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

#	Author	Message
41	Westsider Sat 1/10/2009 12:58a	Anyone who longs for the days of CM's parking in the Minnie and Mickey sections is forgetting a few things. I remember parking there for a few summers. And I remember the long backup up Harbor Blvd. to pull into the lot through that one lane entrance. Worse, I remember the huge traffic jams getting out of the lot around 1:00 AM on summer closings or weekends or at 5:00 PM during the shift change when you would idle for minutes on end waiting for your lane to move and inch closer to the exit back on to Harbor Blvd. And then Harbor would be a parking lot too as all the guests poured out of their exits farther south on Harbor. The old Disneyland parking lot can by a misty, nostalgic thing, and I miss it too. But I don't miss one bit the horrendous traffic jams on busier days that would clog both the CM sections of the lot and the surface streets around the lot back towards the freeway. There's a reason CM's used to sit on the trunks of their cars for half an hour talking after their shift. The traffic was so bad getting out of the lot that there was no use in trying to go anywhere, so why not just sit and talk for awhile?
42	JobyCA65 Sat 1/10/2009 11:32a	And trust me, working those mass exits as a Main St./Parking Lot CM was probably the most challenging thing I ever did at the park, whether it was directing traffic, or maneuvering the trams through those mass exits. I remember doing things with those trams I didn't think imaginable. I worked Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, and Main St. Parking Lot Attractions, and I think the only thing I did in the park that could come close to being as stressful was working Space Mountain. And I think I would still give the edge to P-Lot, where you were faced with thousands of guests, in their own cars, each with their own idea as to what they thought was the best way out of the lot. As for the CM discussion, I'm not sure how I would go about comparing today's CMs with those of yesterland. It does feel like a different environment in some ways. But times are changing too. The addition of DCA was inevitably going to expand the scope of the operation and make it less personable. Even some of the more periperal changes such as mixing genders on certain attractions that previously weren't, and the allowance of facial hair too, has changed the park on a surficial level. I remember having friends who had no interest in working at the park because they wanted to let their hair grow longer, or they wanted to grow mustaches. It was too clean cut for the taste of some. And it was too structured for others. Now that those things have been relaxed, that has created some changes that some of us older CMs aren't used to seeing. Of course those who worked there in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and quit, probably came back in the 80s and thought we had changed too. Overall though I'm not so sure if what is at the crux of the CM has changed. I think most of the CMs who work at the park do so because they want to be part of that Disney magic. And that's why I did it when I hired in in '83. I will say that I do think the overall face of the company changed through the course of the strike. It not only changed some of the interpersonal relationships at the park that had been strong for decades, but it also changed the face of the company itself. A lot of people who would not have otherwise done so, quit. There was the sense of family that was lost with many; that family that Walt had put into motion back in 1955. IMO, there will always be the Disney name, and the Disney magic, but how it's carried out will inevitably change over the years. I guess that is to be expected.
43	SpokkerJones Sat 1/10/2009 10:19p	"Have you ever worked for Disney in any capacity? If so, where and doing what?" I worked for a year in Foods, had some fun, had some hardships, made some friends, and then quit when I got a better job. It's the typical Disneyland work experience.
44	Westsider Sun 1/11/2009 1:19a	Here's a Casting update... The Casting Center is now closed on Saturdays, beginning this weekend. The Casting Center was closed today, after reopening from the two week holiday closure on Monday and operating normal business hours through Friday afternoon. Today, for the first time since at least 2000, the Casting Center failed to open on a Saturday to process applicants who would come in to apply on a weekend. There is no current plan to open Casting for Saturday operation, although my friend said they will probably go back to a Saturday schedule for a month or two in the spring to get ready for some summer hiring. We got two New Hires in our Attractions area this weekend. A buddy of mine talked to one of them on Saturday afternoon, a very nice college girl (cute too) who applied back in August and had been on the waiting list since then. She was really excited to be accepted. There's also a new guy I heard they put on Canoes, another college guy. According to friends, this guy is "not a tool". For Canoe guys, that's about the same as the Good Housekeeping seal of approval. It's a long way from the felons, dropouts and druggies we would have received two years ago.
45	SingleParkPassholder Sun 1/11/2009 10:04a	"I worked for a year in Foods, had some fun, had some hardships, made some friends, and then quit when I got a better job. It's the typical Disneyland work experience." So you're an expert then all things Disney work experience. How many years have you been in the work force in total?
46	SpokkerJones Sun 1/11/2009 12:39p	"So you're an expert then all things Disney work experience. How many years have you been in the work force in total?" Eight years, I guess. Look, I just don't think working at Disneyland is as good as a job they make it out to be. There is no "Disney Difference" and management and guests treat and pay the employees like crap. There are better jobs out there for first-time workers and/or people who need a part-time job while doing to school. And you definitely can't make a real living working at Disneyland.
47	VanFrance2009 Sun 1/11/2009 1:21p	<<Look, I just don't think working at Disneyland is as good as a job they make it out to be. There is no "Disney Difference" and management and guests treat and pay the employees like crap.>> Really, Cast Members get paid like crap? I can just see this during the hiring process. Casting Rep says "Well, congrats! I'm going to hire you. Your rate of pay? Crap! Isn't that great?" New CM "Oh thank you so much for the opportunity to make crap!" Once again, it's no surprise to anyone when they take a job as to what they are going to be making. I just don't feel bad for folks that complain about this.
48	SpokkerJones Sun 1/11/2009 1:38p	And yet people complain about the worsening performance of the general cast.
49	VanFrance2009 Sun 1/11/2009 2:07p	I think my argument that Cast Members are pining for "Good Old Days" that were really not better than the present can also be applied to guests that are pining for the "Good Old Days" of superior service from Cast Members.
50	SpokkerJones Sun 1/11/2009 2:14p	In any case, the moral of the story is to stay in school.

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