Disney Cast Member Perks: Company D and SALSA Sales

After seeing how many people were excited to read about Cast Member perks in one of my prior posts, I thought I’d share some more about the amazing benefits I enjoyed while working at Walt Disney World.

Being a Cast Member, you may think we would be turned off from spending tons of money on Disney souvenirs and knick-knacks after being surrounded by Disney-everything each day. Well, the truth is indeed quite opposite of that for it appears Cast Members are even MORE inclined to give back their whole paycheck to the company on gifts and other Disney goodies. What can I say, there’s just so many cool and interesting things to buy and Disney does a great job of constantly updating their merchandise and coming out with new things. Thankfully, the Disney Company knows how much their Cast Members love to buy Disney merchandise so they have provided several avenues for Cast Members to buy great Disney items on a budget.

Company D is a discounted merchandise store just for Disney Cast Members located in several behind the scenes areas at Walt Disney World. The last time I checked, there were 6 different Company D locations:

-          Disney University (located behind the Magic Kingdom, Disney University is the learning facility for new and existing Cast Members)

-          Disney Reservation Center (off-property, close to Universal Studios/I-Drive)

-          Maingate Office Complex (located near Disney’s Animal Kingdom)

-          Disney’s Hollywood Studios (located behind the Villains Shop)

-          Epcot (Located behind Test Track and the Mexico Pavilion)

-          Team Disney (across the road from Downtown Disney)

Company D primarily sells Cast Member exclusive merchandise such as cast exclusive pins, lanyards, Vinylmations, figurines and more! I remember, while working as a College Program student, every time a new Disney movie was released you had to go to Company D to get the Cast Exclusive release pin. Now for you non-Disney Cast Members out there wishing you could go to Company D you should know there is a way! Cast Members are allowed to bring guests to all the non-restricted area Company D stores (Disney University, Team Disney, and the Disney Reservation Center)

Besides Company D, there were also seasonal SALSA Sales. SALSA stood for “Spend a little, Save A lot!” These sales would be held twice a year, one in the beginning of summer and one just before the holiday season. The SALSA Sales would take place in big tents in the cast parking lots behind the theme parks, usually behind EPCOT. The sale was basically a liquidation sale of all the excess merchandise in the warehouses. The first day of the sale was just for Cast Members and then then next few days Cast Members were allowed to bring guests with them. The first day was always the best to go to the SALSA sales because you’d get a chance to find some vintage Disney items. At one particular sale I purchased a signed gold plate edition Carl Barks (the famous artist of Uncle Scrooge McDuck) lithograph for the insane price of $200. Today, it is priced well over $1,400!