Why I Left Disney

and then on my day off I get a call from Anaheim so I pick up the phone and I say hi this is Jessica and the person on the other end says hi hi this is so and so with um Disney HR and of course I'm thinking what did I do so I'm no longer working for Disney I've been promoted to guest I don't speak for the brand of the company not that I ever did I am no longer a cast member so leaving the Walt Disney World company was not an easy decision for me to make and if not for some truly exceptional circumstances I probably would not have laughed but let's start with the background I started as a concierge cast member in November of 2021 my home resort was Art of Animation and I started part-time I decided to go part-time because I had one year left my parents insurance I had all this money in savings and this was going to be my last hurray before I had to go full time in order to get full-time health insurance and all those adult benefits that you kind of need to survive so I worked for a year as a part-time concierge cast member and because I was part-time there was actually a large chunk of time where I wasn't getting scheduled when you're working as a part-time cast member at Disney you're not guaranteed any hours so you could get between 0 to 40 hours a week and you just never know but that worked really well for me because once I was trained at the front desk at Disney I could work at any of the front desks at Disney and there are about 25 hotels and I was able to work at I believe 13 of them so that was pretty cool so after a year of working as a part-time concierge cast member at Art of Animation Resort I decided to see if there were any other roles I want to go into I actually applied to work in many roles I applied for a lot of concierge positions at other Resorts I had worked at that really liked me and it's not because I didn't like Art of Animation actually that's a little bit of a lie I love Art of Animation it is a great Resort the cats there are wonderful but because I was part-time and I was picking up at a bunch of other Resorts I made better connections at those Resorts and also I really needed different days off and for whatever reason Art of Animation couldn't give that to me so I started putting in a bunch of applications to see if I could change my guaranteed days off so I put in applications for Polynesian Polynesian Club level Riverside and French Quarters to stay within the front desk but while I was working at Riverside I really enjoyed the position that they call Werner so it is part of the front desk but the way I describe being a runner is doing side quests all day it was so much fun I would get in I'd process packages I might run over to a park and go get a lifesaver fixed or pick up a wand from Cinderella's Royal table or what have you I would go and help guests with assist if they couldn't get into their room I would deliver flowers and gifts and all these really interesting things so I thought oh maybe I could be a runner over at Riverside and that could be my most of the time gig but speaking of floral and Gifts while I was in the runner room these people would come in with Walt Disney World name tags and you know little outfits that said Walt Disney World floral and gifts and I got to talking with them and I asked what what do you do because they would roll up in this big red van and deliver all these flower arrangements and gift boxes and really cool things and they told me that that was their job they went around delivering all these things to every single Resort on property and to some good neighbor hotels and they said that that wasn't even the beginning of what they did they also had people who made the gifts who made the flower arrangements who processed the flower who did events who set up weddings all these really cool things and I thought wow that is right up my alley so I offhandedly also put in an application through the transfer portal to go to Floral and gifts now I was warned that this was the kind of Department that people were tired out of there were cast members who had been there for 20 30 plus years so oftentimes actually getting into that department was super difficult because people didn't leave so I put an application kind of thinking well if it happens it happens and then a little while later I got an email saying hey we would like to interview you for floral and gifts and I was like [Music] I was so excited so I did the zoom interview I did the in-person interview and I went to the building that they operate out of because it's a completely separate building on property from all the resorts and everything and I immediately fell in love and I said I have to work here this is right up my alley I am very much a what can I do next kind of person and though I did love working in concierge for the seven years that I did because I only worked in concierge for about one year at Disney but I've been working for six plus years out at other hotels so I thought to myself this would be an amazing change of pace it'd be a challenge maybe something new and interesting I want to do it I got it I transferred in and I found out the training was going to be intense it was about 21 days of training and not only had I been hired in to be a new trainee but I believe about three or four other people had as well because of the pandemic they had shut down the department and brought it back and since a lot people had been there for 20 plus years many of them decided to either retire or go off and do something different so that left a huge opening for myself and a bunch of other people to go into this department and everyone was so amazing so cool the whole operation was it was like walking into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory for me there was something to do everywhere and all the time and the days went by like that I mean it was just perfect so I'm zipping around I'm delivering floral and gifts to the resorts I'm processing flowers I'm learning all these really cool things about flowers I'm setting up for events at all the hotels and at the parks and I'm also setting up for weddings at the hotels and the parks I think my favorite one I got to set was actually at Hollywood Studios on Hollywood Boulevard