CityWalk Expansion

[Nick]

Yeah. They raise it just enough to send out a press release and make all their employees think their company cares for them when in reality they raise it slightly so the employees don't mutiny and demand a living wage. Which would be closer to $15.

If they were paying employees a minimum of $15/hour, you, as a guest would be the one paying for that drastic increase with much higher costs across the board.

 

[darkridelover]

Yeah. Let's let people that work 40 hours a week live below the poverty line!!! Because that's the right thing to do in America. There's a reason why several communities in Central Florida have seen home ownership drop fro 70% to 30% in the last 15 years. Because a couple of the largest Employers in the area have decided that executives and wall street should get payout after payout while their employees make slightly over minimum wage. The money's there. It's just going to the wrong people. Anyway!!!!! Back to citiwalk!!!

 

[graspthesun]

Unfortunately, a lot of Universal and Disney employees don't get full-time hours. I don't think I've met more than a handful of people in Orlando that can get by on just one job.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

Unfortunately, a lot of Universal and Disney employees don't get full-time hours. I don't think I've met more than a handful of people in Orlando that can get by on just one job.

I know people with degrees here that have to work more than one job or a room mate.
I myself have two jobs as well.

 

[kimlovesfl]

I know people with degrees here that have to work more than one job or a room mate.
I myself have two jobs as well.

Four jobs here.

Anyways. the prices at Kennywood Park near Pittsburgh are quite a bit less than here in Orlando, and I think they have more choices. No table service restaurants, but they do have a cafeteria where I believe meals were around $7.

 

[Mad Dog]

Four jobs here.

Anyways. the prices at Kennywood Park near Pittsburgh are quite a bit less than here in Orlando, and I think they have more choices. No table service restaurants, but they do have a cafeteria where I believe meals were around $7.

I'm only apx. 15-20 minutes from Kennywood, so I've been there a ton of times over the years.The former cafeteria, which finally has air conditioning after these many years, is still very affordable. And the food choices throughout the park, though not as vast as Universal ( no Kim, the food choices are significantly less than Universal), are very good quality at decent prices. But most of the employees are high school & college kids that only make minimum wage or a little bit above. And while the park is beautiful and has thrilling interesting rides, some of them very historical (Kennywood itself has been declared a historical landmark), the employees do not come even close to providing the level of service and attention that the Universal team members provide. But Kennywood's food quality & prices are an anomaly among amusement parks in this area (Hershey, Cedar point, Kings Island etc.). They all have pretty crappy food at real high prices. Universal & Disney food is way better with more choices than those regionals in my experiences.

 

[ThreePack Shagur]

Two jobs here (one full time, one part time), plus freelancing to get money for non-necessities. Wife works full time too, so that's pretty much the same situation as two working roommates.

 

[AK-Jake]

If you want to make a "living wage," then get your butt out there and find a job that PAYS one. That may require some sacrifice (moving to an undesirable place or a new geographical location, working 2 jobs while going to school, giving up your entertainment and vacations you enjoy so much, along with other "frills"), but it's going to be worth it in the end. Oh, but you have kids to feed? Sell your kids! (Just kidding.) Kids are a very difficult obstacle to improving your life, but there's ways to work around them to provide you all with a better life. It's called sacrifice for a reason!

Sacrifice sucks, but it's worth it if you TRULY want to improve your situation. Ask any doctor...the first 15 years of going to school, completing residencies and then paying off $200K in student loan debt SUCKS. But making $250K+ per year and enjoying the perks/prestige of their career is WORTH IT. I wish I'D become a doctor like I almost did! I became an Air Traffic Controller instead...and now I make well over $100K/yearly and enjoy a pretty damn comfortable life that I can't complain about...living in Alaska, which is an expensive place to live!

Want a shot at the same life style I have...including working at Orlando International, Tampa International, Miami International (for some big Florida airports), or smaller facilities like Orlando Sanford, St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale, Sarasota, Vero Beach, etc.)? Apply here: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/398409000

But wait: remember that thing about sacrifice? Yeah, it applies here too. First you have to make it through the application process (which is a formidable challenge in and of itself). Then you make $25K/yearly (or so) for several months while you go to the FAA Air Traffic Control Academy in Oklahoma City, OK for 2-4 months while you go through an intense training program. If you make it through there (which many people do), you then go to your facility (which could be anywhere in the US/Guam/Puerto Rico) and you receive on-the-job training for anywhere from 1-4 years to become a certified controller. You are often not treated well by the certified controllers while you're a "developmental" (I had a lot of Burger King apps in my work mailbox) and you are working under high-pressure/time-restricted training that not a lot of people complete. If you don't complete your training in time, you're on the street. But if--IF!!!--you do make it all the way through, you'll make anywhere from $50,000-$120,000/yearly starting wage, with annual raises (negotiated via the union contract, plus the annual government raise all federal employees get) working a job that is almost completely guaranteed to be safe and last you your entire career (unless you lose your medical certificate, get in legal trouble, etc.).

