Working at the Disney Store?

[limegreenmonorail]

Does anybody here work at a Disney Store? I got laid off recently, and I'm thinking about picking up a couple of different part-time jobs (at stores where I would totally love a discount. :secret:), rather than a full-time job again, for awhile, anyway. I used to work at the Disney Store, but it was just seasonal, and it was like 8 years ago, so I'm sure things have changed since then. Can anybody tell me what kind of benefits they offer to cast members currently? I remember when I worked there I got into WDW free, but no maingate pass, I think. Do you get into DL free too? How much is the discount on merchandise? Are there any benefits I'd lose if I were only part-time instead of full-time? Do managers get any extra perks? (Ideally, I'd love to apply to be a part-time manager.) I know it's a lot of questions. Thanks so much for your help!

[murphy1]

I was just at our local store and they were hiring, they give you a 40% discount on hotels the girl there told me now that they are back with Disney Company. That's all I know, hopefully someone else can give you more details.

[DizneyRox]

They get basically the same "benefits" as any other CM. They don't get a maingate pass however. Last I heard it's 20% off food and merchandise (it went to 30% off merch after you had been there 3 years). I think managers/leads started at the 30% immediately. The 40% off hotels is off rack rate (many of the public deals are better) and frankly, the CM rooms are usually out of the way rooms. Even as a CM I often booked public discounts so I wouldn't be subject to this treatment.

You also had access to the Company D stores where you could purchase discounted tickets for friends and family. The discounted tickets were just a couple bucks cheaper than AAA.

One perk is the ability to join Partner's Credit Union, they have been great! Unfortunately, they are located in FL and CA, but they have had great rates and service, and use their services all the time.

You also have access to cheap cruise fares as well, but finding out about them is/was tough. We got a 7 day Disney cruise for about $800 pp. Again, you are treated as a CM and room choice is limited, seating choice is limited and even reservations at Palo, etc is limited to what's left, but hey, for $800, I didn't complain much.

TDS CMs were treated more like red headed step children by TWDC. No access to the portal, etc. I'm not sure if that has changed over the years, I hope so. In my experience, many of the CMs there were true CMs with distance from the "action" being a huge barrier. The sale to CP got rid of a lot of them however.

[Ian]

I did two separate stints as a DS CM and, honestly speaking, it wasn't the greatest experience of my life.

It's really pretty much like working any other minimum wage, on your feet all day, customer service/sales job.

Very little magic, the "perks" weren't all that great, and store management tends to have a bit of a Napolean complex.

If your other options are similar retail jobs then you might as well pick TDS, but don't go in with any lofty expectations.

[DizneyRox]

Very little magic, the "perks" weren't all that great, and store management tends to have a bit of a Napolean complex.
I think this depends on the store. I hated that I had to choose leaving, but CP wasn't what I signed up for.

You're right though, not much magic but I figured I got 20% more Disney than I used to.

Oh, last I heard, CMs got 15% off DVC too!

Finally, I think this is the time of year they start gearing up for the holiday push. So, make sure this isn't a seasonal position, if you're looking to stay. We would hire a bunch for crunch time and they were all let go after the holidays.

[MissMaryPoppins]

I worked at the Disney Store briefly while I was in college and it was a terrible experience. The management was out right mean. I had to take a couple days off because I needed to go for medical tests and both managers told me I needed to make a certain amount of sales first. And they were not joking. The store was hiring at the time and I went to give somone an application and when the manager saw it was an african-american teenager he told him the store wasn't hiring. When the kid left the manager turned to me and said, in a fake, sing-song voice, "We can't have that working here." That was probably what finally did it for me. There were other things to like when I needed to be trained on the register no one could agree on who should do it so they just threw me out there with no clue what I was doing. Because of that I would never even consider working for Disney again.

[DizneyRox]

When the kid left the manager turned to me and said, in a fake, sing-song voice, "We can't have that working here."
That's the TNT pile. Thanks, No Thanks... Right or wrong, a lot of places have them...

[murphy1]

That's disgusting!!!

[SurferStitch]

I'm friends with a couple of the managers at my DS, and both told me they are having a hiring freeze until further notice. This was about a month ago, and so far nothing has changed there.

They both love working there, as do the other CM's I know there. I would love to work there if only for the perks, but I don't want to work retail. Everyone at the DS told me they can't ever see WDW decorated for Christmas because no vacations are allowed from mid November through the new year. Definitely wouldn't work for me!

[DizneyRox]

Everyone at the DS told me they can't ever see WDW decorated for Christmas because no vacations are allowed from mid November through the new year. Definitely wouldn't work for me!
This is true... No vacations during the holidays. Seasonal help may be able to string together enough days for a quick trip, but if it's your only job, you'll probably be working too much to do it.