University of...Disney?

In “Are Disney Movies Good for Your Kids?”, Giroux says that “the boundaries between entertainment, education, and commercialization collapse through the sheer omnipotence of Disney’s reach into diverse spheres of everyday life”. And Disney seems to have tried to converge entertainment, education, and commercialization with their Disney College Program, or Disney University as it is often called. Though the website seems to be purposefully vague about providing a simple explanation of the program, and it took much scouring of many different sections of the website to piece together how the program actually works, it seems that students who have completed at least one semester of college may apply to Disney University, which is located at the Disney Resort in Orlando, Florida. Students take a semester away from their college and live in Disney housing facilities and work in some capacity under the huge and ever-growing Disney umbrella, taking part in a “one-of-a-kind, Disney-designed combination of education and work experience” (wdwcollegeprogram.com).

Students can take classes, but there are only a few areas of study, and there is no guarantee that a participant will actually receive any college credit. What Disney stresses more so than the educational experience is the work experience. The website describes the “roles” in incredible detail that are available to participants, providing information about “onstage” roles, like working at attractions or as hosts in restaurants, and about “offstage” roles, like custodial work or kitchen duties within the theme parks. I found it odd that Disney called it a “role” rather than a job, as if a person must be acting to be performing the job correctly, that the student, unmasked, just being him or herself is insufficient for Disney’s needs.

Disney masks its actually unaccredited educational institution as being for the benefit of the individual, as an incredibly rewarding experience of learning, something that will help a student grow and mature into a responsible adult ready for the rigors of the job market. But the “university” is nothing more than a breeding center for Disney’s future “cast members”, the people that will work and create a world where fun is not so much a feeling as it is a commodity. Disney also fails to provide any information on the website about costs for the program, except for one blurb about the fact that those students who do receive college credit for their semester at Disney may have to pay tuition to the college in which they are actually enrolled and that classes at Disney are free and only require the small fees for books and course materials. But the housing must cost something, and the program cannot be completely free. But Disney has their slogan on the bottom of the website: “Dream it. Do it. Disney.” So I guess the company assumes that money is no object when you are reaching for your dreams.

And if parents have any concerns about their children going to school at Disney World for a semester, that their children will be too stressed, the website provides a link for Walt Disney World Florist and Gift Basket Team so you can “let your child know how much you support him or her with a floral arrangement or gift basket” (wdwcollegeprogram.com). Leave it to Disney to think of everything, especially when it could generate some income for the company.

https://www.wdwcollegeprogram.com