Ok. Thirty years ago, I worked for Disney.
To set the record straight. Workers don’t leave the building in their costumes. They show for work. Get dressed, do their work. Take off the costume and put on their own clothes and go home. Disney property doesn’t leave Disney property.
Snow White and Mickey Mouse sleeping in their cars would never be seen. Period!
On the bad side, if you are in the public’s eye, you are an entertainer, even if you wait tables. That means you audition for that job every 6 months. This gives Disney the chance to not hire you.
They like college age looking employees. If you get too old, or heavy or too tattooed, you are night rehired. ‘But feel free to try again in 6 months!
Their old CEO, Eisner, wrote the book on dumping employees to cut back on paying retirement and benefits.
Friend’s daughter worked for Disney. Did things like buy decor for restaurants. Traveled the world. Helped put things in Japan Disneyworld. But every six months they’d decide if they wanted to keep her. Just when she was making decent money they let her go. She didn’t do anything wrong, but at some point they could hire someone younger to do her job for less.
Disney calls their employees “cast members” so that they can argue that they are entertainers and not just a cook , a plumber , a bus driver , a ticket seller ... so that they can treat them with less employment restrictions under the exceptions carved out for the movie and stage industry.
I worked at WDW in the late 70’s ... sucked then , sucks more now.