I know this is a super-old post, but this doesn't surprise me at all. I grew up on the Panhandle and the kids who went to UCF were typically those who wanted to do something in sports management or performing arts (but not music--music kids to to FSU), and they got stuck in the entertainment lifestyle and didn't finish.

I have 2 friends who have participated in the program. One just finished a couple weeks ago, and he's had a good time, but he's ready to go back to school. He had a great experience, but he knew it wasn't going to last forever.. nor did he want it to.

On the other hand, my other friend entered the program, dropped out of college (she was going to school in NH), and now 5 years later, she's still there. I just saw her recently, and she's obsessed with all things Disney. I mean.. OBSESSED. All she does is talk about Mickey, and the ghost stories of each ride, and she wants every piece of Disney merchandise ever created. I think her maturity level has actually gone down over the years. It's unreal.

We had worked at an amusement park in NH during college summers, and it's like she never got away from it. I moved on.. I moved to a different state, I have a real job, grown up friends, a social life.. and she's still talking about covering lunch breaks on the roller coaster and complaining about teenagers being lazy, and her hourly pay isn't much more than we were making back then.

I like going to Disney World once in a blue moon, but I'm not insane about it. People take it waaay too seriously. I had to work in Orlando last year, and in that office, there was this one woman who had a cubicle filled with Disney stuff. When I started my training class, I went around the room and asked people their name, their job role, and something fun to do in the area. One girl said, ".. and of course there's Disney World, but who wants to go there?" .. she obviously didn't like it too much. Then crazy woman piped up and said, "How dare you talk about Disney like that!" and they legitimately almost got in a fight in the middle of class. The girl was like "Hey, I just don't like it, no big deal," and crazy woman was acting completely irrationally and flipping out about it. Like.. uh.. it's not that serious!

It's amazing what Disney can do to some people.

One of ours is strongly considering the program for next fall and I'd like to know if there's any new feedback in addition to what we have here. They wanted her to come in March and be there until December but that would mean she couldn't go to school in the spring. Not good!

I have this feeling that even though they're saying they want her to perform, she'll end up with stroller duty. Can you imagine getting college credit for that?

My daughter did a Disney internship. She applied while she was still in school but actually went to work after graduation. She loved the internship. She was in the Wild Animal Kingdom. Her first internship she led talks on the animals and the environment. Her second internship was working directly with coordinators which lead to a temporary full time job as a coordinator. She hated Orlando and after 2 1/2 years she and her boyfriend could not pack the truck fast enough to get out of there.

She did not live in the intern housing. She had her own apartment so she was able to separate her social life from her business life.

A friend of mine was a college recruiter until she had her kidlets. She said that when she would go through resumes, greek life and Disney internships were given priority. If you were Greek AND Disney on your resume you would go directly to the top of the pile as you proved you had leadership skills and were willing to give your all to the job.

DaffyKD

I think a lot of internships turn out like that. A sister of mine had an internship at a KMart-like store where she was supposed to be doing managerial stuff and all she ended up doing was run the register. At least at Disney you're doing it in sunshiny weather.

My SIL is doing this right now! I have no idea how the process works for someone who is interested in the entertainment side, so I don't know if she really would end up being able to perform. It seems like it's totally possible--I haven't been to Disney in years but it seems like there's lots of opportunity for performers (sure you may not be a princess on day one...lol)

My SIL is a business student. As far as I know she is doing food service. She definitely knew that going into it though, but she has just wanted to do this for years, so it didn't bother her.

She seems a little homesick, which I'm actually relieved to hear, because based on what I heard (I guess mostly from this thread) it can really suck you in...

Mr. LP and I have to make time to Skype with her for a bit one of these days, so I'll let you know more details if I get them!

Spring Break my senior year of college my friend and I went and tried out to be a Disney character. We both made it ('cause we're both tiny) but neither of us ended up doing it. I really thought about it, because I was graduating with no job on the horizon, but I dislike Florida, heat, children, and tourists, so I decided it probably wasn't right for me. Plus I was kind of over my partying stage. I think I made the right decision. The tryouts were a trip, though!

My youngest daughter,17, is 4'5" and won't be growing any more. Maybe she'd have a good shot at a character slot! What do they do at character tryouts?

It's the tryouts for every position--princess, prince, dancer, or "character" (which are the fuzzy ones with the giant heads. They pretty much have to be under 5' or over 6'. Princes and Princesses are usually around 5'7" or 5'8").

First, we had to perform a dance. if you're not a really amazing dancer, it's better to ham it up and embrace your mistakes than do a passable but intense performance. It's a pretty simple dance, but they're looking for attitude unless you're actually trying out to be a dancer. This is where the biggest cuts happen, and many people who were much better dancers than me got cut here because I was so obviously silly (I was continually facing the wrong direction, had my hands up when they should have been down, etc, but just laughed through it). My friend was a cheerleader and her cheer-smile got her through (plus she was a much better dancer). But basically just have fun instead of stressing about getting the moves right.

After the dance tryout, they separated us into several groups--dancers went somewhere else, and the rest of us had to do a cartoon charade to music. Again, ham it up. The princes and princesses got pulled out again, and a few more people were let go and then we got taken back and offered the job. The whole thing took a few hours. One of the girls who got offered a job with us was a midget who basically just worked cons and amusement parks year round.

One other thing is that unless you're a princess, you're not a specific character--you might be Mrs. Potts one day and Mickey the next.

A very dear sister of mine dropped everything - a state beauty pageant title, a guaranteed stint in her most desirable job position at her current level of expertise with a potential boss who let's say is beyond lenegendary, as well as a well- heeled, high exposure part-time auditioned (and won) job that would have brought her second love - singing - to all parts of the world as a member of the USO. After she returned, she had a hard time figuring out what to do - if you stay in Orlando, you are stuck in so many ways.

But do your own soul searching. Pros/cons, 5 year lists and all that. Good luck.

My daughter was selected and will start in a month! She still doesn't have an assignment. I hope it works out.

Congratulations! My daughter did a summer internship. Once she got down there she was able to use her previous lifeguard certification (although she had to go through Disney's lifeguard training). She spent the summer as a lifeguard at Typhoon Lagoon. She unfortunately lived on Vista Way and disliked that part of the adventure. Random roommates (one who cooked fish at all hours of the morning and others who never cleaned up after themselves) made life a bit difficult, but she kept herself busy visiting the parks.

The best part was the discounted hotel rooms and tickets she got for us when we picked her up. We also had the opportunity to tour some of the back stage places. The employees surplus shop with scads of used strollers for sale was so much fun to tour as was the place where she had to drop off her costumes, as I think they were called.

My daughter just finished the Disney College Program! And as many have discussed, she too is going to stay there for another semester. I hope this works out. She's talking about getting a degree in Theme Park management from UCF (how cool would that be?) but we'll see.

Does anyone have any details about employment at Disney post-college, in the imagineering field? Their careers website is not very explanatory and seems to only list internships. There has to be entry-level positions, no?

I know I've seen jobs listed before on regular job sites. Try Indeed.com which is an aggregator. I was approached once about a job with the Disney Corporation, but it wasn't a good time/location for me. We'll see if I regret not taking their offer by the time I get through this Midwestern winter.