I am a former Walt Disney World Custodial castmember. AMA

Is there any truth in the "penny test"? A penny is placed in an odd spot (by a supervisor) in a restroom as a test to how well they're cleaned?

That sounds like an insanely good test, but i was never tested like that.

What kinda surprising stuff would people not know about Disney World? sorry for being vague.

The entire haunted mansion ride is a metaphor for death. Splash Mountain only has restraints now because parents would pick their kids up out of the boat and tell them to walk to one of the marked EXIT doors, which is triggered to stop the entire ride. Magic Kingdom is on the second floor, there are tunnels, and yes, I worked in those too. Disney gets all of their popcorn and Coke products FO FREE. In exchange for free advertising for Coke. each hot dog costs Disney $.50, and each loaf of buns costs them a dollar (keep in mind, my favorite hot dog on property, the mac-n-cheese and bacon dog at hollywood studios costs about $8.99 before tax) there you go. a little bit of everything.

A $9.00 hotdog? Better get the Disney dining plan...sheesh.

ALWAYS DO THE DDP. ALWAYS.

Are you the one who made paintings on the ground out of water?

I'm one of them!

How hard is it to resist drawing boobs?

it's harder to resist drawing other characters. we aren't supposed to draw anyone but mickey, minnie, donald, and goofy.

What is the grossest thing you've ever had to clean up?

oh, but there was this one time. during night of joy (a non denominational christian group takes over magic kingdom for an entire weekend of christian music) my friend had to clean up spunk in a go cart on the speedway. he told me it was a lot more than he expected. and that's all that we spoke of the incident.

Personally, Dumbo's new area was the biggest headache any day of the week. The custodial world is divided into zones. Dumbo zone has about 15 trashcans (to put it into perspective, space mountain has about 28) but kids have a new play place inside of the circus tent. where they cannot resist the urge to piss and shit and throw up in. One time a kid bumped his head at the top, and bled all the way down to the bottom and out to the ride. took the CM two hours to clean. But the biggest single mess was a pretty bad Code V (vomit)) in one of Peter Pan's pirate ships.

What was your best experience during your time working there? What was your worst experience?

Well the college program is one of the best experiences you can have. It's the most entertaining form of poverty that exists. But for an actual work experience, I loved playing around with the characters (Stitch is so much fun to mess with), and making magic. Yes, i said it, making magic. The people that come to Disney are usually celebrating something. I've participated in three marriage proposals, countless happy birthday songs, and drawn water art for literally, thousands of people. The feeling you get when you make someone's day exponentially better by drawing a picture of mickey mouse on the pavement . It really feels great.

Hey! I just got back from Disney World.

If there was a zombie outbreak, what would be your zombie plan?

First of course acquire basic weaponry from orlando shops (which is the tricky part, if you've ever been to orlando, you know that everything is spread the fuck out) Set up shop in the Cinderella Castle suite. Not because of the luxury, but because of the tower and access to the utilidoor (the tunnels under MK). have the zipline that tinkerbell flies on to be prepped and ready to go in case of an evacuation, as well as contemporary resort speedboats, and the monorail, all docked at MK, as well as an aditional monorail to Epcot docked at the TTC. find a way to tap into the security cameras, all of which are visible from a room in the utilidoor. in the event of being overwhelmed, take the zipline from the tallest tower, behind tomorrowland. hop a speedboat to the TTC, get to epcot, Send out a distress signal from control, the base for all of the radios from merch to custodial to security. then set up shop at the highest room in spaceship earth. only one way in and one way out.

... That's the coolest zombie plan ever.

This has been perfected by many people. Very very foolproof.

Tell us more about this room in spaceship earth.

Well it's the big ball, the symbol of Epcot. That top room is just a room that, on the ride, is just where you're looking at the stars and earth. and it's pretty rad. BUT. with the lights on, there's tons of steel panels. great for hidign behind and "control" a room with a window sticking out of it, that has a view of every camera on the ride. no one will get through without me knowing.

