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.
There's a Secret Store
When a guest loses an item or leaves it behind at Walt Disney World, employees make a big effort to reunite the item with its owner. One guest whose daughter lost an engraved pocket mirror posted about it online. She shared that they called about the mirror the day after losing it. She boasted about how kind the person was on the phone and that they were immediately able to verify that the mirror had been found. They wrapped the mirror carefully and mailed it right to their house. Her daughter was so appreciative of this that she ended up becoming an ever bigger fan of Disney because of their kind treatment.
When a guest loses an item, it is kept for a certain length of time to give the owner a chance to retrieve it. If he doesn't, then the item is sold to cast members in a special store. All of the profits made from the items go to charity. This just proves that Disney World is truly the most magical place on earth.
“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.
No Tweeting Either!
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.
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.