Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved my time at Disney, but there are certain things I wish I had known each time before accepting my offers. The first time, I had no idea what to expect going into the program. I wish I had known how little was actually provided going into it. I did not have a car the first time and the transportation provided was not reliable. The bus system was inconsistent and the buses would often break down. One of the buses I took actually caught on fire with us on it. The buses also only took you to a target off Disney property, which made grocery shopping difficult, since it only ran twice a week. It made it difficult to also leave Disney property, unless you had friends who had vehicles. At that time, the apartments also did not provide any cups, plates, dishes, or pans/pots. During my second program, things had changed a little bit. While I did have my car, I did use the bus system for certain things and it was more consistent. The buses were also under a different company, so they were newer buses and more professional overall. I did have one negative experience with a bus driver who catcalled me. When I reported it to security at my living complex, they did not follow through in any way, which was very upsetting. It made me uncomfortable to use the buses after that and I only took my car. The new apartment complex did come with the kitchenware, which saved a lot of packing. While there was a bus that took you to the same target twice a week, there was a shopping center walking distance (about 7 minutes) that has a Target, Starbucks, Five Guys, Domino’s , and a few other stores. The security at the new complex is also much safer than the security in 2019. There are machines you must scan your access card in to, rather than checking badges. This makes it much harder for people to sneak in and made me personally feel much safer.

I mentioned this before, but the long hours were not something I was prepared for for my first program. My shift hours were much easier to manage in 2019 than in 2021. My most recent program hours were the same 8 hour shifts, but working until 11:30pm and being at work at 7am was extremely difficult when they would schedule me back to back. As I said, it depends on your role and location, but do not go into this program thinking it wont be hard work and long hours. In my opinion, it is worth the memories and friendships, but to some it may not be