What happens in the event of a power outage? Any back up plans for the monorails & security cams?

start hightailing my ass out of florida somehow because zombie tourists will likely be annoying

I'm applying for a summer internship with Walt Disney Imagineering. Did you ever interact with the interns? Would you recommend this?

The Professional Interns are the only ones I saw. Those are people who are just finishing up school and they are given a manager position. The ones that worked in my area I worked under nearly every day. Any internship with Disney is good, especially if you want to actually work with Disney. They love hiring from within.

What's the atmosphere like behind the scenes? Is it generally happy and positive like the park? What's the employee lounge like?

It's different because not all of the roles are involved with one another. Our workday revolves around the CDS (Cast Deployment System) area. It's a computer to clock in and such. Some roles use the same computer. My girlfriend worked at the Winnie the Pooh and Teacups, and we used the same computer when i was in fantasyland. and with the college program kids, we're all pretty good about being positive. there's our fair share of ridiculous guest experiences, but we stay happy. And there are several breakrooms, my spot was the smoking area behind winnie the pooh. just a nice shaded area with tables out of the public's eye. but the main one for magic kingdom is the Mousekateria. It's got a subway, and a grill and food and such. they start serving breakfast at 3:30 AM, so when we have a late night, we'd all get breakfast. It's a pretty great work atmosphere.

What sort of uncompromising situations have you discovered?

like a stubborn guest? Brazilian tour groups in the summer make the job nine times worse. They enjoy sleeping in the walkways, clapping and chanting at all hours of the day, and going in restricted areas. like this one time i was working in the area behind the castle, and i loked up at the lights coming from cinderella's royal table and i saw people running around. i went up to find a few brazilian girls, i asked them to please come down, they reminded me that they no speak english, so i had to basically hand motion to get them to come down. But that's secretly the best part about being a custodian. We very seldom have to tell people "no". My girlfriend has been screamed at and one of her fellow cast members have been spit on when they told someone they couldn't bring their electric wheelchair on the ride.

As a former blizzard beach lifeguard I can confirm the Brazilians are the worst especially in the cave.

um. story time.

Do they still allow for usage of fast passes after the allotted time?

Nope. they ended that shortly after I got there.

Did you ever get to operate the special trash can in Tomorrowland?

Did you have to work late into the night?

Can you tell us of any trends in park population that people might not know? (What day of the week is the most crowded, where most people go at certain times)

No, but Push jokes around with us all the time. The latest we were open till while i was there was about 4 AM. which means we clocked out by 5. People want to start and end their trips at MK typically. so avoid Magic Kingdom on Saturday-Monday. Epcot gets stupid busy at the end of Food and Wine Fest in mid october, and Hollywood Studios is always busy because it's so small. Animal Kingdom is so big it never hits capacity. everything else is really play by ear. just know what you want to see, and set a plan. adjust plan accordingly.

Hey there Thanks for doing this AMA. Two questions: 1. What was your worst experience with a guest. 2. I hear alot about paranormal activity at these parks. Anything odd ever happen to you?

1. I had a guest yell at me for asking them to move to a non smoking area. and i'm not just talking yelling, this dude was coming up to me and just about trying to fight me. being a smoker, and understanding the stress the park could put on a large family, I tried to straighten it out, but he demanded to see a manager, who promptly told him to put the cigarette out. like i said above, custodial has a lot of non confrontational drama. maybe I'll get the gf on here and she'll give you some real horror stories.
2. OH HELL YEAH MK IS HAUNTED. First of all about twice a month, West MK custodial (adventureland, frontierland, and liberty square) is called to come and clean up a Code Ash on haunted mansion. People dump the remains of dead relatives on the mansion very regularly. But paranormal for me, I've never experienced anything. However, on the haunted mansion, you have a ghost join you in your doom buggy. Those ghosts are Ezra (skeleton), Phineas(lantern), and Gus (ball and chain) they are bad luck, normality, and good luck. and they've never failed. and of course there's the story of charlie, the "haunt of Pirates of the Carribean", if the opening manager doesn't say "Good morning Charlie" when they first start the ride at the beginning of the day, the ride is doomed to break down several times. and it has proven to be true.

