Anyone Reading "Cast Member Confidential" Yet?

[WaltD4Me]

I pre-ordered Cast Member Confidential from Amazon and got it a few days ago. I've been reading it here and there, a chapter or two at a time and find it sort of "odd." I can't put my finger on it. Don't know if it's the writing or the flow of it, the tone or what, but it's more like reading a fictional story or something, rather than someone's account of working at Disney. IDK, maybe it's the Oliver character that gives me that feeling, he sort of reminds me of Wayne from Kingdom Keepers. It isn't what I expected. It's interesting, but different.

 

[safetymom]

I was disappointed in the book. It starts off with facts that aren't correct. I think he will sell a lot of books just because of the name. True Disney fans will find the book lacking in many ways!!!

 

[DavidandLeahZ]

I hadn't heard of this....can someone fill in the details?

 

[safetymom]

Don't even waste your time. There are so many things that aren't accurate in the book. I think the person writing played loose with so many details and tried to cause a stir with other details.

 

[darrengs]

I finished it on my kindle, it was okay, but it does get better as it goes on. If I had taken this out of the library I would never have finished it because the beginning is so full of nonsense that I would have just put it down. I am pretty sure that the whole Tarzan rescuing the boy from the Rivers of America is BS and I would have stopped there.

 

[peacelovemickey]

I was going to come and start a thread on this as well. I was really disappointed! I expected a lighthearted, fun read and was pretty disgusted by what it actually was. I was hooked in by the "my life was falling apart, so I moved to FLorida to work at WDW." Not at all what I had hoped. So many things just didn't add up...

 

[*NikkiBell*]

A few people on the DIS Book Club thread were talking about this recently. It isn't favored as of right now. I have no interest in reading it.

 

[Willow1213]

I am reading this right now. Only a few chapters left. So far I don't like it. I almost put it down. The ending is a little more interesting, but it does "desensitize" you pretty quickly from the life of a castmember, specifically those who are friends of Pooh and Friends at DAK. It almost makes me think it is mostly a fictionalized account of a few real events.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I finished it on my kindle, it was okay, but it does get better as it goes on. If I had taken this out of the library I would never have finished it because the beginning is so full of nonsense that I would have just put it down. I am pretty sure that the whole Tarzan rescuing the boy from the Rivers of America is BS and I would have stopped there.

Me too! I totally didn't believe the Tarzan guy saving the boy. What? Tarzan just jumped back on the parade float dripping wet with sludge on him? Seriously? C'mon on.

Also the way the guy got hired seemed weird too and so does that Oliver guy shepparding him around Animal Kingdom, sending him over to talk to guests with absolutely no training just to see how he does? Yeah, okay.

 

[exwdwcm]

hmmm sounds interesting, but full of BS. don't know if i want to bother, it might piss me off. lol

I finished it on my kindle, it was okay, but it does get better as it goes on. If I had taken this out of the library I would never have finished it because the beginning is so full of nonsense that I would have just put it down. I am pretty sure that the whole Tarzan rescuing the boy from the Rivers of America is BS and I would have stopped there.

he seriously says that about tarzan? I heard some crazy stories in my short time there and during traditions, but never this one. a little far fetched to say the least.

maybe i can read it and think of it as a fictional 'comedy'? lol

 

[safetymom]

Yes Tarzan was on a float and jumped into the Rivers of America to rescue a young boy. When I read that I couldn't trust anything else he wrote.

 

[darrengs]

Yes Tarzan was on a float and jumped into the Rivers of America to rescue a young boy. When I read that I couldn't trust anything else he wrote.

Yep, I basically took it as fiction from that point on. Actually as soon as I read that part I googled it and of course didn't find any hits.

he seriously says that about tarzan? I heard some crazy stories in my short time there and during traditions, but never this one. a little far fetched to say the least.

He also makes it sound like there was absolutely no formal training because he was a subcontracted employee (photographer). Is this even possible?

 

[IHeartTink04]

Yeah I read it and thought he was full of crap too!

 

[SupercaliSal]

I saw it in the bookstore and I was disgusted. That book is ruining the Magic for everybody. He makes me sick. I want to write to the publishers and have it removed from the shelves, but I don't know if anybody would listen.

Does anybody know how to get a book taken off the shelves??

 

[PeterPan09]

I saw it in the bookstore and I was disgusted. That book is ruining the Magic for everybody. He makes me sick. I want to write to the publishers and have it removed from the shelves, but I don't know if anybody would listen.

Does anybody know how to get a book taken off the shelves??

You don't. That's called censorship.

As Kathy said, the book starts out with something that's completely untrue, so it's hard to believe anything that comes after that.

 

[darrengs]

Although it is heavy on the use of artistic license, I do not think it is ruining the "magic".

In the Authors defense, as I stated earlier the book does get better. The message that I got from it was that though Walt Disney World is a magical place it is still the real world, and you cannot run away from your problems. It is a real message and the book does have a happy ending.

 

[Cinderella89]

This is true. Despite how hard us cast members work to keep the magic alive on stage and make it seem like we're just the happiest people living the happiest life (with the exception of the few cms who are disgruntled and just working there because they have to)....We're real people, with real lives, and...unfortunitly....Not so happy managers and bosses who use the Disney name to give further ahead in their given career.

But, for the most part, if you do your job, do it well, and be the epitome of a Disney Cast Member, you're set. It's quite possibly the best place I've ever worked (obviously, I came back for round two of the college program) and you have to truely love it to deal with someone the stuff you have to deal with.

 

[PeterPan09]

This is true. Despite how hard us cast members work to keep the magic alive on stage and make it seem like we're just the happiest people living the happiest life (with the exception of the few cms who are disgruntled and just working there because they have to)....We're real people, with real lives, and...unfortunitly....Not so happy managers and bosses who use the Disney name to give further ahead in their given career.

But, for the most part, if you do your job, do it well, and be the epitome of a Disney Cast Member, you're set. It's quite possibly the best place I've ever worked (obviously, I came back for round two of the college program) and you have to truely love it to deal with someone the stuff you have to deal with.

It's like any job really-if you love what you are doing, you will work hard, you will put in the extra effort and you will be happy with it. If you're just doing it for the paycheck, then you're just not going to be as effective.

I meet so many CM's down here that have worked there 10 years or more. I can't imagine that many people would stay there that long if it were such a terrible place to work.

 

[SupercaliSal]

Well, I want to do something about it. It makes me ill, it's just sitting on the table in the bookstore where any child could pick it up. I know its not true but other people will think thats what Disney is all about. I'm going to start a petition to have it removed from my local bookstore. Thats not censorship, its supply and demand!

 

[WaltD4Me]

Well, I want to do something about it. It makes me ill, it's just sitting on the table in the bookstore where any child could pick it up. I know its not true but other people will think thats what Disney is all about. I'm going to start a petition to have it removed from my local bookstore. Thats not censorship, its supply and demand!

Ummmm, first, it is not "supply and demand" if no one BUYS the book and it gets removed from your local bookstore, that is supply and demand. Petitioning to have it removed based upon your opinion of it certainly is a form of censorship.

Secondly, I have read Cast Member Confidential and I highly doubt it would hold any child's interest for any length of time, definitely not long enough to kill any magic. Heck, it barely held my attention. I seriously doubt it will out on a front table in any bookstore for very long.

This is not the first "behind the scenes" at Disney book to come out. There are 3 or 4 books called Mouse Under Glass, that are cast member stories and there is also Realityland, none of them have done any magic killing as far as I know. It's a book. If it bothers you, don't read it.