Disneyland General
Topic: DLR Casting Center - No Longer Hiring?

#	Author	Message
11	SpokkerJones Wed 1/7/2009 2:21p	I enjoy keeping up on Disneyland news, issues and controversies and post what I feel about what I read and hear.
12	beamerdog Wed 1/7/2009 10:51p	>>It does seem like the kind of place where you wouldn't work there long if you didn't want to do it. There are easier ways of making more money. You have to park far away from your worksite and be shuttled in, you have to wear clothing provided for you (sometimes really weird clothing too), you're effectively trapped at your workplace for your entire shift (no running out for coffee or lunch or errands), and often dealing with heavy crowds inside the park and snarls of traffic coming and going.<< Exactly like working the games at a baseball stadium!
13	VanFrance2009 Wed 1/7/2009 11:40p	Between Al's second hand knowledge and Westsider's first hand experience, it sounds like we can all look forward to getting the type of service that we SHOULD get when visiting Disneyland. I love it that former Cast Members that have blown their opportunity in the past no longer have access to that revolving door that was once Casting. If one has a restricted rehire status, it probably means that you just weren't cut out for this type of work. And Westsider, if you are right about Casting digging deeper into the records of the former Cast Members that have yes rehire status, I think that is amazing. I could imagine a scenario where former Cast Member that has a yes rehire status but when you check their work history, you find out that they have warnings for Disney Look or that they called in sick on Christmas and New Years Eve - why would Disneyland want those people back??? Good riddance, I say. Westsider - are those folks REALLY being turned away? It's not a right to work at Disneyland, it is an honor. And if you blow that opportunity, TOO BAD! Call me crazy but I'm excited that it is difficult to get a job at Disneyland. I think it should be. It will be interesting to see how long Casting is in this mode. If this keeps up for a substantial period of time, both Cast Members and guests will no longer be able to lay the blame of poor service at the feet of the new Cast Members. It seems to me, that blame (if necessary) will be directed to the leaders of those Cast Members that have either not taken the time to develop their Cast or have not taken the time to manage them out of Disneyland. VF2009
14	SuperDry Thu 1/8/2009 12:50a	<<< I could imagine a scenario where former Cast Member that has a yes rehire status but when you check their work history, you find out that they have warnings for Disney Look >>> That's an interesting point, what you say about the Disney Look. I wonder if resort management will take the current employment climate as an opportunity to better enforce the Disney Look and similar rules? I'm thinking along the lines of prohibiting sunglasses that don't allow for eye contact, use of CM cellphones on stage, and CMs engaged in on-stage conversations with each other at the expense of guest contact, and so on. Perhaps now is the opportune time to address these issues, such that the corporate culture can be swayed back to the old ways of doing things, and hopefully have at least some effect going forward when the employment pendulum swings back in the other direction.
15	SpokkerJones Thu 1/8/2009 12:53a	"It's not a right to work at Disneyland, it is an honor." Hahaha. "Call me crazy but I'm excited that it is difficult to get a job at Disneyland. I think it should be." It's only difficult because so many people are settling to work there because the unemployment rate is so high, and climbing. It's nothing Disney did. Disney did not offer higher pay nor did they improve workplace conditions. Don't worry, when the economy improves in late '09/early '10 Disneyland will be back to near 100% turnover rates. Everybody is holding on to their crappy jobs in this environment.
16	SpokkerJones Thu 1/8/2009 12:56a	"and hopefully have at least some effect going forward when the employment pendulum swings back in the other direction." What effect will it have when the economy improves? People will put up with the BS from guests and management as long as the economy is in the can. Once job prospects improve, many CMs will leave in droves unless TDA fixes the underlying problems that caused the employment woes in the first place.
17	VanFrance2009 Thu 1/8/2009 7:02a	"many CMs will leave in droves unless TDA fixes the underlying problems that caused the employment woes in the first place." It seems to me that the underlying problem that has been hurting the efforts of Casting can be directly tied back to nearly doubling of the required amount of Cast Members when the Resort expanded. There was never an opportunity to reach a new sort of equilibrium for the labor needs of the Resort and the Casting department was forced to have almost monthly Job Fairs for years and years. I find it hard to believe that the Cast Member experience is so much worse than it used to be. I think that may be people wishing for "the Good Old Day" without knowing what they were really about.
18	Jim in Merced CA Thu 1/8/2009 7:15a	^^^nice screen name there. I actually knew Van France and worked with him when I was at The Disney University. Cool guy.
19	VanFrance2009 Thu 1/8/2009 7:46a	Windows on Main Street is my favorite book about Disneyland. :)
20	monorailblue Thu 1/8/2009 1:45p	<<I find it hard to believe that the Cast Member experience is so much worse than it used to be. I think that may be people wishing for "the Good Old Day" without knowing what they were really about.>> BEEEEEEP. Wrong answer. Try again. I'm about to hit my 15th anniversary of my first day of Disneyland work. I can say with absolute certainty that the work environment, perks, etc. are worse than they used to be in many ways. But that's only a tangent to what I wanted to say. I hired in at the resort three times (and left each time with a positive re-hire, free of excessive call-ins, appearance issues, etc.). The first time, the process took four months--to get a seasonal job washing dishes and bussing tables. They were exceptionally choosy, because turnover was very low and job satisfaction was exceptionally high. By my third application, the entire process, from applying to actually being offered a position, took less than one working day. In that same time period, I lost a permanent locker, lost the ability to park on-site, got a substantially worse wage (as a % of CA minimum wage), fewer cast activities, very strict rules on cast items (remember when we used to be able to make sanctioned t-shirts, anyone?), a hugely expanded management structure (including supervisors who often weren't signed off to work the jobs they supervised), reduced benefits, reduced discounts on many items (including admission media), loosened grooming standards, diminished/weakened Show standards (TL 98 Costumes, elimination of boots at Big Thunder, etc.) and on and on and on. Where once depended on a system of individual initiative and responsibility, they resort shifted dramatically into strict computer and surveillance of each moment of the day. An example of this is TGS. 15 years ago, any Cast member, of any location or status, had the ability to provide a number of items to Guests as service recovery, without ANY supervisory approval. (This included up to $25 or $30 in merchandise, if I remember correctly.) This system functioned for many years because the Cast were spectacular. When the work and benefits soured, the Cast followed. Over time, the Cast could not be left with this power, so supervisory approval for many types of Guest recovery was required. Rotations were replaced with CDS--the Cast couldn't be trusted to work as they should, so a computer had to mandate every move. Scheduling had to be replaced with GEMS--managers and schedulers couldn't be trusted to make the "best" schedules, to the computer does it. And on and on. The reasons behind each of these things are myriad--not just the economy and not just corporate mandates and not just increased competition in the workplace and not just DCA and not just Paul Pressler and so forth. Reaching a point where Casting can be choosier again will, hopefully, breathe a bit of life into the real Cast Member spirit, now so long battered and beaten and mostly forgotten.

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