<p>I'm surprised there are so few posts about Disney College Program Internships. We have relatives in Orlando and my D wan't to take a semester off school and work at Disney. She's a sophmore and pretty unhappy where she is, I thought it might be better to do something like Disney rather than drop out and work until she can be accepted somewhere she'd like to attend for Fall 08. </p>
<p>** I'm hoping someone can offer some advise on whether this is just a "fun time" living in an apartment & working for min. wage - or the experience truly has some redeeming value?**</p>
<p>There seem to be a lot of different kinds of possible jobs, and as a communications, journalism major - anything involving customer service or PR, even being a character and talking with the public - could be a good experience. I just don't want her to work in fast food or retail - she's already done that.</p>
<p>Anybody worked at Disney - or know someone who has?
Good experience? Bad experience?</p>
<p>I work at Disney. Parttime only though, First of all, where do you intend to get the college program? In California or here in Florida. It's great for someone who wants to live 'independently' and get some learning/work experience as well. Although the low wage and extremely long days will exhaust you, its good for the resume, i think they write it as a professional internship. If she decides to take classes, she can take them at our Disney 'university'.</p>
<p>They send the kids who want to take the college program into areas that's possibly closet to the major, but if she knows other languages like Spanish, French, Italian and/or German, then she could try applying for a spot at Guest Relations(you have to be absolutely patient and understanding for the part), they get payed higher too. She could also try some attractions at Disney-MGM studios, they have a variety of attractions that demand great communication skills, like the Animation Academy or Backlot Tours.</p>
<p>There have been a lot of success stories for College Program cast members. They get into jobs they want because of the "Disney" name in their resumes. Most of them come back to Disney to establish their careers. Most of those from the 2000 batch are Managers now. For $6.67 and 40hr work weeks, it can be very rewarding once you finish.</p>
<p>Pros: getting payed, making networks and forging friendships with students who have the same goals as you, learning to work in an International environment, being independent, going into the parks for FREE!! discounts...in basically anywhere on property plus other stuff..</p>
<p>Cons: Tax and Lodging payroll deduction, if you don't have a car with you..a hellish bus ride, sometimes irritating often not co-workers, 12 hour days, FLORIDA WEATHER.</p>
<p>i can go on..but I'm sort of procrastinating..so I hope that helps</p>
<p>Thank you -
She wants Florida, and probably will probably be interested in any classes they offer. A lot depends on whether her own college cooperates regarding credit, or whether she chooses to just take the semester off.</p>
<p>She doesn't have a foreign language - instead she substituded american sign language. That might be a good thing at a place like Disney.</p>
<p>I think she's applying on line this week-end. Well...doors don't open unless you knock.</p>
<p>I did it in florida in the summer of 2006 and it was the best time of my life, I learned so much about myself and it was a great experience, I would do it if I were her and the sign language would really be useful. You get to work with people from all over the world which is scary at first but then you learn so much about other cultures which in the future will really help become a more informed person.</p>
<p>At disney I would say all jobs are pretty much customer because that is all you doing no matter what job you are given. I worked custodial and 90% of my job was dealing with guest wants and needs which helped me learn better communication skills.</p>
<p>I also took a class while there and it was useful into how corporate america thinks. </p>
<p>The pay is low but there are plenty of opportunities to make extra money at disney by picking up extra shifts or other workers time slots.</p>
<p>I plan on going back in the future to do their professional internship which are great. She will have a great time and make many new friends!</p>
<p>They will have to accept the credits that she'll get from there... And American Sign Language will be good. I makes for great conversation with a lot of guests. She's applying this weekend?! Great!! We'll have new cast members.. This upcoming christmas and spring will be a very toxic season for us.. She'll most likely get a slot, but she needs to talk to someone in her school.</p>
<p>I had a friend that did the program in Florida. My feeling was that it was nothing more than Disney getting a bunch of cheap labor. As was already pointed out, the types of jobs are things that don't require a college degree: customer service, food service, janitorial, etc. My impression is that they did almost nothing to prepare their interns for quality positions in industry. Low pay, menial tasks... I just don't see the value. </p>
<p>... but hey, that's just my opinion based on 3rd hand knowledge.. so take that as you wish.</p>
<p>sky is right about the low wage part. The jobs that are offered don't necessarily need college degrees because majority of the cast members only graduated high school and have really no intention on studying for college cause its expensive(You really don't need college education when it comes to cleaning bathrooms), or they have already retired from their fulltime high paying jobs and just want to use their time wisely. I only work there for the perks and I haven't graduated college yet.</p>
<p>The college program is basically a learnning and working experience, and usually those who do have college degrees get better paying jobs, but they really have to start at the bottom of the food chain. The former president of Walt Disney World was once in custodial, but he saw the importance of education and the company helped him..like really helped him by paying for his BA and MBA degrees.</p>
<p>Hi, I just had my phone interview for spring 2008. I'm graduating in December and have a semester off before I start dental school. I was wondering if anyone can give me a heads up to a serious list of pros and cons. I'm hoping to get a spot on either the great movie ride or the jungle cruise. what's the living situation like? are most of the cast members nice and fun to work with? </p>
<p>im just trying to get a feel if the program is as amazing as disney makes it seem from people who've already done it</p>
[quote]
Hi, I just had my phone interview for spring 2008.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>What was the interview like? What kind of personal questions?
