So when I found out that I was going to be a lifeguard at Disney the first thing I did was search the internet for absolutely any information about being a lifeguard. I couldn’t find much. The most I found were half-finished blogs about the first week. What I really wanted to know was what was a typical day like, how many hours do you get and what is a typical weeks pay.
So lets start with what my day looks like. At my resort location there are 3 types of shifts, Morning, Afternoon and a Breaker. The morning shift is from 8:30 to 4, the Afternoon is from 3:15 to 10:15 and the Breaker is from 12 to 8. Most full-time cast bid for the morning shifts so it is kind of rare that I get those. My most common shifts are Afternoon, Breakers and doubles. If your location is not fully staffed you may get stuck working doubles. For us that means arriving at 8:30 and leaving at 10:15. It’s not very fun but it is really good money.
Every week I get around 55 hours. At my location we work 6 days a week. A typical day for me is to get to the pool about 20 minutes before my shift. I clock in, and change into my costume. We go to break out which is a little meeting before we go to the pool deck. Then we head to the pool deck and start the rotation!
I can’t tell you how much I make (against Disney policy) but even with my rent taken out it is plenty to survive off of in Orlando. So that’s basically it a day in the life of a Resort Lifeguard!