Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work at Disney World? I’m sure we all have at one time or another and finding the answer to that is pretty easy. Ask any friendly cast member or simply read about their many experiences on line. But how did they get there? What is the process of becoming a Disney cast member? For me it all started on the Disney Career Website.
I was browsing around the internet one day and just out of curiosity I decided to pull up the Disney jobs board to see what positions they generally posted and what the application process was. It’s rather simple, actually. You select a particular department you would be interested in working and fill out the application, attach a resume and hit send.
Thoughts of moving to Florida had been going through my mind at the time, and my friend kept begging me to relocate, so for nothing more than that pure curiosity I filled out the application and sent it to the casting office. Much to my surprise they called me 2 days later and wanted to schedule an interview. An interview! I hadn’t been on an interview in years! And wouldn’t you know it, I just so happened to have a trip planned for the next month and even more coincidental I was staying two blocks from casting.
I arrived a few minutes early, parked my rental car and made my way to the front doors of the casting building. What was beyond those doors was nothing what I expected. You enter the front of the building and just inside you are in a circular room with unmarked doors around the perimeter. There is no reception desk, no one to tell you where to go. The floor is black and white marble and the entire set up is very much like the room Alice lands in after falling down the rabbit hole.
To the left there is a long ramp/hallway that runs the length of the building and ascends to the second floor. As you make your way up this ramp, you see rows of office doors on either side as you reach the second level. Ahead of you there is a small, round reception area where they take your name and ask you to wait for your interviewer just beyond them in a sitting lounge.
*Note, if you do not have a scheduled interview, they will send you home to fill out an online application and go through the same process that I did. They do not take walk in applications, or at least they were not at the time of my visit.
The furniture is funky, colorful and shaped all strange as you would expect from Disney. Animated classics played on monitors throughout the room and a bank of computer terminals was to one side of the area with applicants busily clicking away taking tests or something.
My interviewer, Mike came to get me and we walked back towards the entrance to his small office. He asked me the standard interview questions as well as a battery of questions related to the department of which I had expressed interest. It was at this time I had to come clean and tell him I was here more on a fact finding mission rather than actually considering an immediate career change to come work for Disney. I told him I was very interested in coming on board in the future when I “slowed down”.
I thought I’d get thrown out of the place mouse ears and all, but Mike was very understanding and told me that there are hundreds of applicants that come through for the same reason. They want to get the lay of the land and see what opportunities there are working for “the Mouse”.
Actually, he did make a couple of calls in my presence and spoke to some higher ups, explained my salary situation and they DID offer me a quite a bit more than the “going rate” for this particular department. Ah, something to consider! Take a bit of a pay cut, move to sunny Orlando and get to work and play at the same time??
From his office I was then sent downstairs again. Off to the left of the entrance, and tucked away in a corner beside that long ramp way is a hall that leads to the security office. A few more questions, fingerprinting and consent to a federal background and credit check were in store there. And I might mention not too “Disney” in this space!
I left soon after to return to my hotel and get ready for the day’s park adventures. Later that same day I got a call from Laura in the security office, apparently I had forgotten to sign something and asked if I could return before the end of my vacation to take care of it. I did.
A few days later I got the call. I was more or less offered an assistant to the apprentice to the subordinate of the trainee of the assistant of the leader. I’m all about working my way up but at this stage in my career, I thought it best to stay put and remain a faithful guest. Besides, I have my sights on that monorail pilot’s seat when I retire to the Sunshine State! (If the monorail system still has pilots by then.)