and I believe our set time was 11 p.m so we had to have our things out on the Boulevard by about 11 p.m and then the ceremony started and then we didn't get to clear it until about 2 A.M so that was that was a long shift but it was so cool because when we came back to go get our stuff the bride and bride it was two Brides we're still there and they were finishing up their wedding and so me and my trainer were like oh this is cool look at this wedding happening oh it was just amazing and of course I got to set up a lot of weddings at the wedding Pavilion in Grand Floridian and I have never been in that Pavilion and before in my life so walking in and seeing how beautiful it is and the fact that the window that you get married right in front of at the altar overlooks the castle and it's framed perfectly I was like mind blown it was just so neat and everyone that I worked with was so passionate so knowledgeable they loved what they did they were friends with all the people that also were there to type events because it is a well-oiled machine Disney knows what they're doing unsurprisingly and so whenever we go and accept these events obviously it wasn't just us little floral and gift people and it was also sound technicians and light technicians and housemen and just it was it was this entire operation that would go in and just put together this wedding or event and then clear it all out the second it was over and watching it happen was just like dang these people know what they are doing so I'm having a great time I'm chugging along and I'm finally nearing the end of my training I'm about to go be a big girl and be released into the Walt Disney World as part of Disney floral and gifts and then on my day off I get a call from Anaheim and this was actually right before I was set to leave for VidCon so I thought oh I'm going to Disneyland and I'm also staying at a Disney hotel maybe this call is at my reservation my Park you know access or something so I pick up the phone I say hi this is Jessica and the person on the other end says hi this is so and so with um Disney HR and of course I'm thinking what did I do because I do have my final social media and though I have been and will continue to be very careful about what I post here I thought there was somewhere that I had messed up or misstepped and now HR was calling me and I was in so I'm just like Hi how are you hey and she says I'm doing great um are you are you in a safe space right now like you're not driving or anything are you and I said no no I'm I'm at home with my kitty cat and we're having a great time gee just what have I done what have I done and so she says okay great um so I'm calling to inform you that as of August 27th and I'm thinking August 27th of last year what did I what was I doing in August of last year oh my gosh so she says as of August 27th the Disney floral and Gifts department will be closing and I have my little pen and Note Paper because I'm that kind of person and I wrote August 27th and then I wrote Disney closing and then I just went wait what I think I just went oh she said yes so Florida fresh floral or whatever their name is is going to be taking over the duties of Disney floral and gifts and you will be getting more information from your leaders but your co-workers who are at work are currently being called into a meeting to discuss this and so what HR is doing is calling everyone who is off today to let them know that this is happening I was like aha because I'm just in a State of Shock like I I'm still fully unable to process exactly what I'm being told he said we just want to make sure that once this news breaks that everyone who is part of the department is told at the same time we don't want you to find out through social media because that would be horrible or you know be told by another co-worker or anything like we want to let everyone know now and I just said okay I appreciate your call thank you very much bye so we hang up the phone and I sit there and I go huh so I put my phone and I start rapidly reaching out to everyone that I know essentially not within Disney floral and gifts because I didn't want to be the one to accidentally break the news because I don't know in what line I was being called I didn't know if everyone was being called at once what was happening so I wasn't gonna be the person that was like did you guys hear the news so I just reached out to my friends that were not in the department and was like I was just told this and everyone's reaction was basically which was um my reaction so I'm reaching out to everyone I know all my family except for my dad and my bonus mom who are out of the country on an anniversary trip I was like I'm I'm not gonna bother them with this right now I'll I'll tell them when I picked them up from the airport but I'm reaching out to all my friends everyone I know and I'm just trying to figure out my next steps so I'm thinking about what I want to do what I don't want to do do I transfer back into concierge do I transfer into another department do I quit spoiler yes I decide to think about it a bit more and see what the vibe is when it's time for me to go back to work this news was told to us on Monday I was off until Wednesday so I had Monday and Tuesday to just kind of stew on the news and then Wednesday I went back to work and The Vibes were um hold the Vibes are rough it was a complete surprise to all of us and even like our highest of highest of higher ups didn't know they were told probably an hour or two before we were so so everyone was kind of in a weird sort of we're gonna keep doing our job because what else is there to do and also like we still have a few months left in this position technically so our job isn't over but the same time like the guillotine is just hanging there and we're just kind of sitting there like huh when's that gonna come down well you know when it's come down there's a countdown but still and also we of course hadn't been told much yet as a way that of course this all works is Disney announced the change and now the union had to go facilitate between the cast and the company so as I was thinking about it and taking the time and talking to my friends my family and my co-workers and also taking