I'm looking for some advice for people from the general Orlando area, or people who know a lot of the inside information about working at Disney. I'm a working adult going to college part time after work, and I have a five-year plan that is going to end with me having an associates degree in business admin, a bachelors in leadership studies, and an MBA (or a masters in hospitality depending on what school I end up at for that).
My end goal is to move to Florida and work at Disney World (or at least for the disney company). I don't need to get rich in the process, but I do need to be able to afford to pay the rent/mortgage. I want to be making magical memories for Disney guests, but since I want to be able to afford to live, that would probably have to be as a manager or some other professional role rather than an hourly employee.
I'm currently 27 years old (so I'll be 32 before I have all my degrees)
I live in Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia.
I've worked for the past 5 years doing customer service, technical support, and project management for a large life insurance & annuity provider (ie: in the financial industry)
I *love* the customer service and project management aspect of it. I *hate* the banality of working in a financial company where I don't feel like I'm making anyone's life better by what I do on a daily basis.
I'm married and own my home with my husband - so if I move to Orlando, I also have to find him a job down there, probably in some sort of call center (though he has a goatee/beard whether he wants one or not, so working for Disney is pretty much out of the question, even if he wanted to), sell my house, and find housing near enough to work that we can afford to live in.
So after that long rambling, I guess my questions are:
1) I can't see giving up my current job and moving to Orlando only for the nine months or so of the professional internship program, and then having to figure out "now what?" once it is over - but I've also heard getting a "real" position at Disney is difficult if you never did the CP or PI. Do people getting "Professional" Disney jobs really need CP/PI credentials, even if they have other business-oriented job experience and MBAs?
2) How do (regular) CMs that don't get CP-sponsored housing afford to live? Is there cheap housing available somewhere for non-CP CMs? I can't figure out how you survive on $8 an hour. I'd work at Disney for free if it meant my job was to make magical moments for people all day, but realistically, how do you pay your bills on that kind of income?
3) You have to meet the "Disney look" no matter what job you are in, right? My husband has been a call center representative for ~5 years now and would work in the reservation center in a heartbeat, and he dresses professionally for work every day and has no tattoos/piercings/etc...but he's got a 5:00 shadow by 10:00 every morning if he tries to shave, so keeping off a beard is unrealistic.
4) Masters degree at Rosen College UCF or MBA with concentration in hospitality from FSU - any opinions on what is the better route to go?
5) any other advice? Keep in mind, I'm not expecting this to happen overnight - I just know that working at Disney is my dream job.
My end goal is to move to Florida and work at Disney World (or at least for the disney company). I don't need to get rich in the process, but I do need to be able to afford to pay the rent/mortgage. I want to be making magical memories for Disney guests, but since I want to be able to afford to live, that would probably have to be as a manager or some other professional role rather than an hourly employee.
I'm currently 27 years old (so I'll be 32 before I have all my degrees)
I live in Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia.
I've worked for the past 5 years doing customer service, technical support, and project management for a large life insurance & annuity provider (ie: in the financial industry)
I *love* the customer service and project management aspect of it. I *hate* the banality of working in a financial company where I don't feel like I'm making anyone's life better by what I do on a daily basis.
I'm married and own my home with my husband - so if I move to Orlando, I also have to find him a job down there, probably in some sort of call center (though he has a goatee/beard whether he wants one or not, so working for Disney is pretty much out of the question, even if he wanted to), sell my house, and find housing near enough to work that we can afford to live in.
So after that long rambling, I guess my questions are:
1) I can't see giving up my current job and moving to Orlando only for the nine months or so of the professional internship program, and then having to figure out "now what?" once it is over - but I've also heard getting a "real" position at Disney is difficult if you never did the CP or PI. Do people getting "Professional" Disney jobs really need CP/PI credentials, even if they have other business-oriented job experience and MBAs?
2) How do (regular) CMs that don't get CP-sponsored housing afford to live? Is there cheap housing available somewhere for non-CP CMs? I can't figure out how you survive on $8 an hour. I'd work at Disney for free if it meant my job was to make magical moments for people all day, but realistically, how do you pay your bills on that kind of income?
3) You have to meet the "Disney look" no matter what job you are in, right? My husband has been a call center representative for ~5 years now and would work in the reservation center in a heartbeat, and he dresses professionally for work every day and has no tattoos/piercings/etc...but he's got a 5:00 shadow by 10:00 every morning if he tries to shave, so keeping off a beard is unrealistic.
4) Masters degree at Rosen College UCF or MBA with concentration in hospitality from FSU - any opinions on what is the better route to go?
5) any other advice? Keep in mind, I'm not expecting this to happen overnight - I just know that working at Disney is my dream job.
