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| Cast Place For and by Disney employees past & present | |
| Shoshana Lewin, editor |
Reader Contributed Story! |
Wednesday, October 25, 2000
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Reader Submitted Story
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Here's one for you:
Its a weekday in early '93. I'm working on Big Thunder Mtn RR and we're closing at 6 pm. When the time comes to run out the line and close down, all of us who are still working the attraction hop on for the ceremonial "last train of the day." The train leaves and we're having a good time. A couple guys are hanging out of the cars with their feet on the running boards and their hands on the safety bar, ducking back in and sitting down at the correct times so as to not be 1) Spotted by management or a tattle-tale guest and 2) taken out by a boulder or a low ceiling. We're now cresting the second lift and taking part in the "watch the goat" trick when I for some stupid reason get the idea to throw my hat up in the air. My logic was that since I knew this to be the last train of the day and I knew I had to walk the track and pick up lost and found items at this same spot anyway, I'd just toss it up and pick it up in a few minutes and in the meantime get a few cheap laughs and kudos from the fellas. So with all my strength I hurl my Disney-issued cowboy hat (which miners never wore anyway) up in the air much to the surprise and amusement of my fellow workers. I see the hat land right in the middle of the track behind us and we enter what is properly called "hippity-hop" that is, the little hop up and down in the track just before you turn and enter the earthquake scene. "No problem" I figure to myself. So we enjoy the rest of the ride and enter the station where the lead informs us all that he just found out from some maintenance guys that we need to park the train in BZ4 (this stands for brake zone 4 and is the stretch of track located just in front of the town scene at the end of the ride) instead of the station tonight so they can work on one of the station brakes. So, since you can't easily back up a train from the mainside of the station to bz4, he sends the train around again with all of us in it. Again, we're all having a good time but in the back of my mind I'm thinking "Hmm...... I wonder if...." Well, we get to the spot where the hat landed and I look behind us to see that it's now missing. "Uh-oh", I think to myself. By the time we are leaving the earthquake scene all of us are smelling smoke and turn to see it pouring out from behind the train. Now I'm getting butterflies in my stomach. As we crest the lift and come out into the sunlight we notice that the train is moving considerably slower that normal. In fact, we're goin real friggin slow!!!!! The train continues down the hill, thru the final turn at bear river, and just barely makes it up to the trestle.... but... not... quite..., and we start rolling backward!!!! The train finally comes to rest just below the trestle and I jump out to find my hat firmly wedged and smoldering between two road wheels! I play dumb and tell the lead that my hat "Just flew off" and the other guys cover for me as well. The only problem is that we have a multi-ton train lying in a low spot in the track with no way to get it moving again without winching it up and around the final turn where it can crest the hill and roll thru the dino pond and into bz4 where it's supposed to be anyway. (Yes, that was a run on sentence.) One of the supervisors decides to call everyone he can from maintenance and other locations over to the attraction where all of us ultimately end up straining to push this train up the hill. Needless to say I was keeping a low profile and had very little to say to anyone lest I get anymore questions about "the incident." But we finally, after much sweating, got it over the hill and parked properly where I promptly made for my locker and Harbor House. Whew! Anonymous |
| TALK STORY! |
Are you a CM or a former CM? I would love to hear and share your stories! E-mail me! Stories and comments you submit become property of and may be published on this site; we normally don't publish last names of current CMs, but if you wish to remain anonymous altogether or do not want me to share your stories, please let me know when you e-mail me. — Shoshana
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in reader-contributed stories do not reflect those of Cast Place or MousePlanet.
| CMSPEAK |
CM – Cast member; company lingo for “employee.”
Empowerment Evolution – The 1995 attempt by newer park management to introduce modern accountability and market forces into the stodgy Disneyland methodology and power hierarchies. The name was meant to “empower” rank and file employees by removing layers of their management, though now there are more managers than ever.
TPO – Theme Park Operations; the division of the Disneyland hierarchy that actually works in the theme park itself.
TDA – Team Disney Anaheim; the name of the on-site administration building.
Area manager – used to be responsible for an entire land, with all business divisions in the area reporting to him.
Area supervisor – the immediate boss for location supervisors who divide up a department of intelligently grouped locations. The area supervisors in turn reported to the area manager. Nowadays all supervisors and area supervisors have been replaced by managers and assistant managers — the same idea, but smaller “business units" than a department; usually just one location in fact.
RFT – “A” status; a full-time hourly employee.
RPT – “B” status; an hourly employee five days a week but just not quite 40 hours usually.
CR – “C” status; an hourly employee who works weekends year-round and five days a week during all school holiday periods (including summer and Christmas break).
CT – a part-time hourly employee who works five days a week during all school holiday periods (including summer and Christmas break). No seniority, so shifts worked are usually quite short.
| GETTING HIRED @ DL |
Locate the employment center to fill out an application, and they will call you for an interview (dress nicely, just shy of an actual suit). Once there, follow these rules, in this order of importance:
1. Smile and be very friendly. They want outgoing people.
2. Do not let the group interview throw you off balance. They want outgoing people who can “perform” a little bit.
3. Do not worry about job (in)experience. They don't care. They want friendly people, not experienced and/or hardened people.
4. Do your best to convince them you already have a Disney attitude: you want to work with people, you're a team player, and you would consider this a dream job (however, don't overdo it on the crazy-Disney-fan side either). Strike a nice balance.
5. Did I mention the importance of a smile?
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