The Dis Unplugged #5 Stay Out of the Damn Employees

[exdisfan]

Catching up after some time away from the forum…and wow, Dustin, I’m so sorry for what happened to you.

What could I have done? Probably nothing aside from unsubscribing. From a guy who came to the shows after (some) of this crap happened, I'm sorry I ever gave Pete the time of day in my ears and eyes and allowed him to be the douche he is.

Yeah, it may seem like a small ripple in the giant pond of life, but it goes back to the old Jiminy Cricket adage: Let your conscience be your guide. Your individual unsub may not cancel Pete for what he’s done to who knows how many people through the years, but if cutting it cold turkey is your way of reconciling with what’s happened, you do you. I had to do something similar with a different hobby ~18 months ago and it certainly helped me be at peace with myself.

 

[RescueRanger]

i know Sean and Dustin are here and posting, but who are "jafar" and "rufiosghost"?? Are they also former members of the disunplugged team? Sorry just trying to get this all straight!!

thank you!

I would love to know as well but my crash course reading the now 5 threads has never revealed.

 

[Ahoyhoy]

Are you serious about Craig? His signature line he says all the time is "I'm one of the rare people who do or do not like this thing."

Fair enough. I guess I'm just not used to him having a sensible opinion since he's so often contrarian. But I guess in the face of sheer lunacy, his contrarianism worked out.

 

[Murray9000]

I had read a rumor here or there that corroborated my gut, but I chalked them up to rumors. I would casually laugh over some of the stupid stuff that was said, enjoy content and move on with life. But after Pete left, the first few shows really grated on me for different reasons. The fun wasn't there anymore and I unsubscribed to all the shows...except Connecting with Walt. That's the only one left in my feed. (I really want to keep it, but I'm not I morally can at this point.)

Are you Michael Bowling?

Also, LOL at Craig whining about the fact that he has to be on call during vacation. Welcome to the corporate world, buddy; when you're in any kind of leadership position, you're expected to be available in case of emergency.

Unless you're in rehab.

 

[Cocobean9]

Long time members of The Dis (I’m looking at you Craig,Ryan,Teresa,Corey,Julie,John & Kevin) HAVE to know how unstable and what a sexual harasser Pete is in addition to just being a sh*tty human. I stopped watching a few years ago mainly because of Pete’s attitude (bragging about his wealth and luxury trips) and ranting, lecturing and judging others as if his opinion is gospel. It‘s obvious he has a host of unresolved issues that he‘s over compensating for.

SHAME on every member of The Dis and all the spin off companies who have never called Pete out and remain in their jobs turning a blind eye. I realize most of Pete’s current employees couldn’t handle a job in the real world but have some dignity and honor and stop aiding Pete in his abusive behavior.

I hope telling their stories is cathartic for Sean & Dustin and Pete doesn’t target them for his wrath. I know it’s incredibly brave

 

[DisGayDatGay]

Are you Michael Bowling?

LOL, no. I live in Florida, very gay, very mid-40s.

 

[Cinnamon1]

When the DVC show switched sponsors, it changed alot. When it first started and DVCStore was the sponsor, it had a much more honest feel to it. The owner of the DVCStore (Jerry Seido sp??) was the panelist from the sponsor and he came across well. Of course he wanted you to buy resale DVC contracts, but he would at least be critical of DVC at points, or admit when it didn't make sense to buy DVC. IN fact, theres an entire early show titled "Who Does NOT Need to Buy DVC".

In addition one of the original panelists Pete Sheindle (sp??) was really on point with his charts, spreadsheets and research on how to use DVC, how to maximize it and who it would and wouldn't work for. It was a good show. To be fair it was an example of Pete's better moments creatively....

Until it wasn't. The new sponsors immediately came across as Used Car Salesmen. You can almost see the armpit sweat stains and smell the coffee breath as they say things like "DVC is the best, if you don't like it, call us and we'll sell it for you" They dominate the show and it went from a show about DVC to essentially a sales pitch for Resale DVC.

