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> Nonetheless, many interns love their experience. Free access to the parks and employee discounts are more than enough for some of these Disney kids who have g

> Nonetheless, many interns love their experience. Free access to the parks and employee discounts are more than enough for some of these Disney kids who have grown up to be Disney interns and may yet become Disney parents. “I’m a Disney slave and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” tweeted one intern proudly. Leaves me a little speechless, honestly. Are people really so blind in their corporate worship?

daxorid 7y ago
Our tribe isn't exactly immune to this. From Steve Jobs' 90 hour work week pride, to gleefully giving our employers free advertising on our swag t-shirts. It's always fun to remember that although it's easy to watch the old Steve Ballmer dancemonkeyboy.wmv video and laugh at the ridiculousness of it, at least half of the Microsoft faithful in attendance that day loved it and ate it up.
Synaesthesia 7y ago
Corporate propaganda is one of the great triumphs of the 20th century. In “No Logo” Noami Klein writes about people getting Nike swoosh tatoos.
Excel_Wizard 7y ago
Have you never met a Disney fan? Most of these interns are going to be self-selected to love Disney. The Disney fans I know are joyful and don't have a lick of cynicism. The "magic of Disney" captures a joyful attitude that was already latent within their personality, but is hard to find elsewhere. The experience of getting to live and work in a park that non-cynically calls itself the "happiest place on earth", surrounded by peers that are just as joyous as you are, is worth more to them than the pay. I don't think this is a bad outcome for these interns. For the ones that love it, all the better, and for the ones that end up hating it, they learn when and why to be more skeptical of a culture they don't quite fit into.
- d1str0 7y ago
  It's impressive because Disney really does deliver on the magic. Those theme parks are impressive as hell and always feel in tip top shape.
- hedvig 7y ago
  So cultural relativism? I don't agree. Exploitation of people is unacceptable even if those people feel like they enjoy it.
  - matt-attack 7y ago
    Wow. So you know what’s better for those people than they do? Do you not believe that individuals have agency over themselves m and get to dictate their own lives?
simplicio 7y ago
I wish the article had dug into the motivations of the interns a little more deeply, as they seem to be the strangest part of story. I'm skeptical pure love of the Disney brand is the answer. My WAG is that its a lot of kids who for whatever reason, don't want to live with their parents for the summer, but don't have the grades to get a normal paid summer internship away from home. So Disney basically provides the same sort of menial summer job they could get in their hometown, but they can live with a bunch of similarly aged kids instead of their parents, and get to say they spent their summer at an internship with a prestigious corporation, instead of flipping burgers at the local McDs.
- cookiecaper 7y ago
  Disney College Program is very competitive and there are many applicants who don't get accepted. The application requires an essay and a very robust background. It's by no means an option for people whose only alternative would be flipping burgers. Disney's not exactly selecting for traditional geniuses -- they look primarily for image, work ethic, and complete starry-eyed devotion to the brand. There are plenty of people like this and Disney imports thousands of them to Orlando each year. It's not so bad if you're doing it for a semester or two when you wouldn't expect to be making money anyway, but you have to be willing to essentially sign your life away to the Mouse for the duration of the program. The pay is minimal, the hours are long and grueling, and the work is physically and emotionally difficult. Disney expects complete control of your schedule and missing more than a shift or two is basically not an option. It's not for the faint of heart.
rat87 7y ago
reminds me of many video game developers.
northwest65 7y ago
It's somewhat easy for me to say as I'm not required to work for a living, but I would take an Imagineering job (something related to animatronics or other ride related decorations) working essentially for free. The opportunity to provide happiness to millions, in a niche I and my extended family enjoy, would be very enticing to me. Sure I'd be making The Mouse a ton of cash, but that's just a part of the game... positions with that sort of reach just don't exist outside of that environment.
cookiecaper 7y ago
I lived 2 miles from the Magic Kingdom for 4 years and I know this world well. The reality is that Disney has a near-infinite supply of starry-eyed laborers who will work for them under virtually any conditions. People come from around the world just to work at Walt Disney World. Disney always underpays and chews people up. There is no illusion that The Mouse cares about any of its employees at an individual or personal level. Most people will some modicum of skill or self-respect burn out relatively quickly, but the romance of working at the parks means there will always be a long line of comparable people ready to replace them. If you go in with your eyes open, it's not necessarily the worst place in the world to do a stint, but you need to be aware that Disney does not care. They will always underpay, they will always expect complete and utter control over your schedule, and they will always chew through people with zero regard for the ramifications -- because they can. Most professionals who work there end up taking the job, spending 1-2 years internalizing this, and moving on to greener pastures, often with a massive increase in personal cynicism and a serious reorientation of career goals, but there are some who are so devoted to the Mouse God that they'll stick around indefinitely. There's a substantial number of retirees driven to Florida for its low taxes, low cost of living, and warm and humid weather which minimizes the impact of common old-age maladies like arthritis. These people are really in the best situation to work at Disney, as the income is understood to be supplemental and the main goal of employment is to stay active, help make children happy, etc. For employees in that type of situation, Disney can present fairly agreeable terms. For everyone else, there is little doubt that a "career" in the parks is short-lived and sub-optimal (but of course, Disney doesn't really mind, because there're plenty of people left to burn out).

daxorid 7y ago

Our tribe isn't exactly immune to this. From Steve Jobs' 90 hour work week pride, to gleefully giving our employers free advertising on our swag t-shirts. It's always fun to remember that although it's easy to watch the old Steve Ballmer dancemonkeyboy.wmv video and laugh at the ridiculousness of it, at least half of the Microsoft faithful in attendance that day loved it and ate it up.

