1. Anthony Moraga
Disney College Program 2014
Work Experience
Job description
I was accepted into the College Program as a Concierge, so I was responsible
for planning people’s vacations at the Walt Disney World Resort, making dining
reservations, selling tickets for Disney experiences, like theme parks, water parks
and even Cirque du Suleil tickets, solving problems related with dinning plans,
mydisneyexperience accounts/apps, Memory Maker, room supplies, providing of
transportation information, etc.
In my position, I was also responsible for providing assistance related to the
Front Desk position, such as checking in, checking out guests, assisting with
Magic Bands issues, room changes, and creating magical moments for guests at
their arrival at the vacation of their dreams.
My expectations of the role
Before my arrival at the Walt Disney World to start my program I thought my role
was going to be more personalized and more deluxe resort related. Instead, I
was assigned to develop my program at All Star Resorts, one of Disney’s value
resorts. At first it was a little bit disappointed because that’s not what I was
expecting, but after all this time I can say that working at the All Star Resort is
one of the best things that could have happened to me in the College Program. I
didn’t get what I wanted but yet what I needed.
What was expected of me
The Walt Disney World company is a huge corporation and standing out in one of
its departments (such as lodging) is what can determine your career success.
When it comes to what was expected from me is that even though I was
completely new to the Hospitality field my progress of getting used to working in it
after training was surprisingly fast and my performance was highly valued by my
FSAs (direct supervisors) and managers.

2. Anthony Moraga
Disney College Program 2014
Learning Experience
Disney course
For my College Program I decided to take the exploration series course
Exploring Leadership at Disney, and compared to other courses I have previously
taken at my University I have to say that it was very similar, the main difference is
that in terms to understand what was being taught, it was easier here because
everything we learned was being explained from the Disney way of doing things
and it was easy for us to see it applied to real life since we experience it every
day at work.
This course absolutely met my expectations because I had chosen a course that
allowed me to learn about a very subjective subject like leadership, I knew that
since my main focus is to grow in Emotional Intelligence learning about
leadership at Disney would help me get closer to my goal and it did. And I also
chose this course because it there was no homework involved and that meant
more time for me to do all the complimentary reading that I had planned before I
arrived in Orlando. I read these books: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, How
to Make Friends and Influence People, Influence: Science and Practice,
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion and The Wisdom of Crowds.
My instructor at the Disney’s exploration series was David Horvath and on a
scale of 1-5 he deserves the 5. He worries about learning things by applying
them to real life by storytelling, which I consider is very resourceful and Disney
like.
Accomplishment of learning Goals of the Individual Learning Plan
After living and working at the Walt Disney World for almost six months I can say
that I absolutely accomplished the goals that I had set for myself six months ago.
The learning process was very challenging at the beginning and the process
went very well despite all the challenges experiences with the weather change at
my arrival in Orlando in January, the delays of TranStar transportation, etc.
The top goal I set up for myself when I decided to do the Disney College
Program was to use it as an opportunity to grow in Emotional Intelligence, a field

3. Anthony Moraga
Disney College Program 2014
you should be good at if you want to lead people and at some point of life run
very important lines of business in the future. In a world where almost everybody
has access to the same information and companies are hiring the most intelligent
people, what makes you stand out is your emotional intelligence.
College Program
Would you recommend the Disney College Program to other college
students?
I would absolutely recommend the Disney College Program to other students; I
think is one of the best ways to step out of College for a while to experience what
working for a very demanding company with very demanding guests is like.
Goals submitted on the Learning Goals of the Individual Learning Plan:
Leadership: One of my biggest goals in life is to have my own business, and it’s
no doubt that Disney doesn’t teach you exactly how to generate business ideas,
but here I learned if a leader doesn’t have a positive approach to Cast Members
they will not be happy at work and will care less about giving guests what they
are really paying for. Leadership is dead when your manager treats you like an
“employee” by talking to you displaying their “superiority” and making you feel
always afraid of losing your job.
Emotional Intelligence: Reading the books I planned before starting the program
along its development has been very enriching to my learning process. I very well
know that improving in emotional intelligence can’t be just approved with classes
and readings, it has to be read, understood and practiced as soon as possible to
really experience any improvement, and this is exactly what I was able to achieve
with the Disney College Program.
Confidence: Working as a Concierge at value Disney resorts has made me
fearless to challenging questions, and not only be available for a guest at my
desk but also go to the guest that seems confused and has questions.
Fossilization of English skills: Being surrounded by only English speaking people
has made it easier for me to understand and speak the English language.

4. Anthony Moraga
Disney College Program 2014
Conclusion
This experience meant a lot since many different points of view. The College
Program has been the perfect space for me to meet amazing friends, grow in
Emotional Intelligence, grow as a person, and learn from a company considered
a leader in its industry. Before I started I didn’t know what it feels to create magic
and happiness for strangers at work, I didn’t know what it feels like to live and
share in a place with people from all over the world with different cultures and
with different accents and dialects.
Something I would like to continue growing in after the College program is
Emotional Intelligence, I think that’s probably a process that never ends but it’s
amazing how helpful it is to make you stand out in such a competitive work
environment.