So I’m still not sure what my top choice for a role in Disney World would be! I’ve narrowed my choices down to a few…..
- Full Service Food and Beverage- This role is basically where you work in one of the sit down restaurants in Disney seating people,taking reservations, ect. I heard people like this one because you’re almost guaranteed to be in ac and the hours aren’t too crazy because the restaurants close earlier.
- Attractions-This is where you operate and work the rides. I’m on the fence about this one because it would be really awesome if you got a good ride (Great Movie Ride,Rockin Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror!)(or show like AI) but the hours seem like they might be long and crazy depending on which park you’re in. But I heard you can request a park or ride, it’s not guaranteed but I think they try to make it possible. I'd probably request Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom.
- Character Attendant-You follow the characters around, help with any guest issues, take pictures if there's not Photopass Photographer, ect. I’ve heard nothing but good opinions about this job.
- PhotoPass Photographer- This role is self explanatory. You're a Photographer for the guests. I heard this one is kind of tiring because you have to carry heavy equipment around in the hot weather but I also heard people really enjoy it.
- Lifeguard-I used to be on the swim team in high school but I’ve never been a lifeguard, I heard it doesn’t matter because they make you get certified down there. But I heard you have to make a certain amount of saves per day or you can get fired which sounded stressfull to me at first but I heard they’re easy things…like telling people to swim away from the slide after they go down lol. It’d be a nice job, I’d just hate to go down there to get certified and fail :/ If you fail they give you another job but it’d probably be something I didn't want. They tell you the requirements online though so I’m sure if I practiced over the summer I’d be good :)
- Transportation-In this role you have the opportunity to help with boats,buses,or monorails&possibly drive them. This one seems cool depending on what you’re assigned to do. I heard someone absolutely loved driving the boats and driving the monorails everyone always loves. I heard the hours are usually at night though which I'm not really a fan of. I also don’t have any experience with that kind of stuff but apparently nobody does so it doesn’t really matter :)
- Vacation Planner-I actually like planning vacations so I think this one might be fun. I think you get to sit in ac cause you sit in the ticket booths in the parks. I guess they have quotas to fill but I heard they get rewards and perks for meeting their goals. I wish I knew what kind of rewards and perks? lol
- Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique Hostess-In this role you're basically a hair/makeup stylist for little girls and turn them into their favorite princess! :) This one would be really fun for me because I love working with kids and have a lot of experience with them. I heard you need salon experience but then I heard a lot of people say they didn’t and just had a lot of experience with children. I think this job would be awesome but I heard the hours are long.
So I’m not really sure what kind of order to put these in! lol I guess it’s good I have like 6 months to decide :) Comment and let me know your opinions to help me decide! (I'll probably check off all of them on my application but they usually ask in your interview which would be your first choice)
Hi there! I just got back from the Spring 2010 CP as a Photopass Photographer. I'm applying again in Fall 2011 as something else, but I thought I'd share some insight into Photopass.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what you mean by "any park" but there is a misconception that you are scheduled to work in all four parks. You get a "home" park which is where youre scheduled your entire program, but you can pick up shifts in other parks off the hub. Most of the time, you work an entire park though, except for Magic Kingdom which is split into two separate areas and you only move around in one of them.
And believe me, Photopass IS tiring. The equipment weights upwards to 15 lbs when you throw it all together and not only is it around your neck all day, but youre constantly picking it up and holding the weight with one hand as you maneuver the manual zoom. Plus, being outside can make matters worse. Another thing, 3 of the parks require you to keep your camera on you during your entire shift so you break with it and eat lunch with it.
On the plus side: Photopass is really fun. Its great guest interaction and a pretty good positive is that youre only speaking with guests who want to speak with you so you rarely deal with problems concerning guest service. You are, as they tell you in training, a walking information center that happens to take pictures. You are almost always the first cast member that a guest sees when they are lost or have a problem, because youre standing out in the middle of the street or what have you. Because of this, you need to know the ins and outs of your park, as well as major information about other parks like the quickest way to reach them from your park or their park hours/firework times etc. You get a cheat sheet called a Tell-A-Cast that lists all this info but pretty soon you memorize it because people ask constantly. You'll most likely work indoors and outdoors, usually on a 3 hours rotating schedule.
There are different "levels" to Photopass and after your one month assessment, you'll start to see yourself regularly scheduled taking the same kinds of pictures. I, myself, was scheduled Princesses (in the World Showcase in Epcot) 4 out of 5 days a week, but I was very very lucky. I know CPs who only shot a princess once their whole program. It all depends on what your best shots are. If you take the best castle pictures out of your CP group, you'll most likely be taking those pictures every day. It can get tiring take the same picture over and over but guest interaction helps.
Another thing to consider: Photopass CPs are few and far between. We only had 12 at Epcot and since you're never in the same place, it was a bit difficult to make and maintain friendships like you could working in the same small restaurant with the same people every day.
Overall, if it weren't so physically demanding I would do it again, but after a while, my wrist (and others' wrists too) started feeling the consequences and almost all of us wore wrist braces at least half way through each day. It just wasnt worth it for me since Photography isnt my life long dream. For others, its worth it.
Let me know if you have any other questions and sorry for the novel of a comment I just left haha
haha that's ok! I love hearing as much about the CP as possible! Thanks for all of the info! It really helps! :)
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