Disney knows it’s employees are unhappy. They are not doing anything to increase employee happiness. Paying their employees a livable wage would be a good place to start. 1 in 10 Disneyland employees have been homeless in their lifetimes. That is absurd and insane from such a rich and powerful company like Disney.
I’d love your brilliant insight on what makes them socialist and communists? I’m pretty sure you don’t even know what you mean when you say socialist and communist. It would appear that Disney is the exact opposite of socialist as is making record profits and not dsitrbuting that wealth to employees. The decisions are made exclusively by the leaders so they do not appear communist. Maybe you can go find someone to tell you what to think and then retype that here.
I thought it was just my coworkers and I, who all work for a cabinet company, with a union, but have not received a raise since 2000…. NOT 2020, the YEAR 2000!!!
Despite all inflations since 2000, in 22 years, we have not received one pay raise… And Union reps, huh!!! Probably the ones retiring on our labor.
So, it happens, unfortunately, everywhere. Shame on these businesses.
Maybe YOU don’t get the pic. That’s what socialism is. Why don’t you people get that through your iron skulls? Those at the top of hierarchy live like kings as everyone else are serfs. Period. If you’re comeback is capitalism, you can take THAT up the road because capitalism works. Trouble is, you’ve not experienced true capitalism in your lifetime. Only creeping imperialism. That’s why you don’t understand capitalism. You never saw it.
Finding another job is easy these days. It’s that you can’t find a job that pays you like a millionaire to do nothing that you have a problem with. I guarantee you could walk into any fast food restaurant or grocery store and get hired on the spot.
Not here in Livingston Tx. I’ve got at least 200 applications and resumes out and even though everyone is short staffed noone is actually hiring. I always get the, ” we chose someone else because you are over qualified!” I mean come on. Just because I have been in upper management since I was 19 doesn’t mean I can’t flip a burger or stock shelves at Walmart.
That’s a dam lie and you know it. I’ve applied to every job around here. Nothing nothing nothing. I “walked into any grocery store, fast food, or restaurant” and did not get hired on the spot.
That’s a lie. I’ve literally put in several applications and never hear a response. It’s not that I don’t have good work experience. It’s the fact that hundreds of people are looking for a job too. If they are hiring for 1 position but 200 people put in an application then do you really think it’s that easy? They may not even get to your application. The few jobs that I did interview for turned me down and went with someone else the moment they found out I’m in a shelter. I guess I should’ve stayed with my abusive ex who was beating the crap out of me instead of escaping from him and going to a DV shelter then I’d be worthy of a job. It’s harder then you think to find a job, especially right now in a huge city like NYC and after covid put alot of people out of work. There are thousands of people looking for a job the same way you are. You must be from a small town where you never had to deal with that many people going after the same job you are.
Disney cast member is fine if you’re a teen living at home but it’s no job for a fully functioning adult. If you’re looking for job security, get a more “boring” job that pays a real living wage.
Has inside the magic become right wing? I know from watching former Disney employee vlogs, expect to become broke & ruff it. A cousin of mine has said there was sexual activity in Disney world, she used to work the wave pool as a Disney employee.
Plenty of help wanted signs here. Work is available depending on your skills and experience. And not arrogant enough to feel you deserve 6 figures out of the gate. Jobs pay what they pay. Take it or leave it.
It’s California the overpriced capital of the West. Of course you need 5 roommates. Duh. $6 gas vs $4 and horrible traffic. You voted for this , you created this , now you have to live with it.
Worked there from 2011-2020. Left for a better job in another state after our second furlough. The only way to legit get better pay was to transfer into another department or craft. But even then, working in the maintenance department, I was still struggling with rent and all the other bills. Disney is a cesspool of puss. I appreciate the experiences that I gained from it, but I would never go work for them again. I’m so much happier now than I was.
That first girl who said she thought about driving into the median to avoid going to work. Disney has to get rid of her.I don’t want that unstable person working at such a place.Its so easy to get another job.She and many others are just too comfortable.I know,I actually did the same thing at a job I had.Hated the pay,so many illegal stuff they did but I was comfortable keeping to myself
You cannot “Find another job” all the time when 60% of the jobs are barely livable wages.
Jobs that you could live by you cannot because of prices increases and inflation. While companies post record profits.
Still hilarious how easy is to find the corporate bootlickers.
Better yourself. Go to school, work your way up the corporate ladder, obtain a skill. Disney is low skill. Anyone can wear a costume, take tickets and move lines. Make better choices in life.
I worked there between jobs in 2011/12 but I went into it knowing I wasn’t going to make money.
I knew married couples that worked there and didn’t know how they did it.
My biggest complaint was many managers needed retraining on their position because they quickly forgot where they came from.
For the most part I enjoyed my job and most of the guests were nice. I can’t imagine what it’s like now with the new selfish attitudes that’s sprung up in the last few years.
we go to a disney park and universal park at least once a week and most generally people are ok, I think the heat lately , the change in rules for cast members , and the horrible crowds make people nasty, ( not normally cast members. 99 percent are very upbeat) We are lucky that we can come and go as we please and I have only stayed in one of their hotels since they reopened and it was horrible, hopefully its better now. No cleaning staff or bed changes the entire time we were there……….CMs are great though. I dont know where all the people are that say they will never come back because its so busy……Job signs are posted everywhere but are they really hiring? I dont know, some companies dont want to hire people that will take a better job if it comes along
Unions have nothing to do with socialism. And I find it scary (and sad) that you think a capitalist corporation that refuses to pay its employees a decent wage while making record profits is socialist. It would appear that Disney is the prime example of our capitalism. They get the public to pay for their improvements (infrastructure such as roads and things), they pay their employees minimally, there is no sharing of company wealth with most employees, and the top executive get rich. The CEO made $32.5 million in 2021. So please please please tell us how Disney is socialist? A political stand on equality is not a stand for or against socialism, capitalism, or any other form of government. But idiots like you can’t actually think, or more like don’t actually know what you are actually talking about.
Greg, noone of these morons even know what socialist is.
They just were brainwashed by the infamous red scare words and capitalist propaganda.
They ignore the fact that every single right for workers were paid by blood, protests, unions, etc.. and they all were labeled as commies and socialists.
One of the most weirdest thing thing as a foreigner is to see americans shooting themselves in the foot rights wise because they believe someday they will rich and stomp on others. Something that will never happen. An oddity that almost solely happens in the USA.
A former friend of mine is in custodial on DL side. She was making $16/hour prior to Covid. It’s not the hourly wage that they can’t survive on it’s the hours. She was only getting under 20 hours per week. She would pick up other people’s shifts to be able to pay her rent, etc. Disney doesn’t have many FT positions. If you don’t like it then quit and find something else with better hours instead of complaining about it. They knew that it was a part time position when hired. Disney doesn’t like to pay benefits. Bob Chapek at the helm I am sure he’s even more tight with the money.
I’m sorry? Is $16 p/h good? It’s barely over minimum wage. Cast members are not typically skilled workers, but the job requirements do tend to be more than a typical cashier at Walmart, who, by the way, starts at $16.50 p/h here in Mass.
Min wage in California is $15 an hour, so everywhere starts you off there now. Where the true issue is, is in the cost of rent and such. A one bedroom apartment is upwards of $1500 a month. So if you aren’t working full time (no matter where you are working) you will struggle with making ends meet.
I completely agree! Take the power back!
They’re in desperate need of cast so now is the time for cast from parks to hotel’s to rise up and ask for a living wage.
