Who's done a Disney Internship?

[Gooberlx2]

Anyone? I'm going to be applying for the Advanced Aquarium Internship for the Living Seas (I hope I can get all my letters of recommendation in time). How was the pseudo dorm life? Any hints/tips? How was your experience in general?

 

[pulse8]

Dorms? I thought the Nazis called them ghettos. 😛

 

[amdskip]

I have a classmate who just finished up one. I believe she was at Disney's test track at Disney World.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: amdskip
I have a classmate who just finished up one. I believe she was at Disney's test track at Disney World.

Did she like it?

 

[Queasy]

Like any living situation it probably really depends on who you are rooming with. I had a friend in college do a Disney internship and she ended up quitting after the first week because of a psycho roommate and they were not willing to move her for some reason...of course, she was not exactly stable herself so she could have been the psycho one....

 

[Gooberlx2]

LOL. Yeah, I'm pretty easy going. Never had a any real roommate conflicts. Someone was telling me that it's a really lax environment concerning the RA type of stuff. I'll be appyling as a student, but by the time the internship actually starts I'll have gradjamatated.

 

[Maverick]

I bet there will be lots of hot girls there.

 

[stebesplace]

Depends where you go dept wise, some you get paid and housing, others do not. I have a friend who hated his job there. . .doing some it stuff for an internship.


chunks

 

[pjcolon]

My fiancee did the intership at DisneyWorld in Orlando, FL. For the first few weeks she was there she liked it but soon started hating going to work, complaining how Disney was treating the interns, basically, like slave labor. Of course she was staying out late almost everynight and partying while she was there from January till August of 2002. She worked at the All Star Resort in the food court. As for the Dorm life Disney offers 3 different apartment complexes to live in one doesn't allow any smoking or alcohol in the apartments, the second allows alcohol but not smoking, and the third allows both. Also Disney does suprise inspections of the apartments to make sure you don't have any contraband, make sure you are taking care of their apartment (all 3 apartments are on Disney proeperty), and to see if you keep your room clean (yup, they actually do that and can write you uyp for not putting away your dirty clothes).

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: pjcolon
Also Disney does suprise inspections of the apartments to make sure you don't have any contraband, make sure you are taking care of their apartment (all 3 apartments are on Disney proeperty), and to see if you keep your room clean (yup, they actually do that and can write you uyp for not putting away your dirty clothes).

What would qualify as contraband? Shrek DVDs? Universal Studios passes? 😀

 

[Gooberlx2]

Well I'd probably want to pick the +Alchohol -Smoking dorm, but I imagine the ++ dorm would be most fun. Yeah I think it's funny how they mask "food court cashier" as "culinary servies" at the meetings. The Intership I'll be applying for OTOH is a non-alumni advanced internship. Meaning a) I don't have to bullsh!t my way through one semester of the Disney grunt work first, and b) the work is real (Scuba diving and taking care of fish, cleaning, feeding, observing, doing research), along with doing some schpiels to the tourists too.

 

[nitsuj3580]

I knew a girl at school that got a lifeguard job at Blizzard Beach so she took a semester off.

I know she had a blast doing it and just wanted to do it for the experience cuz that's pretty much all it offers. Apparently, you earn just enough to feed yourself and shelter

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: nitsuj3580
I knew a girl at school that got a lifeguard job at Blizzard Beach so she took a semester off.

I know she had a blast doing it and just wanted to do it for the experience cuz that's pretty much all it offers. Apparently, you earn just enough to feed yourself and shelter

Yeah I guess it's $6/hour. Well, atleast it's paid. Most zoo internships elsewhere are unpaid.

 

[db]

You will have fun. You won't make much money. They call them Nazis for a reason. You might wake up to see them in your room, and then they'll bark at you about the mess. Make sure when you finally leave, you are not the last roommate to check out, b/c you will be held responsible for and and have to deal with any problems the inspectors find--and they will be right there for checkout.
But you will have fun.

Just know this: don't do it for your resume. The program is for one thing: cheap labor. If you can accept that, you will probably have an experience you will never forget, and make some great friends, many for life.

Also, the full-timers resent the part-timer/seasonals/college "program people". There are nice folx, average folx, and jerks working there just like anywhere.

 

[db]

BTW, they take the rent, etc out of your paycheck. Most people assume the 'dorms' are for free, heh.
If you screw up, they will boot you out, so keep it clean or at least hidden.

edit: oh yeah, if you have a visible tat, you won't be working there. Altho folx have used professional makup to cover them, and pulled that off successfully.