Disney's College Program

Whatever they pay probably cannot be worth wearing an enormous furry costume in the blistering heat whilst small children urinate on you and kick your shins.

My friend works in customer service at Disneyland and he loves working for them. He sits in a lovely air-conditioned room and helps people, though.

I have a friend who was Mrs. Pots from Beauty and the Beast many years ago. She went through the program and loved it. She's now a mortgage officer for a major bank, but I believe she spent several years with Disney. She's a cheerful, outgoing personality, so I think it probably suited her well.

I'm also applying for this.

Is it possible to apply for both WDW and Disneyland or do I have to pick?

I see these guys on campus and see the flyers, too. Sounds like fun but I have a family so I can't tromp off to Disney World... no matter how much I might want to.

I think if you love kids, it wouldn't be so bad. And to play a character! How awesome is that? Yeah it might be a heavy costume and all, but getting your picture taken all day? High fiving kids? I'd do it.

One of my friends daughters started out in this program. She loved it. She's a college grad now and works for Disney Cruises.

I don't know if it would cinch a future job for you, but I don't see how it could hurt your chances either. If it's something you want to do, go for it.

Belle_91 said:

@Project Nachonaco - what season are you doing? Also, what are you applying for Entertainment, Food...? I am thinking about doing the spring season next year at WDW in Orlando. I have just heard some horrible things about the program, and I am hoping there are people out there you liked it.

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Probably not 'til next year, and definitely entertainment.

Belle_91 said:

The thing is is that I am a history major. I really want to do this, and I think it would be a lot of fun. However, how valuable would it be to me. Would the people of Colonial Williamsburg care that I played Minnie Mouse for a semester?

My mom said that it might look good because it shows that I worked with the public, and that it would stand out on a resume. Is this true?

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Why do you need to put it on your resume? I personally think it would look great. True, it's not a history based position, but it does show you have a work ethic and get along with people.

I do a lot of jobs that I don't list on my resume, just because they don't fit. I put writing jobs on my writing resume, transcription work on my transcription resume, etc. You can either make it fit or leave it off. If you don't want people knowing about it, you don't have to list it, but I believe that people seeing that, if written the right way, will be very interested. It's a positive conversation starter!

Do it if you're excited and have fun with it. Not every job you have has to be a career path waiting to happen. My boyfriend, the Cajun, his favorite job was working in a haunted house as the Scream killer. It didn't do much for his film making career, but it was a blast while he was doing it and he wouldn't have passed it up for anything.

Go for it! While you're still young

And your internship doesn't have to be related to your major (of course it helps if you have a specific career path in mind). I'm a psych major and I'm interning at an elementary school as a classroom aid. Not really the very first thing that comes to mind when you think of psychology, is it? But future employers may be interested when they see it on my resume because it shows that I can a) work and b) work with people, and most if not all jobs involve people to some degree. I also know a microbiology major working as an intern at a photo gallery, an education major who interned for a theater company, and a nursing major who interned at an after-school enrichment program. So don't feel funny about going to Disney!

And I notice that when it comes to opinions, there are more negative than positive ones available, and I think that's because people are more likely to speak up when they have a negative experience than if they have a positive one. So if you hear a lot of negative things about the program, there are probably just as many positive opinions that just haven't been voiced.

Oh, and I think the internship is paid right? That's pretty rare

I know two people that have done it.

One was a character, and didn't hate it too much, but eventually moved to a staff job on the cruise line.

The other worked with education and animals in Animal Kingdom.

Kitty Pryde said:

Whatever they pay probably cannot be worth wearing an enormous furry costume in the blistering heat whilst small children urinate on you and kick your shins.

My friend works in customer service at Disneyland and he loves working for them. He sits in a lovely air-conditioned room and helps people, though.

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Aren't the suits air conditioned though?

I'm looking for a virtual internship. I can't travel to intern because I have family and all, but if you can do it while you're young, do it.

I hope it works out.

Last time we were in WDW (2 years ago) I ended up talking to a young girl in the college program. She was working in one of the areas after a ride, where they have crafts set up for the kids. She said the people were sometimes horrible, but she had managed to land another internship at ABC because of the college program, through networking or whatis. So I guess it worked out well for her.

I think she meant the guests. She mentioned (and I actually saw this myself) how many families would just stop and fight with each other. In the happiest place on Earth. I think it's the pressure of being on the "perfect" vacation.

Of course, I argued with my husband through 3 countries in Epcot.