I live near Anaheim so most young people I know have worked their at some point. They all have had second jobs and eventually gave up on Disney. The complaint I’ve heard most is not worth the time to enter the premises as you can’t clock in until you actually start working so 4 hour shift can take 6 hours of your day and was not worth it. 16 hour work week was common.
Worked there 5 years 2000 to 2005. Worst job ever. They hire people with pixie dust in their eyes. Soon you realize that you’re being abused. It takes a while as your brain keeps telling you hat you’re working at the happiest place on earth for the company that made all the films you loved as a child, it must be you. It’s not. They care nothing about their employees as they know if you quit thay can hire the next sucker blinded by pixie dust. But word is finally getting out and it’s getting harder to fill the jobs. This is obvious if you’re a guest as all the parks look like cr@p and are filthy. Thumbs down Mickey Rat.
I worked for Disneyland and California Adventure from 1988-2004… Never in my years have I ever heard that Cast Members living in Cars, Skipping meals or Selling themselves to make extra money. I truly believe Disneyland Resort is only for teenagers and Early 20s students who live with there parents and should not be look at as a Career choice. There so many high paying Jobs out there …Leave Disneyland
My daughter works at Disney World for the free college program they offer. But practically kills herself in hours they work her plus college work. They really seem to abuse her.
After talking to her supervisors that have been there for 20+ years you hear the disappointment in terms of the condition of their pay and retirement versus someone that works at the corporate level, or is an imagineer. The pay and benefits are seemingly leaps and bounds apart. You get paid a “buyout” of $100k after like 40 years of service versus having a full pension at the corporate/imagineer level.
I’ve met the guy in charge of their IT and Data Science Dept while on vacation. Guy makes nearly $300k salary (tax free Florida) and has been paid, all expenses included, to travel and temporarily live in Paris and Tokyo Disney Resorts while working on their systems for months at a time.
Company transportation and cost of living differential also included. Very different than my daughters coordinators that had been there over 30 years.
In all honesty, Disney workers seemingly is more like fast food work only the break food is getting into the parks for free. Any educated adult should not stay 10… Much less 40 years for a 50k to 100k buyout retirement. You should be a geriatric and have worked a real career then signed up to work part time to get into Disney free if youre college aged and not living with your parents.However they’re blacking out so many dates for employees and they have to make reservations in a condensed time frame through the app and can only reserve 3 days at any time…. My daughter has trouble getting into the park in her off time. So it’s barely a perk.
Disney has just changed so much for the worse it seems since COVID/Chapek. If they aren’t careful they might find themselves closer to pre-90s Renaissance Disney despite all their franchise acquisitions.
Have you seen what Bob Igor said? He said “the worst business decision he has made in his adult life was hiring Bob Chapek. I also know from working at WDW that none of the senior executive VPs wanted Chapek in as CEO.
Sounds like the teamsters union is doing a bad job. The union reps should be fighting harder to make sure their members are getting a livable wage. In 2007 I had to pay them $15 out of every weekely paycheck when I was a ride operator under the guise that things like this wouldn’t happen. Go figure
Worked graveyard grom 2007 to 2010. I had a second job and worked for an attorney getting clients for wage theft .. breaks lunches etc. I frequently help fellow castmembers with rides gas money meals etc most were usually broke by Sat ac
few days after pay day .Some did sleep in cars and we knew someone that died in car. So yes this is true . Many custodial managers would cuss out castmembers riducule them and even other managers. I can tell you they never thought outside of the box .had very low IQ.. always wondered who would hire these loser managers.. HR was even worse. So do not believe everything you hear that it is a great place .. it is not.
Sociopaths selecting sociopaths to abuse the base employees for maximum profit. Sounds about right on what Disney corp has become. Or almost every single large corp in the USA.
My son works there since February and ready to quit. First of all their leads are breathing down on their neck during the whole shift. Then the fact that they keep hiring people but give the existing employees minimum hours.
Also they don’t seem to honor any seniority since new employees get the day shifts while my son gets the closing shift 99% of the time. Good thing he doesn’t have to make the living there but still!
Any job should pay a living wage. Especially if at a company that is making money hand over fist. CMs run that park. They need to start treating them better.
Issue is…. what is a “livable” wage? Minimum wage in California is $15 an hour. But when the wages went up to that, all rents increased as well. The only way to be able to have a “livable” wage is if rent was frozen and wages raised. An apartment (one bedroom) runs upwards of $1500 a month, and isn’t going to stop going higher. The $15 an hour is not just at Disney, it’s Statewide, not sure why people always seem to forget that.
In the U.S. Disney employees around 100,000 people and this piece of garbage article would have you believe Disney is a terrible company to work for. Let’s stop believing these opinion based articles and use your own intelliic and life experiences to evaluate the accuracy of such dribble. Everyone has worked with someone who complains about everything, tries to find ways to not work, always feels the employer owes them and also makes bad life decisions. I have found you have to balance your enthusiasm to please your employer and not be a doormat. Stop blindly believing what you read?
I’m so tired of listening to people who work for Disney complain about what they get paid. If you want a job that pays $50,000 a year, get a $50,000 a year skill. If you want to dress up in a brightly colored costume and smile at people you deserve $12 an hour.
Lol I was making $34 an hour in the maintenance department and I still couldn’t keep my head above water with what California demanded. Disney expected more than I could give them much of the time, but in the end, it wasn’t worth the money I was making.
Marcus, what part about inflation you do not understand?
If you minimum wage hasn’t increased in almost 30 years and prices have skyrocketed. Specially rent and medical.. There isn’t and there will be NEVER enough “better jobs”. As 60% of all jobs are almost minimum wage levels.
If Disney wages, which is the one that pays above for most of the entry jobs.. can’t even make its CMs live.. says a lot about wage stagnation and degradation of purchasing power.
Americans do not notice, but their billionaires have destroyed the american dream. And the worst of them? Sociopaths and sheep still applaud at them.
I’m a current cast member at DisneyWorld sleeping in the back of my Prius. It’s tough over here too and CM’s get paid less per hour then CA. I had an apartment but Bidenflation hit really hard. Apartments jumped 40 percent. I just shower at one of their resort pool bathroom showers. They actually have real ones with soap and shampoo. Disney is def. a bum life. 🙁
For real. Go apply to Costco and make over $20/hour. Or go to Walmart and get them to pay for your college education and join their management training program. People are intentionally making bad choices staying at Disney. If you are uneducated and work in operations at Disney, there is no advancement beyond shift supervisor. It’s a dead end job.
Many folk working at other common jobs can’t even afford a Prius. Count your blessings son. It isn’t meant to be a forever position but a stepping stone. When you cannot live within the means you make, you have to make a way to live within your means.
My son living in MO had to leave his position of 5 yrs because they didn’t see his worth , and he needed to progress in life. Change is hard. Life is hard. Find a way to make those levels of hard meet in the middle for the greater good.
LOL, the inflation you are feeling is due to the removal of the Reedy Creek Act… LOL, the surrounding Counties were going to go a lot higher since they will now be responsible for the roads and Emergency Services. That is all on DeSantis.
Teamsters is only one Union out of many. Depending on what department you are working and you get a different Union. Thus, different results per CM experiences. SEIU was a terrible union. Teamsters was better, but not by much.
This article is ridiculous. Welcome to corporate America where the top dogs make all the money. If you don’t like it, leave. As far as employees selling themselves, completely their choice. Those that choose to do that would probably be doing that on the side no matter where they work.
