Reader Submitted Story
Hiring in at Disneyland Paris

From the first time I ever visited Disneyland Paris I knew that I wanted to work there. At first, it seemed impossible to me, because at that time I was only 16 years old (You have to be at least 18 to work there) and still going to school and because Paris is a 5 hour drive away from where I live in Germany (That's quite a distance for us Europeans!). Three years later I graduated from school (We have 13 years of school in Germany) and my life became somewhat hectic, because I started attending the university.

If I remember correctly, it was September of last year when the idea of working for Disney came to my mind again, so I wrote a letter in which I asked for information about a summer job. Only one week later I received an answer from the casting department in Chessy, a town near Paris, where almost all the administration for Disneyland Paris is done. They told me that they offered full-time and part-time jobs as well as seasonal work and they sent me an application form. The only problem was that you have to work three month at least, even for the seasonal jobs, and that you had to begin working between March and May. That was a problem, because I could start working in late July the earliest. So I abandoned the thought of going to Disneyland again.

I think it was the week before Christmas when I tidied my desk and the application form fell into my hand again. "Just try it. They can't do anything worse than say no," a voice in my head said, so I filled out the form, wrote another letter and sent it to Chessy.

Le "Chateau du bois dormant" dans la Parc Disneyland (who says I can't speak French?) — Photo by Morigoon

Two weeks later there was a message from the Disneyland Paris casting department on my answering machine. They asked me to call back as soon as possible. You can't imagine how excited I was, when I dialed the number I had been given. The guy on the other end of the line was very friendly and told me that in March there were interviews, or castings as he called it, in some German cities. He scheduled me for an interview on March 12 in Frankfurt. Some days later I received a letter confirming that date.

On March 12 I went to the interview. There were about twenty other applicants (only 2 boys!), their ages ranging from 19 to 25. We waited at the information desk until a woman came and asked us to follow her. Then we walked down several corridors decorated with film posters and Gold LPs as well as Gold and Platinum CDs. She led us into a high-tech conference room with big leather chairs and all kinds of technical stuff like laptops, a TV screen, a stereo and so on. Then our interviewers, a German man and a French woman, greeted us. First of all they asked who had ever been to Disneyland Paris and I was a little shocked, because there were only 5 of us who had ever been there. Then they showed us a promotional video about the park and the hotels. This video was pure Disney Magic. You kind of wanted to get out of your chair, hop into your car and drive to Paris at once. At least I felt that way, but I think the others were impressed, too. 

Next our interviewers gave us some general information about the jobs they could offer. For the hotels they needed secretaries and people for the room service. Most of the applicants were interested in a job as a secretary. For the rest of us they had different jobs: reservation central, parking, ticketing, shops in the park and attractions. Then they told us about the apartments where the Disney employees from abroad live (There are, as far as I can remember, five apartment complexes near the "Parc Disneyland"), about our wage and about the things we had to bring if we got the job (Black shoes which are classic and comfortable, passport photos, two copies of our birth certificate and a lot of French Francs). They also told us about the different cast member discounts (They may take three persons to the park for free fifteen times a year, get 50% off the hotel prices, free entry to all Disney Parks worldwide and so on).

The A4 RER train takes you from downtown Paris to Marne la Vallee (Chessy) in about forty minutes

So, here's a summary of our working conditions:

— we have a 35 hour week, which means five working days with seven hours of work (plus one hour of breaks) a week — we may not do any overtime — Disney pays 50% of our "carte orange" (a ticket which allows you to use busses, the RER-train and the Parisian Metro) — we get one meal a day (20 FF) in one of the Disney cafeterias — we live in a Disney-owned apartment together with one, three or five other CMs — we have to be relatively fluent in English and French (the more languages you speak, the better)

Afterwards we could ask questions and after that the real interviews began.

We were interviewed in groups of two, so some of us had to wait a while until in was their turn. Our interviewers offered to show us a Disney video, but all of us were too excited to pay attention. Soon the conference room was filled with chatting and laughing young people trying to hide their nervousness, but we had a lot of fun.

About one hour later I and another girl were called to our interview. We had bad luck, because we had to talk to the French woman, who could not speak German. She interviewed us in French and English and even asked some questions in Spanish, because the other girl and I had both written in our application that we spoke Spanish (the more languages you speak the better, because Disneyland Paris has a multinational audience). 

She told us that there was no need to be worried, because 90% of all the applicants who made it to the interview got the job. Since she also told us, that they had only invited the best to the interviews, she made you feel very special. She asked us about our universities and if our family would be worried if we worked and lived in France. Then came the ultimate question: "Why do you want to work in Disneyland Paris?" It was easy for me to answer that question, because I had visited the Park four times. I told her that I loved the whole atmosphere and that it would be great to be a part of it, but I also mentioned that I knew that working while others have fun can be hard sometimes. 

Then we talked about our main problem: Both of us, the other girl and I, could start working in late July, because we had exams in June and at the beginning of July. Our interviewer told us that they didn't have any jobs in August or September, but she promised to give us a call in case there would be any opportunity for us. "Great, that was that," I thought and went home. I told myself that I could get a much better job here in Germany for which I wouldn't have to leave my friends and family for a whole summer, but deep inside I was disappointed, because I had the feeling that our interviewer really wanted to give me a job.

This scene at Disneyland Paris reproduces a former (but not forgotten!) part of Disneyland's Fantasyland — Photo by Ian Parkinson

One week passed and I didn't think about my interview anymore, but then, when I came home from university, there was once again a message on my answering machine. "Hi," the voice of the German interviewer said, "I just want to tell you that we have a job for you. I'm sorry there isn't any job left for attractions, but you could work in one of our shops or at parking, starting on August first. Please call back as soon as possible."

I stood there in front of the phone and I couldn't believe it. I thought I'd faint in that very moment, but somehow I dialed the necessary phone number. The interviewer had already waited for my call. He told me that he had prepared everything, and that he was very happy to welcome me as a cast member in Disneyland Paris.

So, I'm going to Paris this summer!