WDW College Program

The Disney College Program emphasizes on networking, you’ll never know if the culinary member will work their way up to become a manager at your location. While working at Pecos Bill Cafe and Inn I did not have the chance to trail my manager or complete management tasks but I had the chance to talk to one of my leaders or manager, Stephanie on her journey of achieving manager at the young age of 25. I found out she did two college programs and that Disney also offers a managerial internship in addition to the professional internships. She completed the managerial internship before getting hired full time at Pecos. She said Disney has a lot to offer and there are many different paths available.

I also talked to another of my leaders, Dan and he explained when he first started working at Pecos as a manager he was not as open and talkative as he is now. He explained that he had to change and be more open to emphasize with other cast members and it takes time and determination to not shut people out.

“Start off as an observer, take the middle path, avoid cliques and factions, expand your network,” are a few ideas “Transitioning into a Leadership Role: On-the-Job Success Strategies for Newly Promoted Managers” by Hcareers.com offer. The article believes that the skill and commitment that you place into your job and got you the promotion will be the reason why you are the one for the job. I believe that in order to be an efficient leader it would be best to follow the ideas from the article. Learning the responsibilities will take time and during this time I believe that treating other members with respect and consideration will encourage them to help you when they see you are facing difficulties.

My location is a restaurant called Pecos Bill Cafe and Inn and it is located in Frontierland at Magic Kingdom. On the first day of training we were given a location tour in which we were informed where all the AED, fire extinguishers and water fountains and pay phones were located. On the first day of training for the front of house we were also informed the code name “code V” and chemical box to clean up vomit. We were briefly explained how to clean up the area and continue on with our work.

Cast members can pick up a tell-a-cast which is a pamphlet that provides the hours of the park each day, special events and food and beverage locations but most importantly it contains all the services offered to the guest, an example would be “first aid: next to Crystal Palace. Provides over the counter medicines, bandages and immediate care items.” The telecast also includes transportation information and important numbers including all emergencies such as security, custodial and bus hotlines. These telecasts are updated weekly and there are special event ones for the Halloween and Christmas party.

“With an emphasis on communication and support of employees, the company’s plan allowed the Walt Disney World Resort to resume operations after the storms, even while it assisted employees with storm relief,” from “The storms of Summer” by Barbara Higgins shows that communication and support is necessary when dealing with emergencies whether it be natural or man made. This article relates to my future in management because it made me realize that even though there is a low chance of hurricanes and other disasters it can happen and it is better to be prepared then lost when it arrives. It is best to have the support of your coworkers and you need your employees to be calm in order to make the guests feel safe.

In a quick service food and beverage, being assigned to multiple tasks and working long hours is inevitable. According to the article by John T Self and Ben Dewald, these are few of the factors of why quick service food industry faced a big percentage of turnover rate. Fortunately, most of my co workers have been a full time cast members for more than a year. Although sometimes our role can be stressful and frustrating, great leadership and teamwork have a huge impact on the employees’ satisfaction of the job and their decision whether to stay with the company.

This read and react assignment made me realized that I’ve worked at Outdoor food vending at Hollywood Studios for almost three months now. In three months I can say that I’ve answered the same questions every single shift that I’ve worked. It had gotten to the point that I feel like an answering machine for repeating myself every day. As frustrating as it can be, I always keep in mind that guests are just simply misinformed. I would place myself in their shoes and immediately realize that they are just as lost as I was on the first day of my job training. However while repeating myself all the time, I often question why are the guests weren’t provided with important information prior their visit to Walt Disney World? For example, I’ve been asked if we grant discounts for annual pass holders or vacation club members. Although  me and my fellow cast members know the answer, I have to constantly remind myself that as a cast member we have to keep the guests inform at all times even if it is not food and beverage related.

Patience is the key. This is one of the most important traits I developed throughout this program. It is important to understand what it is like to be a guest in Disney World because once we changed our costume, we are consider a guest as well. Being a guest myself outside of Hollywood Studios, the last thing I need is unpleasant guest service. I like to make the guests feel comfortable for asking questions with no hesitations. If I ever get frustrated, I would tell myself “it is just as frustrating as a guest getting lost in a huge park.”