What happens over in Orlando is half the workforce are kids who come for college program, get exploited during their time there, then end up never leaving back home when their college program stint is up. Because they’re used to working for peanuts they’re eager to stay in Florida for their ‘endless summer lifestyle’ and live with three other roommates in one apartment. The other half of the Disney workforce comprises people with nothing to their name, never made anything of themselves, and move to Orlando from somewhere else in the country because they want to get high on Disney’s pixie dust. They believe all their problems will be solved by moving and their problems will be left behind…yet it’s anything but. Most end up living out of their cars or a motel until they find roommate(s) to cohabitate with.
I’ve worked in the parks, got my hospitality degree in Orlando, worked for tourism board, seen it all. The blame isn’t as simple as saying Disney pays poor. There are many factors, such as the fastest growing housing market in the country (everyone wants to live in Florida) causing housing shortages and high rents, the type of employee attracted to Disney before they even sign an offer letter (low economic earner, bad credit, previous debts, etc), the improbable geography (it’s unrealistic to expect affordable housing within proximity of the tourist district of the largest tourist destination in America by volume), etc. Disney could decide tomorrow to offer $50k/yr as its base rate for all 70,000 Orlando cast members, and the only thing that would happen is the housing market raises again and we are back to square one. We are already seeing this effect in Florida in places like Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties where military is the largest employer – as military housing stipends increase, so does the cost of housing because people are in bidding wars.
There is no clear answer because the truth is no one has seen this volume or scope of demand before. Regional population growth is just astronomical right now and chances are nothing will improve until things simmer.
Jobs should pay a living wage. If you cannot afford to pay a living wage. Then you should not be in business.. Just because it’s base level job does not mean you don’t deserve not to be paid enough to live on. Disney makes a ton of money. They can afford to pay their workers. Every job deserves to be paid a living wage. Slave wages is just slavary 2.0. It’s theft of a labor workers. Wages have been stagnet for nearly 50 years. It is high time for us all to be paid enough to live on.
I worked at Disney, got hurt on the job and had a note from their doctor the 1st day I had to take the day off due to swelling and then light duty and if at register needed a seat to prop my leg on. They had me at register for 13 hours and a few shifts they refused to give me a seat. One day after a shift of standing all day I had to call out due to swelling and pain from not following orders and they fired me and stated it was attendance I called them out on it and they back tracked and stated that they didn’t have to tell me that it’s a right to work state that they did not have to give me a reason.
Disney would not have been able to pay George 4 billion for Star Wars by paying people a living wage. The only leverage with capitalism is unionization.
I’ve taken my family to WDW at least 25 times. This was back when our kids were younger. We’d go 3 to 4 times a year. We always stayed at The Grand Floridian. Spent anywhere from 7 to 21 days at WDW every time. Back then, annual passes were just under $200. We got great discounts and had concierge access at The GF every time. It was a lot of money back then, but literally nothing compared to now. I loved everything about the place. However, even back then we had cast members we came to know over the years complain about wages and work hours. They also complained about strict policies. I always had empathy for them, but was straight to the point as well. If you don’t love your job, move on. Life’s way too short to work at a job you don’t love. You’ll know when you find that job, because you’ll look forward to going to work every day. I knew what I wanted to do from a young age. I truly loved my job. It paid well, had lots of flexibility, and offered huge upside to those willing to hunker down and get err done. I got lucky and caught a few major breaks along the way. Being in the right place at the right time and treating my customers like they deserved to be treated. It wasn’t a cake walk, but I stuck with it and enjoyed it. Everything I read and hear about Disney these days makes me sad. It was a great company under the leadership of Michael Eisner. As soon as he left, it started a downward spiral and imo has gotten progressively worse as time has passed. I wouldn’t go to anything Disney ever again, nor will I spend a dime buying anything they’re associated with. As a consumer, I have one vote, it’s called my wallet. Too many other quality places to go to even consider Disney. It’s bittersweet for me, because it truly once was a magical place. Lots of fantastic memories for our family. I’m glad we went on the time period we did. I wish all the cast members better days, but if you’re truly unhappy there, leave. There are so many different paths, find one you’ll love and just go for it. Success in life only comes with hard work. If you weren’t born into a monied family, you need to make your own way. I started at the very bottom in my business and ended up having a nice career. Worked my butt off, but it was well worth it in the end. Peace
Sounds like a typical person trying to get by. They look well fed though. Really, more than half the world is in the same boat. So what so special about Disney employees?
I was a cast member during Mellenial. $5.85hr, 5 roommates, paid for all of our own food, 16 hr days, but hey “happiest place on earth”. Oh, on top of it because it was college internship, had classes, must be looking up to par…
Disney is going to lose their magic by not paying a livable income to people who give their time and hard work. It’s the people who make it an unforgettable experience for everyone. I understand people saying get a better paying job, but cast members do not deserve to be living in a car or having to do desperate things to make ends meet. They deserve much better.
It’s interesting reading things like this when I personally know a few people who worked at Disney world. Disney cruises. And even Disney offices in Cali and loved every minute of it. Would show pics every time they came home of the buisness parties that always had themes from classic Disney to star wars eventually… 🤔🤷🏼♂️
They chose to work there and continue to work there I don’t see a problem. Don’t blame Disneyland. Let them go find another job and I tell you what they’ll still have the same problem. It’s a generation problem that wants everything for free and they don’t want to have to work hard for anything they can move back home until they save up enough money to leave the nest. Just a bunch of whiners. They would have the same problem if they worked for anyone else they should stop acting spoiled and imprivileged.
It always bewilders me why people have poor working conditions and continue to work at the place. They aren’t holding you hostage. Right now theres ample amounts of job openings. You think disney cares about articles like this? Why should they? If you are willing to take the abuse why should they care.
If enough people do this and the business takes a hit, the company will charge and improve things. That’s just business 101.
Thankfully we live in a free society where you can search for a better job in every way. Complaining about how bad your current job is does nothing for you. Help yourself out. Do what’s needed to move on to something suited to your life style. We all have the same opportunities available. Good luck!
I worked for disney at 18 after high school went into college program. Started as a man (21) who worked for escort service with benefits made a lot more than my disney job and saved made a life till adult movies kicked in. Left disney. Retired at 35. Loved my time there.
When you spew crap like that it just shows your ignorance and your mentally. So you know that person wants to make millions by just sitting there. More like make a decent living wage so you can eat, have electricity, water an not have 4 roommates. Your quite low class talking like that.
I’m 62 and I worked for Disneyland for 3 months during their 25th Anniversary. Honestly they were petty bad employers even then. People WANTED to be part of the magic. I only wanted to see it from the backstage area and experience it first hand. It was never on my career agenda. Yes, I had fun and ignored many rules. So then after a few months of crappy shifts I left. They were so bad I just stopped showing up and never resigned. I did ride all the E ticket rides at least forty times!
I had plans to go to Disney but now I am not sure I want to go at all. I wish the Board of Directors would work in place of the employees for 30 days at the employees pay. This is HORRIBLE!!! I’ll be sending this article to everyone I know. Disney and every person making decisions need to be treated like they are treating the employees like they don’t matter. But if more people stop going there will be NO Disney so they getting it together!
