2015 - Merchandise on main street east
ROLE: You provide information about the products. You handle cash. It's pretty much working in a store. Some merchandise shop is not only souvenirs and plush, you might be in a store with candies. I worked at: the cart outside at the Magic Kingdom Entry, Curtain Call Collectible, Le Chapeau, Confectionary, Cinema and Uptown Jewelers.
PROS:
- Diversity all the time: you have a number of stores, so you never do the same thing
-Embroidering the hats was my favorite task, especially seen the reactions of the kids when you show their hat.
- At my location, you could do multiple task not only being on a registrer: embroidering hats, size watches, Pandora, confectionary, etc.
- You can talk to guest as much as you want **HIGH INTERACTION**, they will never stop you unless it's for a break
- You get the chance to speak with people from all around the world and get to practice other languages
- Hear all the parades, shows / fireworks (probably the best part when you work because you get to sing-along with your coworkers and its a lot of fun)
- Be part of the magic: you get to do a lot of magical moments, you get to speak with kids, play with them, make their day, it is fantastic.
CONS:
- The hours (usually for Main Street, you get to work for 5h45 pm until 2h15 am, some people like it because you can do whatever you want during the day and you only go to work at night)
- Down time, it happens depending where you are it can be slow and boring but when you like your coworkers everything goes pretty fast
- Extension: sometimes they will close the park later than the time it was schedule, you don't have the choice you work an hour later than your actual shift, which sucks.
I absolutely LOVED this role. I definitely recommend merchandise. I would not mind at all to do it again and again. You have the freedom to interact with guests as long as you want. You are able to talk with you co workers and not get yell for it [of course if they are many people who needs help and they see a bunch of coworkers doing nothing, you managers will be mad]. I really enjoyed helping guests doing their purchases they often will tell you something about their lives. Even at Magic Kingdom there down times - the time goes slowly - but you can enjoy that time by talking to your coworkers and the few guests there are.
PROS:
- Diversity all the time: you have a number of stores, so you never do the same thing
-Embroidering the hats was my favorite task, especially seen the reactions of the kids when you show their hat.
- At my location, you could do multiple task not only being on a registrer: embroidering hats, size watches, Pandora, confectionary, etc.
- You can talk to guest as much as you want **HIGH INTERACTION**, they will never stop you unless it's for a break
- You get the chance to speak with people from all around the world and get to practice other languages
- Hear all the parades, shows / fireworks (probably the best part when you work because you get to sing-along with your coworkers and its a lot of fun)
- Be part of the magic: you get to do a lot of magical moments, you get to speak with kids, play with them, make their day, it is fantastic.
CONS:
- The hours (usually for Main Street, you get to work for 5h45 pm until 2h15 am, some people like it because you can do whatever you want during the day and you only go to work at night)
- Down time, it happens depending where you are it can be slow and boring but when you like your coworkers everything goes pretty fast
- Extension: sometimes they will close the park later than the time it was schedule, you don't have the choice you work an hour later than your actual shift, which sucks.
I absolutely LOVED this role. I definitely recommend merchandise. I would not mind at all to do it again and again. You have the freedom to interact with guests as long as you want. You are able to talk with you co workers and not get yell for it [of course if they are many people who needs help and they see a bunch of coworkers doing nothing, you managers will be mad]. I really enjoyed helping guests doing their purchases they often will tell you something about their lives. Even at Magic Kingdom there down times - the time goes slowly - but you can enjoy that time by talking to your coworkers and the few guests there are.
2014 - lIFEGUARDING AT THE GRAND FLORIDIAN / POLYNESIAN
Something you might want to know is that even if you are not a lifeguard in Canada or anywhere else, you still can apply to be a lifeguard at Disney. They work with company that will teach you everything once you get there. Once you get back to your country, you won't have your certificate to prove that you are qualified, so it is just temporary. Lifeguarding was a first for me. I always loved swimming and I was good at it. This is why I accept the job, I always wanted to be a lifeguard but the classes were too long.
PROS:
- The hours: the pool opens at 9 am to 11 pm.
- You are outside
-You can refresh yourself by going into the pool when you are doing the rotation.
- Listen to the children activities (the atmosphere is really nice at that time of the day)
- When you are at the APA [Aquatic playground, not in each resort], you can interact with guests
- You close the pool when there is a storm (you get to know your co-workers and it's so much fun)
- 4 hours of in service training by month after or before work: its actually fun
- 2 beautiful resorts: the fact that I worked at two different resorts helps not being bored
CONS:
- You get bored easily: watching your water all the time is not that fun
- You don't get guest interactions as much as the other roles
- Really solitary
- Time goes slow except when there is a storm
- You need to be concentrate all the time
- You might think it's just sitting on a chair but no: you have to stand up every 5 minutes, some locations / positions do not have a chair
- You get "evaluate": they will check if you do you 10-20 correctly (10 seconds to see a drowning, 20 to get there)
I'm not gonna lie, I had fun being a lifeguard but would I see myself doing it again? Probably, not. It can be really stressful at a time when you can barely see the bottom of the pool because its too crowd. Plus, one of my favorite thing to do is interacting with people, so it may not have been the best role for me but I had fun.
PROS:
- The hours: the pool opens at 9 am to 11 pm.
- You are outside
-You can refresh yourself by going into the pool when you are doing the rotation.
- Listen to the children activities (the atmosphere is really nice at that time of the day)
- When you are at the APA [Aquatic playground, not in each resort], you can interact with guests
- You close the pool when there is a storm (you get to know your co-workers and it's so much fun)
- 4 hours of in service training by month after or before work: its actually fun
- 2 beautiful resorts: the fact that I worked at two different resorts helps not being bored
CONS:
- You get bored easily: watching your water all the time is not that fun
- You don't get guest interactions as much as the other roles
- Really solitary
- Time goes slow except when there is a storm
- You need to be concentrate all the time
- You might think it's just sitting on a chair but no: you have to stand up every 5 minutes, some locations / positions do not have a chair
- You get "evaluate": they will check if you do you 10-20 correctly (10 seconds to see a drowning, 20 to get there)
I'm not gonna lie, I had fun being a lifeguard but would I see myself doing it again? Probably, not. It can be really stressful at a time when you can barely see the bottom of the pool because its too crowd. Plus, one of my favorite thing to do is interacting with people, so it may not have been the best role for me but I had fun.