*ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN AND NOT OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY OR YUMMY JOBS*
Hey there, pals!
Throughout the Disney Academic Exchange Program advice series, I have covered some of the fundamental aspects of the Disney Academic Exchange Program. Perhaps this post is the most fundamental because the two topics I'm going to be covering are the primary aspects of the Disney Academic Exchange Program: the roles and the studying.
There are a number of different roles that a participant on the Disney Academic Exchange Program can do and the majority of them are customer-facing roles. You could either do one or two roles, depending on if the roles are under a rotation or not. Rotational roles last for three months or six months, depending on the length of the program, and non-rotational roles last for the entire length of the program. Here's a quick overview of the roles:
Alright, now to the part that you all want information about: the job roles. Once company and specific location orientation is completed, you'll move onto on the job training about how to carry out each task that you may do during a work shift. Below is just a summary of each of the roles and not all of tasks (or responsibilities) are relevant to all locations. Furthermore, some locations may have additional responsibilities that are only relevant to that location - I definitely had this on both of my rotations in Merchandise and Attractions.
Quick Service Food & Beverage
This role definitely has an umbrella of different tasks that you could possibly be doing at any of the quick service restaurants at the Walt Disney World Resort, including resorts. These range from cleaning tables, stocking condiment areas, taking orders on the registers and handling payments, as well as preparing and handing out orders to guests. These tasks could be both indoors and outdoors on carts.
Seater
Also, known as Full Service Food & Beverage, the Seater role mainly involves guest interactions at the sit-down restaurants at the Walt Disney World Resort, including resorts. Other tasks for this role could be handling payments once guests have finished their meal, as well as using computer systems to allocate guests to tables.
Merchandise
Merchandise definitely combines some elements of both quick service food & beverage and seater roles. For Merchandise, the main tasks are going to be stocking merchandise items and checking out guests at the registers (both indoors and outdoors) at any of the gift shops at the Walt Disney World Resort, including resorts. There can be additional tasks with merchandise that are specific to that location*. For example, some gift shops require food and alcohol training. During my Merchandise role on my Disney Academic Exchange Program, I had specific training about getting familiar with selling intangible services, as well as a tangible product.
*An important aspect to note is that if a location is due to go down for refurbishment during the role rotation, the Cast Member will be relocated to another Merchandise store at the Walt Disney World Resort
I think this is a lot of people when they buy Disney merchandise!
Attractions
Similar to Quick Service Food & Beverage, Attractions is quite a broad role. So, perhaps, there are even more of a variety of tasks that Attractions Cast Members could be doing on a daily basis. Most Attractions Cast Members would be operating rides and/or theatre shows, making sure that all of the guests are safe and that there's a continuous flow - this could involved crowd control as well. However, some Attractions Cast Members may be placed at park entrances welcoming guests into the theme parks or water parks or based in the parking lots.
Lifeguard
The lifeguard role is pretty self-explanatory. The main responsibilities are making sure that guests are safe both in the water and on the water slides and being able to treat guests should they get into any difficulties. This role is probably the most intense as it's all outdoors and there is a physical test that Cast Members have to pass in order to undertake this role.
It is important to note that the water parks do go down for refurbishment during certain parts of the year, and so Lifeguard Cast Members may be doing the same duties in a different location or may be moved to a different role altogether. Examples of roles that former Lifeguard Cast Members have been placed into include Merchandise and assisting operations at one of the resorts.
Character Performer
Again, this role is pretty self-explanatory. Cast Members in this role are friends with a character(s), interacting and bringing the story and magic to guests either in meet and greet areas or in a restaurant setting. There's not much to it than that!
One thing I will say is that I feel that Cast Members who are friends with a character can become quite uncomfortable fairly quickly, particularly with the Florida humidity. So, I wouldn't recommend this role if you think you wouldn't be able to cope with that.
See, look, Mickey's blowing a kiss at you!
Character Attendant
Following on from the performers, you have the Character Attendants. These Cast Members are predominantly looking after the characters and assisting the characters with guest interactions and bringing the magic to the guests. Moreover, Character Attendants assist guests with park information, as well as crowd control during parades.
Costuming Operations
Out of all the roles that participants on the Disney Academic Exchange Program, this is the only role that is backstage. Arguably, there is some 'guest' interaction through issuing out costumes. And by guest, I mean the Cast Members who are working elsewhere at the Walt Disney World Resort. Additionally, Cast Members in this role would also be making sure that costumes are washed and organised in their appropriate areas.
Okay, this cat is seriously rocking that Jasmine costume!
Now, with the Disney Academic Exchange Program, a large proportion of the program is about the studying - hence the name. The university that runs the Disney Academic Exchange Program is Central Michigan University (CMU) and participants are enrolled on the International Practicum in Leisure Services, earning either 12 or 24 credits depending on the length of the program.
Fortunately for university students, the course does not involve any citations or references from academic work as the whole course in based on personal experiences from the work training. In general, the overall outcome for the course and the program is to better develop your own skills that you can take home with you to your final year of university and into your future career.
So, you're probably thinking, what do I have to do to achieve the credits?
Well, participants on the Disney Academic Exchange Program will be earning credits through a range of different tasks:
Submitting written assignments - CMU will give out topics and questions to answer relating to that topic, and in turn you would have to write a paper answering those questions and drawing upon your own experiences. For example, the written assignments that I had to write were about learning goals/development plan, guest services - what I'd learnt so far, mid-way reflection and new goals, topical paper in which I was given a list (I focussed mine on the attraction I was working at), and a final reflection
In-person classes from Disney and/or CMU. CMU would automatically mark your attendance onto the assignment submission page. However, to submit Disney class attendance, participants would have to write the date and name of the class each week, followed by a certificate of completion after the final session of the class has been completed: -
Disney class topics for my Disney Academic Exchange Program included Leadership, Hospitality and Guest Services, Communications, Animal Sciences, Cast Engagement and Human Resources, as well as backstage tours, to learn more about Disney as a company
CMU hold an in-person class once a semester and the topics could be anything stemming off from Event Planning, Event Management, Event Marketing or Tourism.
Online courses - whilst on the Disney Academic Exchange Program, participants will have access to online business management courses. Each course comes with a multiple choice assessment and once a pass mark has been achieved, a participant will receive a completion certificate and this is uploaded to the assignment page.
Recording a conversation with a careers advisor from Disney - can be on a one-to-one or group basis - and participants would have to write a short paragraph (like roughly 500 words) about what they learnt and how it will help them in the future
VoluntEARing - participants on the Disney Academic Exchange Program can take part in volunteering work, which is organised through Disney, and participants can write a paragraph (again, about 500 words) about what they learnt from the experience
I really hope that you found this post insightful about what the Disney Academic Exchange Program actually involves and hopefully it'll help you decide if this program is something that you wish to complete for your placement year.
Please note: all of the above information is accurate as of March 2020 and may not correspond to the current program offerings. For the most up-to-date information, check out Yummy Jobs, Central Michigan University and Disney Internships & Programs websites
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment down below or drop me a message on the contact box and I will try to answer your questions as best as I possibly can. With all that being said, I hope you enjoyed reading my post this week!
Have a magical day!
-Hannah
DISCLAIMER: this blog is my personal experience on the Disney Academic Exchange Program (DAEP) 2019-2020 and may not reflect everyone’s experience. Other programs and future participants on the DAEP may have slight adjustments to their programs that may not be featured in any of my blog posts. That being said, if you do leave any questions, I will try to answer them as best as I possibly can 😊
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