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30 Of The Spiciest Work Secrets Shared By Former Disney Theme Park Employees
There are 12 Disney Parks, located at six different resorts, and many visitors call these locations the happiest places on Earth. But Reddit user u/memezdankton wanted to learn whether the employees agree with this description.
A few weeks ago, they submitted this question to the platform: "Former Disney theme park employees of Reddit, what are some dirty secrets or stories you can tell us about your time there?"
With 4.2K upvotes and 1.7K comments, it has people sharing really juicy, dark, and surprising secrets about what is happening behind the sparkling facade. Here are some of the most memorable ones.
This post may include affiliate links.
Disney Employees started referring to Disneyland as Mousechwitz due to working conditions.
Management told them to stop, so they used Duckau instead
I am sure the working conditions are terrible, even inhumane, and of course this should be talked about and changed. But please don't use the systematic torture, enslavement, and murder of my family; my people, as a comparison. You can make your point without minimizing what a different group of people went through at a different time. Don't make jokes at the expense of genocide victims.
A true story that is "dirty" ethically.
Before I worked for them, when I was just an annual passholder, I got overcome by the heat and humidity, almost had a heatstroke, at the bathrooms outside the EPCOT entrance. Two security guards wanted to take me to the park's First Aid, but a Disney manager refused. "He gets in the park when he buys a ticket." Manager walks away for a minute. Security guards say "man, I can't believe this" and "what an operation." 30 mins for Reedy Creek Fire Dept. to show up. I was so sick I didn't even pull out my AP until they got there. Security guard #1 says "NOW can he go to First Aid?" Suddenly that manager is all about helping me - and so apologetic! He pushed me in a wheelchair all the way to First Aid. "Can I get you some water, sir?"
Big f**kin' phonies.
The question struck u/memezdankton's mind when they were watching a show on YouTube. "It's called Defunctland, and they basically review failed theme parks and theme park attractions, and I saw an episode on Disney," the Reddit user told Bored Panda.
"That got me thinking as to what is going on inside these parks, and what secret dramas and intrigues happen behind closed doors," they explained. "Plus, I really like reading stories on Reddit."
u/memezdankton has been to Disney parks twice. "Before the thread, my opinion has always been that there must be a lot going on behind the scenes for the 'magic' to happen, like everyone being in character with guests."
If anybody tells you to have a magical day, they mean you were a gigantic a**hole and hated dealing with you. We call it the Disney F**k You.
And if you reply with: I wish you a magical, enchanted, mystical life, would that translate into something like "You f***ing turdy jerk, go f*** yourself for eternity?" And the exchange would sound so civil at the same time...
People sexually harass the characters super frequently. I was working with Ariel and cast members will always count down before they take a photo so people have time to get into position. I counted down and this teen boy decided to try to rip off one of Ariel's shells. I had to open his camera and expose his film so the photo didn't get developed and passed around. I found out later that I was supposed to take it to the Kodak shop to have the film developed and that one removed - but I'd always heard the rumors about ruining the film and nobody really trains you on that so I just went with it. The little a**holes deserved it.
I wonder what Disney's stance would've been on calling the police to report the sexual assault
The comments their post received only strengthened this notion. The biggest revelation for u/memezdankton was the scope of the show the employees have to put up. "Honestly, I was surprised as to how much work goes into the acting. Literally, each person out in the park is 'in character,' which often leads to funny stories behind the scenes after these people rest from a long day of being cheerful and happy."
In fact, Disney employees aren't technically "employees." They're "cast members." And not just the ones who play actual Disney characters. Everyone working in the park, whether they're ride operators or food servers, is a "cast member."
I had a friend who was a gorgeous red head in her early twenties. She got cast to play Ariel at Disney World. She returned home after a few months saying that they were pressuring her into getting breast implants. To quote her (quoting her manager), "There is no way Ariel has such small boobs."
I used to occasionally work at one of the outdoor carts in front of the castle at Disneyland. There’s water in various areas of the park, so we got lots of ducks, and in the springtime, the babies would hatch and walk around with their mothers. People don’t always pay attention to where they are going and sometimes step on one of them, usually killing them. If I was able, I would step away from my cart to escort a family of ducks to safety.
