What it's REALLY like to be a DCP Cast Member

If you know me, you know I'm one of the biggest Disney fans ever, which is why receiving the news that I was accepted to the Disney College Program was an absolute dream! I had been planning my departure for this journey for months, just waiting and anticipating the opportunity to work for a dream company and when it finally came...boy, was I in for a surprise.

I'm going to use this platform to tell you guys MY personal experience being involved with the DCP and all the factors it comes with; factors that someone like myself would have liked to know before accepting the position, quitting my previous job and moving out of state, away from my family and boyfriend for months.

Before we get into the details, I want to put as much emphasis as possible on this--my experience is purely that--MY experience, not everyone feels the same way about the program; I know plenty of people who absolutely love their time at the program--love their role, love their roommates, love the whole journey that comes with the DCP..and on the other hand I know plenty of people (like myself), who didn't have the greatest time on their program, whether it be for one or many factors that tie into that reasoning. However, regardless of the negative encounters, my mindset on Disney as a whole has NOT changed in the slightest--I am still the biggest fan and truly believe it's the happiest and most magical place on earth! But please understand while this program wasn't the best fit for me, that doesn't mean it isn't for you, I am just using this to give background and insight on things I would have liked to know before going in.

Let's start with, what is the Disney College Program? The DCP is an internship program where students and recent grads can work and live onsite Disney property for the Walt Disney Company. While working for the company, interns (CPs) are also able to take seminars on various subjects from communications to business to animal sciences. Alongside the seminars, cast members are gifted one of the greatest benefits--to gain access to all Disney parks for FREE! Yes, that even includes entrance to other Disney parks around the world, as well as certain discounts at Disney affiliates and many other perks and benefits that come with working for the Disney company (i.e. getting park tickets for our family and friends to use, backstage tours at certain attractions, discounts at Disney hotels, etc..).

All of this sounds great and it is--when we're able to take advantage of it...which is hard for a CP to do when we're working long hours and making little money.

Starting off by that last statement, as a part of the DCP you should be well aware and prepared to WORK, and I really mean work! Each role is different so things may vary from my role experience to yours or others, but the emphasis on working tirelessly long hours remains the same.

I was placed with attractions for one of the greatest rides ever (not biased at all)--I was the

newest bellhop for the Hollywood Tower Hotel aka the Tower of Terror! Aside from long hours on my feet, I really did love my role--that will never change. I worked with the kindest people, got to roleplay as bellhop straight out of 1939, and helloooo--I had my own FastPass+ to the Twilight Zone every night! I will always say, regardless of how I felt on my program, I ended up very lucky to be placed where I was because my role was so fun, the other TOT bellhops were so welcoming and wonderful and after hearing the stories from others in their roles--I just knew I was lucky (we'll discuss more later).

Anyway, back to working--the program just about kicks your butt when it comes to working, you get your new schedules just about every week and a half to two weeks and all CP's get one or two days off a week, while working 6 to 12 hours a day on shifts. Depending on your role your schedules hours vary--I knew some CPs who worked at locations that closed at latest 5pm and on the other hand some of my roommates worked food and beverage and would work scattered hours from morning to late afternoon or late afternoon to park close. One of my roommates even worked food and beverage for one of Disney's onsite resorts and worked till as late as 1am to 2am some days, as well as my other roommate who worked merchandise at MK and was just about always scheduled late shifts (usually 4pm or 5pm to 1am or 2am). Like I said, your role really changes the game, I again was lucky enough that my ride was in a park that closed fairly early on average days, but some aren't that lucky and may have to work late hours for parks that close later (i.e. Magic Kingdom).

Also, each environment is different in its workspace--you may be required to work in situations that aren't ideal to you (i.e. custodial or working in a place where roaches roamed the floor...yep thats a possibility), seeing as you don't choose the role--you are assigned the role with no chance to change roles unless completely necessary like for reasons due to physical constraints or serious medical difficulties doing the role you're assigned.

Now, when working as a CP you are limited to mistakes, call outs, even getting sick. Disney takes the college program very seriously and for each call out you get points taken off essentially, and after 3 points you receive a reprimand and after a certain point and depending on the reprimand you can be up for immediate termination--which means (if you are living on property) you must move out of Disney housing within a day regardless of how far you have to travel or financial standing.

While on my program I caught strep throat and was required to call out for three days due to being contagious--even though the callouts were per doctors orders, I was still reprimanded for the time off and worse, my pay stub for that week was $0.51 due to my missed days...how is that possible you ask? That will lead to my next point.

Being a CP and living on property means you are required to pay rent weekly. The rent payments are pulled from your check each week and varies on amount depending on which complex you are living in--I was "lucky" to be in the cheapest housing (Vista Way) with a room of 6 girls which consisted of $108 weekly rent (some housing properties took out as much as $120). While working as a CP, you are paid minimum wage of $10.00 hourly, so missing out on three days of work left my paystub to be $117 for the week..that is before taxes and the weekly $108 housing fee--leaving me with yep...$0.51 till the following week...

