The Hub

The hub is basically the portal to all things Disney Cast Members. When you become a Cast Member with Disney, you are given a userid and password that allows you to log in to the website and get access to everything such as your work schedule, Cast discounts, special events, and many other things.

The two things I use The hub the most for are to check my schedule (it comes out every Sunday for the following week) and to request time off of my schedule. For example, this Thursday I am going home for a little over a week for my sister's high school graduation. When I first gained access to the hub in January, I immediately put the request in to have those days off. Immediately, the labor center approved Sunday-Friday, but they put me on the waitlist for Friday and Saturday. The waitlist means that the time requested is not available, but may become available. Eventually, I was approved for Friday as well, so by the time the schedule came out last week, I only was scheduled to work Saturday. Luckily, one of my coworkers was able to pick up my shift (which I requested through the hub as well) for Saturday so I now have the next nine (!) days off of work to go home, celebrate, and spend time with my family. Basically, the moral of the story with requesting time off on the hub is - DO IT EARLY! The earlier you request time off, the easier it is to get it approved.

You are also able to pick up extra hours on the hub. If there are any untrained positions that are available when you are not regularly scheduled to work, you can pick them up on the hub and add them to your weekly schedule. These include shifts like parade audience control, Fantasmic, special event greeters, and ESPN Wide World of Sports positions. These are a great way to get extra hours during the week, but they don't often show up, so it's important to pick them up right away if you want them and they are available!

The hub also has special Cast Member contests, gives information about costuming, shows your paycheck, details your record card information, and so many more things. It's one-stop-shopping for all things Cast Members could possibly need to know about anything Disney. I do have to admit that the hub is a bit difficult to navigate, so it takes some time to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, it is a wealth of information, and a necessary bookmark on your computer if you are a Cast Member!

Picking Up EHH Shifts

Last week I picked up my first EHH (extra hours hotline) shift on The Hub, and it was a parade shift in Asia! This was exciting, especially because I already know how to work the Animal Kingdom Parade, so I just got to experience it from a different side of the park. I also got to wear a new costume, which is always exciting! I also wanted to pick up the shift because the parade is going away on May 31, so I wanted to be able to work it a few more times before I have to say goodbye!

Costume for the parade shift

I learned a lot from working this shift, particularly that I am glad I always work on the theater ops side of the parade! We have things a lot more organized, and there are not as many traffic control problems on our side of the parade. Nevertheless, it was great to pick up a shift and experience new jobs and work with new Cast Members! I'm definitely going to keep looking to pick up shifts on the hub; hopefully I can find a Fantasmic or Magic Kingdom parade shift sometime soon!

If you want to know more about the hub and picking up shifts, look for an upcoming post all about the hub and how to use it!