The 9 Friends You Will Meet on the Disney College Program

Warning: this post has been known to cause symptoms such as: happy/sad tears, reminiscent thoughts, and the feels.

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Your roommates– You will love them, you will hate them, you will live with them. This relationship can be a rocky road. The DCP means hard work, late hours, and sore muscles. When CPs are at their apartment, most of the time it means they were too tired to go to the park and when a CP is too tired to go to the park they’re probably grumpy.

Be kind to your roommates and be understanding. Assume good intentions. Set boundaries and clarify chores on your first day, no matter how great of friends you are this is necessary to a good DCP.

My roommates and I started out wonderfully. We got along and did everything together. Then, the curse set in. Living in tight quarters brought unforseen consequences and I brought too much stuff to Florida. People yelled about dishes and screamed about communication, but I grew from those struggles. The roommates that were the odd ones out became closer because of those troubles and now we share an unbreakable bond.

Your Internet Friend

Whether you met them before your DCP on the infamous Facebook group or afterward thanks to your roommate’s celebrity-status blog, you’ll always wish you had spent more time getting to know them. 

Meeting viewers was one of the most fun parts of my program. I would love it when people would find me at work and talk with me or take pictures. I even got the nickname “famous Annie,” but that was mostly because two people had asked the same leader about me in the span of one week- a rare occurance.

Your character buddy

Whether you’re obsessed with meeting every character, or just one (or two), this friend is one of the best people to go to the parks with because you always want to do the same thing.

If you’re lucky, one day you’ll both dress up or DisneyBound and take all the pictures in the world with your favorite characters. 

I met my character buddy while I was deployed to Oaken’s. She loved Woody, and I was kind of a fan of Buzz Lightyear. One night we went to a Toy Story themed CP event, met Woody and Buzz, and the rest is history. From then on, all we did was meet our two favorite toys. To this day we send each other Toy Story news and cute pictures we find online.

Your favorite leader

Disney has great management and leadership. Your location will have a full team of leaders, but there will be one that will be your favorite. They will encourage you and hold you to high standards, but mostly, they will inspire you.

When you go into work and they’re closing, you’ll breathe a sigh of relief because you know that it’s going to be a good day. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself quoting them after you leave. You might call your messy room a “dumpster fire” and tell your class project group, “teamwork makes the dreamwork!”

Your co-worker family

Not one friend, but a family of many. You’ll see many colorful (and some not so colorful) personalities every single day, but you’ll be especially close with a few of them.

My “Mickey’s” family (short for Mickey’s of Hollywood or MOH) was composed of myself, my “sister” (aka the problem child), our two “moms” and our “crazy aunt.” Sure, it was a little childish, but it reflected our relationships. While we were all equals at work, my Disney mom’s would do anything to protect me. They even went as far as to threaten to go after someone who had been spreading rumors about me.

Your Disney grandparents

The DCP can be a scary time. You move away from your entire support system and you don’t have any “grown-ups” to rely on. I was lucky to work with several people that I refer to now as “my Disney grandparents.” They’ll give you life advice and genuinely ask how you’re doing.

I had many Disney grandparents. They taught me so much about life by imparting daily wisdom to me. What’s great about them is that they can build you up but still point out where you can improve.

One of the best Cast Members I have ever met called all the CPs her “kids.” She left my location a little over halfway through my program, but whenever I visited her, she would introduce me as “one of her Mickey’s kids.” By saying that, she really made me feel special, like I was important to her and a part of a family. Before I left, she gave me a bag full of stickers and dozens of celebration buttons. 

Your favorite co-worker

You see them everyday. You sing together, vent together, you try to eat together if one of you is stocking and the other’s on register.

You’ll get close enough to the point that you’ll come over when they’re upset and crying. You’ll have dance parties to One Direction and scream whenever Zayn’s part comes up because he left and you’re mad. 

When they have to call out sick, you miss them, but you make sure to send them a video of their favorite character wishing them well.

This is one of the hardest goodbyes. I couldn’t hold myself together on our last night. If you haven’t guessed, my favorite co-worker was my sister. We spent the entire year together in Mickey’s and were inseperable most of that time.

Your Double (your twin)

You never know where you’ll meet them, I met mine on the bus from Traditions. We had Operations class together and bonded over our mutual allergy to nuts. We were newbies, anxious to make new friends. We went to DHS together and began to realize how similar we were!

You’re basically the same person. Every sentence that comes out of their mouth sounds like something you’ve thought before. You turn to them for reassurance on tough decisions you’ve made.

I talk to my double weekly, if not daily. Although we didn’t spend our entire program together, we both agree that our friendship is one of the best ones we made during the DCP.

The roommate/best friend/soulmate

They’re different than you, but also the same. They’re honest and sometimes harsh, but you don’t mind because you know it’s what you needed to hear. 

They’re always there for you. Had a rough day at work? They’ve got a Mickey pretzel and plans to see Fantasmic. You’ll give them rides home and stay up with them until 5 a.m. talking about random things.

While you didn’t spend every waking moment on your program together,  it was as if you had whenever you’re together.

You’ll travel together before and after the program. 

But it’s a hard goodbye. One of the hardest goodbyes you’ll say leaving your program. It’s hard to go from living 3 feet away from someone to over 3,000 miles.

 

When I started the Disney College Program, I was mostly excited to have free access to the parks. Even today, when I talk about the perks of the program, I mention that first because I don’t think that other people could even grasp what I mean when I talk about the friends I made. That, or I don’t have the time to describe them all.

When I look back at my program, I don’t see a series of days off. I don’t remember how many times I went to the Magic Kingdom.