Disney College Program Extra Hours & Overtime

As you may know, you don't really join the Disney College Program for money because the pay is minimum wage. However, the program is still worth it because most internships DO NOT pay!! Even though the pay is minimum wage, this is what most college students were making anyway, not all participants, but many of them were making $7.50 to $8.00 an hour at a retail or fast food place. In the eyes of these participants and those with NO work experience, the college program is golden.

Saving Money

This is not the program to rack up cash or make a huge amount of money BUT it's not impossible to save money. Budgeting is key! Just don't expect to walk away with more than $2,000-$3,000 and I'm being generous with that amount.  Anything higher requires a ton of an overtime. A majority of DCP participants are basically living check to check, but that's another post.

Rent Deduction

Also, many CPs feel the pay is low because rent is taken out, and when they see their check after the rent deduction they become less than thrilled with the remaining amount (average $150 for those at $7.79 per hour). 

However, this is reality!! I plan on staying at The Commons where the rent is $93.00 per week for a 3 bedroom apartments which $279.00 to $372.00 per month. 

That's not bad for a shared room with all amenities (pool, computer lab, rentals, package handling, sports), all utilities (cable, a land-line phone, internet, water, electricity), security (around the clock, gated community), housing activities (grocery bingo, formals, movie nights) and transportation (to work, mall, walmart, post office) included in the cost. 

In the real world, you would pay for rent anyway it's not THAT bad. I'm sure many of the colleges gut their students pockets for ten times the amount with less the benefits.

Extra Hours

Disney doesn't leave you hanging so badly. It's all about your work ethic! You want more well work harder. . . . . I know that's not cool but hey that's life. You come to the program to work and for the experience of a lifetime.

To make more money:

Extra Hours Hotline - Yes, an entire hotline for picking up hours. There's no reason for you to have less than 40 hours per week. You can get it, if YOU want it.

Pick Up Shifts - Check the HUB (the Disney Market/Facebook place for cast members lol ), exchange shifts with co-workers or cast members from other locations, or find people on Facebook in work related groups.

Crosstrain - The most popular option is the PAC shifts (parade control shifts) or crowd control for some shows. Train for QSFB on the HUB to pick-up shifts at fast food locations across property.

Overtime Pay 

While you work so many hours you may end up racking up some serious overtime. This is where CPs can gain a little advantage. 

When picking up a shift, make sure it will not bring you over 40 hours per week. If it does, the shift exchange will be denied.

If picking up from the extra hours hotline, this may be a little different, but this will be explained to you by your managers.

You can naturally be schedule for overtime by your location. This is especially true for those working in Magic Kingdom or attractions cast members who operate rides where only those trained can work that location, so extra hours are always available.

Remember That

• We do not get paid for holidays. So no holiday pay. We are interns and at the bottom of the food chain.
• The minimum wage in Florida is suppose to rise to 7.93 per hours so for Spring 2014 participants . . . their maybe a pay increase in the future.
• You do not accrue vacation, sick days, personal holidays, or any of the basic benefits because we are not apart of the union and are statuses are totally different from other employees.
• College Program hours do not count toward seniority with the company if you go full-time, part-time or seasonal.
• You will more than likely be scheduled for every holiday, spring break etc.

Side Money Ideas:

• Come with money! This is obvious, but it cannot be stressed enough. The more you can come with the better. Plan ahead based on how you plan to spend you CP program (more on this later).
• Ask your parents or other family members for a little help month to month or for your entire program or set up some kind of assistance from time to time.
• Try some side gigs, don't start a busisness or solicit. You cannot maintain a part-time job because it's against your contract and you cannot start or operate a business from the apartments. I read about someone being a DJ for some nights clubs or a club promoter . . . . of course, be careful don't go overboard. 
• If you a run a blog or vlog (video blogging). . . . it shouldn't be a problem. I run quite a few. There's also Crowdsource work like Mturk (my personal favorite) or CrowdCloud/CrowdSource (especially good for English Majors or those with strong grammar/writing skills). Freelance like Elance, Odesk, or Guru. Sell items on Ebay or other auctions sites . . . . selling a few old items shouldn't be a problem. Do surverys for Myview.com (this actually works lol) for points towards gift cards. Do money-less auctions at Listia.com - no money required at all and get some free items or sell items for points. Got a skill (photoshop, wordpress, web design, writing, video maker, anything)? Try Fiverr.com.

Alumni on Facebook 

Pro-tips and information on overtime pay, extra hours, scheduled hours:

Training in other areas to work for shifts:

Signing up for extras hours and overtime pay:

More alumni tips:

More on Overtime

getting 40-50 hours a week isn't hard  you can also apply for extra hours every week.

Though be careful because if you're not already scheduled for OT (working say 36 hours or something) and you try to pick up shifts to get into OT (especially shifts already budgeted as straight time) they probably won't let you do it.

Anything over 8 hours in a day, 40 hours in a week (including overtime already worked in the same week), or a 6th day (only when the 6th day occurs in a Sunday-Saturday timeframe) is time and a half. Anything over 14 hours in a day, scheduled shifts with less than an 8 hour overnight gap, or a 7th scheduled day (in a Sunday-Saturday timeframe) is double. (A 7th day voluntary shift still counts as time and a half.) However, managers are generally more strict about double, and if you notice you're scheduled for hours that would incur double, you should check to see if it was intentional.

On certain roles picking up shifts:

I always picked up a lot of OT as a character performer

parks merch can't pick up resort merch shifts. (Resort merch can pick up parks merch shifts.) this is because merch locations in resorts include alcohol and tobacco. In the parks, only F&B locations deal with alcohol, and there is no tobacco sold in the parks at all, so only resort merch gets responsible vendor certified.

You should definitely be able to get some crazy insane hours for quick service, custodial, or merch.

Yes if you can pick up shifts. Custodial will get over 40 more than others except for maybe characters.

It's really easy to get and it isn't uncommon to get scheduled for. I have been working 45-50 hours for the past 4 weeks and next week I have a 9 and 11 hours shift. It doesn't sound like much but even just 5 hours of overtime is a big improvement on your check every week - A 2013 Custodial CP


College Program/Alumni names blocked for privacy. These screenshots come from the Spring/Spring Advantage 2014 Disney College Program Facebook page.