why I left Disney

Some of the employees and most of the former Disney employees display a great amount of rage when talking about the company. I don't. I believe in the magic, honestly. I honestly think that they aim to entertain and I always felt valuable while working for them. Valuable, however, does not mean irreplaceble. I was a very good counselor, a very good trainer, a very good manager. Just like some very good people before me and certainly like some very good people yet to come. And to think that Disney would bleed out to death because I left would be simply stupid. Also, my managers were always fantastic to me, my superiors, my peers, the other crewmembers from other departments, everyone was great!

So why would someone resign from such amazing company? Actually, being born and raised in the Carpe Diem Generation, who grew up hearing how awful it was to have an office job where you'd work your life away like our parents did, and how much more the world has to offer, working on a cruise ship can pretty much be considered perfect. And it was. I had the opportunity to visit amazing places and meet amazing people. I was living life to the fullest. I was happy, truly happy. And then it hit me: what am I doing to the world?

I graduated in advertising and I loved it. Today I think that advertising is a tool that helps the world to value the wrong things such as money, brands, appearance and so on. It's sick and I sure do not want to spend my life doing that. And as for Youth Activities at Disney Cruise Line, that was just as harmful. But not to the world, to the children. To some children.

This came to my mind when I started working with the babies, at the nursery. I think the system doesn't hurt the older kids so much, it's the babies. The babies who get stuck there for 4, 5 or 9 hours every day. Babies whose parents chose not to be around. Babies who would cry for hours continuously til they fall asleep or throw up.

The nursery exists so the parents can go have dinner at Palo, the fancy restaurant onboard where kids are not allowed. So for 2 or 3 hours, we could take good care of your baby while you enjoy good food. Or maybe if one of the portdays you decide to go on a excursion that wouldn't be appropriate for little kids. So yeah, for that afternoon we will be there for you. Or even if your baby loves the toys and loves to play with other kids, then sure, maybe 2 hours a day while you're sunbathing alone, that's fine. But that was rare. These situations were the minority.

We had this girl coming over for 5 hours everyday and she'd cry for 5 hours, non-stop, every day. On the last day, she was booked from 9am to 1pm and she cried the whole time again. Her mom calls to see how she's doing (that's what I thought) and, although I shouldn't, I tell her that her daughter, her 1 year old daughter, has been crying the whole time, just like the other days. Just like we told her many many times, texted her and so on. So the mom goes "actually, I wanted to see if she could stay until 3pm".

There was this little boy who would cry so hard, he would eventually throw up. Everyday, after 2 hours of tears, vomit. So we'd call the parents cause he couldn't stay there, not without the medical clearance and the Medical Center was closed after 7pm. So they decided to book reservations before 7pm so that when the boy threw up, they took him down to medical, doctor said yes, that's not AGE, that's just him being upset for too long. Phew! Good thing he's not sick! He's just so sad! Let's take him back to the nursery without even washing his mouth, still with vomit on his hair. It will be good for our beloved baby.

We had a boy who would meltdown and scream and throw things at people unless Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was on. So Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was ALWAYS on. Here's the opening theme of the show:

I mean, it's cute. But have that playing for 9 hours every day. That's the amount of time that boy would stay with us. He had to eat in front of it, he would cry while we were changing his diaper because he couldn't see the tv. He would sometimes fall on his back and sleep while watching it in which case, we had to wake him up cause mommy didn't want him to sleep while with us. He was 2 years old and he would barely speak at all. Mommy would give him her iPad with Mickey Mouse for him to watch during the time he wasn't at the Nursery. He was being damaged. And I was part of it.

Situations like these were our reality on a daily basis. We had, of course, nice parents who would cry tears of joy to see their little ones playing and having so much fun. Most of kids absolutely enjoyed staying there and playing. Some of the parents would have to literally pull them away. We had babies like Austin and his deep voice, baby Anna who would wake up smiling everytime, John and his overreacting to everything. Lots of cuties who had fun. But lots of sad children that I was helping getting harmed. Psychologically harmed by their asshole parents.

It's not like things like these stopped happening after I left but I simply couldn't be part of that anymore. And, again, it's not something that I can blame on Disney. The Flounder's Reef Nursery was created for a good thing, it was a good thing. But it was ruined by the ignorance of some guests and I could not cope with that anymore. I respectfully disagreed with the guests I was being paid to serve and please. So I left.

Today I'm still not sure of what to do next. I regret nothing (!) and I think I have acquired so much happiness so far that it's time to spread the love. Somehow, some day, do something that helps someone. That's the goal. And then, crew bar.