Before transferring into City Tech, I read the catologue from the Hospitality Management department. The first thing that caught my attention was the Disney College Program Internship. I was more than excited and looking forward to begin a new chapter of my academic career as a Hospitality major.

There are numerous reasons why I choose Disney College Program. The first and obvious reason was I’ve been a Disney fan since childhood, second reason was I get to be an intern at Walt Disney World. I saw this as a great opportunity to advance my academic career but my future career in the Hospitality industry as well.
Being a college intern for Walt Disney World provided me multiple opportunities to network. There are times when I would observe my coordinators and my leaders performing their role and learn from their leadership. From what I observed, my coordinators and leaders will try their best to remember each cast members’ name and be there for us as a leader to guide us. In a way they are like a mentor to me and I look up to them, every time they asked for assistance I am always there to help.

In the article by www.HCareers.com, the author gave the readers helpful tips on how to start out as becoming a manager. Being transition to a new role can be intimidating however being courteous to the employees you’re managing can come a long way of being a great leader. If I am the manager, I would openly listen to the employees’ feedback and concerns and be fair with my decision making. I believe that a manager should start from the beginning of a job and earn their way to the position. After all, Disney College Program had inspired me to apply for Disney’s Professional Internship. What I am hoping for from the Professional Internship is to learn how to be a successful leader for myself and for my team.

Before my arrival to the Disney College Program, I’ve been told that the fall is hurricane season in Florida. While realizing the truth, part of me was in denial and refuse to believe that Disney World will be rained on. Unfortunately, I was forced to face the storm of reality when I had to be in a lightning location in the middle of my shift. According to the article by Barbara Higgins, Walt Disney World was forced to close their operation due to a heavy storm. Guests were told to stay in their hotel rooms and the company had to strategist a better plan for inevitable disasters.

Since my role is outdoor food and beverage vending, it is important for cast members to know our lightning location. The park is still in operation whether if it’s rain or shine, unfortunately there will be thunderstorms where we have to stay indoors for our safety. The cast members of outdoor vending are over the radio to evacuate the carts and stay in closest lightning location until further notice.

During my training, I was trained on taking care of guests’ safety at the park. Although I work in food and beverage. there are precautions to take when it comes to the safety of the guests. I was trained on how to handle any guests’ situation. For example, we were trained on how to take care of a lost child by notifying a leader then  squatting to their height level and comfort them while the leader takes action. We also had a guest speaker from the security department of Walt Disney World to let us know that we should not hesitate to report any suspicion items in the parks. It is their duty to avoid any incidents, “our goal each day is to have 0 incidents.”

Disney Traditions – received our four keys card, safety and health handbook, disabilities booklet, blue id, name tag and Mickey ears

In the article “Create Company Loyalty with New-Hire Practices” Tasha Freidlein, a member of the Council of hotel and restaurant trainers also mentioned that all of the employees had to watch a video introduced by their president and this made me think back and remember that we were also shown a video of our president welcoming us into the company.

The first things I remembered they touched based on were the four keys, safety, show, courtesy and efficiency. Disney’s motto for cast members is “Safe D begins with me,” with a pun on safety. This is stressed at my workplaces because I am back of house in the kitchen and there are multiple ways to injure your self when doing basic tasks. “Safety beings with me” is something I have memorized and I utilize this at work because we use PPE or personal protective equipment such as hot gloves when handling hot items is used to prevent accidents such as burns. “Traditions” was the day when we got to meet the boss, Mickey Mouse when he bought us our name tags to signify we were a cast member.

Tasha Freidlein also menioned “We also require that all employees spend a night at the hotel to experience the hotel from a guest perspective,” Disney incorporates the experience a little differently. On the first day of training whether it is back of house or front they start with a taste test in which we were able to try everything on the menu in case we had a guest asking us how the food tasted and what we would recommend to them. I have implemented this information when working front of house because some guests ask how spicy the spicy beef is, in reality it is just a slight kick and it is not overly strong.