Amber Earns Her Ears: My Secret Walt Disney World Cast Member Diary (2 page)

I didn’t really care what role they gave me, as long as I got to wear that Disney nametag and introduce myself as a Cast Member.

Once you’re accepted into the program, Disney provides almost everything necessary to live on your own in Florida.

For many participants, it’s the first time living away from home, but Disney removes much of the anxiety and effort from that milestone event. They provide housing in one of four apartment complexes on the doorstep of Walt Disney World: Chatham Square, Patterson Court, The Commons, or Vista Way. Each complex has its own champions and detractors.

Patterson, the newest of the four complexes, is perhaps the nicest. It has a reputation as the quietest of the housing communities — some enjoy the silence, especially after a long day at work, but those craving a livelier atmosphere might not like it. Patterson is the only complex without a bus stop; it shares one with Chatham, which is just next door. Not a huge difference, but enough to discourage lazier individuals (such as myself) from staying there.

Vista Way is the oldest complex, and has developed quite a reputation. Nicknamed “Vista Lay”, it’s the party complex, perfect for those who enjoy the most sociable atmosphere and the cheapest rent. But Vista isn’t all bad. The buildings have recently undergone renovations, and security is always around to make sure the fun doesn’t get out of hand.

Chatham Square is the happy medium between Patterson and Vista Way. With nicer rooms than Vista, and a more sociable atmosphere than Patterson, Chatham is a good choice for those not quite sure which type of setting they’d prefer. It also has the benefit of being directly across from Mickey’s Retreat, a park for Cast Members that offers lakeside canoes and kayaks for rent, swimming pools, grills, and tennis and basketball courts.

The Commons is the fourth apartment complex, but it’s restricted to program participants from abroad — the international students. I made several visits there, as many events and activities, such as grocery bingo and housing orientation, are held in the Commons’ main building.

Living in a complex isn’t free. Disney deducts the rent from your paycheck. How much they deduct depends on the number of roommates you have — apartments can accommodate two to eight people — and which complex you live in. The more people in the apartment, the cheaper the rent, and the newer the complex, the more expensive the rent.

Not only do the apartment complexes provide a place to live, they also feature swimming pools, gyms, tennis courts, a soccer field, 24-hour security, and limitless opportunities for fun: soccer tournaments, trips to the beach or theatre, baseball games, grocery bingo, and dozens of other amusements (not to mention the welcome parties for each incoming batch of participants). The initial payment you make to Disney upon your acceptance into the program covers the fees for all of these activities as well as your first week of rent.

Disney also provides buses (separate from those that transport guests) that take program participants to and from work, the parks (for which you get free admission!), and places like the grocery store, Walmart, the post office, and even the Florida Mall. Bringing a car may make some people more comfortable, but it’s unnecessary. If you want to go somewhere the buses don’t run, it’s easy to find someone who’ll take you there.

As if housing and transportation weren’t enough, another valuable aspect of the program is the learning opportunities.

Disney offers classes designed by Cast Members who work for Disney University. From “Creativity and Innovation” and “Corporate Analysis” to “Marketing You”, there is a class to capture anyone’s interest.

Quite a few of these classes are ACE accredited, so many colleges will award credits. Check with your college advisor to make sure the credits will count, but even if they won’t, the classes are interesting enough to attend for their own sake. You do have to buy the books and pay a minimal registration fee. If you take a course for credit, you’d also have to pay whatever tuition your college charges.

Networking is another overlooked program perk. Seminars, presentations by guest speakers, and numerous other opportunities for making valuable connections are easy to find, even if you’re not exactly looking. For someone who wants to make a future with Disney, the program is an excellent way to begin. Whether it’s chatting with managers about your aspirations, bumping into the head of tourism backstage in Magic Kingdom, or speaking to the vice president of your park as they drop by your restaurant, it’s always possible to find ways to edge up in the company. My roommate and I learned this lesson when we were least expecting it — but that’s a story for later.

The information I accumulated was enough to convince me beyond a shadow of a doubt that CareerStart was something I needed to do.

I was already graduating high school early, so taking a few more classes at a community college to make up for the time I’d be out of the classroom was a small price to pay for a semester in Walt Disney World and the chance to add an internship with a Fortune 100 company to my résumé.

But all that came later.

For now, I had nothing to do but wait until I could submit my application.

A FEW MONTHS HAD passed since my initial fervor about the CareerStart Program. Somehow, I’d pushed it to the back of my mind as I made plans to take a Disney cruise or spend three weeks in England. In fact, I’d forgotten about CareerStart completely, and only an email from Disney about the obligatory ePresentation brought it back into focus.

There is remarkable magic in the word “Disney”. Even the prospect of going to England for a school trip (I have wanted to go since I was at least ten years old) was eclipsed by an image of Mickey Mouse waving at me from my computer screen.

So, as much as I looked forward to a cruise and three weeks in England, I immediately put those plans aside.

The next day I viewed the CareerStart ePresentation — basically, a promotional video for the CareerStart and College Programs, where you’ll hear about the many opportunities that await, watch squeaky clean tours of the housing complexes, and listen to cheesy, scripted interviews with past program participants.

I was hooked again.

Immediately, I pulled out the folder in which I had accumulated all of my information about CareerStart, including the all-important application. I looked over the application to make sure that I’d spelled every word correctly and punctuated everything just right. Then I went to school the next day and faxed it to Disney.

Had I bothered to check, I would have known that Disney now took applications online, and that they no longer required applicants to submit references or respond to short answer questions (of the sort “Why do you want to work for the company?” and “How did your previous work experience prepare you for Disney?”).

Heedless, I faxed it all in, and then fell into the habit of obsessively checking my e-mail every ten minutes and stalking Disney fan sites to chat with other CareerStart hopefuls.