Of course, working in Disney theme parks is more than just constant misery. For example, when Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida closed its doors in April 2020 due to the pandemic, close to 43,000 people were abruptly furloughed. Later, thousands were permanently let go and many mourned the career of their dreams at 'the most magical place on Earth.'
Have you worked in a Disney theme park as well? We would love to hear your story. If you're up for it, tell us about it in the comments.
I think the worst part about character harassment is that Disney does not prosecute the guests, at least when I was there. When I was working in the 2000s, there was someone whose wrist was broken by a drunk guest who grabbed and twisted it really badly. They refused to prosecute, and I think she may have ended up with permanent nerve damage in her wrist, which really sucked because she was also a gymnast.
Although Disney didn't want to sue, the employee could have done so.
Both hands had to be visible in photos (e.g. one outstretched and the other on someone’s shoulder). The biggest no-no is hands behind backs not visible due to the possibility of someone saying you grabbed them inappropriately.
This is probably common sense for anyone coming into close contact with the public like this, they're just protecting themselves from accusations that could deeply impact their lives.
My mom was working in the nurses' station and got a call for a costume character who had heat exhaustion (the costumes get extremely warm, especially in summer). He was advised to remove the costume and walk to the nurse building to recover, but wasn’t allowed to. They were so busy trying to make sure that nobody saw him out of costume that they literally risked his health.
They literally risked his life. On the other hand, when you're nearly dying of heat exhaustion you must be some fool when you don't take of anything that is heating you up, like a hot Walt Disney costume.
I worked in reservations. They give you a name, that is not your own and you better use it. My name is not Robyn Leigh, but in Disney reservations, it was.
Can't see anything wrong in protecting your privacy by giving you a fake name. I can imagine that a lot of women wouldn't mind to go under a false name for the public to avoid being harassed by creeps, weirdos, stalkers, perverts and psychopaths.
My SIL got a the role of Cinderella at Disneyland Paris.
She had to practice Cinderella's autograph over and over because although different actresses play her all over the world, the signature of the character has to be identical anywhere it's signed for consistency.
This was years ago at DL but there used to be a show of Tinkerbell flying through the sky before fireworks started in the summer. They would put the spot light on her as she went down a zip line and go to black just as she crossed to a back stage area. The novelty of it was that there was no sophisticated mechanism to stop her. There were literally a couple of guys in a tower at the end of the zip line holding a mattress that she would crash into to stop. Nightly, CMs would gather at the base of the tower backstage just to see this happen. As soon as she crashed, everyone would go back to their locations.
This is not a secret, more just an observation of the culture. It really kind of makes me sick and disappointed with humanity.
As a cast member at Disney World in 1979 I learned quickly that putting people in uniforms brings out the worst in the instinct to “other" people. Certain cast members in specific uniforms were very high in status, and other cast members were very low. Since you wore your uniforms all the time your status was immediately spotted and people tended to treat you better or worse based on your status.
So here’s the pecking order that I observed. Many cast members told me of this pecking order. Low status to high.
The street sweepers who emptied the trash cans.
The folks in the yellow jumpsuits who sold the popcorn.
The folks in turn-of-the-century garb who worked in the stores of Main Street.
The retail workers in the other lands with costumes that matched the themes.
The ride operators whose costumes were themed to match the land such as tomorrowland, frontierland etc.
The ride operators of space mountain, who were near the top of all the ride operators.
The monorail operators. They were the absolute pinnacle of ride operators who did not have some kind of performing role.
The ride operators of the jungle Cruise. They were close to the status of the people in the entertainment division because they had lines and really had to be entertaining.
Anyone in the entertainment division, like the kids of the kingdom, the performers, singers, and musicians. And they weren’t just a little bit above everyone else, they were stratospherically above everyone else.
The tour guides, all females, in the English riding (horse) outfits with jodhpurs, complete with a riding crop and a fetching little cap on their heads. These girls basically were the top employees who wore uniforms. They met all the VIPs including hollywood stars, politicians, billionaires etc. They could get to the front of any line. They were unstoppable, and they certainly acted like they knew it.
