I was homeless while working at Walt Disney World. You can love Disney and still expect them to do better.

• Jessica Cody worked as a Walt Disney World cast member in the 2010s.
• She experienced housing insecurity while working at Disney and slept in an employee parking lot.
• A second job at Universal Orlando Resort helped her finally make ends meet.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jessica Cody, a 36-year-old from central Florida. From 2010 to 2014, Cody worked as a Walt Disney World cast member, appearing as Lady Tremaine, Pluto, and other characters. She also worked as an actor and dancer at Universal Orlando Resort from 2010 to 2013. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I was working full-time hours at Walt Disney World after the big stock market crash in 2008.

I was getting scheduled for roughly 70-hour weeks and at first that was fine. I was able to rent a room. But eventually Disney capped the number of hours you could work.

At that point, I could no longer pay rent. So I lived in my 2005 Chevy Malibu, which I parked in West Clock, the Magic Kingdom cast member parking lot. I slept there and showered in the locker rooms every day for months, trying to get more hours.

I wasn't the only homeless cast member

Honestly, there were so many people that slept in their cars in that parking lot.

You're not supposed to sleep on the property, but the company turned a blind eye. When I was living in my car, I was one among dozens of others — it was not just me. Security knew we were doing this, and they knew we had nowhere else to go.

While it was a theme park that put me in that situation, it was also a theme park that helped me get out of it. I got hired as an actor and dancer at Universal in November 2010. My first role there was for "Grinchmas," a holiday event held at the theme park. Universal paid me $15 an hour, which together with my Disney hours, helped me finally rent an apartment with two other people and allowed me to afford basic needs.

I would never trade my time at Disney for anything. I learned more about the entertainment industry than I ever did in college or the audition circuit in New York City. I just think it is ridiculous that people have to choose between financial security and a job that fulfills them.

I no longer work at Disney or Universal. At Disney, I went down to seasonal, and when you're seasonal, you have to work a certain amount of hours a year to keep your status. I just didn't work enough.

With Universal, I had my son around that time so I switched to a different department. I was in the call center for the last six months of my time at Universal.

I'm now a dance teacher and choreographer.

Cast members need livable wages

Disney has made some positive changes in recent years with programs to help cast members. They also raised the minimum amount they pay people. But, in my opinion, it's still not a living wage as far as Orlando is concerned.

You can love Disney and still expect them to do better. There's no reason for any cast member to be on food stamps or unable to afford basic necessities. Until there are no cast members homeless or living on public assistance, we're not there yet.

That place would not be open if it weren't for the dedicated and amazing people working there who break their backs to bring joy to families.

Those are the people responsible for the theme park's success.

Editor's note: Walt Disney World set a $15 minimum wage for cast members in 2021 and increased it to $18 in 2023. The company offers employee packages with benefits. In 2022, Walt Disney World Resort announced it would develop affordable housing with over 1,000 apartments available to cast members and the larger community in Orange County, Florida.

Do you have a story to share about working at Disney? Contact this reporter at ledmonds@businessinsider.com.