My Honest Farewell to the Disney College Program, and What You Should Know

Well, as of Wednesday I am no longer a Disney College Program Cast Member, and that is the weirdest, but also coolest, and really just bittersweet kind of feeling. Over the past few years, the College Program has become something I am so passionate about sharing with others in a positive light, and I would now like to share a little bit more.

After being a CP for a year and a half in total, I feel like I’ve seen it all. There have been some really soaring moments made of pixie dust. And there have also been some really not so great moments that showed me another side of the company I had always loved and admired. Moments that made me wish I had never come back on a second program and tainted the memories of my first. I will explain, but my general conclusion from my own personal experience is this:

If you just want to see what working for Disney is all about, absolutely take a break from school and try it out for a semester. However, if you are wanting to work for Disney long term, don’t do the college program that will leave you wanting to stay in the middle of your college years, and don’t go into the program expecting to be treated like a “normal” cast member when you are on CP status.

You see, the College Program is almost designed to keep you with the company right up until the point where the pixie dust is only just about to wear off. Then they send you home on your merry way, with a wish in your heart, a smile on your face, and positive memories to share with your friends and family. There is nothing wrong with that positivity! Lord knows, this company needs it amongst all the jaded full time cast that should have left years ago. But let me tell you a little bit about my journey to back my statements.

My Disney Journey

I did my first program in 2015, during my sophomore year of college. I fell absolutely in love. I never wanted to leave. I loved the whole CP experience. Meeting new friends at CP housing, the housing events, my job making magic – it was Disney World and college life combined. For a girl in her sophomore year of college, AKA the prime college year, what could be better? July 30th , the day my program ended, was the saddest and most utterly wrong feeling day in my life. I felt in my heart that I was not meant to leave this place, because coming back would be difficult for one, but it would also never be the same. And I was right.

All through the rest of my college years, my yearn to be back at Disney left me half as happy as I was before. I would sit at my desk and scroll through my old photos of me laughing with Mickey, being kissed by Chip and Dale, and sitting on an empty Main Street, and just feel my heartstrings pull, desperately wanting to be back in the place that I was convinced was created just for me. I felt like I had this special relationship with the company, even though it was an inanimate thing. I was born to work at Disney. I knew it. That was my chance, and I left to go back and pay thousands of dollars to finish stupid school. And it had been way to long since anyone around me talked about wishing or following dreams.

So my senior year finally came and I knew the easiest way for me to get back into Disney as a full time cast member was to get there on the College Program first and transfer later. But the problem was, I had been dealing with “senioritis” ever since the day I got back from Disney World on my first program. My resentment of college and college life had been stewing for two years. So graduating from college and jumping right back into a program where I was once again treated like a college student was very stale for me, and just left a bad taste in my mouth.

So I opted to live in my own housing because I was trying to be a regular adult and a regular cast member all while being on the College Program, and these two things just don’t mesh. By choosing not to live in CP housing, I ended up not making a lot of friends, so being a CP just sort of felt off kilter. I felt all the restrictions of being a CP at my work location, but I also wasn’t gleaning any of the fun CP experiences that come CP friends and housing events to make up for that, because I wasn’t living on site or involving myself in the activities I now felt too old for. It was like I was getting the worst of both worlds!

Here I was among all these new starry-eyed college students at work, when I already knew the ropes of the company, how things worked, and how I wanted to move up. But in the two years I was gone I had lost all my parade and performing trainings that I had gained on my first program. I was starting back at the bottom. Square one. And that was really rough on my morale – knowing I could do all these things but feeling like a nobody and having to start over again. I just wanted to be a full time cast member already so that I could be eligible for trainings, choose which location I worked, get better pay, and not get cast with the negative aura that a lot of regular cast members like to put on CPs. But I was stuck in my status until at least January.

So January came, and I applied for full time and to extend my College Program. I needed to cover my bases to make sure I was able to stay if I didn’t get accepted for full time. Well instead of giving me full time or part time, they extended my program. – what I didn’t want. Yay. Five more months of being a CP. I begrudgingly completed the rest of my program, trying to be half a college student and half a real person, and it just felt really awkward. Here I am those five months later, and I am finally changing to seasonal status, which means I get to stay with the company and make this my primary job if I am able to pick up the hours I need every week.

Bottom line, my time here on my second program was spent without rose-colored glasses – or should I say pixie dusted glasses? Without the stars in my eyes and the college festivities to distract me, I experienced some oppression/unfairness/general bad treatment – a side of the company I was able to deny whilst swept up in the magic of my first program. Granted, this is to be expected with most large companies, especially the biggest entertainment company in the world. I think I needed to realize that the time for pixie dust was over. On my first program I got to work for fun and without the need to pay real bills. Now I need to accept this place as my workplace. A job that has politics, a job that isn’t fair, and a job that is only going to pay my bills if I work my butt off. A job that I can grow in, move up in, and soon move on from to explore other things. A job that I am determined to move on from before I become too sour on, because I don’t want to leave with that impression.

Would I absolutely recommend the Disney College Program to anyone? Yes, yes, and more yes! I cannot express this enough! Just because my second CP didn’t treat me very well, does not mean that I have forgotten what Disney did for my heart on my first program. Nothing can take that beautiful feeling away. The Disney College Program is designed to be an experience, not a life staple.

So please go! Live your dream! Let the pixie dust rain down. Have fun with your new friends from all other the world! Make so much magic! Party all night at the Starlit Splash! Tell your friends from home that you work for the mouse! And never let anyone take the magic away from your heart. The truth is, if Disney has ever inspired you, made you laugh, made you cry, or overwhelmed you with joy, it is a part of you that you can cherish.

I probably won’t be at Disney much longer, just because I feel like my time here will be coming to an end sooner than I thought. I will probably stay for another year or two, and then see what else life has to offer. I don’t know when I will write another Disney blog (if you have an questions you want answered or topics you want covered in a blog/vlog, let me know because I am always happy to put out content if I know it is helpful and being viewed!). I hope I have left you with a positive, if honest, view of the Disney company, and the Disney College Program. It is always something that will be very special to me, something that almost feels like my baby and my duty. Now go make some magic, and love your college years!

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