Yep, sacrifice. But SO worth it if you pull it off! ANY endeavor is when it comes to employment, so quit b*tching about making $8/hr checking ride restraints, flipping burgers, mowing grass, mopping floors or waiting tables and get your a$$ out there and improve your life!

On a side note, Seattle's minimum wage raises to $15/hr in a week. It'll be interesting to see how that works out for them.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Raising the minimum wage is a structural shift and really doesn't change much at all in the grand scheme of things. Yeah sure low-level workers are making more when the min wage gets raised but then the companies these people work for are spending more on wages and netting less profit==>higher costs for goods and services and then all of a sudden everyone is right back where they started. They have more dollars but can afford just as much as before (straight from Sociology 101). Minimum wage jobs will never be able to sustain a family nor are they meant to be. Minimum wage increases don't do much more than reflect the natural inflation of the economy...they won't make a poor man rich overnight.

 

[AK-Jake]

^^ Exactly!!! ^^

 

[violarum]

"I have a singular case in which I was able to find an amazing job and I had the capacity to sacrifice all so everyone in the mid-to-lower class should too!"

It's like... You expect top-notch service with a smile from team members and cast throughout the theme parks, but you're quick to patronize their need for more money. Rent isn't cheap in CFL, and it's impossible to afford a decent studio with just two jobs. Just because you won't do the job, doesn't mean that those who do the job deserve less than the crumbs they're given.

Y'all rubbing me the wrong way. CityWalk discussion only, please.

 

[SeventyOne]

CityWalk discussion only, please.

Can we all agree on this? Random tangent posts, often with a political bent, are what killed the MAGICal boards.

 

[darkridelover]

Back to Citywalk

 

[MrRoamer]

Can we all agree on this? Random tangent posts, often with a political bent, are what killed the MAGICal boards.

Agreed! I know everyone means well but there are a few topics that will only create division and argument.
Please lets keep the politics here limited to La Fou's Brew vs Butterbeer and who wore it better Kong or Disco Yeti.

 

[Mad Dog]

Back to Citywalk

Henry Ford had it right. He paid his workers a living wage so they could afford to buy the huge numbers of cars he was turning out on his new fangled assembly lines. The United States economy ascended when the policies were put into place, by both business, financial community (mortgages & credit), and the government to promote the growth of a large middle class. That middle class could afford more goods which thus promoted the production of more goods and services. Unfortunately, job exports & the trade/global economy policies have eroded the middle class and propagated an economy of a small percentage of people that earn a historically huge proportion of the economic pie while the vast majority struggle to make ends meet with multiple jobs and both partners working. I feel for you younger people that don't have the economic opportunities available to you no matter how hard you work or attempt to further your education. There are only X number of good paying jobs available with too many people chasing those few jobs, which creates winners & losers due to forces beyond your control, things like luck or family connections & family wealth. I was fortunate to grow up during a period of decent opportunity. I came from a poor family but paid for my own education, worked hard, and ended up with a huge house, a fairly large estate property, and financial security. The American Dream worked for me then. But if I attempted to do the same thing in this environment that only has opportunity for a few that have certain types of inherited skills & family wealth/ connections, I would probably not have succeeded. I give all of you men & women high praise that are working 2 & 3 jobs to make ends meet. God bless you.......End of my rant. Back to Citi Walk.

 

[Jakemeister]

Fun Fact: CityWalk=Discussion About The American Dream

 

[Mad Dog]

Fun Fact: CityWalk=Discussion About The American Dream

The American Dream= Drinking a cold Margarita while sitting at the Margaritaville plane bar on CitiWalk during a 83 degree sunny Florida day......LOL

 

[shiekra38]

The American Dream= Drinking a cold Margarita while sitting at the Margaritaville plane bar on CitiWalk during a 83 degree sunny Florida day......LOL

We've just come full circle

 

[darkridelover]

The American Dream= Drinking a cold Margarita while sitting at the Margaritaville plane bar on CitiWalk during a 83 degree sunny Florida day......LOL

When? I'll be there!!!

 

[Nick]

Unfortunately, a lot of Universal and Disney employees don't get full-time hours. I don't think I've met more than a handful of people in Orlando that can get by on just one job.

Unfortunately for a lot of WDW part-timers, DCPers take up a ton of the hours. DCPers get full-time hours almost every week at $9/hour, same price as any other part-timer. DCPers also get tons of over time, working upward of 50-60 hours if you want it. That's easy to live on, but you also have no life and it's the equivalent of having 2-3 part time jobs. It'd be nice if minimum wage was increased without having to see it affect ticket prices too, but this is the world we live in I guess.

Anyway, Citywalk...