In California they pay the minimum wage or above…. all business’ have to pay $15 an hour. The issue is that when the min wage went up, so did rent. It’s not a Disney issue, it’s a cost of living issue. The further you live from L.A. and Anaheim, the lower the rent and the more livable the min wage becomes. But people want to live right there and then complain about the cost of living there. I have a 5 bedroom house and pay $700 a month in mortgage, but I also live 65 miles (ish) from the parks and with traffic you can spend 1 1/2 – 2 hours on the freeway getting there. So it’s a trade off.
It was the same way in Orlando where you had a bunch of Disney cat members sharing an apartment so they could have “worked at disney” on their resume. Then covid lock down and now they did not come back. The board along with chapek should take half their pay and distribute it to the workers.
So just to be clear, the complaints in this chat seems to mainly be that these are $16.00 a/hr. Part Time jobs AND people that work there can not afford to live as they would if they were working a Full-time 40-60 hrs. a week job with benefits. Why would anyone think a Part time job, ANYWHERE, would ever support your lifestyle or living expenses? They were never intended to do such things. They are mainly for vacation money, home improvement money, etc. Part time jobs, regardless of pay, were always meant to give job experiences to those new to employment or as a way for those who aren’t quite ready to retire but do not need the high income of an actual career. When you attempt to make a Part time job a “career” the problem is not with the job, the company or even a union, It’s you. Your living in fantasy land. Grow up, do the work needed for a real career. By the way, if your “selling” yourself for ANY reason that’s a personal choice and your morals must be examined.
Then get a second JOB !!! This is why California younger generation is lazy !!! If you know your hurting push yourself there’s better places then Disney sometimes when your too comfortable at a job you don’t want to leave…
A great friend from the ultra-running community worked at Disney, he was not a character actor, but behind the scenes in IT. He had to quit also, even the tech jobs didn’t pay enough. Had to live with many roommates sharing a tiny , overpriced apartment.
It’s my opinion of course, but you don’t HAVE to work at Disney anything if it’s so bad. For these people in particular, it’s just not a good place to work full-time.
You’ve had to work multiple jobs? You had to have roomates? Either be resiliant or quit.
You got a bad review, because admins did’t like how you styled your hair? Either style your hair or find another job that appreciates you.
You may WANT to work at Disneyland/World (magical environments, costume, park benefits, etc.)…but they don’t owe you anything other than a paycheck for the hours you work. If that doesn’t fill your bucket, other jobs are hiring and go work somewhere else. I still have family/friends that LOVE to work there, but they know it is JUST A JOB and are happy to share in the magic!
For a short period, I had to work 4 jobs. You read that right. I had expenses. I quit working two of four of those jobs, when I got a better job. I quit one of two when I got the job I wanted.
Lol well Disney founded this company on giving his employees down to the janitor a living wage. You should look into Disney and the man he was. This place is a disgrace now and not just because of the 6$ 20 oz cokes
Lol look around the magic is gone the employees are miserable. Only a few are genuinely happy and in character. Disney world be rolling in his grave and probably.move to fire every person on the board. No slap or paper towels in the bathroom because they are too busy sweeping leaves into mickey heads. Then you see 20 security guards standing around doing nothing. Not to mention all the smoking sections moved outside the gate which is bad enough for smokers but then you have to hear all the complaining as people walk past the smoking section talking crap while on their way to the park. My response? Blame Disney these should be hidden away inside the park where noone notices them. Yea it’s very sad so much different from when I was a kid and only a handful of employees actually seem happy. Not the Disney I remember
So… Basically same as every other customer service company out there. Disney has always been this way. They see it as you should be honored to have Disney on your resume. That is pay enough. Welcome to reality.
Here in Florida most of my neighbors work there bc getting into the park for free otherwise you do t have much of a choice where to work some love it others hate it and don’t even make enough money to fix things that break in There house and yes some live in there cars but Disney doesn’t care they will
Fire someone at the drop of a hat bc they know they can get someone else to fill the spot
I worked at Disneyland in 1987-88. It was just as horrible back then! I was pregnant, forced to work double shifts, and take extra tables ( I worked at the Monorail Cafe, no longer there) and I tripped on a faulty rug! Almost lost my baby. Disneyland spent more time and money making sure that I couldn’t get my lost wages and medical bills. Just despicable! And my daughter is a Disney fanatic!! I can’t believe how horrible I was treated. My grandchildren love it so I will go with them, but I swear I have ptsd from my time as ” a cast member “. I kept my name tag. Lol. Totally against the rules. I’m a rebel. I’m really sorry to hear that people are still being treated so badly.
Comments for Cast Members Describe Skipping Meals, Sleeping in Cars, Doing Sex Work to Survive
SarahELuvsDisney
Disney knows it’s employees are unhappy. They are not doing anything to increase employee happiness. Paying their employees a livable wage would be a good place to start. 1 in 10 Disneyland employees have been homeless in their lifetimes. That is absurd and insane from such a rich and powerful company like Disney.
Greg
Do you expect anything different from liberal socialist commies?
Smart Greg
I’d love your brilliant insight on what makes them socialist and communists? I’m pretty sure you don’t even know what you mean when you say socialist and communist. It would appear that Disney is the exact opposite of socialist as is making record profits and not dsitrbuting that wealth to employees. The decisions are made exclusively by the leaders so they do not appear communist. Maybe you can go find someone to tell you what to think and then retype that here.
Matthew B.
So even Disney employees get treated poorly?!?!
I thought it was just my coworkers and I, who all work for a cabinet company, with a union, but have not received a raise since 2000…. NOT 2020, the YEAR 2000!!!
Despite all inflations since 2000, in 22 years, we have not received one pay raise… And Union reps, huh!!! Probably the ones retiring on our labor.
So, it happens, unfortunately, everywhere. Shame on these businesses.
Tom Joad
I have never been to any Disney resort. After reading how poorly Disney employees are treated, I never will.
Linda
Maybe YOU don’t get the pic. That’s what socialism is. Why don’t you people get that through your iron skulls? Those at the top of hierarchy live like kings as everyone else are serfs. Period. If you’re comeback is capitalism, you can take THAT up the road because capitalism works. Trouble is, you’ve not experienced true capitalism in your lifetime. Only creeping imperialism. That’s why you don’t understand capitalism. You never saw it.
Ruben
Care to elucidate that bit of verbal diarrhea?
Joel Earley
You do know they WERE a major Republican donor right? Nope.
John
I always laugh when theres the clown who inflates himself by just spewing words they do not even understand to look better of themselves.
Don't make sense
So are Walmart employees if your not happy find another job nobody is making them work there
Travis Weberling
@Don’t make sense, It’s not that easy as you say or think it is to just “find another job.”
Lucy
Finding another job is easy these days. It’s that you can’t find a job that pays you like a millionaire to do nothing that you have a problem with. I guarantee you could walk into any fast food restaurant or grocery store and get hired on the spot.
bitLiL L
Not here in Livingston Tx. I’ve got at least 200 applications and resumes out and even though everyone is short staffed noone is actually hiring. I always get the, ” we chose someone else because you are over qualified!” I mean come on. Just because I have been in upper management since I was 19 doesn’t mean I can’t flip a burger or stock shelves at Walmart.
Mr B.
They don’t want to hire you, for you to just quit after finding another job
Sam
That’s a dam lie and you know it. I’ve applied to every job around here. Nothing nothing nothing. I “walked into any grocery store, fast food, or restaurant” and did not get hired on the spot.
