Disney College Program for Parents Thread...

[McFlea]

Thank you all for your replies! She has signed up for the alerts, and will apply in January 2019 (graduating in May 2019). As a guesstimate, what percentage of applicants are accepted? I know thousands must apply, acceptance rate must be fairly low?

ETA: I've read WDW hires approx. 7,000 per session, out of as many as 50,000, so that's 14%. Rate probably wasn't the best question to ask, since it depends on how many apply. I should have asked about how many do they hire - if what I'm reading is accurate, looks like 7,000.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

DD was telling me she has her roommates lined up for this spring. She found a bunch that agreed on keeping partying to a minimum, and have agreed to do their drinking (if any) away from the apartment. I think she must have read some reports about wild stuff and so was relieved to line up a roomie situation she is comfortable with. She's a pretty tough young woman though, so I'm thinking she could have handled most problems

 

[mommy2g]

My daughter just got offered a professional internship for Spring 2018. This was her dream but neither of us thought it would really happened this year. She doesn't have any paperwork yet so we are not sure about dates or anything else yet but I was wondering what are housing options for her. Will she be able to live in Disney housing? She is 19yo so I would feel better about that rather than having her 100% on her own. Perhaps more important, will she need a car? Driving her own there is not an option (we are in Utah) but we can get her one if need be. I am so excited for her, but also freaking out inside of sending her to Orlando on her own lol

 

[SureAsLiz]

My daughter just got offered a professional internship for Spring 2018. This was her dream but neither of us thought it would really happened this year. She doesn't have any paperwork yet so we are not sure about dates or anything else yet but I was wondering what are housing options for her. Will she be able to live in Disney housing? She is 19yo so I would feel better about that rather than having her 100% on her own. Perhaps more important, will she need a car? Driving her own there is not an option (we are in Utah) but we can get her one if need be. I am so excited for her, but also freaking out inside of sending her to Orlando on her own lol

As an intern, she will be able to live in Disney sponsored housing separate from where the College Program students live. It's a complex in the Independence area that Disney partially sublets from (so there will be non-Disney people who live there as well). She will have to share a room (generally its 2 to a room), but the apartments are fully furnished. Rent is taken out of each paycheck.

She will need a car - there is no company transportation for Professional Interns. There are a ton of possible work locations/schedules depending on the role, so no way to assume she could carpool with roommates either.

 

[goofy4tink]

I was happy to read this, as this is my DD's plan. She is currently a junior, and plans to apply for Fall or Fall Advantage for after graduation. I believe that means applying in January of senior year, with one more chance to apply in August. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

That's exactly what my dd did. She applied Jan '16, graduated May '16. Went to WDW in Sept '16, extended to May '17. Wasn't able to get a pt/ft job with Disney at that point, went to work at US. She has just applied to Disney and is waiting to hear. If she hadn't been accepted that Jan, she would have applied in Aug, for the Spring '17 program.
I think Disney takes about 10-15% of the applicants.

 

[Jules76126]

I know the program has become more and more popular which probably is why the numbers are so high. I did the program twice and never had a problem getting accepted but I did apply as early as possible to increase my odds. Also if you are open to more job types you have a better shot. I applied for attractions, front desk, and Merch and got attractions both times. They will ask if you are open to QS for and beverage. If your child is not, then make sure they say no or there is a good chance they will get that even if they say it is their last choice. They seem to have a hard time filling those roles. I was adamant that I did not want to do food as I could do that at home and never had a problem.

 

[dandisneydad1]

I know the program has become more and more popular which probably is why the numbers are so high. I did the program twice and never had a problem getting accepted but I did apply as early as possible to increase my odds. Also if you are open to more job types you have a better shot. I applied for attractions, front desk, and Merch and got attractions both times. They will ask if you are open to QS for and beverage. If your child is not, then make sure they say no or there is a good chance they will get that even if they say it is their last choice. They seem to have a hard time filling those roles. I was adamant that I did not want to do food as I could do that at home and never had a problem.

I told my son to apply for custodial as he would have a high chance of getting in. He is applying for Fall 2018, graduating from college in July of 2018. He does have a goal of working for disney full-time someday, but wants to try the dcp first.

QUESTION - DO MORE MEN OR WOMEN APPLY FOR THE DCP?

 

[Jules76126]

I told my son to apply for custodial as he would have a high chance of getting in. He is applying for Fall 2018, graduating from college in July of 2018. He does have a goal of working for disney full-time someday, but wants to try the dcp first.

QUESTION - DO MORE MEN OR WOMEN APPLY FOR THE DCP?

Definitely applying early is key. I would recommend looking at the roles and seeing which ones he is really interested in. I knew a few people who worked custodial (and they were all male) and absolutely hated it and ended up transferring to attractions when they extended. With custodial, you are not really interacting with the other CPs as much as you have your own designated area to look after. Some people really liked this as they could wonder and roam and interact with the guests a lot. Others wanted more CP interaction. When I was there, the best roles to apply for that took a lot of CPs were attractions, Merchandising, Operations (which may be something else now, its the front gate/parking role) and QS food and bev. Also I think the same amount of men and women apply as I never really noticed any difference in the demographics.

 

[ShannonRT]

Hi! I’m brand new to all this and so glad I found this thread! My DD is a Senior and will be graduating in May 2018 so she will need to apply for Fall or Fall Advantage. I didn’t even realize students could do the college program AFTER graduation until recently. How exciting! She signed up today for the email updates so I guess that’s the first step. What has everyone’s experience been with visiting their student during their program?

