From January to August, I participated in the Disney College Program. The Disney College Program, also called DCP, is a program where college students can work in Walt Disney World for four to six months and have free access to all four parks and the water parks. Yeah, I said it, FREE. Here are five things every college program kid experiences when they do the program.
1. You have to work a crazy number of hours or you work very little.
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Sometimes your work location is understaffed and you are forced to work 50 to 60 hours a week, but sometimes you barely get 30 hours a week. Either way, it feels like you can’t win.
2. You almost always get the closing shifts.
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Since we are college programmer kids, we are on the bottom of the totem pole and usually get the worst hours. Depending on where you work, your shift could end at 10:30PM or it could end at 12:30AM. Personally, the latest I was there was 2:30 in the morning and those days are not fun.
3. You get to make magic for guest and they can make magic for you.
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Working at Disney you have multiple opportunities to create magical moments for guests each day and guests can make magical moments for you too. One time I had a guest come up to me while I was sweeping and give me a little keychain and thanking me for everything I do! Sometimes, cast members need some magic in their lives just as much as the guests.
4. You become super close with your fellow College Programmers.
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Often times, your coworkers become your best friends on the program because you often share the same experiences as them, such as dealing with a rude guest or just having a bad day and being to rant to them about your frustrations.
5. You really miss Disney once you go home and start counting down the days until you can return.
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Disney truly becomes your happy place and even though you had your bad times, the good often outweighs the bad and you just can’t wait to return to it someday!