Sorry if I missed a follow up post - how did she like the program? I was MK North Custodial Spring 2004 and I loved it so much. I hope she had a blast!
Sleepy425,
Thanks for following up.
As you know when you sign up for the College Program, you have no ability to "steer" where you are assigned. She had ranked Custodial pretty high but she didn't get a theme park but instead got assigned to Boardwalk Resort just outside the EPCOT International Gateway between UK and France.
On the whole it was a story of plus and minus. She LOVED the perks of going into the parks in her off hours and did so nearly every day (and night). She didn't like the fact that there were so few College Program kids at BW with her; she had to work around "old" people around MY age (lol). Her roommates (a total of six girls in Vista Way Disney apartments six girls in three bedrooms and two bathrooms) were spread all over; some were working in the parks, some were in Disney Springs/Downtown Disney. Everyone was on different work schedules.
Plus nearly all her hours were late afternoon till around midnight: like 330pm to 1200am. The adult full time Cast Members got the morning/daytime shifts like 7am-3pm or 8am-4pm. We knew this going in that she would get mostly the late shifts but it was still not preferable.
I think the low point for her was the last week of March 2018 when the Custodial team had to take care of all the trash cans along the Boardwalk towards Epcot which INCLUDED the ESPN Sportsclub during the NCAA Men's Basketball Sweet 16 weekend. She and her co-worker would empty the trash cans along the wooden boardwalk in front of the ESPN Club and other food places and then have to go right back IMMEDIATELY and do so again (OVER and OVER again). She also had to clean bathrooms around the lobby area of the BW resort and she longed for and enjoyed any pleasant guest interactions but they weren't very frequent.
One of her roommates was in Food Vending at MK (popcorn around the circle in front of the castle) and would work mostly evening or the late, late shift by the Main Street Train Station selling popcorn from the portable machine cart while guest are leaving (closing time at 2am and by the time you serve the last guest, clean the cart, and clock out it's almost 4am) and while that would have been harder, there were several College Program kids working at the same time). It was a good learning experience for her and she's still a big Disney fan - she just learned a big lesson about hard work.
I think it's one of those life experiences that will only "grow" as the years go by. She has her roommates, she has her nametag, she has her photos, and she has her memories. The hard times will hopefully fade into the background and she will treasure the good times. Her mother and I visited here in March (she started in January) from the Fort and we also stayed at Caribbean Beach Resort in April on her 50% CM discount. Then we took her home in May.
The story of her working for Disney will be something she can tell till she dies (which I think is how it will be).
She's glad she did it. She has a "Cast Member" Mickey vinyl magnet on her car as she drives around campus this summer which she is proud of. As she should be.
Hope your memories of your CM days are as positive.
Bama Ed
Ps - and she didn't save ANY money from her time there. She came home with about 100 t-shirts and Disney knick-knacks.