Questions on applying

[Christopher]

I was thinking about Zazu's suggestion about considering applying for a Disney and Ilm giving it more thought these days. I just wanted to ask a couple of questions about it, please forgive me if they are just two more stupid questions like the type you all have to put with all the time. :o

Is it possible to apply for a Disney park job when you don't live in the same state as either Disneyland or Walt Disney World? The closest I ever heard about the possibility was when my travel agent once told me that there are tryouts at colleges or something like that, only I'm not currently in college. Anyone have any suggestions or advice?

Also, and I'm sure this is really going to sound silly, but is it possible to apply for positions where you don't really go "backstage"? I say this because I'm really don't want to have Disney's secrets given away for me, or at least as few as possible. I still want to be able to come back and enjoy the park and characters all at face value, but I'm highly doubtful on if if I can have it both ways.

Again please excuse me if my questioning is silly!

[CBeilby]

One thing to consider if you're thinking about this is where the parks are located. I don't know about the Orlando/Kissime/St. Cloud area in Florida, but I know that Southern California is VERY expensive to live in. (My wife and I are paying $890 a month for a one bedroom apartment, plus utilities, and this is in a fairly lower-middle class area of Santa Ana.) And Disney doesn't provide housing for employees, at least in California.

As for not going backstage when employed at the park, well, there is no way to avoid it. All Break Rooms, lockers, employee restrooms, employee eateries, and offices are back stage, and when you only have a little bit of time, Backstage is sometimes the fastest way to get places.

[CujoSR]

Chris if you don't want the magic ruined for you you do not want to work at Disney. From day one they start laying down ground rules that will absolutly ruin it for you. Forget backstage. Wait arn't we ruining the magic for you here? :notallthe

[Zazu]

Is it possible to apply for a Disney park job when you don't live in the same state as either Disneyland or Walt Disney World?

Not at WDW. You have to have a local mailing address (and a matching FL drivers licence or ID card) to apply.

... is it possible to apply for positions where you don't really go "backstage"?

Not at WDW. Some backstage areas are less magic-destructive than others, but all jobs include significant amounts of time backstage.

If "preserving the magic" is important to you, don't take the backstage tours, and *never* even apply for a job there.

Can't have your cake and eat it too.

[Christopher]

Thanks for letting me know everyone, I have never known anything about what was involved when applying for Disney and I'm glad to have such straightforward and honest answers. ;)

Wait arn't we ruining the magic for you here? :notallthe

Actually, not at all. That's because of two reasons. ]did[/I] threaten to spoil my mood for Disneyland for a while, that prize goes to the book "Mouse Tales". I saw it in a store, started to flip through it but then immediately put it back down again. But there's a big difference between a book like that and you guys, because you guys are Disney and therefore you all know the facts first hand.

Sorry about that, looks like I've ended up rambling on about it, it's just that I get so happy thinking about the memories you guys at Disney have given me and it makes me gush.

[CujoSR]

Well thanks very much. I'm glad we got that all cleared up. We need more people like you here and there.

[DisneylandIs101]

Is it possible to apply for a Disney park job when you don't live in the same state as either Disneyland or Walt Disney World?

Things being wacky as they sometimes are, I moved from Illinois to Washingoton, and got a Washington ID. A few months later I came to CA and hired into Disneyland. Having just paid Washington to give me an ugly picture of myself, I didn't want to pay California so soon. I was able to hire in using my Washington license, but a local address where I was staying.

As for going backstage, think of working at a Disney park as being like being a magician's assistant. It's great to be a part of the show, but it's hard to be impressed by a vanishing woman when you can watch her walk out of the trap door. I think that's why Cast Members are some of Disney's harshest critics (other than the obvious failure who holds the title of CEO); we know how the tricks are done, so it takes a better trick to impress us.

Of course, like the magician's assistant, you can take credit for making the magic work. One of my favorite memories was one night back in the Fantasy in the Sky days. That was the fireworks show that had the "To Honor America..." patriotic finale. I was selling frozen lemonade one Summer night (well, not really selling much of it that late). I didn't have a good view of the fireworks, which kinda bummed me out, but I'd seen them hundreds of times, and the music was good enough.

After the show an older man wearing one of those Vietnam vet hats with the name of his ship on it came up to me and was crying. He said that he just wanted to shake the hand of someone who worked for the company who put that finale together. Naturally, my hand shot across the counter.

I'm not all that patriotic myself, but obviously something had just clicked into place for this guy and made him proud of who he was. It sucks when we get blamed for other peoples' shortcomings, but once in a (great) while we get to take credit for very cool stuff we had nothing to do with. It's kind of like the trick that fools the rest of the magicians.