May
That’s a lie. I’ve literally put in several applications and never hear a response. It’s not that I don’t have good work experience. It’s the fact that hundreds of people are looking for a job too. If they are hiring for 1 position but 200 people put in an application then do you really think it’s that easy? They may not even get to your application. The few jobs that I did interview for turned me down and went with someone else the moment they found out I’m in a shelter. I guess I should’ve stayed with my abusive ex who was beating the crap out of me instead of escaping from him and going to a DV shelter then I’d be worthy of a job. It’s harder then you think to find a job, especially right now in a huge city like NYC and after covid put alot of people out of work. There are thousands of people looking for a job the same way you are. You must be from a small town where you never had to deal with that many people going after the same job you are.
Backcountry164
For most of us it is…
JoMama
Disney cast member is fine if you’re a teen living at home but it’s no job for a fully functioning adult. If you’re looking for job security, get a more “boring” job that pays a real living wage.
Ben collins
Has inside the magic become right wing? I know from watching former Disney employee vlogs, expect to become broke & ruff it. A cousin of mine has said there was sexual activity in Disney world, she used to work the wave pool as a Disney employee.
Doug Rebertus
Plenty of help wanted signs here. Work is available depending on your skills and experience. And not arrogant enough to feel you deserve 6 figures out of the gate. Jobs pay what they pay. Take it or leave it.
Randy
It’s California the overpriced capital of the West. Of course you need 5 roommates. Duh. $6 gas vs $4 and horrible traffic. You voted for this , you created this , now you have to live with it.
Sharpie
Worked there from 2011-2020. Left for a better job in another state after our second furlough. The only way to legit get better pay was to transfer into another department or craft. But even then, working in the maintenance department, I was still struggling with rent and all the other bills. Disney is a cesspool of puss. I appreciate the experiences that I gained from it, but I would never go work for them again. I’m so much happier now than I was.
Jasen
Hope you have that same attitude with the police who are unhappy with there job… and there getting good pay and benefits!!!!
Honest Gabe
That first girl who said she thought about driving into the median to avoid going to work. Disney has to get rid of her.I don’t want that unstable person working at such a place.Its so easy to get another job.She and many others are just too comfortable.I know,I actually did the same thing at a job I had.Hated the pay,so many illegal stuff they did but I was comfortable keeping to myself
John
You cannot “Find another job” all the time when 60% of the jobs are barely livable wages.
Jobs that you could live by you cannot because of prices increases and inflation. While companies post record profits.
Still hilarious how easy is to find the corporate bootlickers.
Mr B.
Better yourself. Go to school, work your way up the corporate ladder, obtain a skill. Disney is low skill. Anyone can wear a costume, take tickets and move lines. Make better choices in life.
Brad
I worked there between jobs in 2011/12 but I went into it knowing I wasn’t going to make money.
I knew married couples that worked there and didn’t know how they did it.
My biggest complaint was many managers needed retraining on their position because they quickly forgot where they came from.
For the most part I enjoyed my job and most of the guests were nice. I can’t imagine what it’s like now with the new selfish attitudes that’s sprung up in the last few years.
lorraine
we go to a disney park and universal park at least once a week and most generally people are ok, I think the heat lately , the change in rules for cast members , and the horrible crowds make people nasty, ( not normally cast members. 99 percent are very upbeat) We are lucky that we can come and go as we please and I have only stayed in one of their hotels since they reopened and it was horrible, hopefully its better now. No cleaning staff or bed changes the entire time we were there……….CMs are great though. I dont know where all the people are that say they will never come back because its so busy……Job signs are posted everywhere but are they really hiring? I dont know, some companies dont want to hire people that will take a better job if it comes along
Kevin Peterson
How do you think they became rich and powerful. It’s certainly by not paying the people who keep their precious parks running.
Elijah
The CMs must rise up, protest, strike, and literally pummel Bob Chapek, driving him out of Disney!
Union Boss
They should unionize. Disney loves socialism these days, doesn’t it?
Bon
They are, forget which park. Union sold them out.
Mass quiting. Go elsewhere if you can. Wages in service are up.
Bob
They are teamsters
Where is their union?
Don't make sense
Unions suck
Don't make sense
Half of Disney is union
David Lloyd
Nice try, but no place in California is more unionized than Disneyland. Next!
Smart Greg
Unions have nothing to do with socialism. And I find it scary (and sad) that you think a capitalist corporation that refuses to pay its employees a decent wage while making record profits is socialist. It would appear that Disney is the prime example of our capitalism. They get the public to pay for their improvements (infrastructure such as roads and things), they pay their employees minimally, there is no sharing of company wealth with most employees, and the top executive get rich. The CEO made $32.5 million in 2021. So please please please tell us how Disney is socialist? A political stand on equality is not a stand for or against socialism, capitalism, or any other form of government. But idiots like you can’t actually think, or more like don’t actually know what you are actually talking about.
John
Greg, noone of these morons even know what socialist is.
They just were brainwashed by the infamous red scare words and capitalist propaganda.
They ignore the fact that every single right for workers were paid by blood, protests, unions, etc.. and they all were labeled as commies and socialists.
One of the most weirdest thing thing as a foreigner is to see americans shooting themselves in the foot rights wise because they believe someday they will rich and stomp on others. Something that will never happen. An oddity that almost solely happens in the USA.
JA
A former friend of mine is in custodial on DL side. She was making $16/hour prior to Covid. It’s not the hourly wage that they can’t survive on it’s the hours. She was only getting under 20 hours per week. She would pick up other people’s shifts to be able to pay her rent, etc. Disney doesn’t have many FT positions. If you don’t like it then quit and find something else with better hours instead of complaining about it. They knew that it was a part time position when hired. Disney doesn’t like to pay benefits. Bob Chapek at the helm I am sure he’s even more tight with the money.
Jessica
I’m sorry? Is $16 p/h good? It’s barely over minimum wage. Cast members are not typically skilled workers, but the job requirements do tend to be more than a typical cashier at Walmart, who, by the way, starts at $16.50 p/h here in Mass.
Dawn
Min wage in California is $15 an hour, so everywhere starts you off there now. Where the true issue is, is in the cost of rent and such. A one bedroom apartment is upwards of $1500 a month. So if you aren’t working full time (no matter where you are working) you will struggle with making ends meet.
DKing
Agreed
Deuce
They’ve been unionized since at least the 90’s.
Edward
If the Board of Directors gave him a new contract with a raise what do you think the “peon castmembers” could do!
Blu
I completely agree! Take the power back!
They’re in desperate need of cast so now is the time for cast from parks to hotel’s to rise up and ask for a living wage.
Jack
Most pictured don’t appear to be missing any meals.
Tee
Jerk remark. I bet you are quite a catch. Gross.
Your stupid
The truth hurt you and it wasn’t even about you wow grow up snowflake
Snowflake
5 people to afford a 3000 crappy Anaheim apartment. Looks like 5 people need to.l learn how to budget. That’s 12k in income.at minimum wage per month.
John
And yet, you’re the one triggered and posting here about something that don’t affect you. Lol.
Elena
I live near Anaheim so most young people I know have worked their at some point. They all have had second jobs and eventually gave up on Disney. The complaint I’ve heard most is not worth the time to enter the premises as you can’t clock in until you actually start working so 4 hour shift can take 6 hours of your day and was not worth it. 16 hour work week was common.
Dawn
Don’t all jobs not allow you to clock in until you are actually supposed to be working? LOL, that’s what every job I have ever had was like.
Bob
If you need to supplement your income through sex work and/or sleep in your car to save money, is working for DIS a viable mode of employment?
