About six months ago, I wrote an article titled “Inside the Disney College Program.” Ironically, I wasn’t inside the program yet at all. Now I’ve completed it, and I would like to share an honest recap of my experience. Let me preface by saying that I recommend the DCP to anyone even slightly interested. I don’t recommend it as a career move, but I recommend it for the experience. Disney wasn’t always magical, but it was certainly unforgettable.
I became enamored with the idea of working for the Walt Disney Company a few years ago. Like many others, I had grown up with Disney movies and characters and had fond memories of vacationing with my family at Disney World. I began looking for jobs on Disney’s career site, and noticed many of the preferred qualifications for internships included completion of the DCP. It seemed like it was really a seamless transition to go from CP to moving on up in the company. I had dreams of working in Disney’s research department within the parks or in publishing with them. I would watch YouTube videos of College Program participants and the DCP looked so fun. Who wouldn’t want to live at Disney World? I applied and told myself I would gladly accept any role, I just wanted an “in.”
Acceptances began rolling in and my heart sank while I waited. When I finally saw that “Congratulations!” email, I was ecstatic. My role was quick service food and beverage - I wasn’t too excited for the role, I couldn’t wait to get started with my career at Disney. This would be my first post-graduation job – although not a very prestigious position, it was with a very prestigious company, so I felt good about my decision.I had never worked with food before so I tried to keep an open mind.
Every Cast Member goes through a special class called "Traditions." Seeing my name on a WDW nametag was so exciting.
Moving to Florida in August was certainly an experience. I worked in Adventureland and Frontierland stands in Magic Kingdom. Being outside in the heat for hours serving turkey legs to guests who couldn’t understand their dining plans or remember their Magic Band pins was less than magical. Guests were mostly kind and our interactions with them were brief – however, the rude guests interactions are unfortunately the ones that stick out. When I began, I couldn’t imagine how anyone could be unhappy at Disney World – boy, was I wrong. The experience of working basically fast food in the Magic Kingdom gave me a new appreciation and newfound patience for food service workers everywhere. The questions guests would ask would blow my mind …. “What time is the 3 o'clock parade?” “Where is Disney World?” “Where’s Harry Potter?” “Can you remove the grease off of the paper on my turkey leg?” “Are the french fries made out of potatoes?” “Does the lemonade slushie have peanuts in it?” You wonder how these people function in the “real world.”
My lovely Adventureland outfit, fondly known as the "Arabian pajamas"
Like I said, most guests were nice. The best thing we got to do for guests was make "magical moments" or basically give away free food at our discretion. If guests were really sweet or spirited, I would sometimes give them some cookies or a free pretzel and it was amazing to see their face light up when you told them it was "from Mickey." It doesn't seem like much, but people would often tell me that it really turned their day around, so that always felt good. (Side note: please never ask for a magic moment. It's not really magical if you ask for it.) If you're ever a guest at Disney World and a Cast Member has made your day, and you want to make THEIR day, find a leader close by and mention what the CM did for you. Leaders wear business clothes (no costumes) and have nametags and black lanyards. A few guests did this for me and I was recognized with "Four Keys" cards to go on my record at Disney, which was really awesome.
Working at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
My shifts at Magic Kingdom were inconsistent – one day I might have worked from 7 p.m.-2 a.m. and then come in the next morning at 10. It took a lot of getting used to – at first, when I had a day off, I would just want to sleep. Once I got more used to the weird sleeping schedule and the weather cooled down a bit, I spent almost every day off in the parks. It was really nice to be able to take my time in the park and not feel pressured to do it all in one day. You definitely start to notice and appreciate details around the park when you have the luxury of taking your time.
The first day we were allowed to use our park passes, we braved the heat and went into Magic Kingdom.
The people I worked with were great. My biggest regret from my college program was not trying to hang out with them outside of work sooner. I spent a lot of time trying to hang out with my roommates and trying to push those friendships. I always go into roommate situations really optimistic – I have this secret hope that we’ll all become the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants or something. I definitely found that I had a lot in common with my work friends and ended up spending more time with them as the program went on. So my former roomies and I won’t be mailing a pair of shared magical jeans around the world, and that’s okay. I wish them the best and I know they’re all headed for great things. I’ll never forget our five-month long sleepover. Through the DCP, I feel like I have connections across the globe now, and I really hope in my future travels, I get to see my Disney friends again. And how cool is it that we all have Disney World as our second home?
M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E: Mickey Mouse! (Donald Duck!)
A bit starstruck by my fave, Punzie
We met Moana before seeing her movie and were really confused. But we saw the movie later that night and decided we loved her.
I enjoyed my college program, but it definitely changed my mind about working for Disney long-term. I came in with big aspirations and big ideas, but I didn’t feel like anyone really wanted to listen or help. For a company that puts so much emphasis on treating guests as individuals, Disney doesn’t always recognize or encourage individuality in their cast members. Everyone’s replaceable. The literature around the DCP has this narrative of “Your Disney story is just beginning…” as if they are scouting participants for higher-level positions and utilizing their talents. I didn’t find this to be the case. Although we are college students and for the most part, smart and capable workers, the positions in the college program don’t require much skill. If you aren’t willing to swirl dole whip or dish out turkey legs or clean fryers, goodbye - someone else will. In my experience, the DCP is a way for Disney to find cheap labor. There’s nothing wrong with that, but they should advertise it more realistically. About halfway through my program, I accepted the monotonous job as the price to pay for my free park admission, which was amazing in itself. I also got to participate in some fun events like backstage tours of the Haunted Mansion and Expedition Everest, and take classes to learn about Disney history and learn more about the company. I got a sweet discount that I definitely took advantage of. Even with all that magic, there were times where I missed my life back home - my family and missed my old job, or times when I regretted doing the program after graduation and not taking a higher-paying job in my field.Trying to get days off when my family visited was enough to make me want to end my program early – it was such a struggle, but everything ended up working out, and I’m glad I stayed the course. The friendships I formed really made my program worth it and my friends really helped me get through the hard days.
The original princess... and Snow White. Jk.
Backstage tour of Everest with Stands West
So here’s my advice: If you love Disney, do the college program. But take a semester off for it, don’t do it as your first career move – it might be the “first step of your Disney journey” and lead to something completely amazing, but it might not lead to anything at all. I applied for a handful of professional internships and one by one, was slowly turned down for everything. I went to performer auditions and got cut from those, too. I applied for and was offered an extension into merchandise and could have stayed longer and tried to work my way up the ladder, but I honestly felt burnt out emotionally and physically after just five months. Some people are cut out to work these jobs, but I don’t think I’m one of them. I applaud them and I admire these Cast Members, because now I understand the crazy hours and crazy guests and crazy rules they deal with every day, and they still go out and make magic everyday despite all that craziness.
Enjoying some dole whip with my mom and sister! I worked this location too.
Probs the best picture of the program. You might not believe it from my face, but Tower of Terror is one of my favorite rides.
The DCP is what you make it. I went in with different expectations, but even though it wasn’t what I thought it would be, I still left really satisfied and with a lot of great memories. Not everything you do in life needs to be a strategic move, sometimes it’s okay to just have fun and try things. Sure, I could have jumped into adulthood right after college, but I have the rest of my life to be an adult, so I’m glad I had some time to walk around Cinderella’s castle a few times while I figured out my next step. I’m thankful for the DCP because it taught me a lot about myself. And there’s no better place to get to know yourself than the place where dreams come true!
Thanks boss!
