essays

MY PROBLEMS WITH DISNEY by SivaChick

Ok, so where do I begin with my qualms with the Walt Disney World Company? Well, this may sound sappy and stupid, but the brainwashing that goes on during the "Traditions" employee orientation did something to my now ex-boyfriend. We had been incredibly happy for almost two years. He was working as a bus boy at a local Italian restaurant and found that it just wasn't cutting it, so he started looking for another job. He was hired as a character at MGM Studios and immediately LOVED his job. I started noticing differences in his behavior almost immediately.

The first thing that happened was that he could not stop talking about his new job. Initially, I was ecstatic at the thought that he had found a dream job. But about a week later, he was still talking about Disney nonstop, and he began hanging out with all these new friends. I didn't even find out about them until right before our relationship ended. Day by day, he was losing a lot of the characteristics that made him unique. He lost interrest in his music (he had been a complete "punk rock boy" for five years and his music was EVERYTHING to him), and making plans to hang out with our friends was becoming more of a chore for him.

In two weeks, he had made arrangements to move out of his parents' home (something he had been trying to do for a year) and in with a fellow castmember. I was ok with that until I found out that his new roomate was a 24 year old female (my boyfriend was 19 at the time). He assured me that he had no feelings for her, but that she was just a friend. So, I decided to trust him and said ok, and started to help him move in. The day I met her was the same day he signed the lease for the apartment. ALL THEY TALKED ABOUT WAS WORK. I realized that she was as obsessed with Disney as he was and I juat had the worst feeling about what was unfolding before me. There was something very unnatural about their attitudes towards their jobs. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

He also became a total workaholic when he started working there. Something that was VERY uncharacteristic of him in the past. He worked ten-hour days, six days a week and would usually happily go in to work even on his one day off. And he started spending more and more time with these new "Disney" friends.

I got the feeling that the MGM character employees were very very tight knit. I also realized that castmembers for the most part ONLY hang out with other castmembers and that having a girlfriend and other friends outside of the "Disney family" was strongly discouraged. It was really starting to cramp his style. I knew that it was only a matter of time before he gave in to Disney's pressures. Well, eventually he did...

In one month's time this guy went from placing me first in his life, to dropping me and all of his friends completely. And it all started with the day he started his new job at Disney. I know my story is going to sound really biassed to a lot of people. Most of you probably think that there had to be something else going on in our relationship and I'm just looking for a place to put the blame. I know he was at fault for giving in to the pressures, but Disney played a key role in the demise of our relationship and I know I'm not the only one whom this has happened to. If something similar to this has happened to you, or if you have information on Disney's brainwashing processes during their employee orientation, PLEASE contact the creator of this website and tell him your story. I KNOW there's more of us out there.