JC
Worked there 5 years 2000 to 2005. Worst job ever. They hire people with pixie dust in their eyes. Soon you realize that you’re being abused. It takes a while as your brain keeps telling you hat you’re working at the happiest place on earth for the company that made all the films you loved as a child, it must be you. It’s not. They care nothing about their employees as they know if you quit thay can hire the next sucker blinded by pixie dust. But word is finally getting out and it’s getting harder to fill the jobs. This is obvious if you’re a guest as all the parks look like cr@p and are filthy. Thumbs down Mickey Rat.
Jamie Coughlin
So go work somewhere else??
Ezekiel
Did you even read the article?
Alberto
I worked for Disneyland and California Adventure from 1988-2004… Never in my years have I ever heard that Cast Members living in Cars, Skipping meals or Selling themselves to make extra money. I truly believe Disneyland Resort is only for teenagers and Early 20s students who live with there parents and should not be look at as a Career choice. There so many high paying Jobs out there …Leave Disneyland
Kairi
You can’t really compare your years there 20 + years ago. JS
Big Daddy
My daughter works at Disney World for the free college program they offer. But practically kills herself in hours they work her plus college work. They really seem to abuse her.
After talking to her supervisors that have been there for 20+ years you hear the disappointment in terms of the condition of their pay and retirement versus someone that works at the corporate level, or is an imagineer. The pay and benefits are seemingly leaps and bounds apart. You get paid a “buyout” of $100k after like 40 years of service versus having a full pension at the corporate/imagineer level.
I’ve met the guy in charge of their IT and Data Science Dept while on vacation. Guy makes nearly $300k salary (tax free Florida) and has been paid, all expenses included, to travel and temporarily live in Paris and Tokyo Disney Resorts while working on their systems for months at a time.
Company transportation and cost of living differential also included. Very different than my daughters coordinators that had been there over 30 years.
In all honesty, Disney workers seemingly is more like fast food work only the break food is getting into the parks for free. Any educated adult should not stay 10… Much less 40 years for a 50k to 100k buyout retirement. You should be a geriatric and have worked a real career then signed up to work part time to get into Disney free if youre college aged and not living with your parents.However they’re blacking out so many dates for employees and they have to make reservations in a condensed time frame through the app and can only reserve 3 days at any time…. My daughter has trouble getting into the park in her off time. So it’s barely a perk.
Disney has just changed so much for the worse it seems since COVID/Chapek. If they aren’t careful they might find themselves closer to pre-90s Renaissance Disney despite all their franchise acquisitions.
Randall Fahlbusch
Have you seen what Bob Igor said? He said “the worst business decision he has made in his adult life was hiring Bob Chapek. I also know from working at WDW that none of the senior executive VPs wanted Chapek in as CEO.
DKing
Agreed!
Sean
Sounds like the teamsters union is doing a bad job. The union reps should be fighting harder to make sure their members are getting a livable wage. In 2007 I had to pay them $15 out of every weekely paycheck when I was a ride operator under the guise that things like this wouldn’t happen. Go figure
William Martin
Worked graveyard grom 2007 to 2010. I had a second job and worked for an attorney getting clients for wage theft .. breaks lunches etc. I frequently help fellow castmembers with rides gas money meals etc most were usually broke by Sat ac
few days after pay day .Some did sleep in cars and we knew someone that died in car. So yes this is true . Many custodial managers would cuss out castmembers riducule them and even other managers. I can tell you they never thought outside of the box .had very low IQ.. always wondered who would hire these loser managers.. HR was even worse. So do not believe everything you hear that it is a great place .. it is not.
Smart Greg
I’m curious why you would work for such an awful place when you had another job that, I assume, wasn’t awful?
John
Sociopaths selecting sociopaths to abuse the base employees for maximum profit. Sounds about right on what Disney corp has become. Or almost every single large corp in the USA.
Kairi
My son works there since February and ready to quit. First of all their leads are breathing down on their neck during the whole shift. Then the fact that they keep hiring people but give the existing employees minimum hours.
Also they don’t seem to honor any seniority since new employees get the day shifts while my son gets the closing shift 99% of the time. Good thing he doesn’t have to make the living there but still!
Yep
This just in – Entry level job pays poorly; employees shocked.
Tea
Any job should pay a living wage. Especially if at a company that is making money hand over fist. CMs run that park. They need to start treating them better.
Dawn
Issue is…. what is a “livable” wage? Minimum wage in California is $15 an hour. But when the wages went up to that, all rents increased as well. The only way to be able to have a “livable” wage is if rent was frozen and wages raised. An apartment (one bedroom) runs upwards of $1500 a month, and isn’t going to stop going higher. The $15 an hour is not just at Disney, it’s Statewide, not sure why people always seem to forget that.
Ouchy
World’s wokest company, everyone. Don’t forget, my body, my choice, unless you don’t want that VAX!
Undefined
You sound like a psych patient.
David Wison
In the U.S. Disney employees around 100,000 people and this piece of garbage article would have you believe Disney is a terrible company to work for. Let’s stop believing these opinion based articles and use your own intelliic and life experiences to evaluate the accuracy of such dribble. Everyone has worked with someone who complains about everything, tries to find ways to not work, always feels the employer owes them and also makes bad life decisions. I have found you have to balance your enthusiasm to please your employer and not be a doormat. Stop blindly believing what you read?
Sharpie
>_> have you worked in a Disney Park before?
Flobee
intelliic? What is that? You mean intellect, right? You may want to work on getting some of that.
Tea
Employment of a large number of people does not mean that it good employment.
DKing
Agree!!!
Marcus
I’m so tired of listening to people who work for Disney complain about what they get paid. If you want a job that pays $50,000 a year, get a $50,000 a year skill. If you want to dress up in a brightly colored costume and smile at people you deserve $12 an hour.
Travis Weberling
@Marcus, It’s as easy as you say it is bud.
Sharpie
Lol I was making $34 an hour in the maintenance department and I still couldn’t keep my head above water with what California demanded. Disney expected more than I could give them much of the time, but in the end, it wasn’t worth the money I was making.
John
Marcus, what part about inflation you do not understand?
If you minimum wage hasn’t increased in almost 30 years and prices have skyrocketed. Specially rent and medical.. There isn’t and there will be NEVER enough “better jobs”. As 60% of all jobs are almost minimum wage levels.
If Disney wages, which is the one that pays above for most of the entry jobs.. can’t even make its CMs live.. says a lot about wage stagnation and degradation of purchasing power.
Americans do not notice, but their billionaires have destroyed the american dream. And the worst of them? Sociopaths and sheep still applaud at them.
CJ
They really shouldn’t let Bob know they are open to sex work.
UberChemist
How much to bang Cinderella? Asking for a friend.
Erick
I’m a current cast member at DisneyWorld sleeping in the back of my Prius. It’s tough over here too and CM’s get paid less per hour then CA. I had an apartment but Bidenflation hit really hard. Apartments jumped 40 percent. I just shower at one of their resort pool bathroom showers. They actually have real ones with soap and shampoo. Disney is def. a bum life. 🙁
Kim
Why do you stay if it’s so bad? So many jobs out there now.
RyanS
For real. Go apply to Costco and make over $20/hour. Or go to Walmart and get them to pay for your college education and join their management training program. People are intentionally making bad choices staying at Disney. If you are uneducated and work in operations at Disney, there is no advancement beyond shift supervisor. It’s a dead end job.
DKing
So agree!