Now everyone I tell this to always asks, “weren’t the characters the most important people and have the highest status?” Sadly—and this is really where it gets sick—they were kind of treated like freaks. All the Goofy‘s had to be really tall thin men, all the Mickeys and Minnies had to be either short women or little people. They worked very odd shifts, a half an hour on a half an hour off, and they always had people around them to help, which also made them seem weird.
So all in all my summer at Walt Disney World demonstrated to me the power of clothing in establishing a hierarchy of status. It is a sad commentary on humanity, but a fact nonetheless.
I just have to say one thing...people suffering from heat stroke or whatever and need to take their costume off...should be able to. F**k that "ruining the magic" BS. If your kids believe these Disney characters are real...then maybe you just shouldn't lie to your kids...idk...
But kids do believe. Once i took a friends daughter (5yo) to Disneyland Paris and she enjoyed the Nemo ride a lot (not me, i was thinking it was a cute ride and not a rollercoaster, i was pushing her so hard to the back of her seat, fearing for her and she was shouting "hang on i'm ok!"). But she was really afraid in the Snow White ride because of the witch. and i had to line up to see Mickey, because she wanted to see him and gave him a drawing of him. And Mickey is an ass, he (she) made fun of her because she drew him huge legs, the Mickey bodyguard told her that Mickey should play basketball with such huge legs and Mickey nodded. The girl was hurt, i had to turn it into a compliment. Not cool Mickey, not cool.
When the princess face characters come backstage they have to take off their dresses so they don't get dirty while they're on break so the princesses are usually walking around in a smock and bloomers if you see them back there. There is some serious cognitive dissonance when you walk back and see Snow White in her bloomers on her phone cursing up a storm.
No one can actually ‘die’ in a park. They remove the dead person and declare them dead outside the park. Also haunted mansion people can’t smile, a favorite pastime is to get them to crack.
People die at Disney all of the time. There is a list that you can Google that lists the deaths at Disney World. This is an urban legend.
We actually care a lot about the guest experience. If someone drops their ice cream, I can get them A new one free of charge. It’s called “keeping the magic”.
But if an employee nearly dies of heat exhaustion due to a hot costume we tell them to man up and just find some shade.
When someone pukes on a ride, it's referred to as a "protein spill" so that it doesn't sound as gross.
And if a person holds a hand on their mouth while puking, it's a protein shake...
In the Indiana Jones ride near the giant snakes after the bridge there is a large metal slab on the ground. Under that slab is an opening that falls into a large empty space. The opening is in the middle of the space and about 10 feet high. There is no rope, no ladder and no stairs to reach the opening from inside the space. There are no other ways to get out of that space other than the opening in the ceiling and there are no lights in the space. You could literally fall in there and be trapped forever in darkness if someone doesn’t come and help you out. It is for this and many other reasons that there is a checkout system on the ride. If you enter the ride on foot, you take a card. When you return from the ride you turn in the card. If any cards are missing than the ride cannot be turned on and a search party must go out until that person is found.
You have to be in specific height ranges to play the different characters. Because Mickey's height range is so short he's usually played by a woman. Likewise for Donald, although the most successful and best known Donald that I knew while I worked there was a little person.
I am looking for the "dark, dirty" secret part of this info, but can't find it.
I worked at Kilimanjaro Safaris in Animal Kingdom. A little secret: we got paid a dollar more than all other attractions because we not only spiel, but drive 35+ guests in a truck on an uncontrolled trail. If we wanted to, we could’ve driven right out into the river where the crocs are and told you all to “run.” Hence the extra dollar an hour to keep us from doing something so crazy
A friend of mine worked at Disney World. According to her Epcot is the best place to work. When she was at the Magic Kingdom she said she went home crying all the time because the moms were so mean.
One of my niece's classmates worked at Disney as Tiana for four months. She quit and said it was for her mental health. She told us that the moms were so mean and rude and would push other people's children down to get to the characters and scream at her if she only took the time for one or two pictures with a child because there were 300 children waiting to meet her. She also said the most ridiculous thing is the moms that make the girls wear the princess dresses in the park to meet their favorite characters. The girls are hot and miserable and crying because they can't enjoy themselves in a cheap, almost plastic floor-length dress and heels - at an amusement park.
