Things you didn't know about working at Disney

The magic of Disney is viewed very differently by the people who work there.
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The magic of Disney is viewed very differently by the people who work there.

The shrill tones of It's a small world after all will forever haunt my dreams after spending a year working at Walt Disney World's Epcot theme park (originally named EPCOT Centre) during my youthful years.

The song blasts out from one of the rides and it's very much a mantra of the Disney experience for anyone heading to work there.

As a visitor to the theme parks, Mickey Mouse and Disney are still very much magical concepts, indications of an eternal source of joy to anyone who has fallen for a Disney princess or hero, or fallen prey to the earworms of their songs.

But as a worker in the wondrous world of the House of Mouse, there's very much a darker side to the execution of the Disney experience, and a startlingly strict set of rules to abide by.

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I spent a year working in the United Kingdom pavilion at Epcot, in Florida, USA, after being interviewed in a lecture theatre in the UK's dreary Midlands with many other hopefuls way back in the late 1990s.

It was a day-long interview which started at 6am and saw many other hopefuls crammed into halls getting a peek at what the Mouse had to offer from other sacrificial workers.

In a weird way, it was very similar to an indoctrination of a cult - albeit one that's universally accepted and is all about providing pleasure to the millions heading to the theme parks.

Things may have changed since I was there - but here are five of the things you may not know about working at Walt Disney World in Florida.

You can only ever work at Disney for a year - so the magic never wears off.
You can only ever work at Disney for a year - so the magic never wears off.

1) You only get to work with Disney for a year.

Walt Disney world has full-timers, but the great majority of the workers in each area of Epcot (which is broken down into various countries) are temporary staff who are given but 12 months to experience it all.

The reason? After 12 months, Disney feels its magic is wearing off on you and you run the risk of either phoning it in on the job, or you'll become so jaded with the work that visitors will pick it up and their Disney magic scales will fall away from their eyes.

So much so that you have to have qualifications in choreography to live out that dream of becoming Mickey Mouse - you can't just rock up and say "I'm gonna be Goofy today" because you have to pay your dues first.

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2) You have to live with other nationalities

Vista Way Apartments, 13501 Meadow Creek Dr, Orlando, FL 32821 was my home for 12 months. On the first night after a long flight from the UK to Florida, full of teenage trepidation and bravado, I was collected, along with others who'd flown in for the experience, and bundled into a white van before being driven down the darkened freeway towards the unknown.

A series of apartments, the complex was a cultural melting pot of nationalities, all brought in to fill out various jobs in the different countries which make up Epcot's world.

But the kicker was that you never got to room with any of your own nationality, with Disney feeling the cultural exposure was a key element to providing your experience. And they also made sure as a newbie, you were put into an already established apartment of long-term workers.

It's not mixed dorms so I ended up rooming with five other guys - my first roommate was a Moroccan. And the language barrier was a problem.

However, you find common ground over drinking together and partying which is something Vista Way was famous for. But if you're lucky, you land on your feet and get welcomed. 

If not, you do get a chance to move.

3) The Disney experience is divided up into 'Guests' and 'Cast'

As a worker, you are the "Cast". And the area you inhabit behind the scenes is called Backstage.

The moment you walk through into your designated place of work, you are there to entertain the guests (i.e. the visitors) and you'd better not forget that.

The mantra "the customer is always right" was taken to the extreme at Disney. If you do anything that a guest complains about, you were fired on the spot with no comeback.

I had friends who this happened to and these "terminations" as they were known, were harsh and vicious things.

There's a lot of spending the day feeling at the mercy of the public - it's a tough atmosphere to be in, but for those eight hours a day, the customer came first, no matter what. It's the ultimate American consumer experience.

4) At the end of a year, you graduate

Yep, that's right - after 12 months of hard graft in your designated patch, you get to finish your program and get the old cap and gown experience.

You're given a certificate to say you've graduated "Disney University". I still have mine somewhere, but dispensed with using it on job applications because potential employers didn't believe it was a real thing.

You can graduate from the University of Life apparently, but Disney University isn't a quantifiable thing.

My graduation was fun - a day of partying with those others who arrived nervous as part of my intake; a group who left home and got on a flight with no idea what lay ahead, but after one year of good and bad, we all had a common bond, a shared experience - and one hell of a hangover the next day.

5) It's actually fun - and 12 months flies by

Despite the highs and lows, the hirings and the firings, the experience was a formative one that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

Even though you're staff, sorry, I mean cast, you can hang out with the characters at a character breakfast where food is served and your fave Disney critters come and frolic with you.

You can stay late and watch the daily firework show after chugging a drink in every land within Epcot (known as "Drinking around the world" and a common thing for groups to do with a few days leave planned).

You can visit other parks for free too - there are plenty of perks as well as good friendships.

At one stage, in a world before Facebook or social media, I could have visited any country in the world and known at least one person to stay with. That's not something to be sniffed at.

The House of Mouse may have its detractors, and it may not have been the perfect employer way back when (certainly, the 90-day trial period would have been vicious), but as an experience and insight into a global brand that's doused in magic, it was unforgettable.

Unlike that It's a small world after all song.

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