Synaesthesia 7y ago

Corporate propaganda is one of the great triumphs of the 20th century. In “No Logo” Noami Klein writes about people getting Nike swoosh tatoos.

Excel_Wizard 7y ago

Have you never met a Disney fan? Most of these interns are going to be self-selected to love Disney. The Disney fans I know are joyful and don't have a lick of cynicism. The "magic of Disney" captures a joyful attitude that was already latent within their personality, but is hard to find elsewhere. The experience of getting to live and work in a park that non-cynically calls itself the "happiest place on earth", surrounded by peers that are just as joyous as you are, is worth more to them than the pay. I don't think this is a bad outcome for these interns. For the ones that love it, all the better, and for the ones that end up hating it, they learn when and why to be more skeptical of a culture they don't quite fit into.

d1str0 7y ago
It's impressive because Disney really does deliver on the magic. Those theme parks are impressive as hell and always feel in tip top shape.
hedvig 7y ago
So cultural relativism? I don't agree. Exploitation of people is unacceptable even if those people feel like they enjoy it.
- matt-attack 7y ago
  Wow. So you know what’s better for those people than they do? Do you not believe that individuals have agency over themselves m and get to dictate their own lives?

simplicio 7y ago

I wish the article had dug into the motivations of the interns a little more deeply, as they seem to be the strangest part of story. I'm skeptical pure love of the Disney brand is the answer. My WAG is that its a lot of kids who for whatever reason, don't want to live with their parents for the summer, but don't have the grades to get a normal paid summer internship away from home. So Disney basically provides the same sort of menial summer job they could get in their hometown, but they can live with a bunch of similarly aged kids instead of their parents, and get to say they spent their summer at an internship with a prestigious corporation, instead of flipping burgers at the local McDs.

cookiecaper 7y ago
Disney College Program is very competitive and there are many applicants who don't get accepted. The application requires an essay and a very robust background. It's by no means an option for people whose only alternative would be flipping burgers. Disney's not exactly selecting for traditional geniuses -- they look primarily for image, work ethic, and complete starry-eyed devotion to the brand. There are plenty of people like this and Disney imports thousands of them to Orlando each year. It's not so bad if you're doing it for a semester or two when you wouldn't expect to be making money anyway, but you have to be willing to essentially sign your life away to the Mouse for the duration of the program. The pay is minimal, the hours are long and grueling, and the work is physically and emotionally difficult. Disney expects complete control of your schedule and missing more than a shift or two is basically not an option. It's not for the faint of heart.

rat87 7y ago

reminds me of many video game developers.

northwest65 7y ago

It's somewhat easy for me to say as I'm not required to work for a living, but I would take an Imagineering job (something related to animatronics or other ride related decorations) working essentially for free. The opportunity to provide happiness to millions, in a niche I and my extended family enjoy, would be very enticing to me. Sure I'd be making The Mouse a ton of cash, but that's just a part of the game... positions with that sort of reach just don't exist outside of that environment.

cookiecaper 7y ago

I lived 2 miles from the Magic Kingdom for 4 years and I know this world well. The reality is that Disney has a near-infinite supply of starry-eyed laborers who will work for them under virtually any conditions. People come from around the world just to work at Walt Disney World. Disney always underpays and chews people up. There is no illusion that The Mouse cares about any of its employees at an individual or personal level. Most people will some modicum of skill or self-respect burn out relatively quickly, but the romance of working at the parks means there will always be a long line of comparable people ready to replace them. If you go in with your eyes open, it's not necessarily the worst place in the world to do a stint, but you need to be aware that Disney does not care. They will always underpay, they will always expect complete and utter control over your schedule, and they will always chew through people with zero regard for the ramifications -- because they can. Most professionals who work there end up taking the job, spending 1-2 years internalizing this, and moving on to greener pastures, often with a massive increase in personal cynicism and a serious reorientation of career goals, but there are some who are so devoted to the Mouse God that they'll stick around indefinitely. There's a substantial number of retirees driven to Florida for its low taxes, low cost of living, and warm and humid weather which minimizes the impact of common old-age maladies like arthritis. These people are really in the best situation to work at Disney, as the income is understood to be supplemental and the main goal of employment is to stay active, help make children happy, etc. For employees in that type of situation, Disney can present fairly agreeable terms. For everyone else, there is little doubt that a "career" in the parks is short-lived and sub-optimal (but of course, Disney doesn't really mind, because there're plenty of people left to burn out).