kurtisnelson will not be on stage

[IndyandMarion]

I find the whole Safe-D Begins With Me absurd. Do you know how many times the mainstreet managers try and bubble up issues? Every single night we have 5-10 tripping over poorly lit curbs during fireworks due to rope placement. The other seriously non-magical departments are deployment and costuming. Every time I needed assistance from them, not only was it hard to get, but they gave me flat out wrong information. It's what happens when you turn a minimum wage job at disney into something like any other job, you get lousy employees who don't care.

We all thought that. Safety doesn't begin with me, it begins with a trip to Celebration Hospital. Going back to the point I made that it takes an accident to make management do something about the situation, the better half if allergic to bees. The flowers in her area are a bee magnet. She informed them of this when she moved into the area, they did nothing. Guess who got stung by a bee and was transported? Exactly.

Don't get me started on costuming. If you're going to work in a high impact area, you should have, at bare minimum, a grip on the general concept of verbs. Scratch that, a general concept of, I don't know, ENGLISH.

[mapo]

I find the whole Safe-D Begins With Me absurd. Do you know how many times the mainstreet managers try and bubble up issues? Every single night we have 5-10 tripping over poorly lit curbs during fireworks due to rope placement. The other seriously non-magical departments are deployment and costuming. Every time I needed assistance from them, not only was it hard to get, but they gave me flat out wrong information. It's what happens when you turn a minimum wage job at disney into something like any other job, you get lousy employees who don't care.

While any company has it's share of those who do not care, I do not think that WDW has any more than any one else. We do have major problems in communication -- internally. Externally, our message as a Company is very well communicated and in multiple forms. Internally -- well, knowledge is power and some do not share that knowledge in fear of losing that power.

There are some substandard Cast in all areas. I am sure your 'home location' and role has a few as well. Having worked with MK Costuming and Deployment they have some who need help finding their way -- and others who could not do enough for me when I went in.

One thing I see too much of is Cast who walk in for EHH and have a sense of entitlement. These cast are usually late, unprepared for their deployed role, and expect deployment and/or costuming to magically be able to read their mind on what they are doing for that shift or where they are reporting. At MK, place for thousands of EHH and deployed EVERY day, it is a sad tale that too many coming in want everything to stop for them.

The other thing I see way too much in my current role are cast (salaried and not) who think that Safety is a joke. I have been told to my face that a safety concern or incident does not need to be documented or deserve medical attention. I am sure any one on this board can imagine my reaction and the fact that those statements were addressed after the incident was resolved.

Kurtis, I understand that your pixie dust has disappeared due to your situation. And I know how difficult it is to work through that 2 week notice time frame. I encourage you to put on your best professional face and perform in your best professional manner as you move through your final Disney days. You will certainly be a better person and professional for doing so as you move on with the rest of your life. I wish you great success.

mapo

[GaTechGal]

Kurt, I'm sorry things didn't work out at Disney. We'll be glad to see you back in Atlatna this spring (which is one of the BEST times to be in Atlanta). How much longer do you have in school?

[DragonFox98]

Kurtis, I'm sorry to hear this news. Three years ago I was all set to pick my family up and move them to FL if I got an accounting position at Disney. However, after reading some of the archive material, I decided it was not the right place for me. I just don't belong with a big corporation....I like working for small companies where I have freedom to do what's necessary for the bottom line (and where I have freedom to either work from home or take leave when needed). After yours and Indy's experiences, I know I made the right choice.

I am so sorry you're having to deal with this kind of situation, though. As one of my bosses once told me I'm "honest to a fault". I own up to my mistakes, if if it might be detrimental. I commend you for doing that, but feel terrible that you're leaving something you looked so forward to.

Best wishes for the future.

[kurtisnelson]

I like working for small companies where I have freedom to do what's necessary for the bottom line (and where I have freedom to either work from home or take leave when needed). After yours and Indy's experiences, I know I made the right choice.

That is what I have decided I need to do for myself. I want to be able to fix problems when I see them without all the red tape.

gatechgal: I have at least 2 years left at school, am switching majors to CS, so I have time to change things.

mapo: Anytime I'm in the parks, I'm EHH and I understand your point. My issue is when I call 12+ hours in advance and cannot get a correct answer out of people. That's why I ended up mainly sticking to PAC since I know how everything works for mainstreet.

[hhsrat]

One thing I see too much of is Cast who walk in for EHH and have a sense of entitlement. These cast are usually late, unprepared for their deployed role, and expect deployment and/or costuming to magically be able to read their mind on what they are doing for that shift or where they are reporting. At MK, place for thousands of EHH and deployed EVERY day, it is a sad tale that too many coming in want everything to stop for them.

