Last updated 22 Feb 19 – Fun in 2018.

Walt Disney World (D) work requirements for seasonal/casual temporary (CT) employees are 150 hours per year. You also have to work at least every 6 months to retain your proficiency. Therefore, I am trying to work at least 40 hours every quarter. D’s web site is set up for CTs to enter their availability is orientated toward working a week at a time, but a day or two a week is best for my schedule. My current availability is Sundays only and CTs are required to update their availability at least quarterly but I try to do it through the end of the next 12 months. The next 3 weeks availability cannot be changed, but any availability after that can be updated at any time.

I work in Disney’s Animal Kingdom (DAK) DinoLand Boneyard. When I first applied there were no CT openings in park operations (then called attractions), but I requested it anyway. So it is still worth filling out an application – you never know what jobs will be available next week. Read my 2008 story to see how my career started. http://wdw.disneycareers.com is the web site to apply for D jobs. Review my comment on D employment at the bottom of this page.

I started working at Disney in 2008 and worked 14 days – see how it all started - Dave in Disney 2008.

I worked 15 days in 2009 - Dave in Disney 2009

I worked 24 days in 2010 - Dave in Disney 2010

I worked 21 days in 2011 and started counting hours - Dave in Disney 2011

I worked 27 days in 2012 - Dave in Disney 2012

I worked 27 days in 2013 - Dave in Disney 2013

I worked 26 days in 2014 – Dave in Disney 2014

I worked 24 days in 2015 – Dave in Disney 2015

I worked 24 days in 2016 – Dave in Disney 2016 – I was too busy at year end to update my blog.

I worked 22 days in 2017 – Dave in Disney 2017 – I was too busy at year end to update my blog.

I worked 24 days in 2018 – Dave in Disney 2018

I have worked 24 days in 2018 – 234 work days total in 10 years and four months.

I work at D for the fun of it. It is really great fun helping people who are having fun, have fun. I have received many 50% and 40% discounts on rooms, discounts of 35%-40% on merchandise, 20%-40% discounts on meals, discounts on tours, have received special considerations at reservation time, provided friends and family free admission to D, and a million fun times. Prior to 2018, since I was working away from my tax home, all my expenses were tax deductions. Those deductions, along with several others, cannot be taken in 2018 thanks to the new income tax law.

I am only trained to work in DAK DinoLand Boneyard which features a playground area with 9 slides for kids and a dig site where kids can dig for dinosaur bones. If I can continue to work at least 40 hours a quarter, I see no reason to request training or work in other areas. In the Boneyard, there are no lines, no high restrictions, and no rides which may break down.

Week 07 – 02/04/18 - Sun. February 04 – 6.0 hours – total for 2018 6.0 hours I was not scheduled, but picked up this shift from another cast member. The shift started at 13:45 (1:45pm) so I left home about 8:45 which gives me plenty of time to make a stop or two and still get to D an hour or so before shift starts. This was a nice day with many Canadians visiting and even a family from Austria. He asked me if I knew where Austria was probably thinking I was an average US citizen who knows little about the rest of the world. (Several years ago when my wife was working on getting visas for a trip to Brazil, every traveler filing out the request form for the visa said they were from America. She changed that because Brazil is in America also.) I replied to the Austrian indicating I knew exactly where Austria was – just east of Liechtenstein. He smiled.

Week 11 – 03/04/18 – Sun March 04 – 8.0 hours – total for 2018 14.0 hours I was scheduled to work today based on my availability I posted on the D web site. It was a hot day and a lot of the local pass holders came to spend the day. Somehow I ended up working an extra 2 hours after the Boneyard was closed so the supervisors offered me the opportunity to clean up the waiting area for the Dinosaur ride or leave early. I chose to take the hours and clean up the Dinosaur ride walkway.

Week 12 – 03/11/18 – Sun March 11 – 6.0 hours – total for 2018 20.0 hours I was scheduled to work today based on my availability. It is spring break time. The parking lot was too full even for cast members. I was sent to the security gate and told to drive around the back of the park – 3 miles - until I got to Dinoland and find a place to park. There were cars parked all over the place. It is hard to recognize the place you work from the back side. Finally I passed Expedition Everest – the Yeti roller coaster – which was easy to spot (right next to DinoLand) and found a place to park.

Week 13 – 03/18/18 – Sun March 18 – 6.0 hours – total for 2018 26.0 hours I was scheduled to work today based on my availability. The shift started at 3:15pm (15:15 D time) so I left home about 10:15. I had a little extra time so I went by Cast Connections. A place cast members can purchase D items which have not sold at a lower price. I was tempted to buy a couple of marathon tee shirts to wear but didn’t – I am not a runner.