A few days passed — it might have even been a week or more — and I still hadn’t heard from Disney about my application. I was starting to get nervous. Would I get rejected simply because I hadn’t followed the rules? People had already done their phone interviews, and I hadn’t heard so much as a squeak from Mickey.

Before panic could totally set in, I got an e-mail from Disney informing me that my application had, in fact, been received, and that I could proceed to the web interview.

I’ve heard horror stories about the web interview. People had been rejected just minutes after submitting their answers to the many questions on this totally automated test. Never had I felt more nervous than I did the morning I sat down in my high school’s library during my free first period. I launched the CareerStart web interview and wriggled anxiously in my seat as the introductory page loaded. Taking a deep breath, I clicked “Proceed” and began.

It really was not all it had been talked up to be.

The CareerStart web interview was similar to programs used by employers to screen prospective employees. I was given a series of statements about my personality and work ethic (for example: “You prefer to work alone”) and prompted to select one of five possible answers: “strongly disagree”, “disagree”, “neutral”, “agree”, or “strongly agree”. All the questions were in this format, and all of them were relatively simple, even given the short time limit placed upon each response.

Putting myself into the mindset of a future Cast Member, I worked my way through the questions, always trying to select one of the strong options, and very rarely choosing neutral. I stuck to the truth, though. I know a lot of people are tempted to exaggerate qualities that they think companies want, but in my case, I really do want some time alone after I’ve been surrounded by people for hours.

It took me thirty or forty minutes to finish the web interview. My reward? The marvelous little message telling me that I had passed. I scribbled down the number I would have to call to schedule my phone interview and raced to the secretary’s office where I would be able to use my cell phone to make the call. Hands trembling, adrenaline rushing, I called Disney and wrote down the time of my phone interview, then headed back to the library to spend more time in Disney chat rooms before my next class.

Now that I had passed the web interview, I began to prepare for the phone interview.

I read other people’s experiences, and wandered through the halls of my high school thinking, “What would I say to a child who’s too small to ride Space Mountain?”

I had read somewhere that it was a good idea to ask some questions after the interview, just to show that I was really involved and had done lots of Disney research. The problem was that actually I had researched everything, and so I had no questions. I scribbled down a few queries anyway, despite already knowing the answers.

I had scheduled my interview for another free morning at school. I forewarned my second period teacher that I might be late (she, of course, was almost as excited as I was), and then on the day of the interview, I went outside and sat on a bench to await Disney’s call. My notes and application were spread out on the ground all around me, some weighted down with pebbles. I nervously kept checking my phone, watching every minute pass by with excruciating slowness.

Finally, the time for my interview arrived.

There was no call. My stomach clenched as I waited for the phone to ring. A minute passed; then another. Instead of a ring, my phone began to vibrate. I had a voicemail.

With dread, I quickly entered my password and listened as my interviewer explained that the call had not gone through, and she would try calling back in just a few minutes.

I hung up, staring around as if the reason my phone hadn’t rang was hidden behind one of the cars in the parking lot. Not knowing what else to do, I called my mother, pacing nervously. After I had explained everything in a barely coherent rush, she said that I had probably been sitting in an odd spot where there was no service. I was at the foot of a mountain, after all, where service isn’t entirely reliable. This did nothing to calm my nerves — what if it happened again? What if Disney was never able to get through, and marked me down as ignoring their call?

But just then the phone began to vibrate once more. I quickly hung up with my mom and answered the phone.

My interviewer (I regret to say that I don’t remember her name, though she was incredibly personable and lovely to chat with) pushed aside my apologies and quickly put me at ease. As soon as I was sure that I wasn’t going to be in trouble for not getting the first call, I was able to relax and do what I do best: chat about Disney.

I thoroughly enjoyed the phone interview. Of course I was nervous, tracing the cracks in the sidewalk as I paced, but all of the preparation I had done was completely unnecessary.

First, we reviewed my application, verifying that all the information was correct.

Then came another scare. I was still seventeen and in high school, although I was taking three college courses as well. Apparently, this had come off as confusing on paper, and my interviewer asked if I would rather apply to the College Program.

After a few minutes of bewildering conversation, we were finally able to clarify my position — which ended up being questionable. The interviewer triple-checked my birth date, then put me on hold for a few minutes to make sure that my 18th birthday would come prior to my arrival in Orlando for CareerStart — one of the program’s non-negotiable requirements.

I agonized for a few minutes, and then she was back, having confirmed that there were, in fact, a few arrival dates in February past my birthday.

Now the real interview began.

I was asked why I wanted to work for the company: simple, I have been in love with it since infancy. How might my previous work experience have prepared me for situations that might arise in Disney? I worked at the local animal clinic as both a secretary and an assistant for eight years, so I had an varied skill set that would apply to many situations, and not just those involving animals. I emphasized my cash-handling experience because, for a lot of CareerStart participants, this could be their first time working in retail (not everyone in the program works in retail, but some do). Prior experience always puts you on better ground.

The interviewer asked me a few more generic questions, and then came the Disney ones.

What would I do if I saw a guest spill their drink? I replied that I would immediately put up a sign to caution other guests, and then clean the spill myself (only afterward did I realize I also should have given the guest something else to drink). I emphasized that since Disney is full of children, and children like to run, it wouldn’t do for them to slip in someone’s spilled beverage and hurt themselves. I was asked the traditional Space Mountain question as well, and then to list my favorite parks and rides.

After a little more chatting, we hung up.

My phone interview had lasted 46 minutes; some people finish theirs in 15 minutes. I wasn’t worried, though, because a lot of my interview time had been spent chatting about wherever my last answer led: from people’s attachments to animals to the view at the Beach Club.