Another note to make, is that although I was living in the cheapest housing complex, half the rooms at Vista were newly renovated while others weren't and regardless on the status of your apartment, each CP in the complex is required to pay the same amount of rent--newly renovated with marble countertops and wooden floors or not (aka me and my roommates).

This weekly commitment makes it hard to spend on the everyday necessities such as grocery shopping to fun stuff like special events happening at Disney or recreational activities outside of Disney. While on my program, I lost weight solely on the fact that I couldn't really afford to spend on food and I would have to ask my mom for help financially, which is never my favorite thing to do.

However, although it is hard to do the recreational/fun stuff it is possible, and I'm so glad my roommates were alongside me to do so. One thing I'm beyond grateful for is my roommates, they are each a blessing in my life and I am so happy Disney brought us together--I was blessed with five girls who happened to mesh so well with me off the bat, it's almost unheard of! Not a single roommate issue arose for me or anyone in the room for that matter, our personalities just happened to fit so well with each other, they were the true sunshine throughout my program.

The program also doesn't give you much time to make friends or build strong relationships unless you truly push for it. As a CP you hardly have time for anything and when you do have time or you have an off day, you are just so tired from the week it's hard to do anything else other than sleep in and catch up on work that you may have. You quite literally have to force yourself to get up and spend the day usefully. This also means your friends and or roommates will most likely not have the same days off as you which makes it hard to make plans and spend time together.

Secondly on that point, just as a college campus, high school or any social environment, the DCP is very "cliquey" if you don't take the initiative to make your group of friends within the first week or group of work friends soon enough--you will be left out on most. This can be especially challenging for those with social anxiety (like myself) who tend to overthink situations or simply have trouble building relationships out of fear of someone not liking you or seeming annoying or bothersome to someone else.

This also means, you need to have a sense of maturity when being in a new environment with people you don't know--while on your DCP one of the biggest tools to make friends and meet new CPs is through the DCP Facebook. The page is great in many ways (I met my amazing roommates on there!) but it can also be very toxic--while on my program or the duration leading up to my program, there were several arguments within the page from different people--some regarding racial issues within the Facebook and some as childish as one role making fun of another based on their work schedules/breaks assigned/overall role description. There were also several occasions where CPs used the page or similar pages to vent on serious issues that affected them later (i.e.someone used the page to vent on her disappointment with the program and how she began to feel like self-harming after years of not doing so, and how she felt like she wanted to leave since the day she arrived...long story short, someone reported her post to a Disney employee and as she was seen as a threat to herself, Disney termed her from her program and sent her back home.) Take this example as a learning lesson for your program and in general, be considerate of others environments, treat everyone with kindness and remember to always put your best foot forward, especially on social media--you never know what can find its way back to you in the long run.

When planning to do the program you must also be prepared to work just about all holidays and getting specific requested days off are slim to no chance due to the programs strict work schedule. This means if you have family planning to visit, prepare to work a majority of the days they're visiting..and on that note, if you attempt to use a call out day to try and spend the day with a family member or friend it must be outside of the parks and you aren't allowed to use your (minimal) discounts throughout the day--it is against the rules to call out and use your Disney perks on the same day. Because of your specific Disney cast member number or ID, if you attempt to use your discounts or enter the park on your call out day, Disney will be notified and you are subject to termination.

On top of all these factors, it's just difficult for most people to be away from their loved ones and friends for so long especially with the surrounding implications--not being able to easily vent to your friends or hangout with your family or pet your dogs does get to you at times.

It is because of these factors that the program just wasn't fit for me, I personally had more

opportunity here in NYC and didn't see growth in the program for myself. I have a dream of working in media so staying for the program when I wasn't as happy as I expected to be just wasn't worth it. As it is for many, many people--I didn't realize how strenuous (in many ways--mentally, physically and socially) the program was until I was part of it and saw firsthand how others became depressed in their program environment. Throughout my time many people self-termed and many felt the way I was feeling and had also wished they knew some of this information ahead of time.

However, while I had my unhappy experiences, I also created some of the best memories during my DCP and I truly grew as a person. I moved so far from home, alone for the first time, I became more independent than I've ever been and I was blessed with five sisters from all around the country. I was able to work for Disney and have a unique experience that many cannot say they've had. Also, while I love Disney, I was able to visit Universal Studios and my true home (Hogwarts) more times than I can count and I got to do it all alongside some of my best friends, the sisters of 2904--I mean how cool is that? And like I said earlier, although this wasn't ideal for me, this will never change my view of Disney and how much I freaking love it and want to visit every chance I get!

I hope this can help others considering the program in the future, all of these topics I touched upon are questions you will have at some point when considering the DCP as I did. I am always open to answer any questions or just discuss more on the topic if interested, feel free to reach out to me on my contact page or through my social media accounts.

Everything happens for a reason and every path we take is a learning lesson. Actually, here's a better way to put it, said by none other than the man himself:

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." -Walt Disney

Light and Love,

Emmy J. E.