End of Another Intern Era

Now that I am full time it is really weird to see interns come and go. 

I have to preface that my team doesn't have interns, but many of the teams we work with have them and the teams that sit around us have them as well. In Team Disney (at least on my floor), off the main walkway there are 4 intern cubes. These are megacubes. On our floor each person has their own cube (except the hourly DVC Stat Associates), but the interns have ones that are 3-6 time bigger than a normal persons cube, but that's because a bunch of interns share it. Like I said, my team doesn't have any interns, but I pass the food and beverage pricing and revenue management intern cube every time I walk in from the elevators or have to go to the bathroom. So pretty often. Therefore these interns are the ones that I see and interact with most often. In the office I even refer to them as "the interns" when they aren't even on our team. 

When I started in my current role the Fall 2015 interns were already 2 months into their internship. They were all settled and I never really interacted with them much. Partially, becasue I was so overwhelmed by all of the other people I needed to get to know, and a little because they weren't the most sociable bunch. One just wandered the halls 90% of the time with his headphones on or sat at the intern cube with his feet up on the desk watching videos on his iPhone. To say the least, my team wasn't his biggest fan. The second wasn't awful. I think he was just shy or socially awkward. He was say hi, but would look away and kind of avoided conversation all of the time. 

The third was the only one I semi-conversed with on any sort of regular basis. He was by far the nicest of the bunch. He is also the only one still left with the company. After his PI in F&B pricing ended, we accepted another PI doing something with Disney Cruise Line in Celebration. But a couple of months ago I started seeing him around Team Disney again. Every time I saw him I was either rushing to a meeting or he was in the midst of conversation so when I finally got a chance to talk to him I found out he had received a full time position in Planning! I was so happy that of the 3 of the Fall 2015 interns that he was the one to stay with the company. I still don't see him much but it's nice having another friendly face in Team Disney.


Last week the Spring 2016 interns finished up their PIs. I was really, really sad to see them go. I made an effort off of the bat to introduce myself to them and would try to periodically stop in and chat. Admittedly I didn't talk to them AS much as I wanted to, but it is amazing how time flies! I loved this group. The 3 of the F&B interns were so nice, actually had personalities, and really seemed to actually want to be there. I think a combination of these things really helped them out, because all of them are staying full time with the company?!?!? It's crazy in that they all found out in the last two weeks. The one pricing intern found out on a Friday that she was going to be staying on the F&B pricing team full time. The second found out on the following Tuesday after memorial day that she was being offered a Finance position. Last Friday was a little awkward because the F&B Revenue Management intern didn't have an offer or any plans after the internship. The others in his cube were all staying and the pricing interns had had so much excitement in the last week when they found out. However...he just had to wait another week and he was offered a position as a Merchandise Business Insights Analyst. It's kind of exciting that he will be going to my old home at Maingate and gives me another reason to go back and visit!!!

There was also 4th intern who joined their cube from another area that needed space a couple of months into the internship, but since she hasn't been in this cube as long I don't know her as well. She just extended into another PI so I guess more time to get to know her!

It really is amazing how quickly the last 10 months as a full timer has gone. It is also going to be crazy for all of the new Fall 2016 interns to join Team Disney on Monday. I am excited to see all of the nervous, excited faces all dressed formally in business clothes getting their building tours on Monday. With such a great group to live up to, I am exciting no meeting the new group of faces that I will walk by a dozen times everyday for the next 6 months. I hope they are another fun group joining the Disney family. And who knows, if they are as good as the last set of interns, perhaps they will be around for a long time to come :)

Disney Ambassadors

The Disney Ambassador program is something that I learned about earlier this year during my time with the Walt Disney Company. It is a wonderful program where 1-2 cast members are chose to represent each of the different resorts around the world. These are truly some of the best of the best of the Disney company and they have the honor of representing the Company and their Resort with different public engagements and cast recognition events for a year term.

The Ambassador program started in Disneyland for their 10th anniversary in 1964 with the first Ambassador Julie Reihm. Walt Disney couldn't make it to every requested appearance during the busyness of the 10th anniversary, the success of the movies, and ProjectX (future Walt Disney World) so he chose Julie, who was a tour guide, to represent him when he wasn't available. Talk about a lot of responsibility to be Walt when he couldn't be there!

While the number of ambassadors for Walt Disney World during a given year has fluctuated from 1-3 individuals since the resort first opened, the current ambassador team represents the nearly 75,000 cast members at Walt Disney World resort. They also represent the cast at Hilton Head, Vero Beach, and the Disney Cruise Line. This is a very big responsibility and those chosen are truly representative of the legacy and ideals that the Walt and the Company hold dear.

The Disney Ambassador symbol.
You can identify a current ambassador if you see them wearing silver pin
with this symbol above their cast member name tag.
image source: http://publicaffairs.disneyland.com/community/ambassador-program/

I am currently taking a series of classes at Disney University and had the lucky opportunity to be in a class with one of the current Ambassadors, Nathaniel Palma. This was my first time meeting an ambassador, and in some ways I was almost a little awestruck. Here was someone that is literally a representative of the entire company, and I was sitting in class with him! I always enjoy reading the articles the ambassadors write during their cast shadows (they get to follow a role around for the day, learn about it, and write an article for the Hub. They even did a shadow of the Wilderness Explorers recently- my old team!) I was able to work with him on a few group projects in the class and ate lunch with him. It was so cool to hear about his adventures thus far in his role and all the cool work he does. He is probably one of the most positive people I have ever met and was truly genuine in thanking everyone for all the hard work they do. It was an honor to met him and I would love to cross paths with him again someday!

If you are a current cast member I encourage you to look up the Disney Ambassador module on the Hub. There are biographies on each of the past Disney Ambassadors and a lot of cool information including the stories that they post about their shadows!

For those who aren't current cast, or even those who are, the Disney Parks Blog has done a lot of cool articles about the Disney Ambassadors over the years. If you want to learn more about this cool position or these awesome people just search for "Disney Ambassador" in the search area. I've also included a few of my favorite articles down below. Enjoy!


Note: Reading these articles I just realized that Steven Miller was a Disney Ambassador in the "where are the ambassadors are now" type articles! You might recognize Steven Miller from the merchandise articles he writes for the Disney Parks Blog! I worked a little with him during my second PI as a Merchandise Planning intern. I literally walked by his office everyday and talked to him a handful of times during my work there about future items for articles and to help answer guest questions that were being asked on the blog. I can't believe that I never realized that he had been an ambassador! That is so cool. I could totally see him as an ambassador. He even had an important job as his ambassadorship was extended after the events of September 2001. It truly is amazing that at such a large company you have these connections!

Here is a cool interview the Disney Parks Blog had with the first ambassador, Julie. First Disneyland Resort Ambassador Comes ‘Home’ for 50th Anniversary of Disney Ambassador Program

Here is the article from when the current group of ambassadors were named last year (including Nathaniel!) First Disney Ambassador Julie Reihm Casaletto Welcomes New Ambassadors