A Summer at Disney University with the Walt Disney World College Program
Oct 13 '01 (Updated Apr 03 '06)
The Bottom Line Don't plan on taking cash home from this internship, however do plan to have a lot of fun and plan to take home with you a lifetime of memories.
I will never forget my first trip to Walt Disney World. I was there for four months, playing in the parks, making friends, learning Disney secrets and having a fabulous time!
My junior year in college, my friend Tena, a self-proclaimed Disney freak, told me about the Walt Disney World College Program. Basically it's a college program that Disney World hires college students to go to Disney and work for a semester. While in Florida, you work and attend 10 seminars that prepare you for working in the real world.
Getting Hired
Getting hired was fairly easy. Disney want's wholesome, clean cut, happy and outgoing people. Recruiters travel to major colleges in each state and speak with students about the wonderful opportunity to come and work for them. They have three semesters that they recruit for - spring, summer and fall. I went on the summer semester, so as not to mess with my real college classes.
The first meeting with the recruiters is a large group meeting. They have students from that college who have already been on the college program come and speak, and they will show a promotional video about the college program. Depending on how far you traveled, you may have an interview after the first meeting or you may have one scheduled for the next day.
Because I had traveled a distance to attend the meeting, I had my interview right after the first meeting. Basically a recruiter gets a group of 5-8 prospective candidates and asks questions to the people in the group. They want to see how outgoing you are, and make sure you can fit the "Disney Image".
When you are finished with your in-person interview, you are given a card with a date and time to call to find out if you passed to the second interview. After that you are given a time to call for an indepth phone interview. You are asked questions like "how many days of work have you missed in the past year" and "do you consider yourself outgoing". All questions that you can easily answer.
Finally, after all this, you will receive a letter. It will tell you your job assignment and ask for you to confirm that you do plan to attend. Pack your bags because you are off to Orlando!
Living In Orlando
I drove my own car from Oklahoma to Orlando. However, a car is not necessary to have, unless you live off site. I lived in Vista Way - the apartment complex for the college programers. I think they have a couple of apartment complexes now, but Vista Way was the first. Disney provides housing to you for a cost ($70 per week for me with 5 roommates in a 3 bedroom apartment!!!) It's expensive, but when you consider that you have 24 hour security, 2 pools, 2 hot tubs, tennis courts, basketball courts, a club house, all your furniture and dishes are provided, and transportation, it's not that bad of a deal. I have heard something about now charging for transportation, however when I went, it was free. I tended to take the bus to work because I didn't work enough hours to pay for gas and for the fun stuff I wanted to do while in Orlando. The bus would drop you off in the cast parking lot of WDW, and then you would catch another bus that took you to the entrance to the tunnel. From there you head to the locker rooms to get into costume and then you're off to work!
Working
I worked at a restaurant called Columbia Harbour House in Liberty Square of the Magic Kingdom. It's located right across from the Haunted Mansion. I had a blast. Chicken strips and clam chowder were the staples on the menu. They have great chicken strips too, I highly recommend them!
I worked a rotation through the kitchen, front counter, register and greeter. I also spent a day shadowing a manager. This is where you dress up in professional business dress and you handle the runnings of the restaurant. Tim, the manager I shadowed, was fantastic. He let me be in total control, however he did let me leave to go watch the Spectromagic Parade and then took me on top of the Lion King show building with a couple of other cast members to watch the fireworks display. At the end of every night we did a "walk through" where the manager walked the entire restaurant before anyone was permitted to leave, so that night I got to do this. Working in a restaurant wasn't the best, but hey, it was still Disney World and I got to play in the parks for 4 months for free, so I wasn't complaining!
Seminars
You attend Traditions, which is what Disney calls orientation. It is a four day process. We learned more about the Disney Company, cash handling, food preparation, and how to work the cash registers. This is a very brainwashing experience! If you go through the saga of applying and interviewing, you're probably a pretty big Disney fan already. Well wait until you're pumped full of Pixie Dust and then sent out to the parks to PLAY as part of orientation! Yup, you get to go out into the park and learn where things are so you can properly give directions. You're also taught Disney Lingo and things like how to point using 2 fingers or the entire hand, the Disney Lean (no sitting on the job!) and what the 6 million abbreviations that you hear daily stand for. It's a very fun experience to go through Traditions.
The 10 seminars that you attend last about 2 hours each.
1. Traditions - counts for seminar #1
2. Walt Disney World and You - discusses the real sucess behind Disney - it's cast members
3. Finance and Marketing - tells the financial history of the Walt Disney company and they're marketing strategies
4. Managing the Company - defines Synergy and quality business standards for WDW.
5. The task - at the end of seminar 4 you're given a to visit a particular location on WDW property. I was given Company D, which is a cast member store.
6. Introduction to Theme Parks - this seminar is about the beginnings of Disneyland, and how Walt turned it profitable.
7. Food, Participants and Merchandise - This seminar talks how to expect how many people to feed, how much merchandise to have on hand, etc.
8. Maintenance, Custodial Services & Horticulture - this seminar takes you on a trip to EPCOT to see these services.
9. Salaried Casting - talks about resume writing techniques, interviewing techniques, and management at WDW.
10. The Disney Leader - Discusses the differences between a manager and a leader and identify philosophy of a Disney Leader.
The seminars were boring at times, but when we got to go out and go places (like EPCOT) it was fun.
After Hours
There are many things to do when you're not at work. And as a Disney cast member, you get lots of perks. Many local businesses give discounts to Disney cast members. I even found a liquor store that gave cast member discounts. How crazy is that! You can also get into Pleasure Island for free on cast member nights. This is a wild fun place to party.
Mostly the WDW College Program is an opportunity for college kids to party and socialize. It was a fun time for me with some great memories. There are lots of things to do outside of Disney World. I visited the American Gladiators, Universal Studios, Sea World, the Kennedy Space Center, watched a shuttle launch, and much much more. Many celebrities visit the parks, and you have a chance daily to see all of them. It was a fantastic opportunity and I would recommend anyone with a love for Disney to try to go.
Related Reviews:
Disney's Wilderness Lodge - Camping during a hurricane?
http://www.epinions.com/content_224929025668
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
kimmyjj
|
|
Location: Missouri, USA
Reviews written: 61
Trusted by: 64 members
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.