Jessica P
Many folk working at other common jobs can’t even afford a Prius. Count your blessings son. It isn’t meant to be a forever position but a stepping stone. When you cannot live within the means you make, you have to make a way to live within your means.
My son living in MO had to leave his position of 5 yrs because they didn’t see his worth , and he needed to progress in life. Change is hard. Life is hard. Find a way to make those levels of hard meet in the middle for the greater good.
Dawn
LOL, the inflation you are feeling is due to the removal of the Reedy Creek Act… LOL, the surrounding Counties were going to go a lot higher since they will now be responsible for the roads and Emergency Services. That is all on DeSantis.
Bob
They are teamsters
Where is their union?
Sharpie
Teamsters is only one Union out of many. Depending on what department you are working and you get a different Union. Thus, different results per CM experiences. SEIU was a terrible union. Teamsters was better, but not by much.
Kim
This article is ridiculous. Welcome to corporate America where the top dogs make all the money. If you don’t like it, leave. As far as employees selling themselves, completely their choice. Those that choose to do that would probably be doing that on the side no matter where they work.
RyanS
What happens over in Orlando is half the workforce are kids who come for college program, get exploited during their time there, then end up never leaving back home when their college program stint is up. Because they’re used to working for peanuts they’re eager to stay in Florida for their ‘endless summer lifestyle’ and live with three other roommates in one apartment. The other half of the Disney workforce comprises people with nothing to their name, never made anything of themselves, and move to Orlando from somewhere else in the country because they want to get high on Disney’s pixie dust. They believe all their problems will be solved by moving and their problems will be left behind…yet it’s anything but. Most end up living out of their cars or a motel until they find roommate(s) to cohabitate with.
I’ve worked in the parks, got my hospitality degree in Orlando, worked for tourism board, seen it all. The blame isn’t as simple as saying Disney pays poor. There are many factors, such as the fastest growing housing market in the country (everyone wants to live in Florida) causing housing shortages and high rents, the type of employee attracted to Disney before they even sign an offer letter (low economic earner, bad credit, previous debts, etc), the improbable geography (it’s unrealistic to expect affordable housing within proximity of the tourist district of the largest tourist destination in America by volume), etc. Disney could decide tomorrow to offer $50k/yr as its base rate for all 70,000 Orlando cast members, and the only thing that would happen is the housing market raises again and we are back to square one. We are already seeing this effect in Florida in places like Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties where military is the largest employer – as military housing stipends increase, so does the cost of housing because people are in bidding wars.
There is no clear answer because the truth is no one has seen this volume or scope of demand before. Regional population growth is just astronomical right now and chances are nothing will improve until things simmer.
Backcountry164
Yeah, some jobs are hard. Welcome to the real world…
Tea
Jobs should pay a living wage. If you cannot afford to pay a living wage. Then you should not be in business.. Just because it’s base level job does not mean you don’t deserve not to be paid enough to live on. Disney makes a ton of money. They can afford to pay their workers. Every job deserves to be paid a living wage. Slave wages is just slavary 2.0. It’s theft of a labor workers. Wages have been stagnet for nearly 50 years. It is high time for us all to be paid enough to live on.
DKing
Absolutely right!!!!
Andi
I worked at Disney, got hurt on the job and had a note from their doctor the 1st day I had to take the day off due to swelling and then light duty and if at register needed a seat to prop my leg on. They had me at register for 13 hours and a few shifts they refused to give me a seat. One day after a shift of standing all day I had to call out due to swelling and pain from not following orders and they fired me and stated it was attendance I called them out on it and they back tracked and stated that they didn’t have to tell me that it’s a right to work state that they did not have to give me a reason.
IM Bob
So no ones happy at the happiest place on Earth
Undefined
I sure wasn’t when I took my family there. Worst waste of a vacation I’ve ever seen.
Jim
Disney would not have been able to pay George 4 billion for Star Wars by paying people a living wage. The only leverage with capitalism is unionization.
Blackjack
And how many of them were responsible for it by voting for Biden. Keep being woke.
Undefined
None, because this has nothing to do with Biden. You sound like a mental patient. Now get back on your sister and shut up.
Johnny
I’ve taken my family to WDW at least 25 times. This was back when our kids were younger. We’d go 3 to 4 times a year. We always stayed at The Grand Floridian. Spent anywhere from 7 to 21 days at WDW every time. Back then, annual passes were just under $200. We got great discounts and had concierge access at The GF every time. It was a lot of money back then, but literally nothing compared to now. I loved everything about the place. However, even back then we had cast members we came to know over the years complain about wages and work hours. They also complained about strict policies. I always had empathy for them, but was straight to the point as well. If you don’t love your job, move on. Life’s way too short to work at a job you don’t love. You’ll know when you find that job, because you’ll look forward to going to work every day. I knew what I wanted to do from a young age. I truly loved my job. It paid well, had lots of flexibility, and offered huge upside to those willing to hunker down and get err done. I got lucky and caught a few major breaks along the way. Being in the right place at the right time and treating my customers like they deserved to be treated. It wasn’t a cake walk, but I stuck with it and enjoyed it. Everything I read and hear about Disney these days makes me sad. It was a great company under the leadership of Michael Eisner. As soon as he left, it started a downward spiral and imo has gotten progressively worse as time has passed. I wouldn’t go to anything Disney ever again, nor will I spend a dime buying anything they’re associated with. As a consumer, I have one vote, it’s called my wallet. Too many other quality places to go to even consider Disney. It’s bittersweet for me, because it truly once was a magical place. Lots of fantastic memories for our family. I’m glad we went on the time period we did. I wish all the cast members better days, but if you’re truly unhappy there, leave. There are so many different paths, find one you’ll love and just go for it. Success in life only comes with hard work. If you weren’t born into a monied family, you need to make your own way. I started at the very bottom in my business and ended up having a nice career. Worked my butt off, but it was well worth it in the end. Peace
Alicenoneya
Sounds like State of Florida’s state employees in Miami dad County
TardPardoner
Nobody in that picture is skipping meals. Surprised the pavement wasn’t cracking under their feet.
Undefined
Outside of the very few Elsa’s and Cinderella’s, I didn’t see a whole lot of cast members that could make very much in sex work.
Phil
Sounds like a typical person trying to get by. They look well fed though. Really, more than half the world is in the same boat. So what so special about Disney employees?
CHRISTOPHER KUNEMAN
Disney can improve pay. But, those referenced in this article need to reevaluate their dependence on Disney.
Pk
I was a cast member during Mellenial. $5.85hr, 5 roommates, paid for all of our own food, 16 hr days, but hey “happiest place on earth”. Oh, on top of it because it was college internship, had classes, must be looking up to par…
KDC
Disney is going to lose their magic by not paying a livable income to people who give their time and hard work. It’s the people who make it an unforgettable experience for everyone. I understand people saying get a better paying job, but cast members do not deserve to be living in a car or having to do desperate things to make ends meet. They deserve much better.
Patrick
Amen, well said!!!!
Peter Parker
It’s interesting reading things like this when I personally know a few people who worked at Disney world. Disney cruises. And even Disney offices in Cali and loved every minute of it. Would show pics every time they came home of the buisness parties that always had themes from classic Disney to star wars eventually… 🤔🤷🏼♂️
B Rat
They chose to work there and continue to work there I don’t see a problem. Don’t blame Disneyland. Let them go find another job and I tell you what they’ll still have the same problem. It’s a generation problem that wants everything for free and they don’t want to have to work hard for anything they can move back home until they save up enough money to leave the nest. Just a bunch of whiners. They would have the same problem if they worked for anyone else they should stop acting spoiled and imprivileged.