Week 18 – 04/22/18 – Sun April 22 – 6.0 hours – total for 2018 32.0 hours I was not scheduled to work, but picked up this shift from another cast member. The shift started at 3:45pm (15:45 D time) so I left home about 10:45. I spent the first two hours of my shift doing “tasks”. Checking the team to see if any need a break, filling hand sanitizes, cleaning the bread room, straightening strollers, etc. Finally after my break, I was assigned a position relieving another cast member for her break.

Week 19 – 04/29/18 – Sun April 29 – 6.0 hours – total for 2018 38.0 hours I was scheduled to work today. The shift started at 11:00am so I left home about 6:00am. My first position was the dig site where I found several supervisors and maintenance workers digging through the sand. It is not really sand, more like finely crust rock. Anyway seems some guest has lost his wedding band and they were working to find it. Seems his wife later came by the entrance and said they found it in their stroller. Another day when the parking was too full to park and I had to journey around the back of the park to find a place to park – same spot I parked in back on 11Mar.

Sat May 05 – 10.25 hours – total for 2018 48.25 hours I was scheduled to work tomorrow and was able to pick up today’s shift from the D scheduling website. It was a hot day until about 2pm when a light rain started. When it rains the slides get too slippery for safe use. The rain stopped, we dried out the slides, and opened them. Three times we went through that process as the rain started and ended. One guest asked about places to eat at DAK. I suggested several and even the Rain Forest Café which is located at the entrance.

Week 20 – 05/06/18 – Sun May 06 – 6.0 hours – total for 2018 54.25 hours Scheduled to work today, I arrived at early. In talking with the guests, I found quite a few from Great Britain. I also spent some time talking with a family from Australia. Prior to getting to work, I went by Cast Connections, a store which sells older merchandise to cast members at discount prices. Additionally they sell surplus equipment which today included a thousand glasses and dishes.

Week 21 – 05/13/18 – Sun May 13 – 6.0 hours – total for 2018 60.25 hours Scheduled to work today, I arrived at early. It rained for most of my shift and that caused us to close the slides. When they are wet, guests slide so fast they do not have time to put their feet down and land on their behind. One of the quests was from Albania and asked if I knew where it was. I indicated it was just across the Adriatic Sea from Italy. One of the items we discussed was their language. It was unique, unlike any of the countries around them.

Week 22 – 05/20/18 – Sun May 20 – 6.0 hours – total for 2018 66.25 hours Scheduled to work today and tried to pick up a shift for the next day but found none available. Again it rained and the slides were closed. At the end of the evening, during the end of shift discussion, we were told there was going to be a Walt Disney World lost and found website where a report can be filed - DisneyWorld.com/lostandfound. It has been reported that more than 6000 cell phones are found at WDW each year. A couple of years ago while I was waiting for a brake job on my van to be finished at WDW, I asked to be dropped off at the lost and found building at the Magic Kingdom so I could catch the monorail. While waiting there, I asked to guy in charge what the strangest thing he had ever checked in at lost and found. He said a bowling ball.

Week 23 – 05/27/18 – Sun May 27 – 8.5 hours – total for 2018 74.75 hours Scheduled to work today and arrived on time. DinoLand has is now having Donald’s Dino-Bash. It seems that Donald Duck has found out he is a decedent of the dinosaurs. It seems Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Launchpad McQuack, Scrooge McDuck, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip & Dale are all visiting. Pluto is visiting guests in the Boneyard all day.

Week 24 – 06/03/18 – Sun June 03 – 6.0 hours – total for 2018 80.75 hours Scheduled to work and arrived early, Visited Cast Connections, the place where unsold merchandise is sold to cast members at a discount. The day at the Boneyard was about the same. It was hot in the morning and rained in the afternoon. Just after the rain ended rain a guest from Rhode Island wanted to know when Scrooge McDuck was returning, Seems all the characters stay out of DinoLand when it is raining. Anyway this guest said Scrooge McDuck was her favorite character and she had flown all the way down for just one day to get her picture taken with him. About 5 minutes later, Scrooge McDuck returned and she got her picture. I’ve always like Scrooge McDuck myself.

Week 26 – 06/17/18 – Sun June 17 – 6.0 hours – total for 2018 86.75 Scheduled to work and arrived early. It was another hot day and was raining by the time I left at 4pm. Spent time talking with many guests from Brazil (I was there 8 years ago – when I visited the Brazilian Real was worth 50 cents and today is worth 25 cents), Equator, Belgium, and Canada. It was busy with many guests from other US states and many guests who live near WDW.