I worked there for 3 months 2 years ago with my gf at the time and anything news worthy that happens there (usually negative) immediately gets shot down by the official page of Disney (Twitter, insta, Facebook etc) they keep everything hush hush. Lighting struck a bathroom building and there was a small fire and my gf and I weren’t working that day but we were there enjoying the park for free bc we’re cast members and she records it and posted it on her Twitter. News media pages were commenting and asking her questions like when, how, what’s being done and before she could reply the Disney page said to disregard the video bc it wasn’t true and the video is edited and the media pages stopped asking after that. She gets called into the office the next day and was super close to losing her job. The reason she didn’t was bc of how much seniority she had but she was basically on probation after that. Disney is f***ed they don’t tell people s**t.
The only way to maintain the illusion, is to make sure nobody sees anything you don't want them to. It's like a mini facist state, excused because it "makes dreams come to life"
When people say that it's like being part of a cult, it's 100% true. In any job you have there is bias, but at Disney, if you mess with the wrong "Leader" (manager) you'll basically be blacklisted from ever working your way up in the company.
The amount of abuse I've endured from guests and other cast is asinine, especially regarding covid.
I worked in my department for 3 years, was denied multiple promotions for never any real reason. I worked 50+ hour work weeks religiously, covered extra shifts, you name it, but because I made a mistake in my first year I never got anywhere.
If you don't kiss the a** of every manager, eat lunch with them, and cater to their every whim, you stay at the bottom.
I got so fed up after my interview for trainer. Was supposed to interview in the am, showed up, got yelled at for showing up and he told my coordinator to apologize to me, then rushed me around my area in 15 minutes because he "had a meeting" then brought up feedback he'd kept from me for months just for the interview and to deny me trainer. I quit 3 days later.
Someone lost a finger on the pirates ride. Also it’s not filtered so we tell you to keep your hands out of the water for multiple reasons.
1) so you can keep your limbs
2) you could get an infection
We weren’t supposed to talk about the finger thing really.
The water may not be filtered, but it is sanitized (usually with bromine). There's always a chance of a splash leading to unintended ingestion, so the health department wouldn't let Disney leave the water untreated. Still wouldn't recommend drinking it, but getting some on your skin isn't going to infect you.
Ever heard about people spreading ashes of their loved ones in the POTC or Haunted Mansion ride? Its goddamn true!
My friend worked in the Haunted House...but before that Pirates. He said that you were under camera the whole time you are in the park and that they had tapes of people...um, being friendly. He said they would stop the ride, turn up the lights in that area and then ask them to stop over the speakers.
I went to college with a woman who played Snow White. She said she wanted to quit on her very first day because she had so many screaming, vomiting, angry, hungry, drooling children handed to her for photos. She said it was the absolute worst. I'm not sure how long she stuck it out for but I know it wasn't long.
The “secret” tunnels under MK and Epcot. They smelled so bad. It’s where all the garbage went to. We had a subway and another restaurant just for cast members. They would close down cast parking without telling the cast members in appropriate time. Mandatory overtime when needed without double time. I can keep going.
Disneyland first interview papers include a blank outline of a person to indicate where you have tattoos.
It's referenced if you want to change positions internally, to indicate how said tattoos could be revealed, based on what your new uniform would be.
Note: this post originally had 58 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I never understood the extreme adoration people have for Disney. I don't understand how a theme park like that is "magical" and clearly everything is there to make money.
I hate theme parks - and I hated them when I was a kid, too. I have zero desire to go to any Disney property. They've been abusing their staff from the moment they opened, and everyone is frightened to upset them.
Same. I have never like amusement parks and I can't think of tooo many places that would be worse than Disney to vacation.
Load More Replies... I am not saying that there aren't things that are wrong.But we have people claiming stuff and no way to prove that claims...
Bored Panda is for entertainment. It's up to you to decide .
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Disney was sort of notorious for abusing the animals in some of his "classic" films, so it does not surprise me that employees would be treated like dirt as well.
The animal abuse occurred at a time when most movie productions including animals were abusive and unhealthy for the animal stars.