You are completely right, I'm not an owner, but enjoyed the first shows of just learning about how it all worked. I really liked the original people, didn't know what was off, but yes the Sponsor changing now makes total sense.
---

Sean, I had a question about Moving to The Magic. On one of the shows Pete said something like he cut ties with the old agent due to some information he received. I'm not sure if that was Eric or someone else. I'm trying to recall this from memory and likely doing a bad job. He made is sound like the guy was a criminal or something like that, what was that deal? If you already covered it I'm sorry I missed it and I get the feeling now maybe it was Pete drama he blamed on someone else.

In one of the other threads, Sean did a deep dive into what happened with Eric. It was a very interesting read.

 

[The Mando]

Sean, I had a question about Moving to The Magic. On one of the shows Pete said something like he cut ties with the old agent due to some information he received. I'm not sure if that was Eric or someone else. I'm trying to recall this from memory and likely doing a bad job. He made is sound like the guy was a criminal or something like that, what was that deal? If you already covered it I'm sorry I missed it and I get the feeling now maybe it was Pete drama he blamed on someone else.

He didn’t do anything criminal or anything. It had already been a bit tense because Eric was getting busier and wasn’t very attentive to Pete but I joined the same brokerage as Eric after I got my license. His broker started talking to me about Eric and how he had given this speech at some event/meeting that he was a realtor with his brother for a few years (which was technically true, they did co-sell the two sales he had) but that he then was doing charity work with the Orlando Magic and got inspired to create Moving to the Magic because of the basketball team. I don’t remember the rest but that was the main takeaway. I was genuinely confused and asked Pete about it and he went ballistic. Eric denied the whole thing but Pete didn’t believe him and that was the end of it.

I don’t really see why the broker would lie about him saying that, but she was also kinda ditzy so it’s possible? Idk but they were already having a lot of interpersonal drama and had been on a couple dates and stuff so it would’ve been ‘something’ if not that.

 

[Saul's Gal]

HELLO anyone who breezed by this is really not getting the weight of this statement holy bleeping tit

Sadly, this happens all of the time. I was in the military for 20 years. Mainly, they are told not to report it because it won't go anywhere or to suck it up because that is just part of being in the military.

I have to admit. This stuff is VERY disturbing to me, and I feel for Dustin and Sean. I am so sorry this happened. Pete is an absolute monster. I don't care how generous and fun he can be. He is disgusting and dangerous.

 

[Rufio'sGhost]

@The Mando I still can't believe that he kicked you out of y'all's stateroom while on a cruise. Where did you end up going? Were you kicked out of the room for a whole night?
I'm curious if Dustin ever had any experiences like this with Pete.

 

[Loueylouay]

Pete sounds like a child needing so much attention and people to do things the way he wants but then has a temper tantrum.
His rants on air were not even funny sometimes, like that one about the key not working at the Grand Floridian. He sounded like a spoiled brat.
His business success (which is overstated) is a product of luck and timing.
Seems to me that everyone with talent that worked there, left. People who could get jobs somewhere else.
But Ryno, sleepy Teresa, Corey the amazing coder, and yes even Craig who may have had talent at the beginning but is now a dime a dozen, are obviously afraid to leave.

 

[The Mando]

@The Mando I still can't believe that he kicked you out of y'all's stateroom while on a cruise. Where did you end up going? Were you kicked out of the room for a whole night?
I'm curious if Dustin ever had any experiences like this with Pete.

It was a good chunk of the night. I slept in the lobby for a bit and the staff got concerned so I kinda moved around. It was tough cause it was a Viking cruise and they are smaller so the staff was a lot more familiar with us all.

And yes Dustin did have this happen to him as well. It was a bonding event for us, cause why wouldn’t you have to sleep on cruise decks and lobbies haha.

Pete and mines room was a suite so it had the bedroom and then a living room area so Pete did eventually let me back in just the living room portion so I had a little couch there to sleep on, which was better for me than having Pete pawing all over me in the night.


