CP vs. Internship

[Inspire&Imagine]

Which, in your opinion is better? I mean this in terms of experience and getting your foot in the Disney company. This is a weird thing to think about, I know, but I would really love to hear from the community itself.

Thanks for any and all help you can give!

 

[Dreamstuff]

Which, in your opinion is better? I mean this in terms of experience and getting your foot in the Disney company. This is a weird thing to think about, I know, but I would really love to hear from the community itself.

Thanks for any and all help you can give!

Do you mean the professional internships? Because if so it's not a vs it's a both! More P.I.'s are available if you do the CP which is my plan as of right now, C.P. then P.I.

 

[slp1650]

It depends on what professional internships you're looking at. Going the CP then the PI will open more doors for PI. I however, was not able to go the route, but since the PI I wanted and managed to get did not require alumni status, things worked out for me.

I also applied for the CP and PI at the same time and managed to get a CP I alter turned down when I got a PI. So, you do have a lot of options.

My advice to you is look at the PI's, read about the ones you want and find out the requirements. If they require you to be an alumni, then go the CP route. If they don't, then you can go CP then PI or try straight to PI. Like I said, you have a lot of options.

 

[Inspire&Imagine]

so there are special internships only alumni can do?

 

[Berlioz70]

My question - what is your long term goal?

If your long term goal is Management - go the CP route.

If your long term goal is to work in a backstage support environment - go the PI route.

While I value all the experiences I've had with Disney (I did both the CP 'Entertanment' and PI 'Training'), hindsight is 20/20 and I wish I would have done things much differently. To be honest, I sort of wished I would have skipped the PI, extended my CP and better prepared myself for management. Now I'm playing catch up by having to take a step backwards.

The experience I earned on my PI was incredible, but it was backstage. Management opportunities are looking for people from the parks/resorts that face Guests everyday. I've learned the hard way that you cannot jump from backstage to Management as easily as I hoped. So I stepped down from my backstage role (where I've been for over a year) to take a pay cut and return to the parks.

Additionally, I wish I wouldn't have done Entertainment on my CP, rather attractions or resorts - but again, this is hindsight speaking and that leads to a whole different conversation.

 

[Inspire&Imagine]

My question - what is your long term goal?

If your long term goal is Management - go the CP route.

If your long term goal is to work in a backstage support environment - go the PI route.

While I value all the experiences I've had with Disney (I did both the CP 'Entertanment' and PI 'Training'), hindsight is 20/20 and I wish I would have done things much differently. To be honest, I sort of wished I would have skipped the PI, extended my CP and better prepared myself for management. Now I'm playing catch up by having to take a step backwards.

The experience I earned on my PI was incredible, but it was backstage. Management opportunities are looking for people from the parks/resorts that face Guests everyday. I've learned the hard way that you cannot jump from backstage to Management as easily as I hoped. So I stepped down from my backstage role (where I've been for over a year) to take a pay cut and return to the parks.

Additionally, I wish I wouldn't have done Entertainment on my CP, rather attractions or resorts - but again, this is hindsight speaking and that leads to a whole different conversation.

Well i would LOVE to work in Imagineering. That's been my dream since I can't remember when.

But I know that it's very exclusive and competitive. So I'm thinking probably Guest Relations and Theme Park Management

 

[Berlioz70]

Knowing you want Imagineering - I would apply directly to them. Rarely do I hear about people within the company being promoted. Mostly, people are new hires to the company with a strong art or engineering background. I know they've been hiring, two just went through my Traditions class less than a week ago.

For GR, I recommend the CP first, then you can either apply for the GR PI or directly for FT GR. Hiring for FT GR typically starts each August. So if you do the CP in the fall, go into a PI. If you do a CP in the spring, then try to get FT in your location and apply for GR when it becomes available.

GR is a great stepping stone for management - it falls under operations (attractions/transportation/custodial/main entrance).

 

[Inspire&Imagine]

Knowing you want Imagineering - I would apply directly to them. Rarely do I hear about people within the company being promoted. Mostly, people are new hires to the company with a strong art or engineering background. I know they've been hiring, two just went through my Traditions class less than a week ago.

For GR, I recommend the CP first, then you can either apply for the GR PI or directly for FT GR. Hiring for FT GR typically starts each August. So if you do the CP in the fall, go into a PI. If you do a CP in the spring, then try to get FT in your location and apply for GR when it becomes available.

GR is a great stepping stone for management - it falls under operations (attractions/transportation/custodial/main entrance).

thank you so much for all of your help!