Yes, some people have the entitlement attitude when they pick up EHH. However, if there's a contact phone number listed on the EHH shift, I would expect the people that answer the phone at that number to at least be able to give me directions to the "Report Location" as listed on the shift. (and if I'm unsure, I'll ask around until I get an answer, and do this well before the start of the shift ... in some cases even going a day early to 'walk the area' and figure out where I should be)

[mapo]

Yes, some people have the entitlement attitude when they pick up EHH. However, if there's a contact phone number listed on the EHH shift, I would expect the people that answer the phone at that number to at least be able to give me directions to the "Report Location" as listed on the shift. (and if I'm unsure, I'll ask around until I get an answer, and do this well before the start of the shift ... in some cases even going a day early to 'walk the area' and figure out where I should be)

Might I recommend a few resources at your disposal:

** If you are deploying at Resorts, your home resort has a deployment board with appropriate information.

** If you are deployed/EHH at MK: Your EHH Shift lists the meeting place on the shift detail printout. MK Costuming has a deployment board there. In addition, there are multitudes of maps in the tunnel to help you get where you need. Also, ASK a CM. You would be surprised how helpful Cast are in the tunnel at MK! We *all* remember our first day(s) getting lost down there.

** Directions for all locations are available on the Portal.

** Do not forget the Cast Atlas! If you are being thrown around (by scheduling) or becoming familiar with picking up EHH, get the Atlas. All Parks are on this critical map. Your home location manager *should* have them; I got mine at Costuming at MK. I just saw the very nice secretary in the office. Oh, and a VM Cast Atlas is on the Portal (not my favorite cause I can't take it with me!).

Also, get a Tell A Cast for that location for that week. In parks, they are near the cast entrance. In resorts, just go to the Guest Tab on the Portal. You will see a link that leads you to that location's Tell A Cast.

Hopes this helps!

mapo

[IndyandMarion]

Might I recommend a few resources at your disposal:

** Directions for all locations are available on the Portal.

If it works

** Do not forget the Cast Atlas! If you are being thrown around (by scheduling) or becoming familiar with picking up EHH, get the Atlas. All Parks are on this critical map. Your home location manager *should* have them; I got mine at Costuming at MK. I just saw the very nice secretary in the office. Oh, and a VM Cast Atlas is on the Portal (not my favorite cause I can't take it with me!).

I got one back in 2003, didn't know they still used them.

Also, get a Tell A Cast for that location for that week. In parks, they are near the cast entrance. In resorts, just go to the Guest Tab on the Portal. You will see a link that leads you to that location's Tell A Cast.
mapo

You mean the Nothing To Tell Cast?

[hhsrat]

Might I recommend a few resources at your disposal:

Thanks for all the tips. Lately, my area has been giving me plenty of hours, so I don't worry too much about the EHH. I also haven't really had problems finding locations or other vital services for deployment/EHH lately, but when I started with the company (when MK costuming was still in the tunnel), I had a few issues that I'm belatedly griping about.

EHH is a two way street ... there is some responsibility on the cast member to be in the right place in the right costume at the right time, but the areas posting the shift, especially for something like a PAC or Screaming Fans shift, need to be ready and waiting for the EHH cast. I have had some past issues where I've found the EHH meeting place, only to find that nobody in the area knew they were expecting EHH cast, and had to wait upwards of 20 minutes to receive a call back (called the manager and/or coordinator of that area through control) from someone that knew what the EHH cast were supposed to be doing.

[mapo]

If it works


I got one back in 2003, didn't know they still used them.


You mean the Nothing To Tell Cast?

In answer to your comments,

I have not had many problems with the Portal working for me *lately*. Now that I have said that, there it goes during the Holidays. :p:

As Disney goes more and more "GREEN" (I call it cheap), you find that these treasures are still about and just being found in their buried treasure locations. My latest Cast Atlas has Mater on the cover. There may be more recent ones, but mine still works for me after some number of years.

As for the "Nothing to Tell Cast", I am sorry but I use that thing every day. Since I am Global and must go many different locations (some times in a day), it helps me assist Cast and Guests with the latest changes (aka questions).

Then again, I make it a habit to check the various alerts. If the alert has lots of info/dates/times, I print that out twice. Once for my pocket, once for my 'desk' I am working from for that time (read day/week/month/hour).

I do notice that the more Cast friendly park/resort locations have a lot more usable information on their Tell A Cast. Now, if we could get all locations to a minimum level of Cast friendliness -- then one day Cast would eagerly say "Follow Me to the Best Job in the World"!

** Anyone remember that Cast campaign?? *sigh*

mapo