And it all happened cause Pete thought I was sleeping with the DIS fans behind his back.

 

[Ahoyhoy]

Pete sounds like a child needing so much attention and people to do things the way he wants but then has a temper tantrum.
His rants on air were not even funny sometimes, like that one about the key not working at the Grand Floridian. He sounded like a spoiled brat.
His business success (which is overstated) is a product of luck and timing.
Seems to me that everyone with talent that worked there, left. People who could get jobs somewhere else.
But Ryno, sleepy Teresa, Corey the amazing coder, and yes even Craig who may have had talent at the beginning but is now a dime a dozen, are obviously afraid to leave.

The famous, "My mom's magic band didn't work so I cursed out the front desk lady, then they got an attitude with me" review lol.

I've mentioned that I think Craig can find work elsewhere, and I truly believe it. He has producer chops and with the explosion of video podcasts in the last half decade, he'd be unemployed for five minutes if he ever did leave. I think the only reason he stays is because he has so much freedom with the channel, he and Ryno's Universal videos get zero traction, yet he's still making them.

Don't know Teresa's background but she seems professional and competent. As much as we can laugh at Corey's extremely basic dev skills, there's plenty of IT-illiterate business owners just like Pete in the world that'll take a guy with 25 years experience as a "web developer."

Ryno needs this job though. He's got no skills and he isn't even a good presence on camera. No other vlog company would be interested, he can't carry a channel by himself, and lord knows a resume of "ate cupcakes at Disney World" for 15 years won't do any good on the job market.

 

[The Mando]

Pete sounds like a child needing so much attention and people to do things the way he wants but then has a temper tantrum.
His rants on air were not even funny sometimes, like that one about the key not working at the Grand Floridian. He sounded like a spoiled brat.
His business success (which is overstated) is a product of luck and timing.
Seems to me that everyone with talent that worked there, left. People who could get jobs somewhere else.
But Ryno, sleepy Teresa, Corey the amazing coder, and yes even Craig who may have had talent at the beginning but is now a dime a dozen, are obviously afraid to leave.

Oh the Grand Floridian show - I was supposed to be there that day and I cancelled last minute. I had a travel agent stuff going on from what I remember and I couldn’t make it. Pete was very upset, he took it really personally and then took it out on the Grand Floridian.

I was not there but Pete cannot separate his emotions from work stuff. So if he had a bad run in, he’s taking it out on staff and ultimately the place he is reviewing. Pete shows up places and he’s in a foul mood and you know he’s just mad and going to be negative and other times he will show up and be happy and then he’s going to leave a good review.


I can’t remember what day Google (that being the google ad revenue for The DIS which was the biggest money maker at the time outside Dreams but dreams has all the overhead and John gets his money and all that ) would send checks each month but I thought it was around the 18th?

Regardless, this was a big pay out each month for Pete and he often had to wait to reimburse staff and pay bills until that check cleared each month. So, when we did dining reviews right after the check hit the bank, he was in a great mood but if it was the days leading up to the check, he was usually in a bad mood and if definitely affected the reviews.

A good example is that Pete always says how much he hates Paris. Pete hates Paris because he was in Paris at the end of him and Walters relationship; Walter went to bed early and Pete walked around by himself and saw other couples out and about and felt alone and that his man should’ve been with him. So, Pete hates Paris. And I know This because he told me in Paris the story and that that’s why he’s always hated Paris and now going with me, he loved Paris. Which, like….cool? But you review things for a living, so maybe don’t let your emotions get that involved in things?

 

[Ahoyhoy]

Oh the Grand Floridian show - I was supposed to be there that day and I cancelled last minute. I had a travel agent stuff going on from what I remember and I couldn’t make it. Pete was very upset, he took it really personally and then took it out on the Grand Floridian.