25Jun18 – I submitted a request to visit a Disney’s Hollywood Studies new Toy Story Land dress rehearsal. I was given the opportunity to visit with 3 guests on 25Jun. Members of my family were busy so my wife asked Jodi and daughter Alannah (age 6) if they would like to go. Tickets for Disney were not required but they had annual passes anyway. We rode the new rides and Alannah spent a lot of time talking with Woody, Jessie, and especially Buzz. It sure was hot.

07Aug18 – My extended family took a 3 night 2 day trip to WDW. We stayed at the Pop Century Resort for 3 nights and spend a day in the Magic Kingdom and Holiday studios. We had a breakfast with the characters at Ohana located in the Polynesian Resort – rated as one of the best places to eat by the disneyfoodblog.com. The 7 of us, joined by 2 other for 2 days, had a great time and the whole trip cost about $2000 of which about $700 was discounts due to my cast member status.

Week 35 – 08/19/18 – Sun August 19 – 9.75 hours – total for 2018 96.50 Scheduled to work and it was another hot day and with rain by 4pm. During all the rain all the characters stay inside and do not return until after the rain stops. A lady from Rhode Island says she flew down just for the day to have her picture taken with Scrooge McDuck. She was lucky, she was first in line when the rain stopped at 5pm and came back along with Launchpad McQuack.??

Mon August 20 – 6.0 hours – total for 2018 102.50 Since I was scheduled to yesterday, I went on line and found out that Virginia was looking for someone to take her Monday shift. I asked to take it and she signed me up. It was another standard hot (93 degrees, 100% humidity) at D. The rains came about 3pm, just before I left. It seems that the Duck crew is scheduled to be in DinoLand for an extended time. One of the cast members I previously work with was from Singapore and he has moved on another task at D. He has 3 months left before he returns home to finish his degree.

Week 36 – 08/26/18 – Sun August 26 – 9.75 hours – total for 2018 112.75 Scheduled to work with an early start time so I drove up the night before. At the Rodeway Inn which was previously the Motel 6, I met a couple ladies from Thailand. I offered them a ride to the DAK and explained they could take a free D bus to EPCOT. My English was not good enough to get my suggestion across but it turns out there were 8 ladies and I could only take 4. Like every day at D in August, about 4pm the rains came. We closed the slides and rope ladders. Rather than just a rope, with a sign which said closed, across the entrance to the rope ladders, now a 3x4 foot grid of rope was added. So now rather than just ducking under the ropes the kids had to climb over the 3x4 foot rope grids – which some did. We try to catch them because the rope ladders become very slippery when wet, but every now and then the kids get by us.

Week 37– 09/02/18 – Sun September 02 – 7.00 hours – total for 2018 119.25 Scheduled to work at 9:45 and on my way in, I received a call asking me if I was OK. I said sure and asked why. The supervisor explained they had changed my schedule and I was scheduled to start at 8:30. I showed them my printed schedule when I got there and they suggested I check my scheduled more than just the first day it was assigned. It was a standard work day, hot and rain about 2pm. Met people from all over, including for the first time a family from Sweden who were spending a week at D.

Week 38 – 09/09/18 – Sun September 09 – 10.00 hours – total for 2018 129.25 Scheduled to work a full day. One thing nice about D is that they pay you overtime for all time worked after 8 hours on a daily basis. It was very convenient to work today because I was attending a 3 day IRS FORUM starting Monday evening about 5 miles from D. After a normal hot day at D I went over to the convention hotel. At D it was a slower day. School is now in session so there are fewer guests.

Week 40 – 09/23/18 – Sun September 23 – 6.00 hours – total for 2018 135.25 Scheduled to starting at 1:45pm so I drove up that morning. I spent the day rotating between various positions and had a lot of time to talk to the guests. There were a lot of quests from Brazil and of course we talked about the Real (Brazil Dollar) which is now trading at a rate of 3.75 to the dollar and was 2.00 to the dollar when I was there 10 years ago. There were also several guests from Canada. I do not understand those Canadian who speak English and French only allow their children to French. I have family in Japan who speak English at home and in the US and Japanese when out in public. The kids are now fluent in both languages and while they speak English with no accent, I have no clue about their Japanese although they attend Japanese schools. In my languages are easier to learn while you are still in elementary school.

