I feel like for a 24 year old, I’ve worked at some pretty unusual places. Not so unusual in my neck of the woods, but maybe for the average bear it’s a little different.
Currently, I’m working at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
No, I’m not a character performer so I’m not “friends with” Mickey Mouse or anything (which is what most of my friends and family thought I’d be doing when I got accepted) but instead I work Food and Beverage in Animal Kingdom. Specifically, Asia Stands (which is a cross between outdoor foods, like ice cream carts, and working in a quick service restaurant).
How did I get to work at the most magical place on earth?
I applied for the Disney College Program (or the DCP) my senior year of college, on a whim no less, and got accepted a month later. There’s a whole host of things you have to do before you get accepted, but there are hundreds upon hundreds of blogs detailing the process, so it’d be redundant to post it here. Suffice to say, it’s like applying for any job online, with a phone interview attached to it.
When I was accepted, I was beyond excited. Yes! A job after graduation! Not exactly in my field, but at least I’d have an answer to give all the relatives that kept asking me what my post-graduation plans were.
And then I got here.
Don’t get me wrong, this job isn’t the worst job I could possibly have, in general and at the WDW company. I won’t name them, but there are much worse, believe me.
I had read all the blogs, watched all the vlogs, and generally tried to prepare myself for what I was getting myself into: a seven month internship with terrible hours, not-so-good pay, but some great perks overall (like getting into the parks for free, for example). But nothing could have prepared me for how exhausted I was when I first got here.
Ten to twelve hour shifts serving pretzels and beer late into the night is no picnic, let me tell you.
There are days where I just want to “self-term,” turn in my fancy blue ID and go home. I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss Oregon weather, surprisingly enough, especially now that it’s October and Orlando still feels like the middle of July.
But there are good days too. Being a Cast Member allows me to make a lot of spontaneous magic for people. Even though I’m not “friends with” a character, I still get to turn someone’s day around for the better, and as myself too!
I’ve given out so many Mickey ice cream bars I’ve lost count. I’ve struck up conversation after conversation with kids, parents, grandparents, and other CM’s, just in the course of my job, and I like to think we’ve all come away in a better mood for it.
I’ve even received cute little cards from families trying to make our days a little bit better too.
Working in Animal Kingdom also allows me to better the environment in small ways. All our food waste gets turned into fuel for the Disney buses. We’re encouraged to ask guests for donations to help the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund–at the end of the year every penny is matched 100% by Disney to help conservation efforts all around the world. And as a CM, if you raise $100 in one shift, you receive a black pin that demonstrates your efforts for conservation.
I was also given the opportunity to become a trainer for my location, so when I train new CM’s in the ways of Asia Stands, I channel Jiminy Cricket as I wear the trainer pin on my costume.
It’s been a weird, crazy experience, and even as I deal with the bad days, I try to remember the good ones. And overall, the good definitely outweighs the bad.
There are so many aspects of this job I could write about, but this post has already gotten too long for my tastes, so I’ll wrap it up here. Maybe I’ll do another one later, who knows.
If you’re thinking about doing the DCP, I highly encourage you to at least try. If you come into it with a good attitude, with a servant’s heart and a love for people (no matter how frustrating they can be), you’ll come away as a better person for it, guarantee it.
As we say in Asia Stands: Namaste everyone.
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