I was not there but Pete cannot separate his emotions from work stuff. So if he had a bad run in, he’s taking it out on staff and ultimately the place he is reviewing. Pete shows up places and he’s in a foul mood and you know he’s just mad and going to be negative and other times he will show up and be happy and then he’s going to leave a good review.


I can’t remember what day Google (that being the google ad revenue for The DIS which was the biggest money maker at the time outside Dreams but dreams has all the overhead and John gets his money and all that ) would send checks each month but I thought it was around the 18th?

Regardless, this was a big pay out each month for Pete and he often had to wait to reimburse staff and pay bills until that check cleared each month. So, when we did dining reviews right after the check hit the bank, he was in a great mood but if it was the days leading up to the check, he was usually in a bad mood and if definitely affected the reviews.

A good example is that Pete always says how much he hates Paris. Pete hates Paris because he was in Paris at the end of him and Walters relationship; Walter went to bed early and Pete walked around by himself and saw other couples out and about and felt alone and that his man should’ve been with him. So, Pete hates Paris. And I know This because he told me in Paris the story and that that’s why he’s always hated Paris and now going with me, he loved Paris. Which, like….cool? But you review things for a living, so maybe don’t let your emotions get that involved in things?

That Paris story, and the one about doing something nice for him (when no one else does) makes me almost feel bad for him.

Then I remember he's a predatory POS, and I'm unbothered lol.

 

[2020planner]

I totally remember Pete's rant about the Grand Floridian during that stay.

Questions for Sean - @The Mando - Hi!

This may have already been covered...apologies as I'm just catching up through tons of pages... but did Pete know about Charles' past? and arrest history and / or history of violence before he hired him?

Also, why did Charles always overdress when compared to everyone else? I mean, the outfits looked nice but just looked SO out of place with everyone else. Any insight into why he did that?

One last thing - I always loved Pete's mom and seeing her in the vlogs. Was he really nice to her in real life or was it all just an act for the camera? I hope not bc I loved seeing her... was she legit nice / nice to talk to?

 

[Happiest]

I have heard that Charles had a shady past. Did he actually serve prison time? I never heard any details.

 

[The Mando]

I totally remember Pete's rant about the Grand Floridian during that stay.

Questions for Sean - @The Mando - Hi!

This may have already been covered...apologies as I'm just catching up through tons of pages... but did Pete know about Charles' past? and arrest history and / or history of violence before he hired him?

Also, why did Charles always overdress when compared to everyone else? I mean, the outfits looked nice but just looked SO out of place with everyone else. Any insight into why he did that?

One last thing - I always loved Pete's mom and seeing her in the vlogs. Was he really nice to her in real life or was it all just an act for the camera? I hope not bc I loved seeing her... was she legit nice / nice to talk to?

Pete did know about Charles’ past. I know I asked him once about the bowties and dressing up, I think it was a blend of him wanting to look professional and also wanting to have ‘a thing’ that people could associate him with.

When Charles started, he was pretty roundly despised by the audience and people did come around on him until about a year in and then people turned and loved him after. Part professional and part branding, would be my best guess there.

Pete is nice to his mom and his mom is a really lovely person.

 

[missmothman]

Also, why did Charles always overdress when compared to everyone else? I mean, the outfits looked nice but just looked SO out of place with everyone else. Any insight into why he did that?

i love that you said this! My husband and I always joke about how he would wear basically a three piece suit while dining at the Disney junior restaurant

 

[2020planner]

i love that you said this! My husband and I always joke about how he would wear basically a three piece suit while dining at the Disney junior restaurant

I know. Or it'd be 5,000 degrees out and he'd be dressed to the nines filming in the park.
---

Pete did know about Charles’ past. I know I asked him once about the bowties and dressing up, I think it was a blend of him wanting to look professional and also wanting to have ‘a thing’ that people could associate him with.

When Charles started, he was pretty roundly despised by the audience and people did come around on him until about a year in and then people turned and loved him after. Part professional and part branding, would be my best guess there.

Pete is nice to his mom and his mom is a really lovely person.

Thanks for answering!