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It was a dream of mine to work at Disney World, and in 2019, I was hired through the Disney College Program and that became a reality.
That summer, I counted down the seconds until my start date. I moved to Florida in August, a month before her 20th birthday, officially making it the farthest place I’ve ever lived from my hometown in Michigan. .
However, after 3 months, I quit.
At first I loved my job, but the company made me change jobs.
I was originally hired to work at Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival, taking orders and serving food and drinks to guests at booths around World Showcase.
My responsibilities were different every day, which made my job interesting. It was really fun. However, my program lasted until January 2020, over a month after Food and Wine ended.
Most of the college program’s employees have been reassigned to other locations on Disney property, even though Epcot’s next festival is just around the corner.
I didn’t have any say in where I would work next, but I ended up joining Magic Kingdom.
I have always loved visiting Magic Kingdom and enjoying the parades, fireworks, and rides. But I knew working in the busiest park, especially during the holiday season, would be a shift from my cooler job at Epcot.
A few days after starting my new job, I realized I had to quit.
Assigned to a new location, I had to undergo training again. And by the time I got trained, I had only been there a few weeks.
I only had a month left in my college program, but after a few days of training at Magic Kingdom, I quit. My feelings about work were no longer the same.
It’s no surprise that Disney is expensive, but while working there, I realized how true that is in every aspect of your vacation, from park tickets to bottled water.
This left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, especially since I was only paid about $10 an hour for grueling shifts in the brutal Florida heat.
Additionally, due to the timing of the program (August to January), I was set up to work on birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.
At first, I was excited to go to Disney during the holiday season. But being far from home and having to constantly be “on” for work (even when I’m tired or away from work) turned out to be very difficult.
It took me a while to neutralize my feelings about Disney.
I don’t regret my time at Disney and am glad I had the opportunity. However, it took several years after I quit before I returned.
After being a frustrated employee, it was difficult to return to the magical guest perspective.
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to work at a theme park again. But now that I’ve gained some much-needed distance, I’m finally ready to continue visiting as a guest.