Disney takes great measures to protect its image. In a world where many people are used to posting their every move on social media, this next rule can take some getting used to, but for the sake of employees keeping their job, they better adapt fast. Cast members are not only forbidden from using their social media while at work.
They are also forbidden from discussing their job on any of their social media accounts outside of work.
“Don’t Date Disney"
With cast members often working up to 70-hour work weeks, you can imagine that they get very close to one another, and we aren’t just talking about in the work sense. Some employees even become romantically involved. There are plenty of stories roaming the internet about Gaston and Wendys being found together in supply closets. There is actually an expression that cast members use about dating one another called DDD, “Don’t Date Disney." Nevertheless it happens. It happens a lot in the Haunted Mansion Doom Buggies, Tom Sawyer’s Island, and EPCOT’s Spaceship Earth.
Apparently, some employees ignore the cameras that are in place throughout the park. And you better bet that there are repercussions for getting involved in this kind of behavior. A previous Disneyland employee who had worn the costume of Captain Jack Sparrow on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride was fired after a photo of him kissing his girlfriend (who played Ariel) leaked on social media. The problem was that both of them were in full Disney costume. Serves them right for not reading the employee handbook well enough.
They Must Have a Perfect Signature
Cast members need to have everything down to a T. This doesn't only include personifying the attitudes and appearances of the characters they're playing. But, it also means learning how to write like their characters.
You better believe that Disney trains all cast members to help them perfect their character's signature.
They Can’t Say Who They Play
If you ask a cast members which character they play, they aren’t allowed to tell you. All they can tell you is that they’re friends with “so and so” character or that they hang out with that character.
Again, Disney is trying to preserve the magic of the park. If you try to trick them into it, they will not fall for it.
The Music Never Ends
You know when songs are overplayed on the radio and even if you loved it at the beginning you begin to despise it with every cell in your body? If you've taken a ride on the It's A Small World ride, then you would have experienced a fraction of what employees experience on a never-ending basis. For Disney employees, the music never stops. Even when the park is closed, the music keeps going. Can you imagine what it must take for employees to maintain such a friendly demeanor all of the time? That is some true discipline.
And if you’ve forgotten how it goes, let us remind you: “It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears. It’s a world of hope, it’s a world of fear. There’s so much that we share. And it’s time we’re aware. It’s a small world after all. It’s a small world after all, It’s a small world after all, It’s a small world after all, It’s a small world.”