Mon September 24 – 3.5 hours – total for 2018 138.75 Since I was scheduled to yesterday, I went on line and found out that Sarah was looking for someone to take her Monday shift. I asked to take it and she signed me up. Since the number of guests light, the supervisors were calling looking for those who would like to leave early. Since I was tired, I said let me go early. When you clock in for the day, you can ask for an early release or an extended shift and if D has staffing requirements to fit your request, they will honor your request. It was an error for me to request an early release since I am trying to get 150 hours per year.

06Oct18 – Four of us went up to the Wind & Waves Grill at the Disney’s Vero Beach Resort - https://verobeach.disney.go.com/ - I had to use my 40% meal discount coupon before 15Oct18.

13Oct18 – Four of us went up to the Whispering Canyon Café in the Wilderness Lodge Resort for dinner - http://www.wildernesslodgesite.com/. We decided to eat the family style skillet which consisted of ribs, pulled pork, sausage, chicken, brisket, baked beans, corn, mashed potatoes and green beans. It was all you can eat and I had to use my 50% meal discount coupon before 15Oct18. Prior to dinner we went to the Company D store to check for discount tickets and cast merchandise, Shades of Green – https://www.shadesofgreen.org/ - the military recreational resort at WDW - to check out discount tickets for military, and Cast Connections – the cast store for clothes and merchandise which had not sold in regular Disney stores (that stop cost me money).

Week 46 – 11/04/18 – Sun November 04 – 6.00 hours – total for 2018 144.75 Not scheduled to work, still looking to get my hours, so I noticed on the Facebook group page that Kyrie was looking to exchange 11/04 for another date or give it away. I put in a comment asking her to give it to me. She said she would need to get supervisor approval since she was in the college program (CP) and they have some restrictions CPs giving away their hours. It was approved and I worked the shift. It started to get warm and 30 minutes before my shift end, the monsoons hit. I spent some time talking with some guests from New Jersey. They are members of the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) and come down about 2 times a year. They really like their membership in DVC.

Week 48 – 11/18/18 – Sun November 18 – 6.00 hours – total for 2018 150.75 I received an email from D reminding me that as a CT employee I had to complete 150 hours of work by year end. I had already been scheduled but thanked them for the reminder. It was a very busy day since it was very nice weather and all the local pass holders came out. I spend some time talking with one of the other cast member from South Korea who was in the college program (CP). Currently, two other cast members are from China, they are doing well but there is sort of a language problem at times, especially when telling jokes. A lot of guests I talked with were from Ohio and Michigan. They were happy to be out of the snow.

Mon November 19 – 6.00 hours – total for 2018 156.75 Since I was scheduled to yesterday and was going to be in Kissimmee anyway, I immediately went online to a Facebook group but was unable to find shifts other cast members were trying to give away. However last Thursday on the D website I found out D needed another cast member to work today, so I signed up. Today was another very busy day with great weather. I talked with guests from Japan and Canada. Not sure how they can afford to visit D since the dollar is so high compared to the Japanese Yen and Canadian Dollar. Again there were a lot of guests I talked with from Florida, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Maryland.

Week 51 – 12/09/18 – Sun December 09 – 6.00 hours – total for 2018 162.75 hours. I did not delete my availability early enough (since availability has to be updated at least 3 weeks in advance) so I was scheduled to work today. I was also able to complete some required training. Today was another very busy day with many local annual pass holders in the afternoon. I talked for some time with a couple from NJ. Not sure I convinced them to try to get a job at D but they seemed very interested.

30Dec18 – Four adults and 3 kids spent the day at EPCOT. Thanks to the passes D gives us, we did not have to buy any entrance passes. We ended up having dinner in Restaurant Marrakesh in Morocco. The oldest granddaughter (11) practiced dancing with the belly dancer. During our visit I went back stage to get one of the latest employee magazines and lost my D badge. It never turned up in lost and found so I had to get it replaced – an adventure for 2019.

It seems at D there are 3 types of cast members, full time, part time, and seasonal (also called casual temporary (CT)). If you decide something like this would be fun for you, go to http://wdw.disneycareers.com and apply for a seasonal position. You can also call the Walt Disney World Job line at 1-407-828-1000. As you go through the application, please remember that Dave Flynn DAK 448044 is the cast member who recruited you. Also, as you can read in my 2008 story, things change; seasonal does not mean a season, 6 to 8 weeks is not always 6 to 8 weeks, full availability does not mean 5 days, the hiring procedure this week is not the same as last week, the jobs available this week are not the same as last week, my hiring experience will not be the same as yours, etc. My job category is Operations (was Attractions) and it took me months from the time I first went to casting until a position opened up (Dave in Disney 2008). I accepted the position before I knew what it was - again read about my application process in my 2008 story. Also remember, Dave Flynn DAK 448044 recruited you.