Senior's WDW Job Opportunities?

[DougY]

My wife and I are several years from retirement. We love WDW and go frequently. Can anyone give us information regarding senior job opportunities at WDW? We see a lot of older employees there, and wonder whether there are, indeed, jobs for folks in their 60's.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I was 65 when I started working for WDW and have been there six years.

 

[Oglet]

The great thing with Disney is there are jobs for just about anyone.

Casting will really work with you to get you into a role that will work for you.

 

[Praise2Him]

I just started working as a Seasonal CM this summer at age 50 and yes, I saw lots of 'older' folks at Casting and during Training.
The funniest thing to me is that guests and even fellow CMs thought that since I'm older and have gray hair, I'd been working there forever and knew everything. I even had a guest say, "You look like you've worked here a long time, so I know you can help me"... It was my 2nd week!
Luckily we've been annual passholders for 10 years and made many trips to the parks (plus being on the Disboards helps a lot!), so I did know most of the answers to guest questions...(Where's the nearest restroom, etc.)

 

[Simba's Mom]

I'm just a few years from retirement, so I've had several conversations with seasonal part-time, senior CMs at WDW. They all love it! Several CMs I talked with are on some system where they just Email a few weeks before they can start for the season (they go up North in the summer and come down in the fall), then they notify Disney in the spring a couple weeks before they leave. In several cases, Disney came to the RV Park they stayed in in the winter to recruit. They'd tell Disney what park they wanted to work in, and wait a few weeks, then voila! The one tip I remember concerned how late and the parks. A CM recommended Animal Kingdom as the park to choose, because it's a couple hours after closing time before CMs usually leave. For the other parks, at times, you don't get home until 2:00am or even later. Seasonal CMs used to be able to work a couple days a week during the season, but I recently heard a rumor about the number of hours and frequency of working. Does any CM here know anything about the supposed new rule? And often seniors have part-time work related to their former career-like the former policeman who works security at Fantasmic, or the former teacher who works at Rafiki's Planet Watch explaining about the vet procedures. I'd love to work at WDW!

 

[Praise2Him]

Yes, that's true about the hours - if you're a morning person Animal Kingdom would be better since they close early. I work at Magic Kingdom and the latest I worked was 10:45 pm - 4:45 am, when the park was open until 3:00 am for EMH (so by the time I drove 30 minutes home and showered it was 6 am when I went to bed)! But, I'm NOT a morning person and I preferred working at night (not as hot, plus getting to see/hear Wishes every night). My normal hours were anywhere from 4 to 7 pm until closing - usually between 10 pm and midnight (and up to 1 and 1/2 hours after closing).

And yes, they just changed the requirements for Seasonal employees. In the past you were required to work anywhere from 8 - 40 hours/year to maintain your status, depending on where you worked. Starting this October it's 150 hours/year.