 

[Jules76126]

My parents came and visited me during my first program. We have DVC so they stayed on points, but I do know many CPs booked their parents rooms with the discounts we received. I think there has been some changes since my last college program in terms of how they give out your park tickets. They used to give you all 18 tickets when you started the program. I used those tickets to get my parents in all week and they were hopper passes. They used to give you paper tickets at the tap stiles as that was how you reentered the park and this was the age of paper FP so not show how it works now.

I did not take any time off when my parents visited beyond a day or two. I did not want to take the whole week off. I mainly worked 6 hour shifts in the afternoon so I scheduled my family time around that. I did stay the whole week with my parents at BCV. They also rented a car so they could drive me to/from work and take me to the grocery store and get food as I did not have a car while on my program. I do know people who took the whole week off to visit. However, time off is never guaranteed so if that is what your DD plans to do, definitely visit during a less busy time of year as it is easier to take days off or give them away.

 

[dsanner106]

I told my son to apply for custodial as he would have a high chance of getting in. He is applying for Fall 2018, graduating from college in July of 2018. He does have a goal of working for disney full-time someday, but wants to try the dcp first.

QUESTION - DO MORE MEN OR WOMEN APPLY FOR THE DCP?

My understanding is that more women apply than men, and as they try to keep numbers the same for hiring the men have a slightly better chance. I do know my son was a character performer, (applied for custodial and was accepted and agreed to go to tryouts with his roomate, and was offered CP)

 

[Princess Michele]

My daughter is starting in the DCP next week. She will be taking the Disney provided bus from her housing to her Onboarding. We have a reservation that we cannot change in the afternoon so timing might be tight. Is Onboarding for DCP conducted at the Cast Member building across from Disney Springs? If so would I be able to pick her up from the Cast Member building when she is finished or could she walk across to Disney Springs to be picked up? Thanks for any input.

 

[BadDad]

My understanding is that more women apply than men, and as they try to keep numbers the same for hiring the men have a slightly better chance. I do know my son was a character performer, (applied for custodial and was accepted and agreed to go to tryouts with his roomate, and was offered CP)

My S (did DCP twice) says more women than men except for custodial.

 

[Jules76126]

My daughter is starting in the DCP next week. She will be taking the Disney provided bus from her housing to her Onboarding. We have a reservation that we cannot change in the afternoon so timing might be tight. Is Onboarding for DCP conducted at the Cast Member building across from Disney Springs? If so would I be able to pick her up from the Cast Member building when she is finished or could she walk across to Disney Springs to be picked up? Thanks for any input.

Unless something has changed it is at the cast building next to West Clock in MK.

 

[dsanner106]

My S (did DCP twice) says more women than men except for custodial.

Yes more women hired but several times the number of women apply as men. Still men have the edge in percentage of applicants hired by a pretty large margin.

 

[ShannonRT]

So excited I just had to share! DD applied today for Fall Advantage and passed the web-based interview immediately and has her phone interview on Thursday! It all happened so fast!! She had already been working on the work experience section for a few days so when applications dropped right before 10 am hers was practically ready. By noon she was doing the web interview and after it was accepted within 20 minutes the phone interview was scheduled. Fingers crossed!!!!!!

 

[mickeysmith]

So excited I just had to share! DD applied today for Fall Advantage and passed the web-based interview immediately and has her phone interview on Thursday! It all happened so fast!! She had already been working on the work experience section for a few days so when applications dropped right before 10 am hers was practically ready. By noon she was doing the web interview and after it was accepted within 20 minutes the phone interview was scheduled. Fingers crossed!!!!!!

Good luck! DD is there now for the spring program. Best wishes to you all!!

 

[ejcraft]

So excited I just had to share! DD applied today for Fall Advantage and passed the web-based interview immediately and has her phone interview on Thursday! It all happened so fast!! She had already been working on the work experience section for a few days so when applications dropped right before 10 am hers was practically ready. By noon she was doing the web interview and after it was accepted within 20 minutes the phone interview was scheduled. Fingers crossed!!!!!!

my daughter is applying for fall 2018 also, waiting to schedule her phone interview. keeping our fingers crossed, My oldest and her husband did this a few years back, and my youngest's BF is down there right now.

 

[ShannonRT]

I know this can vary depending on role but do the kids make enough money to LIVE and possibly even save while on the program? I know rent is automatically taken out and they will never see it. What other expenses should we expect? Electric, water, cable, internet, laundry, groceries, gas, general spending, fun?

 

[Jules76126]

I know this can vary depending on role but do the kids make enough money to LIVE and possibly even save while on the program? I know rent is automatically taken out and they will never see it. What other expenses should we expect? Electric, water, cable, internet, laundry, groceries, gas, general spending, fun?

So it really depends on what type of kid you have and how they money will be spent. Disney does take rent out of the paycheck. This rent includes electric, water, cable, and internet. You will need to pay for laundry. I don't know what it costs now but it was pretty reasonable from what I can remember. You also need to buy all your own groceries. If they have a car, they need to pay for gas, but if you take Disney provided transportation to work, then there is no fee there. Also we bought a TV, toaster oven, basic dishes, pots, pans, etc for the apartment as it does not come with a lot of stuff.

I did not save any money because you are not getting paid a whole lot. Disney is required to give you at least 30 hours a week to work. My first program I consistently worked 40. My second program it was more 30-35 hours. I was no gourmet chef so I bought basic grocery but did eat a lot with my friends. We had a season pass to Universal as well that we bought. My first program most of my money went to food, especially no off days when we went to the parks. My second program I was 21 so you can imagine where some money went. I do know people who saved money, but they basically worked and that's all. All my friends (and we were not crazy party people) came home with little money. However, I had enough to live off of and never asked my parents for money and didn't need to touch my savings. I was fine not saving anything as it was more about the experience than the money.