Notes on Working in Paradise

On first thought, working in Walt Disney World sounds like one of the most amazing things that anyone could ever possibly do with their lives. after doing just that for the last few weeks, i can tell you first hand, that what it appears to be from the guest perspective, isn't exactly what it is like for the Cast Members.

I honestly think that working in WDW could be one of the most trying and difficult jobs that anyone could face. Everyday, hundreds of these world renown Disney Cast Members get up and go to work with one goal in mind: Make that Magic Happen. (haha, that would be great, but most of them get up more with the "Let's pay the bills" mentality, Making the Magic is just a side bonus when it happens.) These wonderful people, these Cast Members get up and go to work where, in there job, if there is 16K guest predicted for the day, we all freak out and wonder "why on earth is it so slow today?" because this time of the year, the average projection is anywhere from 24,000 - 30,000 guests for the day. Knowing that you are going to go work with that much guest interaction is intense. Everyone expects the CM's to know every answer to their questions that they have, while most are fine if they don't, others take it as a hideous error that this cast member was not able to solve their every vacationing need.

The crowds are intense and the interaction within must be not just great, but the best ever, for it is that, the interaction with the cast members that has made Disney World the Number 1 vacation destination in the world, not it's rides, which are great, but it's workers, it's cast. Everyday the bar for disney's cast members is set at the highest level, and everyday there are multiple guests who end up testing each and every cast members limits. As a cast member myself, I find it absolutely shocking sometimes to see just how rude and inconsiderate some of these guests can be. They come to the happiest place in the world and they can't try to raise their own bar of cordiality just a little bit.

These guests can test the Cast Members patience, pushing their knowledge and execution of the "Disney Basics" to it's limit, and amazingly the Cast Member triumphs, and has done Disney proud.

So why do cast members get up every day, drive to any location on the Walt Disney World Resort, whether it be one of the four theme parks, water parks, hotels, or restaurants if they know that they could and probably will be presented with guests like this?

It's because of moments like this:
Today I was working the Nemo attraction in the wheelchair assistance bay when i was greeted by a family of three. This family hailed from New York and their ten year old son was confined to a wheel chair, due to a severe physical disability. I explained to them that I had a wheelchair accessible clammobile for their son so that he would be able to enjoy the ride, explained how it would work, and told them that it would be a few minutes before the clam would be at the loading dock. They smiled and said that that was perfectly fine. For the few minutes that we were waiting there, I engaged in conversation with this family. Upon asking if this was their first time visiting the parks, they just laughed and said that it was their son's 13th time in ten years. I asked their son if he liked coming to Disney World, he gave me the biggest smile and looked up, which i was told was his non verbal que for "Yes." His father turned to me and told me that with a wheelchair bound child, they can't even make it around their neighborhood that well, let alone the areas of New York that they might need to visit. He said though that Disney World is the most handicap accessible place in the world that he has ever been to, and that when you find a place like this, you keep coming back, and that each time it only gets better. As the clam neared the loading dock, he turned to me and thanked me, for everything that I had done for him and his family and for everyone else, that my work was not unnoticed or unappreciated. Thanking him, I helped them onto the clam and watched them ride away.

It is gusts like that that make the Cast Members of Disney get up everyday and drive to work to face the crowds, to face the long 12-13 hour shifts, and the inevitable disgruntled guest. It's people like that family, the young princesses running around, enjoying their day in their kingdom, and those that have saved for years to be able to come, for just one week, to the happiest place in the world. That is why they do it, and that is why Disney is different.