Former Disney Cast Members Expose the Reality of Working “Glamorous” Jobs

Disney World is full of thousands of Cast Members who all do extremely important jobs each day.

Every single job is important in Disney World, and while some of them are behind the scenes, others are front and center and interact with guests all day long. Many of these jobs, specifically getting to be friends with characters or performing in shows are majorly sought after, but trust us, not everything is all sunshine and rainbows.

Not only do we have many members of our team who have been Cast Members, but we also have friends who don’t work for us who have been Cast Members, and we chat to every now and then about their experiences. So when we asked our team and our team’s friends about performing for Disney World, they shared with us some things that aren’t so glamorous about the job.

Being “On” All Day

When you’re out in front of guests all day, especially when you’re friends with a character, you have to be “ON” all day. This means smiles bright, personality in check, and upbeat no matter what happens.

And that’s HARD! Can you try to imagine being completely engaged, every part of you, consistently as you deal with many different types of people, some of whom may not be very kind? Yeah, this isn’t easy by any means. And NOTHING can trip you up either. Cast Members do have certain signals they can use if something is going wrong, but using them is NOT something anyone wants to have to do.

The Sun is Brutal

We don’t really have to go into this one in too much detail because you’ll immediately know what we mean. You know how the sun affects you when you’re in Disney World and how gross it can make you feel? Yeah, imagine that, but not being able to take a break whenever you want.

The Florida sun is BRUTAL. Point blank period, end of sentence. The hotter and more uncomfortable you are outside, there are Cast Members feeling the exact same way, maybe even moreso.

Kids Aren’t Always The Best Communicators

Seeing little ones meet their favorite characters is beyond sweet, but you know how your kiddo babbles on and on and gets frustrated when you don’t understand what they’re saying? Yep, again, imagine how some Cast Members feel.

There’s only so much Cast Members and Cast Member attendants can do to help translate what your toddler is saying, so if you’re able to understand a little bit better, please don’t hesitate to jump in and help get the message across!

When New Lands Open, EVERYONE is Learning Things For The First Time

Every time Disney opens a new land or attraction, it’s not just the guests experiencing it for the first time — the Cast Members have to learn all about the attraction/land too, and that can be more involved than you may think.

When Galaxy’s Edge was opening, a team member shared with us that they had to come up with all their processes, including how was the best and most efficient way to run the kitchens! Unlike some experiences, this can’t be tested too much ahead of time, so when a land first opens, that might be why you see it takes a moment for them to work out the finer details.

The team member also shared with us that when they started working in the land, it was still about 2 months before Galaxy’s Edge opened, which means that in the beginning, they weren’t allowed to walk outside since it was an active construction zone!

For most of the second month, if Disney didn’t have anything for food and beverage Cast Members to work on, they’d ask them to ride Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run to help those Cast Members train. In their words, “I got paid to ride Smuggler’s probably 500 times. I don’t need to ride it ever again.” They also shared that they also got to test out the Lightsaber Building experience in Savi’s Workshop as well, but it was more of a surprise — they were told to go in and help move boxes, but when they arrived, they started the whole experience for them!

Payment is Not What You Think

Now we’re gonna get a little more serious. Another team member we got to speak to shared with us some aspects of performing for Disney that we think are vital for you to know, especially if you plan to audition for the company in the future. One of the biggest ones: performers are not paid hourly as you may think.

The team member we spoke to has worked for Disney as an Equity performer (the Equity represents performers in professional theatre) in both acting and vocal roles. Instead of being paid hourly, they were paid by “show value,” which basically means Disney and Equity have to come to an agreement to determine how hard your show actually is, and sometimes it’s even based on the demand of the show. This makes it extremely difficult when you’re opening and creating a new show, because it can take over a year after the show has already opened for Equity to determine the value of your show. Which, yes,  means it could be over a year before you get paid what you SHOULD be getting paid.

Strictness Around Character Requirements

Yes, Disney wants someone who resembles Cinderella to be really good friends with her, but did you know there are also weight requirements for certain theatre shows, such as Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond? 

This show uses a fly system for certain characters, which means those performers need to be lifted up into the air. According to the team member we spoke with, they knew the actors portraying Marlin, Dory, and Squirt needed to weigh in a few times a year to “ensure they were still on the flight system.” While partly this is done for safety reasons, these systems can often hold up to hundreds of pounds, as they can also lift set pieces into the air easily, so these weigh ins can be really damaging for a person’s mental health if they’re not treated with care.

Rehearsal Times Are Less Than Ideal

You know how you’re thrilled when Magic Kingdom is open until 11PM, so you have more time in the parks? Well, any work on the park, or new show that is being rehearsed, often has to practice when guests are no longer in the park. This means that for many performers, they’re working 11PM to 6AM shifts.

These are called overnight rehearsals, and the team member we spoke to shared that sometimes they would have multiple of these in a row. While it’s not uncommon for some jobs to be worked overnight, once the show is ready to open, the hours COMPLETELY switch to being during the day, and that’s a hard adjustment for your body to make on a dime.

Traveling To Your Designated Area Can Be REALLY Tricky

It’s not as easy as parking in Cast Member parking and heading to your dressing room for a lot of Disney performers. Sometimes you have to go through multiple hoops just to get where you need to go — the Voices of Liberty performers, for example, need to get on a bus after they park to get where they need to be.

A team member we spoke to also shared with us that some of these pathways to the stage can be dangerous or far from ideal — the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue performers need to walk THROUGH the kitchen of the restaurant to get to the stage, and it’s very greasy and slippery. Some of those costumes are a little difficult to maneuver in to begin with AND you’re about to go on stage — falling and getting it dirty is not an option,

Additionally, some of the break rooms for performers are SUPER far from their stages. These are called satellite break rooms and they’re very common, especially in Magic Kingdom. A performer who used to perform in one of the Magic Kingdom parades shared with us that their dressing room was on the third floor of Liberty Tree Tavern, but they had to walk ten minutes through the Utilidors to get to the front of Main Street U.S.A. where the parade stepped off.

That’s not an easy commute when you’re about to be dancing and singing for the next half hour in the blazing heat!

Contract Talks

And lastly, we have one of the most nerve wracking parts: Contract Talks. A team member we spoke to told us that for Equity performers, each contract is only one year long. Once that contract is coming to an end, you’ll meet with the Casting Director of your show as well as the proprietor and discuss if you’ll be brought on for another year.

That essentially means there is zero job security. You walk into that meeting having no idea if you’re about to walk out with another year-long contract and a small pay raise or if you’ll walk out without a job. And before the meeting, you really have no way of being able to tell which way it’s going to swing.

Additionally, the casting team is not required to give any Equity performer any reason as to why they’re being let go, if that’s the way the pendulum swings. You could lose your job and be given no reason as to why.

There’s always so much more than what meets the eye in Disney World, and we’re so thankful to all the Cast Members for what they do — we know it’s not easy! As always, stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Disney news!

We bet you didn’t know about this secret Cast Member perk in Disney World!

What’s the best thing you’ve ever seen a Cast Member do? Tell us in the comments!

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