When You Wish Upon A Star…
Another year, yet another attempt to revive my blog. I don’t know how many times I’ve done this now but I think the majority of my posts start with something similar to this. I’ve also just remembered how difficult I find it to not end sentences without “haha” or without smileys so we’ll see how this goes.
Anyway since the last time I was here I’ve had a job in the Disney Store. It was only a temporary Christmas position which is why I don’t have it anymore. I waited long and hard for this job which is why it meant so much to me when I got it. Disney thought I was good enough for them and they only hire the best! I had went in a few times previously to ask if they were looking for any new cast members and the answer was always no. Finally in October, someone posted on Facebook that they were going to the Disney Store the next day to get an application form so the next day I went down myself and sure enough, they had a sign in the window saying they were hiring.
They said only delivery positions were available which I was fine with. It would mean taking stuff from deliveries etc upstairs and working backstage which I maybe might have preferred now that I know what working on stage is like. It required a lot of talking to people which definitely isn’t my strong point and the managers told me off a lot at the start for not engaging in conversation with guests a lot more which is fair enough.
Cast members are treated extremely well at Disney. You get a very good wage and I felt like I was genuinely helping the company through every person I got to buy something extra or helped in any way. At Christmas, cast members get a bauble and a card which you can’t buy anywhere. The bauble says “Cast Exclusive 2011” on it and means a lot to me that the company sent one out for everyone, even the temps who are the lowest of the low.
It’s even better that they’re ones you can’t buy and the card had a pin on it too (which I especially liked as our Store doesn’t sell pins any more). The only thing that did annoy me is the amount of overtime I did without being paid for it. I had quite a few shifts that were supposed to end at 10pm but we simply weren’t finished setting up the store so some night we would only be leaving at half past. You also had to be on stage 10 mins before your shift starts to get your brief but couldn’t leave 10 mins before it ended even though the next cast members starting should have been there by then so you were
doing an extra 10 mins every shift if you were on time and were told off if you weren’t even though your shift hadn’t even started yet. Cast members got a decent discount in the store but you are told specifically that there will be consequences if they find out you are buying things for your friends or family. You can buy Christmas/Birthday presents for them but they can’t ask you to get them something just because you’ll get it cheaper.
I’m not sure if working at the Disney Store enhanced my view of the company or made it slightly worse because I saw the stock come in and it didn’t mean anything to me. I saw hundreds and hundreds of the same items in the stockroom and it made me more cautious of what I buy there because now I kind of think I don’t need it. I’ll probably still get a few things. I’d like a tramp plush because I got Lady for my birthday last year but since I finished I have only been in once to give my costume back. It’s a pity you had to give your name badge back too because I would have honestly loved to keep it. I realise now how much work goes into Disney and it makes me appreciate each cast member a lot more. I still kind of want to work at one of the parks. I did always want to and the store seemed like the next best thing closer to home but now I’ve already done that. I also think that it might be easier to get another job as other employees know that Disney only look for the best. In general, I think it’s really helped my self-esteem as it was someone I really wanted to work for and I passed the interviews and it seemed that they really wanted me too. Especially as I’ve considered myself a failure in so many aspects, this is definitely a positive move for me even if it is over. In fact, it probably is better that I only had a temporary position because I see it more as a once in a lifetime opportunity than just my job which I think it would have come to if I’d been there longer and I’d like to only see it positively, even if I did have a few bad days, but that’s the same with every job.
Hoping to actually update this blog more often again! I just need topics to write about!
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