a look at what other roles I could possibly be interested in I realized that at this phase that I'm in in with social media which is not something I ever expected for myself that I could spend this time that I would be giving to Disney to optimize my content make more experiment start new projects go more places go see my friends go to these really cool conventions like VidCon and I decided that those hours would be better spent on my content than at Disney because at this point I was really mainly utilizing Disney for the free passes in the merch discount and and the hotel discounts I don't remember I was I was about to use that in California so I loved the discounts and the perks that I got but again I could just purchase an annual pass and still have the opportunity to go to Disney basically whenever I want and I would still get 20 off merchandise because the annual pass discounts and the customer discounts until you hit your three year mark are basically the same so I decided to go ahead and be done but lucky for me the timing could not have been better VidCon was coming up I had a close-knit network of full-time creators who I could talk to and get tips from so any ideas that I had that I want to discuss I was able to chat in person with my friends about which was absolutely invaluable but of course I want to be absolutely certain that this decision was the right decision for me to make so rather than just saying okay peace out bye I waited until my dad bonus mom got back from their vacation and I picked their brains about it I went to VidCon and I networked with everyone and I just made sure that I knew what I was getting myself into because I always expected to approach social media as a fun little Hobby and just a creative outlet and nothing more than that fun fact I almost didn't join The Tick Tock creators program when they first invited me to it because and I quote I didn't want to feel like work and then my bonus one was like just join you're posting the videos anyway you might as well and I was like uh you're right but I have found such an amazing Community such a fun Outlet I really genuinely enjoy it so much and I have an endless amount of ideas I have new projects and things that I would like to start and may be able to now start because I have this extra time so when I decided I was ready to leave Disney I walked into my Leader's office I sat down and I let her know that I have everything ready I am prepared and I'm ready to part ways and her response was verbatim good for you because here's the thing she knew that I would not have made this decision if the department wasn't closing if we were still going to have Disney floral and gifts I absolutely would have stayed a cast member for the next two three five seven ten twenty years because I really truly enjoyed the job it was a way for me to get out it was a way for me to run around and have some fun and turn off my brain from all the social media because here's the thing social media though it does give you a lot of free time in many ways you are basically trading that nine to five for a 24 7. every single day you are thinking about content and you are working on things and you're saying is this content is this something I can do and the hours are extremely unconventional and even if you try to set a set work schedule for yourself that's going to go out the door in two seconds because you're gonna get a call saying hey we need you to do this or be here or wherever else it's just it's not possible and going to work at Disney was my way to turn off my brain and just go and have fun doing this really interesting neat role at Disney and like I said my leaders knew that they knew how much I loved working at department and they knew that if circumstances hadn't been what they were I would have stayed but they said be free birdie and so here I am and I'm so excited to work on my content make it better brighter more fun more crazy and I have so many ideas for other projects I want to start collaborations I want to do and I am just super excited and if you would like to help me on this journey I have made a patreon this was something I've been wanting to do for a long time but again due to work and time constraints I didn't want to promise something I couldn't deliver so now that I have these extra hours I'm going to be offering access to a private Discord server videos before they're posted publicly patreon only videos and the highest tier will get a personalized thank you video directly from me to you but for the next two weeks and when this video goes live if you sign up for the VIP tier I'll actually be offering that personal thank you video as an early sign on I appreciate you so much for supporting me in this new Endeavor thank you message so if you made to the end of the video thank you so much for listening to me ramble about my Disney journey and its highs and it slow and I will be making up more videos about my experience working with Disney I'll be going into more detail about the concierge side about the Disney floral and gift side but for this video's purpose I want to keep it relatively concise and just talk about the beginning and the end so I do hope you look forward to those future videos and just to clarify I have parted ways with Disney on good terms I'm not terribly happy about the department closing but at the same time Disney though magical and wonderful in many ways at the end of the day is it business and they're going to make the business decisions that they deem need to be made so I can't really get that mad and especially I am very excited that it's given me the opportunity and the kind of kick in the behind to really focus in on social media and see how much further this crazy Journey can take me because it's already taking me way further than I ever expected so thank you again if you'd like to see this crazy Journey as it happens click the Subscribe button below comment and let me know what kind of videos you'd like to see from me and I will see you in the next video bye foreign [Music]

Channel: Jessica Vanel

Views: 800,383

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Id: lZDctXCU4kc

Length: 20min 50sec (1250 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 27 2023