Your experience with the Disney College Program will be first and foremost to be a cast member, but with that comes fun perks like getting in the parks for free! One thing I highly suggest when considering applying for this opportunity, is to really think about how much you like Disney and their parks. If it's something you're indifferent about, you probably aren't going to have the best experience because you are always going to be surrounded by Disney, even outside of work. Most people I came across on the program planned to spend their free time doing something Disney related, whether it was spending it at one of the parks, walking around Disney Springs, or visiting one of the resorts. Personally, I was really excited to have such easy access to go to the parks since I am a huge Disney fan.
Now that being said, even big Disney fans like myself will eventually become "Disney-d" out. You might feel pressured to spend as much time as you possibly can going to the parks since your only there for a limited amount of time, but you need to remind yourself to TAKE IT EASY! If you go too hard in going to the parks, you will be exhausted and get burnt out. Change it up occasionally by doing things that either aren't so Disney related or less physically and mentally draining like going to the parks. I had an annual pass to Universal so I always had the option to hangout at their parks or walk around and get dinner at Citywalk. I actually went to one of their Halloween Horror Nights with one of my roommates and had the best time! I would also walk around and maybe see a movie at Disney Springs on my days off if I wanted to have a more chill day. When I did go to the parks, it was usually planned with whoever I was going with. You really need to make an effort to plan hanging out with your friends because your schedules won't always line up with each other. You also do not need to spend your entire day at a park. One of the great things about this program is that you can go to a park for a few hours and feel satisfied because you have months to experience everything you want to.
There are always fun events and festivals going on around the Disney Parks! During the fall when I was there they had the Food and Wine Festival, Mickey's Not so Scary Party, Festival of Holidays, and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. There was also Dapper Day, which isn't something that is put on by the company but something that frequent park goers participate in once in the fall and once in the spring. I went to all of these events and had a blast! With the festivals that take place in Epcot, Food and Wine and the Festival of Holidays, those are more low key where you can experience it just by going to the park, but the other events require more planning. The parties that happen over Halloween and Christmas are ticketed events, so you need to figure out when is a good date for you to go. You do get a cast discount for certain dates, so make sure that you plan ahead and get discounted tickets. You should also research the events before you go. The parties have a lot of characters out and about that usually aren't around and their lines can get really REALLY long. I'm talking about a couple hours in some cases. There are also shows and parades that happen during these parties that have specific times that they are performed. That being said, you want to plan who and what you want to see beforehand in order to have the best experience.
You also get a few complimentary tickets for friends and family that come to visit. You want to try and plan ahead and get days off for whenever you know someone is going visit you. This can be quite a task but if you do it far enough in advance it is totally doable. My parents visited me two separate times, once in October and once in December. Both times I was able to get about 4 days off for them and I had enough complimentary tickets to be able to take them to the parks. I planned both of those trips out completely, from which park we were going on which day to booking restaurants and everything else in between. I would be prepared to do that when you do have visitors, because you are living there and know more about whats down there than they would. It also made our experience a lot better knowing exactly what we were doing everyday.
The Disney College Program is really what you make of it. Yes you are going to be working your booty off, and you might have times where you get a little bit stir crazy because of work, but you will meet the best people and have the time of your life if you truly try. While I probably won't work for Disney again, just because I want to be somewhere else career wise, I'm so glad I got to experience working there and wouldn't have traded the moments and the people I met for anything! That's all for this series! Hope you enjoyed reading and I'll see ya next blog post!
