The Disney Professional Internship program is an internship offered by The Walt Disney Company within all segments of the company, and for those wondering what “all” includes I mean everything. So, yes for those wondering that will include assets held by Disney like Lucasfilm, Pixar, ESPN, Marvel, and ABC as well. There is also the Disney Management Internship program, which falls under the same umbrella as the Disney Professional Internship Program. Now as for who is able to apply for these internships is a bit more complicated then college program. The general applicant for the PI is going to be a currently enrolled college student over the age of eighteen, or anyone who has graduated within the past six months. Some PIs though will ask only for specific applicants to apply, so always read the job description! Now what separates a PI from the DCP exactly? Good question.
The professional internship and management program are going to be for students looking for more specific roles in their field of study. They are going to have focuses such as finance, animal science, marketing, event planning, entertainment management, business development, graphic design, advertising, and production assistant just to name a few (yes I literally mean a few). Now as you can already tell these are going to have an advantage over the Disney College Program as you would be participating in an internship related to your actual field of study. It is also going to be a different set-up then the College Program, since if you read the post about the DCP classes were optional. While completing your PI/MI you classes are actually built into your schedule, so you get classroom studies that you can practice in the work environment.
Now it is time to talk about the technical problem of Disney housing options for PIs, and I will save New York, California, and Connecticut candidates the time of reading on –you do not receive any housing at all (sorry). Now for you lovely Florida candidates here is the not so great news for you either, while housing is an option it is extremely limited. Falcon Square is current housing complex for PIs as of 2016 (yes you older applicants Cumberland Park is no longer used –why? Who knows), and it is not strictly PIs like the DCP style housing is. As for who gets it and who does not really it is a first come (well first offer) first serve basis, so the later your offer comes out the more likely you are not going to be receiving any housing options* from Disney. Now of course the statement above means nothing if you are an MI as you cannot live in the same housing complex as the rest of the PIs. Yes, you ready that 100% correctly in case you feel like you read it wrong here it is again. Management Interns cannot live in Falcon Square they must provide their own housing –see even bolded it.
Moving on! I know what you have all been wondering this entire time while you’ve been stalking Glassdoor, Twitter, blogs, and Facebook post after post –what does a PI make? Well it is a little complicated okay actually a lot of complicated. The general blanket statement is PIs are going to make somewhere between nine dollars an hour to mid twenties. Okay, I know what you are going to say that is a huge range –I know. So, let me break it down in the past theme park roles have generally made nine to mid teens. What is a theme park role? Well pretty much any role where you are going to have to work theme park hours, and yes MIs this does exclude you so just ignore. Now corporate roles tend to be a bit higher they range from mid teens to lower twenties, and the highest paid of them all usually goes to Imagineering in the mid to upper twenties. Now full disclosure what you make varies on location, department, and you –yes you not every individual like the DCP makes the same amount per hour. Okay, I did not forget about you MIs I promise! Here is the plain and simple on the MIs you will not make an hourly rate instead you will be salaried, and yes MIs are the only roles (that I know of) that are salaried.
I feel like I have covered the basics in this, and I will get into more specifics about the application for the PIs and MIs in a later post. This is just a general overview of the PI, and in a later post I will cover everything your going to need to know for the application. Yes, that does include the infamous cover letters, resumes, thank you emails/cards, and etc. So keep a look out for the post it will be coming along soon!
*Here is the link to the lovely Facebook group for Disney cast members for those of you who need alternative options: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WDWApartmentFinder/
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