Christopher
Unskilled labor generally doesn’t bring in the big bucks.
Joe
It always bewilders me why people have poor working conditions and continue to work at the place. They aren’t holding you hostage. Right now theres ample amounts of job openings. You think disney cares about articles like this? Why should they? If you are willing to take the abuse why should they care.
If enough people do this and the business takes a hit, the company will charge and improve things. That’s just business 101.
FrankO
Thankfully we live in a free society where you can search for a better job in every way. Complaining about how bad your current job is does nothing for you. Help yourself out. Do what’s needed to move on to something suited to your life style. We all have the same opportunities available. Good luck!
Karl
I worked for disney at 18 after high school went into college program. Started as a man (21) who worked for escort service with benefits made a lot more than my disney job and saved made a life till adult movies kicked in. Left disney. Retired at 35. Loved my time there.
ivan
Wow, all I here is excuses, and shame on disney
ivan
opps *hear
Patrick
When you spew crap like that it just shows your ignorance and your mentally. So you know that person wants to make millions by just sitting there. More like make a decent living wage so you can eat, have electricity, water an not have 4 roommates. Your quite low class talking like that.
Phillip warren
They can’t pay there employees a decent wage but they can give millions to LGBTQ literally for nothing ,this is sick
Seemore
So…a Tuesday at Disney?
JimmerMcG
I’m 62 and I worked for Disneyland for 3 months during their 25th Anniversary. Honestly they were petty bad employers even then. People WANTED to be part of the magic. I only wanted to see it from the backstage area and experience it first hand. It was never on my career agenda. Yes, I had fun and ignored many rules. So then after a few months of crappy shifts I left. They were so bad I just stopped showing up and never resigned. I did ride all the E ticket rides at least forty times!
Thecynicalvet
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of groomer scum bags! Hahahaha!
Mrs. IvySchuMiller
I had plans to go to Disney but now I am not sure I want to go at all. I wish the Board of Directors would work in place of the employees for 30 days at the employees pay. This is HORRIBLE!!! I’ll be sending this article to everyone I know. Disney and every person making decisions need to be treated like they are treating the employees like they don’t matter. But if more people stop going there will be NO Disney so they getting it together!
Dawn
In California they pay the minimum wage or above…. all business’ have to pay $15 an hour. The issue is that when the min wage went up, so did rent. It’s not a Disney issue, it’s a cost of living issue. The further you live from L.A. and Anaheim, the lower the rent and the more livable the min wage becomes. But people want to live right there and then complain about the cost of living there. I have a 5 bedroom house and pay $700 a month in mortgage, but I also live 65 miles (ish) from the parks and with traffic you can spend 1 1/2 – 2 hours on the freeway getting there. So it’s a trade off.
Wayne Star
You earn what your Labor is worth. Sorry that pretending to be a cartoon character isn’t the big money job you expected it to be.
Blah
Do You realize you can work somewhere else????
AH
It was the same way in Orlando where you had a bunch of Disney cat members sharing an apartment so they could have “worked at disney” on their resume. Then covid lock down and now they did not come back. The board along with chapek should take half their pay and distribute it to the workers.
F
So just to be clear, the complaints in this chat seems to mainly be that these are $16.00 a/hr. Part Time jobs AND people that work there can not afford to live as they would if they were working a Full-time 40-60 hrs. a week job with benefits. Why would anyone think a Part time job, ANYWHERE, would ever support your lifestyle or living expenses? They were never intended to do such things. They are mainly for vacation money, home improvement money, etc. Part time jobs, regardless of pay, were always meant to give job experiences to those new to employment or as a way for those who aren’t quite ready to retire but do not need the high income of an actual career. When you attempt to make a Part time job a “career” the problem is not with the job, the company or even a union, It’s you. Your living in fantasy land. Grow up, do the work needed for a real career. By the way, if your “selling” yourself for ANY reason that’s a personal choice and your morals must be examined.
Frank A.
Then get a second JOB !!! This is why California younger generation is lazy !!! If you know your hurting push yourself there’s better places then Disney sometimes when your too comfortable at a job you don’t want to leave…
LegoLandFamily
A great friend from the ultra-running community worked at Disney, he was not a character actor, but behind the scenes in IT. He had to quit also, even the tech jobs didn’t pay enough. Had to live with many roommates sharing a tiny , overpriced apartment.
Rat
It’s my opinion of course, but you don’t HAVE to work at Disney anything if it’s so bad. For these people in particular, it’s just not a good place to work full-time.
You’ve had to work multiple jobs? You had to have roomates? Either be resiliant or quit.
You got a bad review, because admins did’t like how you styled your hair? Either style your hair or find another job that appreciates you.
You may WANT to work at Disneyland/World (magical environments, costume, park benefits, etc.)…but they don’t owe you anything other than a paycheck for the hours you work. If that doesn’t fill your bucket, other jobs are hiring and go work somewhere else. I still have family/friends that LOVE to work there, but they know it is JUST A JOB and are happy to share in the magic!
For a short period, I had to work 4 jobs. You read that right. I had expenses. I quit working two of four of those jobs, when I got a better job. I quit one of two when I got the job I wanted.
That’s how “working” works, sometimes.
John
Lol well Disney founded this company on giving his employees down to the janitor a living wage. You should look into Disney and the man he was. This place is a disgrace now and not just because of the 6$ 20 oz cokes
John
Lol look around the magic is gone the employees are miserable. Only a few are genuinely happy and in character. Disney world be rolling in his grave and probably.move to fire every person on the board. No slap or paper towels in the bathroom because they are too busy sweeping leaves into mickey heads. Then you see 20 security guards standing around doing nothing. Not to mention all the smoking sections moved outside the gate which is bad enough for smokers but then you have to hear all the complaining as people walk past the smoking section talking crap while on their way to the park. My response? Blame Disney these should be hidden away inside the park where noone notices them. Yea it’s very sad so much different from when I was a kid and only a handful of employees actually seem happy. Not the Disney I remember
Larry
So… Basically same as every other customer service company out there. Disney has always been this way. They see it as you should be honored to have Disney on your resume. That is pay enough. Welcome to reality.
John c
Get a different job then. Dont cry about and try to blame the place you work for. You dont get pay raises for doing the exact same work.
Sue
Here in Florida most of my neighbors work there bc getting into the park for free otherwise you do t have much of a choice where to work some love it others hate it and don’t even make enough money to fix things that break in There house and yes some live in there cars but Disney doesn’t care they will
Fire someone at the drop of a hat bc they know they can get someone else to fill the spot
Toni w
Just trying to get a raise!!! So dramatic……
Elijah Johnson
I wouldn’t pay anyone in those pictures for sex work
LauraJ
I worked at Disneyland in 1987-88. It was just as horrible back then! I was pregnant, forced to work double shifts, and take extra tables ( I worked at the Monorail Cafe, no longer there) and I tripped on a faulty rug! Almost lost my baby. Disneyland spent more time and money making sure that I couldn’t get my lost wages and medical bills. Just despicable! And my daughter is a Disney fanatic!! I can’t believe how horrible I was treated. My grandchildren love it so I will go with them, but I swear I have ptsd from my time as ” a cast member “. I kept my name tag. Lol. Totally against the rules. I’m a rebel. I’m really sorry to hear that people are still being treated so badly.
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