Disney cultural exchange job interviews

[Whatwouldnanado]

DN is excited about this. Hoping for work in retail/customer service at Disney next summer. She has a degree in early years education and lots of experience. Just curious if anyone has family experience.

Congrats on getting an interview. My DC did it this summer. What would you like to know?

I'm told there are numerous TikToks and YouTubes about the application process and experience.
Also several people on The DIBB website have DC that have been on the programme.

Following as I've never heard of this and my son would love this!

Her immediate concerns seem to be the usuals ie to expect, what kind of questions and what to wear! Her sister and I (she’s not on MN) wonder what the company is like to work for. It’s an adventure before DN goes back into full time work in education. Thank you.

LaurensFloatingLights on YouTube is a good starting point.

Go in with eyes wide open. There are lots of upfront costs (flights, insurance, visa) and admin (have to go to US Embassy in person to obtain the J1 visa).
You will be assigned a role randomly, across the site, so could be a resort or Disney Springs or a park. Be prepared to make the best of your assignment.
Living costs in Orlando are ££, pay is low, so you can break even and definitely won't come back with spare cash.
Accommodation is purpose built for the college programmes, in apartments for 4. These can be 2-bed with shared rooms (cheapest), 4 x individual rooms or 4 x en-suite rooms. My DC requested to live with someone they met at the interview, which worked out fine.
The social side is the greatest perk - access to the parks, various discounts on food and merch, and staff buses running all over the site. Ubers/Lyft is cheap especially if sharing.

For the interview, smart casual (no need for business wear). Enthusiasm and understanding of the Disney brand is helpful. Apparently if you get as far as the in-person selection day there is a good chance of being offered the opportunity.

Thank you for the replies! TianasBayou she got a place in events and fantastic feedback. Obviously not sure how it will pan out as the hurricane tragedy unfolds. She has made friends already.

Well done to your DD. Hope she has an amazing time.

Just the visa and other admin to get through now.

You seem to have experience of this process? Any tips please? Definitely not interfering, it’s just new to us all.

I don't really have any tips as DC did most of it themselves. The visa application entails a trip to the US embassy, which can be an early start and expensive to get into London on time.

DC took the mandatory Gallagher health insurance (think there was the choice of cover levels so they did the max).

They also took out travel insurance (to cover the usual stuff like flights and possessions) through Go Walkabout - give them a ring to make sure she picks the correct product. It automatically covers the 1 month travel period at the end of the J1 visa and can include any travel beforehand eg going out a few days before the programme starts.

Mobile phone, DC bought an Airolo sim to use.

They need to supply their own stuff for the apartment (bedding, towels,kitchen stuff). They shared Ubers to go to Target or Walmart to buy stuff. DC took some spare bedding from home, vacuum packed.

Florida is expensive, we had a list of toiletries to take out when we visited, as for example a deodorant that's £1.50 here was $6!

Are you planning to go out?

Thank you. Early days yet but will hear this all in mind. We have family travel insurance. No plans to go out as yet.

@Whatwouldnanado check that family travel insurance covers them without you. When I looked at policies I found the vast majority didn't cover my adult son for solo travel, only the U18 son. We found it generally had to be a group policy to cover adult children rather than a family one.

Sorry I should've been clearer, the Go Walkabout cover is specifically for working holidays abroad, as this wouldn't be covered by normal travel insurance. Best to call them as it's unclear from website which 'pack' is needed for Disney. Also may depend on the job role eg lifeguarding is higher risk than retail. Was about £200 for the programme plus time before and after IIRC.

Thank you! Will look into this. How close did your dc have to go to london for the visa? She will need to book time off work

Appointment was mid March, at 9am!