Any trick questions? Was the interviewer knowledgable about the program? Did you acutally have an opportunity ask to be work on a specific ride?</p>
<p>ak714251 -
oh cool..most cast members are friendly, when you get in you'll probably work with the older people and the other CPs... from what I heard about the living situations..its not that great...</p>
<p>ahoo2u-
usually they ask why would you like to be a part of the college program..i think.</p>
<p>yeah, the interview started with the recruiter rehashing what was talked about in the epresentation, like pay, attire... Then she asked why I wanted to do the college program, any memborable disney moments, and what I wanted to do while I was down there. After taking a lot of peoples advice I said that I only wanted to work attraction operations. She tried to convince me to list others but I stood my ground. We'll see if it worked :). It really wasn't to difficult of an interview, I think they just want to see enthusiasm.</p>
<p>ak7
I can understand wanting to limit your choices... my D already spent a year doing retail in a mall, and two summers in a restaurant...and frankly....she wants to do something new and different. I expect her to also not list those jobs. LEt us know what kind of response you get....if she gets in, I'll have her post....you may be starting in the same group.</p>
<p>Would you recommend this program to a current freshman, so that they would be in the program during their 2nd semester of college?</p>
<p>I am actually more interested in being exposed to the atypical version of education; college is cool and all but I guess as a graduate from a college prep high school, I don't see all the hype in the college experience. I want to submerge myself into internships and study abroad programs. Also, introductory courses are starting to get to me.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What's the 'acceptance rates' of this Disney program? (i'm on the track of a communications major)</p></li>
<li><p>How well does this program set you up for other Disney internships or affiliates? Could you possibly do following internships at ABC or Miramax? (i'm into filmmaking)</p></li>
<li><p>Is it possible for one's college years to be totally away from the standard campus & classroom environment?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Just to be the Devil's Advocate:
My daughter did this, and it is much like the People to People program: touted as selective and educational. The reality is that it is neither. It is not at all selective. They work the kids really hard and they charged my D a ton for renting her spot in their housing. Many kids could barely scrape by after Disney took rent directly out of the paychecks. My D was injured on the job down there and it was a nightmare...they wouldn't let her leave to go to the hospital, and did not accomodate her injury when she returned. They repeatedly penalized her for missing hours or days that she needed for medical care. She left early to get proper medical care at home. It was so difficult to negotiate the network of phone numbers to get her the help she needed. No one seemd to take responsibility for anything, and would give us yet another number to call---for someone who then would pass us along to the next guy. A ton of kids leave that program early. The apartment complexes have the reputation of being real party spots--lots of drinking and carousing. Also, don't set yourself up hoping to get one of the plumb positions on the Jungle cruise or as a character....do you know how many kids there are trying for those? Thousands--from all over the world. You will more likely be put in grounds keeping, food service, merchandize, etc...all the jobs that the Florida locals don't want to do at minimum wage. Also, you won't get to cut lines at the parks. Chances are you'll spend much of your days off standing in lines with everyone else. Disney has found a way to man their labor force with bright-eyed college kids eager for a resume item and a great experience at minimum wage. They look so much better working in the parks than unsatisfied local adults would look. If you go into it with your eyes open it can be really fun, but I just don't see it as either educational or worth a semester off from school. My D had a blast going to the parks all the time, though. And she met several kids who became really good friends. She was brought up as a Disney kid...we went every 2 years. She is planning on going there on her honeymoon. It's not that we don't like Disney---we love it, really. It's just that you should go into something like this knowing what you're getting into.</p>
<p>About the educational thing...what exactly are the classes that are offered? Are they just lectures on Disney's position in the market, its history of advertising, etc?</p>
<p>Also, the most important deciding factor for me - connections. Can a student in the College Program actually make lasting connections or at least have the ability to network and meet top management (not the PI's) or executives?</p>
<p>Is the College Program worthwhile in terms of networking?</p>
<p>I've already registered for a presentation, so I'll check it out, but the testimonials that I've read seem to completely neglect the networking/career connections side.</p>
<p>Lastly, I'm into filmmaking. Would it be possible for me to get connections to ABC or Miramax? through the College Program?</p>
<p>Universal studios in Orlando has great filmmaking internship - but it's unpaid. But also, unlike Disney I think it's a genuine internship where you learn the business, check out their web-site</p>