Load More Replies... Strange post. Few of these are "Dirty Secrets" as the title implies...actually, that an amusement parts creates a artifically happy world and exactly this is requested by patrons is no surprise. It is no surprise either that show business is often a sweatjob, and it is sadly no suprise that many of the jobs will be bad-paying and tend to have bad working conditions. Moreover, this post mixes individual anecdotes with hints to systematic problems. Thus, I do not think that it is very educational.
They aren't really secrets either. Disney has a long and public history of being the most inhumane and unethical company in America. Not just the parks, but the entire corporate empire. They are worse than Amway, tbh. What kills me is that they try to hide it all by catering their products to whatever popular social trends (civil rights in the 60s, cultural inclusion in the 90s, gender fluidity now, etc.) are going on while all the while conducting their "behind the scenes business" in this totally hypocritical Nazi fashion. All their apparent dedication to people is total BS. The only tjing that matters to Disney is the illusion. They are a successful version of Theranos.
Load More Replies...
The entire Walt Disney Company has always made me feel a mixture of disgust and admiration. In a way that company is the most American company of them all, (and I'm an American, from the very average-American state of Ohio): a world-class creator of glorious fantasies, but with a willingness to be extremely harsh in how it achieves them.
I don't get why Disneyland is not all over the place. Why don't they have a Disneyland in every state. It doesn't make sense to me.
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I'm done with Disneyland. When I was a kid man it was the best but now I'm afraid I'm never going again. It's part of growing up. The day you realize I will never go back. I never went to Magic Mountain though and they got 29 rollercoasters so maybe someday I'll go there. But Covid has me not wanting to get 6 feet near anyone anywhere now forever. I'm gonna start wearing a mask 24/7 everywhere I am. It sucks but I don't want to die that way. I almost died the last time I had the flu and they say the mask prevents it. So it works out to making sense.
I find it hilarious that they act so pearl-clutchingly shocked at guests they catch making out. I knew someone who was a jungle cruise operator, not only are all the young cast members boinking each other in every nook and cranny in the park, but they also had a hand gesture they would flash at other cast members when there was a hottie on their ride they should check out. We jokingly called it The H*rniest Place on Earth.
Can't stand Disney but then Disney + saved lockdown.....and Tom Hiddleston as Loki can't be seen any other way.
One time my family was riding the Frozen ride in Epcot and it stopped working before we even got going. We only saw Sven's butt. It was kind of funny because 1) they started the warnings with character's voices, but after a few announcements about the ride they used an actual person's voice and told us to wait there to be let off the ride and 2) they told us not to take pictures of the ride after they turned the lights on and everyone instantly pulled out their phones and started snapping photos (One person took a selfie with everyone in the boat). We were evacuated after about 30 minutes and we all got a free fastpass to any ride we wanted.
I imagine most of these are true but it's all hearsay from disgruntled employees. So, you know, that grain of salt thing.
What we have here is an assortment of completely false and laughingly impossible "stories", a few facts that are easily found with a quick look at Wikipedia, and one or two actual secrets.
Well, what did you expect in a world of capitalism? Its always about money, also with Disney of course, and there are few companies exempt from focusing on profit first.
Not sure how alienating your customer base through deceit, pandering, and horrible customer service equates to capitalist success. It is profitable short term, but long term has never been anything but corporate suicide. Not once. Capitalism is *NOT* focusing on profit first, btw. It is focusing on sustainability first, then profit. That means accounting for the desires of your customers. Disney is a horrible company, but capitalism is not why. There are plenty of capitalist companies whose ethical standards not only surpass those of their industry, but surpass them greatly.
Load More Replies...
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Most of these are urban legends and either entirely false or partially true.
Load More Replies... I never understood the extreme adoration people have for Disney. I don't understand how a theme park like that is "magical" and clearly everything is there to make money.
I hate theme parks - and I hated them when I was a kid, too. I have zero desire to go to any Disney property. They've been abusing their staff from the moment they opened, and everyone is frightened to upset them.
Same. I have never like amusement parks and I can't think of tooo many places that would be worse than Disney to vacation.
Load More Replies... I am not saying that there aren't things that are wrong.But we have people claiming stuff and no way to prove that claims...
