My Experience Doing the Disney College Program

I’m currently a senior in college and, let me tell you, it hasn’t always been easy. I hit a rough patch in school and needed a break to clear my head to figure out my next move. At the end of my freshman year, I applied to the Disney College Program and never looked back.

My experience officially started when I received the magical email that I was accepted into this program I knew nothing about, except from what I've heard in YouTube videos. I also knew I would have to move eight hours away from my family and friends for seven months. However, I quickly realized how lucky I was to have been selected because in 2019 there were over 15,000 applicants, and the program accepted 25 percent of the applicants each semester. Grateful was an understatement. I felt it was destiny.

As a Disney cast member, we are assigned to specific roles in the parks ranging from Attractions, Food and Beverage, Merchandise, Concierge, or my personal favorite, Entertainment. For Entertainment there was a special process I had to go through. Auditions were held all over the United States. I attended the ones in Atlanta. When I arrived at the audition space there were over 500 dancers there. The auditions were gruesome and lasted all day with multiple cuts throughout the day. By the end of the day, there were five dancers left and I was one of them. I received my email that I was accepting into the Entertainment portion of the college program a week later. Longest week of my life!

I was truly living the dream in Walt Disney World as a Character Performer. I was so excited to dance down Main Street and experience a new level of happiness and magic.

I lived with five other girls, and yes, you heard that right. Five! We did not match up with each other before. We went in randomly and we are all still best friends to this day. How could we not be happy living 5 minutes from Cinderella’s Castle?

We were living in the most magical place on Earth, but there were some downfalls. Long 40-hour weeks, constantly being homesick, not having a proper meal in quite a while, and so many others. The worst part was not being able to be home for Christmas. However, I had many friends that I made from all over the country and the world. They helped me enjoy my favorite time of year away from my family, even when all I wanted was to see my family.

When people ask me if they should do the Disney College Program I always say, “Yes. 100 percent!” It taught me many life skills like managing money, how to properly communicate with roommates, how to live on my own without my parents help, time management, and stepping out of my comfort zone. Having “completed a Disney College Program” also looks great on a resume and builds future networking relationships. Also, who could say no to eating a mickey bar on the hub grass?