How Disney Changes After Being a Cast Member
While written long ago, this week we feel it's time to share one of our reflections on Cast Member life. This week, Disney released some bad news to Cast Members at Walt Disney World, Disneyland California, and the Disney Cruise Line by announcing they will be laying off 28,000 Cast Members. About 67% of the planned layoffs are for part time positions. This is slightly larger than 10% of the entire workforce of 220,000 Cast Members and includes the likes of Yeehaa Bob and the Spirit of Aloha performers.
We do not place the blame on Disney for the almost inevitable hard spot the coronavirus is putting the hospitality industry in. We feel for those Cast Members who will be told over the coming days that their last day in the most magical place on Earth has arrived.
But we also know that even after you've left, you never really leave Disney. This is my post about how after the College Program, I have never really lost that Cast Member mentality. But before we get to that, please consider helping those Cast Members who touched your life in any of the following ways:
Be kind. Always be kind, but especially now when everyone is on edge about whether they are one of those being let go.
Consider donating to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida
Or donate to Cast Member Pantry (this is a link to their Facebook page)
One of the things people sometimes ask me is whether, having been a Cast Member at one time, I actually still LIKE going to Walt Disney World. As this blog is proof, the answer is yes. Yes, I do! In fact, I probably love it more having seen the inner workings than I did before. Now, when I go to Walt Disney World, it feels like I'm returning home in a way.
But there's more. There are subtle changes to how I behave in the park as well. The funny thing is, I don't think one needs to have been a cast member in order to have these behaviors either. But I do think as a cast member, they are trained into us.
First, every little girl in a princess dress should naturally only be referred to as "Princess". Not "little girl". Not even "cutie". "Princess" is the ONLY proper way to refer to royalty in at Walt Disney World- if she wants to be a princess, she is a princess. Which is why, although my daughter is a tom boy and the words never escape my lips at home, at Walt Disney World, I find myself saying "Hello, princess", "Excuse me, princess", and "Watch your step, princess" with increased frequency.
Another urge I have is to ease the fears of other riders if the ride I'm on seems particularly frightening. Especially, again, if that rider is a child. Several years ago, I spent the drops on Tower of Terror doing a physics experiment with a scared boy to distract him by showing how a penny would levitate above your hand as you dropped. More recently, my family of three welcomed a frightened adult into our crew on Mission: Space and I gave her a play by play of what was about to happen because she needed that to feel better. "Ok, our chairs are going to tip back now," and so on.
And let's talk about balloons. Balloons are fun, but they can't go on airplanes, and they can't even go on the Disney Cruise Line (something we learned to our dismay when our tearful 4 year old had to give hers away). Now, we still get balloons, but we always make sure to give ours away the last day of our vacation. Preferably, to someone who has either just arrived, or a kid who looks like the are having a tough time. Giving the balloon away and seeing a smile is so much better than carrying it around all day, in my opinion, that I'm not sure why more people don't just give their balloons away immediately.
I interact with cast members. Even if sometimes that means I put myself in a situation that my introverted self usually doesn't like. On one Christmastime visit when the Osborne Family lights were still there, we met a cast member who was very informative. I asked her what happened when they played "Feliz Navidad" because I had read somewhere you had to stay for that song. She sighed a little and told me that the cast members dance and are supposed to pick people from the audience to dance too but she said no one ever wanted to. "Will you dance with me?" she asked. "Of course!" I blurted. It was not like me but I had so much fun and we got a nice little group dancing with us by the end of the song.
I take pictures of others. I'm not walking around playing Photopass photographer, of course. I have places to be too. But sometimes you just see that family and you know mom is never in the picture, so you offer. Or you see that group taking a photo in front of Cinderella's fountain, but they have the angle all wrong and you know how to make it a magical shot (no Photoshop necessary), so you offer.
Of course, there is the not-so-good too. I get really annoyed when I feel like the cast members in the area are not doing a very good job at crowd control because people are standing in the way and other people can't get through. I feel like a cast member's job is to speak up for those who don't want to speak up. Politely, of course. But firmly.
And I get crazy when I see people litter. Especially at the Animal Kingdom. At Walt Disney World, you are never more than 20 steps away from a trash can, so howwww do cups and straws end up on the ground? I shall never know. At Animal Kingdom, that trash can blow into an animal's enclosure and potentially make them sick or worse.
But the best part is, I like to make sure when an opportunity arises, that people hear a story. Walt Disney World is full of stories. Sometimes I know them and am inclined to tell them myself, but I feel like current cast members do a better job... and also it's their privilege to tell the stories. Sometimes I will just ask for the story of a ride or prop or place so that others around me can hear it. "Hey, is that Mr. Toad?" "Why is there a ring in the pavement here?" "Why are the middle of the paths all brown?" "Where did they come up with the names on these windows?" and my new favorite, the real story of which I heard from a mousekeeper at the Polynesian "Why is this statue called Partners?"
My advice to you, dear guests, is ask the question. The answer will almost always delight you. Nothing about Walt Disney World is unintentional.
So now, having served my time, I get to walk the parks with a heightened sense of magic. Magic is a gift and cast members can give it even long after they've had to say goodbye to Disney. And even fellow guests can give magic through small acts of kindness and spontaneity in the parks. So remember, be kind and be magical. Until next time...
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