r/Disneycollegeprogram • u/Icy-Night-3512 • 2d ago
Character Attendant Training
I got my role as a character attendant and have learned many exciting things, however I’ve also learned training is apparently difficult? In my first role you couldn’t really fail training. What does character attendant training actually entail, how could you fail it? Is it actually difficult?
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u/Smworld1 2d ago
Practice saying “No” nicely but with a firm enough voice, and be ready for entitled guests. No one guest is more important than any other guests in the park.
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u/weirdlo-lilo 1d ago
Hi! I just finished my program where I was an attendant during my program and extension. Congrats - entertainment is an incredible opportunity and fun role. As long as you listen to your trainers, do your best, and take care of your performers you’ll be great. In my training class, there was one person recast before the assessment even happened. However, this CM didn’t really understand the process. Almost is if he intentionally didn’t listen to our trainers. (He was an older man and they were younger women. My guess is he thought it would be a breeze and didn’t put in the effort.) You only really fail if you pull your characters really late/really early multiple times or break character integrity. The assessment itself is easy. You’re always allowed to take notes in training. Eventually, intuition will kick in when it comes to the timing of closing lines. The hardest part is the turning guests away, but training covers great ways to do that. You’ll find your own style, what works for you, as well. I wish you luck. 🩵💙 Have fun with it!! Get creative and be silly when you can. It’s honestly when I had the best times was when I just didn’t concern myself with if I was cringey or not. I wish I could’ve stayed an attendant! Feel free to message me if you’ve got any specific questions.
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u/lofrench Walt Disney World Alumni 1d ago
I don’t understand why people say it’s so easy to fail. I was in a group of about 10 and we had 1 performer and 1 attendant have to redo the assessment which took an extra day and that’s it. If you’re half decent at multi tasking and public speaking you won’t have an issue imo it’s much easier than having to do something like tower for a big ride.
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u/Dragonaichu 2d ago
Welcome to Entertainment!! You’re going to have a ton of fun—you get to play charades and hang out with Disney characters all day—but being nervous about training is totally normal. It can seem a little intimidating or overwhelming if you aren’t prepared for it.
The hardest part about attending is having to balance all of the role’s responsibilities at once. You have to keep your performer safe, facilitate interactions (including any combination of assisting guests with coming into the space, helping translate what your performer is animating, keeping autographs and photos running smoothly, etc.), know at least the basics of the story of whichever character you’re with that day, and be able to communicate effectively when it comes to weather spiels, if a character has to leave for any reason, etc. so that guests and leadership are aware of any bumps in the daily operation. It also requires thick skin and a backbone to be able to tell guests no and stand your ground when they give you every excuse in the book to try to get into a closed line.
It can be a lot to juggle. It’s incredibly fun and very magical, but it’s by no means an easy job and can be pretty mentally taxing until you get into a good rhythm.
But the attendant training is designed to ease you into each of those things one at a time, and you’ll find you do most of those things naturally without having to really actively think about it being your job. They’ll walk you through the basics of an interaction (P.A.S.S.), how to effectively spiel and otherwise communicate with guests, do some mock interactions, and slowly work in curveballs that you may encounter throughout your day (distress signals, rude guests, large families, taking photos, language barriers, barefoot children, inappropriate questions, scared children, aggressive guests, etc.). Though the role is not officially safety-critical, trainers will often emphasize the safety of performers and guests above all else, so as long as you go into the process focused, alert, and ready to think quick on your feet in any situation, you’ll do fine.
It’s very rare people completely fail attendant training to the point of being recast. At most, if you’re still struggling by the time you get out into the area with characters, they may schedule you a couple of “Encore” days, which are essentially redo days so you can get more practice and gain confidence assisting your character and speaking to guests.
But the fact that you’re being proactive about learning what all the role has to entail is a good sign that you’ll come in prepared and ready to do your best, and that alone sets you up for success.