Walt Disney World College Program suspended until further notice

Jul 02, 2020 in "The Walt Disney Company"

Posted: Thursday July 2, 2020 3:!1pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney has today announced that it has suspended the Walt Disney World College Program until further notice.

It was previously announced that the company would be suspending the Fall Advantage Program, but this appears to have now been extended to cover all College Program activities.

Walt Disney World's College Program comprised of more than 5500 Cast Members deployed to a variety of roles from attraction hosts to character performers.

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davis_unoxxJul 02, 2020

*200 a week for a bed in a 3 bed room lollll

JoeCamelJul 02, 2020

So can I get a 3 bdrm in Flamingo Crossings for $200 a month yet?

Magic FeatherJul 02, 2020

The DCP has grown to become a giant staple of the WDW labor force due to the weird dynamic of the Central Florida labor force. Disney is full of a bunch of service roles that aren't really conducive to career building, really making it to where, once the best candidates were combed through, Disney was left to fill a lot of their roles with local teenagers/young adults and retirees. Both of these groups aren't exactly the most consistent, which is why Disney, after having their small version of the CP start in the late 70's, eventually grew the program into the behemoth it is today, so they could always have high availability of labor without relying on locals. The DCP is effectively why it's so rare to see Orlando high schoolers working at WDW as anything other than a lifeguard (which is comedically different to Universal and SeaWorld). Now, the need for labor is greatly reduced, so by taking out the DCP, many more jobs will be spared than what would have been the case. (I highly doubt the next part will be the case, but as a hypothetical) if Disney managed to run through all of its backstaffing of FT, PT, and Seasonal, I'd expect we see a small resurgence of local hires before the DCP is restarted. Why? Because the DCP has grown into a machine with such intense marketing, that it is designed to produce a crazy number of applicants with a crazy number of hires. And I doubt Disney would want the publicity of the DCP getting ridiculously competitive.

HauntedMansionFLAJul 02, 2020

And part time

networkproJul 02, 2020

Its labor that's not needed. Since guest-facing cast members bid for shifts, usually the DCP program members get the less desirable times such as the closing shifts. Since the parks are closing between 7 and 9 PM that's a shift that's eliminated for right now.

RoyWalleyJul 02, 2020

Disney doesn't really need them right now anyway with limited availability of guests to parks/resorts at this time and probably for the unforeseen future as the corona virus wrecks havoc over everything. Not a whole lot will be open for awhile @ WDW.

LilofanJul 02, 2020

CP program composed of more than 5K CP cast. With program not happening perhaps that is 5K current cast members saved for being potentially laid off?

SirwalterraleighJul 02, 2020

Ehhh...those are typically jettisoned first in recessions

larryzJul 02, 2020

Might be good for seasonal CMs...

SirwalterraleighJul 02, 2020

Not good

LittleBufordApr 12, 2020

You’ve demonstrated far more dignity and maturity than those here who think they have something to teach you (they don’t). Be proud of what you’ve achieved, and good luck moving forward—I hope you get a second shot at Disney one day.

HauntedMansionFLAApr 11, 2020

Look into the VA system. Federal employee, great benefits.