Bored Panda is for entertainment. It's up to you to decide .
Load More Replies... Disney was sort of notorious for abusing the animals in some of his "classic" films, so it does not surprise me that employees would be treated like dirt as well.
The animal abuse occurred at a time when most movie productions including animals were abusive and unhealthy for the animal stars.
Load More Replies... Strange post. Few of these are "Dirty Secrets" as the title implies...actually, that an amusement parts creates a artifically happy world and exactly this is requested by patrons is no surprise. It is no surprise either that show business is often a sweatjob, and it is sadly no suprise that many of the jobs will be bad-paying and tend to have bad working conditions. Moreover, this post mixes individual anecdotes with hints to systematic problems. Thus, I do not think that it is very educational.
They aren't really secrets either. Disney has a long and public history of being the most inhumane and unethical company in America. Not just the parks, but the entire corporate empire. They are worse than Amway, tbh. What kills me is that they try to hide it all by catering their products to whatever popular social trends (civil rights in the 60s, cultural inclusion in the 90s, gender fluidity now, etc.) are going on while all the while conducting their "behind the scenes business" in this totally hypocritical Nazi fashion. All their apparent dedication to people is total BS. The only tjing that matters to Disney is the illusion. They are a successful version of Theranos.
Load More Replies... The entire Walt Disney Company has always made me feel a mixture of disgust and admiration. In a way that company is the most American company of them all, (and I'm an American, from the very average-American state of Ohio): a world-class creator of glorious fantasies, but with a willingness to be extremely harsh in how it achieves them.
I don't get why Disneyland is not all over the place. Why don't they have a Disneyland in every state. It doesn't make sense to me.
Load More Replies... I'm done with Disneyland. When I was a kid man it was the best but now I'm afraid I'm never going again. It's part of growing up. The day you realize I will never go back. I never went to Magic Mountain though and they got 29 rollercoasters so maybe someday I'll go there. But Covid has me not wanting to get 6 feet near anyone anywhere now forever. I'm gonna start wearing a mask 24/7 everywhere I am. It sucks but I don't want to die that way. I almost died the last time I had the flu and they say the mask prevents it. So it works out to making sense.
I find it hilarious that they act so pearl-clutchingly shocked at guests they catch making out. I knew someone who was a jungle cruise operator, not only are all the young cast members boinking each other in every nook and cranny in the park, but they also had a hand gesture they would flash at other cast members when there was a hottie on their ride they should check out. We jokingly called it The H*rniest Place on Earth.
Can't stand Disney but then Disney + saved lockdown.....and Tom Hiddleston as Loki can't be seen any other way.
One time my family was riding the Frozen ride in Epcot and it stopped working before we even got going. We only saw Sven's butt. It was kind of funny because 1) they started the warnings with character's voices, but after a few announcements about the ride they used an actual person's voice and told us to wait there to be let off the ride and 2) they told us not to take pictures of the ride after they turned the lights on and everyone instantly pulled out their phones and started snapping photos (One person took a selfie with everyone in the boat). We were evacuated after about 30 minutes and we all got a free fastpass to any ride we wanted.
I imagine most of these are true but it's all hearsay from disgruntled employees. So, you know, that grain of salt thing.
What we have here is an assortment of completely false and laughingly impossible "stories", a few facts that are easily found with a quick look at Wikipedia, and one or two actual secrets.
Well, what did you expect in a world of capitalism? Its always about money, also with Disney of course, and there are few companies exempt from focusing on profit first.
Not sure how alienating your customer base through deceit, pandering, and horrible customer service equates to capitalist success. It is profitable short term, but long term has never been anything but corporate suicide. Not once. Capitalism is *NOT* focusing on profit first, btw. It is focusing on sustainability first, then profit. That means accounting for the desires of your customers. Disney is a horrible company, but capitalism is not why. There are plenty of capitalist companies whose ethical standards not only surpass those of their industry, but surpass them greatly.
Load More Replies... Having read this I believed it was very informative, Thank You. Please Visit our website: https://theleathercraftsmen.com/
Most of these are urban legends and either entirely false or partially true.
Load More Replies...