When you say the three ghosts never fail, do you mean the riders will have these things? Could you explain?

the ghosts go into the doom buggy, like you see a mirror whwer you see yourself and the ghost is in/on top of/just outside of your car. and their super stition to me has always been proven true.

I'm going to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom tomorrow. Is this time of year crowded?

I hope you like lines. Because there will be plenty. Time your fast passes well and you'll be golden. always remember that NO ONE does ANYTHING during the fireworks. so if you waited all day for space mountain, watch Wishes from Tomorrowland and hop on as soon as they end.

I go to Magic Kingdom several times a year and definitely will be getting fast passes and skipping the parades. I went September 2012 and it was surprisingly less crowded than normal. Thanks for the tip!

september is the best time to go, halloween was incredible.and it hardly rains in september. unlike the summer months. which are the most miserable days ever.

3:45pm, time to sell Mickey ponchos!

THIS. seriously, if it's going to rain during your trip, buy a poncho BEFORE it rains. In the summer they WILL sell out. and you WILL be stuck watching me push water into a drain in my hot as hell rain gear.

At my current place of employment we had to watch the Disney portion of In Search of Excellence. I was amazed at how every employee is a castmember so that every child would have the experience of a lifetime. While I have not been to either Disneyland or World, I find that level of dedication great.

I want to ask how easy or difficult is it for you guys and gals to get into character when you are having a bad day and if that has gotten you into trouble ever ever? ie wanting to tell someone to just fuck off.

for me it was easy. just clean, smile, repeat. but some people the scales are tipped very easily. and usually guests DEMAND to see a manager before it's something too bad

What is the oddest abandoned item you've ever found cleaning up? The most disturbing?

most disturbing was a used condom outside of it's a small world. And i found half a bottle of captain once, which is odd because MK is probably the park adults need to drink at the most, and why the hell didn't they finish it. MK is the only park where you can't purchase alcohol (except at Be Our Guest)

A few years ago there were two custodians in epcot that would freestyle rap anything that the people wanted them too. Do you know the guy or of the guy?

i wish i did!

Former MK Custodial East reporting in. Good to see someone else on here!

EAST CUSTODIAL REPRESENT!!

Ever bang any of the princesses?

No but one of my best friends got with tinkerbell

When is the best time to go into a clean toilet? You know. Deuce worthy toilets.

Custodial Rule: if you're in a guy's stall, custodians are told to leave the seat up. always. and on an average day we have to check the restroom every twenty minutes. on a busy day we'll be in and out. just if there's a custodian there, you can be straight and be like yo there's a problem, except if they're haitian. most of those guys have been here for years and don't speak a word of english.

I am a current Operations CM, whats your view on the FastPass+ system from the outside looking in, from the point of view from someone who doesn't deal with the system on a daily basis?

it seems to be assisting guests. of course i've never used it. but as long as it keeps guests happy i'm happy. from what i understand it's just a way to create a specific fastpass time.

Did you like your job?

Much more than I sit-ups expect. Keep in mind that custodial never has to tell people no. And custodial is the only role that gets free roaming. That kept it really interesting

Is there really a secret network of underground tunnels that link all the buildings and attractions in the park?

you can still take the tour. and before you get stoked, it's not that exciting. it's hot and smelly and there's no sunlight. it's a bit of a bummer. oh, and they blare a crappy radio station. always.

Did you ever get tired of being "happy? I know all the workers should be extremely pleasant at all times.

Yeah, it's a hassle. I struggled a lot with homesickness my first month there. like forth of july i broke down. i just couldn't be on stage. it was so overwhelming. but by the end of the night it's rewarding.

I've been an avid Disney fan my whole life. Just honeymooned there in December, uber magical. Just past Cinderella's Caster there's a wishing well. This is the litlle path that's also the waiting line for a princess meet in a small castle. Rapunzel was there 1 year ago, now it's Mereida. Eventually it dumps you in Tomorrowland. There is a path paver in front of the wishing well eith an "X" on it. I can provide a picture if need be..... WHAT IS IT?! I'm so curious!!

