to enjoy what I'm doing... I loved working for Disney--and yes, I'm seasonal now.

 

[sugahappy]

My son was thinking of going done to WDW and applying for work. Any guidance in what he should do?

How old is he, and is he looking to work for a summer, a semester, or permanently full time?

They have a special program for students who are just graduating from High School. They also have something called the College Program, which is for college students or recent grads (you just have to interview while you are still in college). If you do the CP you can work either for a semester or sometimes for the summer (it depends if they offer the summer program this year). People often do the CP right after they graduate then decide to go full time.

If he is not in school, I think you can check disneycareers.com for job postings. It will tell you what roles are currently available for full time, part time, and seasonal positions. Or, he could call Casting for more information. Good luck!!

 

[tomandrobin]

How old is he, and is he looking to work for a summer, a semester, or permanently full time?

They have a special program for students who are just graduating from High School. They also have something called the College Program, which is for college students or recent grads (you just have to interview while you are still in college). If you do the CP you can work either for a semester or sometimes for the summer (it depends if they offer the summer program this year). People often do the CP right after they graduate then decide to go full time.

If he is not in school, I think you can check disneycareers.com for job postings. It will tell you what roles are currently available for full time, part time, and seasonal positions. Or, he could call Casting for more information. Good luck!!

He is out of school, 22 years old. I think he wants to work full time. I really didn't ask him much about it, but I saw this thread and figured I would ask.

 

[Endeavour105]

My son was thinking of going done to WDW and applying for work. Any guidance in what he should do?

First, he should approach applying for work at WDW with "his eyes wide open". It is not always "the most Magical place to work" as the WDW recruiters say it is...as, not in small part, evidenced by the high turnover rate.

You, as a parent, should also be aware that Disney anonamously has done numerous focus groups here in the Orlando/Central Florida area over the years with predominately unfavorable results by the participants regarding their opinions of working at WDW. Also see the comments from The Rusty Scupper's reply here on this thread.

That being said, it might be an interesting experience should he get hired as it affords one the opportunity to see "The Rat" from the inside rather than just being bedazzeled as a guest.

I also suggest that he have a good idea of what exactly he wants to do there job-wise. He can do this by talking to CMs. Then, go to the WDW Casting Center located across the street from DTD neatly dressed - business casual - etc. Good luck!

 

[Feralpeg]

See red highlighted above. Sorry, that's a CM's ID and not to be confused with an AP.

Sorry if I used the wrong term. I know quite a few folks who work as seasonal employees at WDW just to get the pass which is not the same as the Main Gate pass. This is the only reason they work.

I'm not saying anyone needs to agree with me. In fact, there was a meeting recently where Disney discussed the idea of extending the number of hours needed to qualify as a seasonal employee. Whether they will go ahead with this, I don't know. My friend, who is in management, thinks it is just a matter of time. When you stop to think of the time they spend training new seasonal employees to have them leave in just a few days, they really lose money. If they ever figure out how to keep the number of part time and full time employees up (I agree higher pay would help), they will very likely do away with the seasonal employee thing.

Sorry that my opinion is not the popular one.

 

[sugahappy]

When you stop to think of the time they spend training new seasonal employees to have them leave in just a few days, they really lose money. If they ever figure out how to keep the number of part time and full time employees up (I agree higher pay would help), they will very likely do away with the seasonal employee thing.

I thought that in order to go seasonal you had to start out by working so many weeks or months full time first. Or at least something along those lines. From what I have experienced and heard from others, Disney won't even think about training you if you intend to immediately go seasonal.

I did a summer CP as a custodian, and really wanted to go seasonal in another role. I'd love to try something other than cleaning restrooms, haha. However, they would not let me go seasonal as anything else for that specific reason-- they didn't want to waste time training me for something I would only be doing a few weeks out of the year.