About The DCP

The Disney College Program (DCP), is a program offered to college students to come work for Disney. You have to be 18 years old and have at LEAST one semester of college under your belt to apply. So if you want to experience the magic when you are a freshman, you have to wait to apply for the spring semester. You HAVE to be in college at the time you apply for the program. That being said, there really is no age limit. You can be 75 and do the program as long as you are in college.

There are two terms you can apply for, spring and fall. Depending on which Disney Location you choose, there are more in depth choices. For example: If you apply for the DCP at Walt Disney World, You can choose Spring, Spring Advantage, Fall, Fall Advantage, and Spring Advantage Quarter. If you apply for Disneyland, you have the option of doing Spring Advantage, Summer, Fall, and Fall Advantage. The difference between advantage and nonadvantage programs are the lengths. If you choose to do Spring your time will be shorter than those who do advantage. You always have an option to extend your program however. So if you want to choose the shorter program to see how you like it, and then extend, that is possible. You can extend up to one year before having to reapply again. The Spring Advantage Quarter is typically for participants who are on the quarter system at their school. That means they go by quarters and not semesters. So Disney will give them this position first. And then towards the end they will offer this position up to anyone. The Summer Program, Disneyland, is only offered to returning DCPs.

This information will explain more in depth about the sessions and comes directly from the Disney Website:

 

Walt Disney World

 

Spring

• Students should apply/interview late August – late October
• Program begins mid/late January and ends in early/mid May

Spring Advantage

• Students should apply/interview late August –late October
• Program begins late January/early February and ends in early/mid August

Fall

• Students should apply/interview February – late March
• Program begins mid/late August and ends in early January

Fall Advantage

• Students should apply/interview February – late March
• Program begins late May/early June and ends in early January

There are also specialized program time frames for students who attend schools that follow a quarter or trimester academic calendar.
There is not a summer-only program session.

 

Disneyland



Spring

• Students should apply/interview late August – late October
• Program begins mid January/early February and ends in mid August

Summer*

• Due to extremely limited number of positions, applicants for this session are restricted to Disney College Program Alumni who meet certain criteria.
• Eligible Disney College Program Alumni will be contacted via email with specific details about this opportunity approximately in early February.  Alumni are encouraged to opt-in to receive information as it becomes available.
• Opportunity begins in May and ends in August.

Fall**

• Students should apply/interview February – late March
• Applicants for the session spanning May – January must be able to provide their own housing accommodations in the Disneyland Resort area.  This session does not offer housing.

Fall***

• Students should apply/interview February – late March
• Applicants for the session spanning August – January must reside in the provided housing.

The DCP is such an amazing experience and will look wonderful on any job application. There are so many job opportunities this program can give you access to as well. If you are interested in the program, you would spend a semester down in California or Orlando to work for Disney. If you choose to work at Disney World, Disney will provide you with housing, but you could live in your own apartment. If you apply for Disneyland, depending on what session you are in, you MUST stay on or OFF property.

I hope all of this gives you a good background of what the DCP is like! If you have any questions that I didn't already answer, feel free to comment below!