This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Alexandrea Ciardella. Find her on Instagram at @a6ysma1. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Starting in 1981, Disney has been recruiting college students from across the globe to work in their parks. Nearly 4,000 students every year take on this internship and work different jobs across the park. Some interns believe it to be the best experience they’ve ever had. Others describe it as a nightmare, and some leave before their internship period is up. Is the Disney College Program worth it?
As defined on the program’s website: “The Disney College Program is a one-of-a-kind internship for college students and recent graduates. It’s a fun way to get immersed in the enchantment and fun of Disney while gaining valuable job experience, making lifelong connections — and getting paid, too!”
Program benefits include career development opportunities, resort-like living accommodations, cast member discounts, and free theme park admission. Once you sign up with the program, you’ll get to live at the Walt Disney World Resort, work in the park, and attend educational sessions at Disney University that will help you advance your career. The program can last anywhere from 4 to 8 months and few cast members can even extend their program up to a year.
If you look online, you’ll see endless support for the Disney College Program. Hundreds of blog posts explaining that it was the best experience of their life, thousands of videos, and articles telling you why you should also apply for the program today. Some alumni of the Disney College Program have nothing but praise in regards to their time in the Disney College Program. Charlotte says on her blog, This Girl Knows It;
“My Disney College Program was hands-down one of the best experiences of my life. So many incredible memories, lessons, and friends have come from it and it’s hard to think where I’d be or what I’d be doing if I hadn’t pursued that dream.”
However, not everybody praises the program. There are a few articles floating around the web that state that the pay isn’t great compared to cast members not in the program (if you’re living in Flamingo Crossing, the program’s residential area, your paycheck gets automatically deducted for rent), and could be anywhere from $20-$150 depending on how many hours you work. You’ll likely work anytime between 4 PM and 1 AM, as the other hours are times other cast members work. You’ll get sick (medically) from interacting with people, being in the hot sun, and working long hours that you may have to take time off to recover. Not to mention that you have to be careful just how much time you take off, or you could be fired. Visitors can be a pain, your appearance is strictly monitored; these are just a few of the issues you might face in the program.
There are so many articles and blog posts about interns having bad experiences at the park, yet at the same time there are others who enjoyed it, so it’s a very mixed bag of opinions. Speaking from my own experience, I don’t have high praise for the Disney College Program, at least for the application process. After I graduated from school, I started to look for full-time, part-time, or even internship roles in the administrative or editorial industry. As evident by my role here at the Zillennial Zine, I want my future career to be in writing. Starting as an intern at Disney is a pretty big deal, so when I saw a job posting I wanted to take a shot and applied for the job. The job description was a bit vague, but to be fair I only gave it a glance over when I first sent in my resume. I had assumed that the role would be for something like working in the offices of WDW, or in the best-case scenario, working on a creative project that would allow me to flex my writing skills in New York.
However, when I received the email confirming that I had been selected for a role at Disney, I took a closer look at the job description and did a bit more research. What I thought would be a Disney Internship just turned out to be a job in the park. I decided not to pursue a job with Disney further.
I have to be honest though; even though I’m not the biggest fan of Disney, the idea of living in Florida and getting into the parks for free was a tempting offer. Tickets to Disney nowadays cost over $100 for a 1-Day ticket; not to mention accommodations or transport to and from the park. It would be great for an extended vacation. But I weighed the pros against the cons and decided that it would be better for me to look for work closer to home.
So, is the Disney College Program really worth it? For those who are Disney fanatics, this may be a great opportunity for you. Otherwise, you might not enjoy working there.
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