As a little girl I always dreamed of working for Disney, along with so many others. I mean who wouldn’t want to? It looks like a ton of fun, right? Imagine the perks and benefits. One day, actually one of my first days in college, someone came into one of my lectures and passed out “Disney College Program” flyers. My heart sank into my stomach. This is a thing? I can actually do this? Being only eighteen then, I knew this wasn't the time. I had a gut feeling that this wasn't when I would apply, but it was when I was supposed to know the college program even existed.
About a year and a half later, my class went on, dare I call it a field trip? We went on a class trip to Disneyland. Having been our program’s Vice President, I was almost required to go, and when we all agreed on Disneyland, I had never been so keen. Having grown up in Southern California and had family members work at Disneyland, I spent a nice chunk of my childhood there. The best part about this being a class trip was we got to go on tours and learn fun facts and see things most guests don’t get to see. It was then when I realized I really did want to work for Disney. Even though it was work, we got a lot of play time. I've never had a bad experience visiting Disneyland, and I wanted to be apart of someone else’s visit. I wanted to be a Cast Member that got to interact with guests and make the magic real.
That was in May 2014, fast forward to October 2014 when I was as lost as can be in my life. A confused twenty year old who just needed a break. What did I do? I went onto disneycollegeprogram.com and saw they were still accepting applications for DCP Spring 2015. Fortunate for me, it was a fast process. I applied early October, had my phone interview a week after that. Went to visit family in Los Angeles about two weeks after my phone interview and got the acceptance email a day before I went to Disneyland, and obviously cried like a baby. I had never wanted something so much in my life. I was nervous though because I was accepted for Walt Disney World...where I had never been before. I had no idea what to expect. Come January 2015, I would be moving across the country from Portland, Or to Orlando, Fl.
Participating in the Disney College Program was easily the best decision I’ve made. I always talk about my friends I made during the program, so I thought I would write about how working for Disney changed me. What they taught me.
It’s been a little over a year since I’ve been home and I still do the “Disney Point”. Some people use their whole hand to direct guests, I got comfortable using my index and middle finger (together, of course) and it’s stuck ever since. Disney taught me that being “on time” was actually being late. We were able to clock in fifteen minutes before our shifts, and sometimes if we were short you were starting that early. Always show up early. If you work in the morning and are like me, not a morning person, the night before lay out your costume (aka uniform) and have it waiting for you when you get up. There was an unfortunate time in my time working for the mouse when I would work from 7:00 am - 11:00 pm, and have to be back again at 7:00 am the next day, so I would sleep in my costume. Call me lazy, but it was a genius move on my part. Always smile and be polite, even when you don’t want to. I struggled with this one the most. 99% of the time, I’m as nice as can be, the other 1% is when I want to lash out on a guest who is beyond disrespectful, but I didn’t feel like losing my job over a pathetically rude guest. Forget what your business classes taught you about where you put your name tag, because Mickey wants it on your left…”over your heart” as they say. I still do this out of habit. Respect everyone you work with, especially those with positions higher than yours, you’ll need them later on when you’re trying to either 1. Move up in the company you work for or 2. When you’re leaving your job to go to another one. Nothing is better than having great references! Lastly, don’t take working for Disney for granted. Once you get home, the post DCP depression hits hard and it’s even worse when your friends are scattered all over the country/world.
