#spring program

Last night I received my last full week’s schedule for my Disney College Program. It doesn’t feel as though it is all really ending. I am both excited for my future adventures and saddened to see this program come to a close. 

This second program has been a wild ride. I was pretty lost in the beginning because so many of my friends left. Despite being in the same place, same costume, same responsibilities, it felt like I was world’s away. I was living in a different apartment and had a different set of roommates. Someone posted a picture of their “newly decorated apartment”, which happened to be the same bedroom I had lived in for six months prior. It was the apartment I had midnight Thanksgiving dinner in, my first Christmas away from home, and late night conversations with my roommates in. It had it’s quirks but it was home. If it didn’t smell like spaghetti it smelled like fresh Lysol wipes and scented trash bags. The cleanest college program apartment anybody would probably ever live in. Most of my roommates came home, shared a nice conversation over dinner, got some chores done, and went to sleep. Everybody got home at pretty much the same time every night. There was a pattern, a system. Even at work, this system was in place. Show up to work with no plans, rush out to have a fun night out. This system worked for me and now I had to readjust.

The adjustment was very difficult. I moved apartments and despite it being just down the street, I started taking a new route. Instead of the fridge being filled with my roommate’s fresh veggies and two different water filters there was now an entire drawer dedicated to beer. A corner of the counter was the designated share pile of alcohol and a drawer in the kitchen became the “emergency Taco Bell hot sauce” drawer. My roommates were always getting home at different times and if people were home, they were probably sitting in the living room playing drunk Jenga. Things were definitely different. But that too, quickly became home. It’s amazing how drastic the change was and yet I was most comfortable there. Our motto became, “Welcome to 1022, where our wood is soft and we are all hot messes”. It became the place where I could always bring people by. Where I could come home to find my roommate blogging on the balcony and instantly join her in a discussion about the realities that weren’t all that far away. It was where we threw confetti eggs at each other making a huge mess, and where we dyed eggs that sat in the fridge until they went bad. It was a place decorated with Christmas lights that were just barely hanging on to their hooks, puzzles that were hung slightly crooked, and calendars that displayed a month’s old schedule. It just felt like home without ever trying.

Work was a completely different adjustment. Those of us who extended were overworked while we waited for new arrivals to be fully trained. That month was the longest month of my program and it was what made me resent extending. The amount of effort I was putting into work was getting me nowhere but exhausted, and even after doing everything I could possibly be capable of, I got blamed for things. I woke up every morning telling my girlfriend how much I hated it here and how much I just wanted to quit. Despite my roommates being great and my coworkers being nice, I was too exhausted to go explore my surroundings. Driving to a park to see a show seemed like so much effort and the to-do list of chores seemed ever-growing. 

Finally, I decided I needed a change. I switched some shifts around and stopped working in my location as much. It was difficult, but it was exciting. I spent a lot of time configuring my schedule, making sure I was giving away the right shifts and picking up other ones to fill in the gaps. Each week I made my schedule what I wanted it to be. I would give away any shifts that didn’t sound appealing, and only pick up the ones that completed a challenge (such as my EPCOT shift that fulfilled my ‘work in all the parks” challenge) or seemed fun. It always made me anxious and stressed, but once I got there and got settled, I loved every second of it. The day of a new location consisted of driving to a new costuming location, searching the giant warehouse for the right pieces, trying on everything, checking it out, finding a locker room to change at, getting ready for work, and then getting lost backstage until I found lockers to put my stuff in and the computer to clock in at. Sometimes guests would ask me questions and I would have no idea where things were. I had to get pretty comfortable asking for help, which is something I’m not normally very good at. Whenever I did find myself back at my location, it was actually nice because it wasn’t something I had to think about. It was second nature and I already knew where everything was. As long as I traded enough of my shifts out, ultimately I was working where I wanted and when I wanted. It was a pretty sweet deal. If I ever didn’t like a place or decided there was something about it that wasn’t for me, I never had to work there again if I didn’t want to. There will never be any other job like that, and I took full advantage of that.

While the start of this second program was incredibly difficult for me, I wouldn’t change these challenges for anything. These challenges are what made me reach way far out of my comfort zone to try something new. Had work been fun, easy, and enjoyable, I never would have picked up anywhere else. But because I have, I have explored so much more of Walt Disney World. I understand the operations so much better and I’ve met so many more people. 

I honestly think fall is better, but I might be biased--I did my program in the fall, after all (and I don't really have any personal experience of the spring program to compare it to). You're right that it will get very busy, though, particularly towards the end of the program. Working New Year's at Disney is INSANE. Believe it or not, though, as crazy as it was, I actually had a lot of fun on New Year's. By the time the really hectic holidays roll around, you've been working there long enough that you've got the hang of whatever role you're doing pretty well. And as crazy as it may be, I think it's a great experience to have under your belt. After working New Year's at Disney, nothing any other job has to throw at you will ever faze you again. ;) The fall program was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I went in the fall, but I think it's honestly all up to personal preference.