Btw, thanks for doing your job. We loved our time there (my husband and I) and already miss it. What is your favorite ride? Mine's The Haunted Mansion. From now on I'll say hi to Charlie when I ride Pirates

and yes. please post. i'm curious.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/s0XM8OJ.jpg[/IMG]

Sorry I don't have any references pics for location.... and my Husband and I's feet

i know where you're talking about but i never noticed that x. i'm gonna go look when i get back there

what are the cleanest areas of the parks?

anywhere where popcorn is far away. that's the best i got, it's not easy to keep clean.

I noticed while I was at Epcot for the first time over Xmas break that there were several people in little kiosks making jewelry and glass figurines. Do you know what kind of experience those people had before working at Disney?

I'm studying sculpture and metalsmithing/jewelry at university and would be so down with sitting outside or in a booth making Disney things all day.

i have no idea! i stayed in crystal arts watching the people there make glass slippers. it was awesome.

Hey Sam! I'm going to be doing the College Program this fall as a Main Entrance Opps. Did you know anyone that had that job and what did they think about it? And do you have any other tips for when I go down?

HI!! I hope to see you there! i'm still pending. yeah, my friend was MK Main Entrance. she loved it. It's one of the easier jobs you can get. or so i'm told.

What did you think of the Attractions Cast Members and their attitude towed certain(Haitian) custodial CM?

OH DON'T GET ME STARTED. Treat them how you want, I have to work with them. And I would typically care, except the majority of people like that i've dealt with have been more rude, violent, loud, and unproductive as you could possibly imagine.

Hey Sam, thanks for doing the AMA. My girlfriend is doing the program in the fall and is going to be custodial just like you.

You mentioned that your girlfriend also did the program, so as a couple, what kinds of things can couples going through the program expect? For the record, I'm staying home while she's going. We fully intend to stick together through her time away but I've heard horror stories about the program tearing couples up. What kind of stuff should we look out for if we want to stay together?

Take advantage of the main gates. My friends that maintained relationships all took advantage of the resort discounts as well as to avoid the strains of the apartments. How long will she be there for?

Do you ever see people freak out on drugs there? Just seems like the kinda place to trip balls

watched a guy lose his MIND on Christmas Day. he took mushrooms and was basically seizuring in front of the speedway (that's what i was told he took. it thought it was acid) I was debating typing out my guide to getting high at disney world.

How much can you identify with in YouTuber Swoozie's video about his time being a cast member?

I LOVE HIM. I think i stood up and clapped the first time i saw it.

Why did they change it from MGM Studios to Hollywood Studios? I feel like they stripped away part of my childhood.

They lost the rights to the MGM name or MGM merged with disney? i'm not totally sure

How does every single cast member know where something is located? I can ask the person in front of Space Mountain where I can get a pretzel or what's the fastest way to a different ride, and BOOM they know.

we get the hang of it. as long as you're asking someone that speaks english we've seen every name for everything at least once. here's a hint though, if you're looking for something, ask someone that works in the field. like if you're looking for a dinglehopper (the fork/brush from little mermaid) and you ask someone in the emporium, they WILL know where it is. just like every custodian knows every bathroom. and every food and beverage person will know each restaurant, and each cart of food will know the other carts of food. for the whole park.

Are there any unusual rules you have to follow, even when out of costume? Also, do you know why river country closed down?

just that if we were to let someone into the park, we have to be sure we don't get into trouble. if someone that we let in does something wrong, we can lose maingate privileges or worse.

I did the College Program back in 2008 at Disneyland CA, I was sales at the Emporium. my Brother did Food service at Epcot in 2007, I love the Program, If I did it again I would do Custodial is an instant. What position would you do if you did it again or had to choose a different one at the start?

Sci Fi Dinner Theater Host, or storybook circus merch. simply for the suspenders.

Is Disney evil?

eh. not a monster but not a saint.