Working at WDW??

[jaredkari]

My wife and I have recently been playing around with the idea of moving to central Florida. My wife has a masters degree in nursing and her job opportunities are almost limitless. I on the other hand have a degree to teach Social Studies and have been looking for a job for almost two years since I graduated and have found nothing. We would love to move to Florida (not just for WDW) for the climate, housing prices available currently, and outdoor activities.

We have discussed me possibly applying to work at WDW, not sure what kind of position, not sure if they are hiring right now, but obviously a lower position. I know there are many people on here that work for WDW and I just wanted their opinion of what kind of place it is to work. How bad are the hours? How are you treated? How strict are they on personal appearance (I have a goatee which I have had for years and don't really want to shave it off)? What is just your overall experience working at WDW good, bad, not worth it??? I would really like for find out a little more information and hopefully you all can help. Thanks :mickey:

[KatrinaJ91]

I can guarantee you would have to shave your goatee. My daughter worked there last summer and all cast members have to follow the Disney Look guidelines. Here is one example for male guidelines:
[I]Facial Hair
For all male Cast Members, mustaches are permitted, but must be neatly trimmed and not present a bushy or unkempt appearance.
Mustaches must not extend onto or over the upper lip and must extend to the corners of the mouth, but not beyond or below the corners.
Aside from mustaches, Cast Members are expected to be clean-shaven every day. Beards, goatees and any extreme mustache styles are prohibited.
If you want more info on that, check here:
http://www.wdwcollegeprogram.com/sap/its/mimes/zh_wdwcp/disneylook/males_all.html


Hope this helps!

[BluewaterBrad]

Please do your research before moving to Florida. I am a Yankee by birth, but have lived in Florida ( 7 different areas ) for over 37 years. I am in contact and supervise people that move down here and expect it to be like their vacations were. Florida is a "right to work state" which basically means you have no job security whatsoever unless you are unionized ( not common...even in traditional union occupations) Living in Florida can be very rewarding, but dont expect it to be anything like "up north". Good luck with your plans!!:mickey:

[Skippy]

A couple things come to mind.

1. If you're working at WDW, say goodbye to the goatee (unless you can jump into Imagineering... they don't seem to make Joe Rhode (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/media/photo/2008-06/40054669.jpg) shave ;) )

2. Perhaps your degree would get you into one of the area state colleges or universities.
University of Central Florida or Valencia Community College are in the area and would let you pick up a seasonal/part time in the parks.

[dnickels]

Just to echo what someone else said, remember that we develop a really warped (in the good direction) sense of an area when we vacation there that bears little resemblance to actually living in the area.

Once you get off Disney property there's traffic, mosquitoes, there's not a tram or bus coming by every few minutes, there's not always a pool to visit on the hot days, there aren't people wishing you a magical day every hundred feet. That's not to say it's not a great place to live, just that it's got the same types of difficulties you'd find anywhere else in the country.

Best of luck whatever you choose! :thumbsup:

[jaredkari]

Thanks for all the great input!!

This is not a decision my wife and I are taking lightly. We are researching housing cost, insurance, utility bills and trying to compare them to what we have here. We usually make two trips to Florida a year, one to WDW and one just to drive around so we have actually looked at a few cities and look at real estate. A lot of it boils down to job opportunity. My wife has a masters degree in the medical field which virtually gives her a good job anywhere. I on the other hand have a degree to teach which gets a whole lot of nothing in Illinois. We live in a small town with little job opportunity and thought if we moved to a larger metropolitan area there might be more. Anyway I am rambling, thanks :mickey:

[chrispooh1963]

We made the move to FL 5 years ago from New England. And I have to say it is the best decision we have ever made. My DH found a job first so he moved down about 3 months before I did. We built a house remotely. I was able to find a job within 3 weeks of moving to FL. Now this was 2004 when things were booming in FL. Today is a different story. The same conditions apply to FL as just about everywhere else - traffic, bugs etc but...you are living in FL, near WDW. We happen to be in Tampa and we are 60 minutes door to door. We purposly did not move closer to WDW or we would be there everyday and never work. Keep doing you research on taxes, insurance etc. Now is the time to purchase a home in FL - everything is on sale!