A Day in the Life of Being a "CP"
A Day in the Life of Being a "CP"
When I first arrived back in May, I was assigned a role in custodial at the Yacht & Beach Club. It was an interesting first week, as it turned out I was allergic to some of the cleaning chemicals. Thankfully, with the aid of my physician and Disney HR, I was reassigned to a new role, attractions at the Magic Kingdom, specifically Big Thunder Mountain (2). For this week's blog post, I wanted to describe a bit about how onboarding worked, as well as what it's like to work at world's most popular theme park (3).
Training started all the way back in May. During the first week, we went through general company onboarding, going through compliance and other general learning sessions. We also went through Disney specific training for several days that covered the history of the company, and how cast members are expected to be "on stage" and treat guests exceptionally well, creating magical experiences and memories. We were issued Disney IDs and costumes specific to our role.
For both custodial and attractions, I then went through role-specific training. While this only lasted a short time for custodial, it was more than a week-long for Big Thunder Mountain. There was way, way more to learn than I would have ever guessed. In addition to the fundamentals of how the ride worked, we learned the specifics of each spot from ride entrance to to the control room. The most extensive and important training was around safety. We needed to learn all the different safety protocols including emergency stops, evacuations, responding to injuries, and more. There was even an extensive test at the end of training that every cast member had to pass in order to begin working the ride.
Since that time, I generally work 5-6 days a week, and usually a closing shift. Some of them have been as long as 13-hours, lasting until 1:00am! But I really like having an opportunity to work at the Magic Kingdom. Every day to and from work, I traverse the "Utilidor", the behind-the-scenes under-the-park system that allows me to enter straight into Frontierland. As my Great Uncle, an Engineering Manager for Disney said, I have the chance to "walk the halls of many before" and "see things I would never ever see as a guest."
Topic: Applying Interactive Media Studies: Technology Major
References
(1) cover photo taken by fellow cast member
(2) https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/attractions/magic-kingdom/big-thunder-mountain-railroad/
(3) https://www.travelandleisure.com/study-most-visited-theme-parks-in-the-world-8710425
(4) https://orlandoinsidervacations.com/the-secret-underworld-of-walt-disney-world/
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