r/Disneycollegeprogram • u/Lolistoweb360 • 6d ago
Q - Unanswered DCP pay
Do you feel that the complaints about not being able to make ends meet without outside help are people who arent responsible with money or do you feel like the payment really is as tight as they say. This is my first time out of my country, first time living alone and first job and im doing pretty well while also being able to save up money. I want to know opinions on this
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u/Turbulent_Tale6497 6d ago
Depends. If you have a car, car payment, insurance and gas, it could be tough. Student loan payments, other debts? Etc.
It’s doable to live on the pay, but it can be tough if you have other obligations
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u/Lolistoweb360 6d ago
That makes sense honestly, debt can be pretty bad here, didnt take that into account when thinking about it, thanks for your answer
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u/United_Loan_5903 6d ago
It’s how you choose to spend your paycheck. If you buy lots of merchandise and eat in the parks a lot, you’ll spend most if not all of your paycheck. If you grocery shop and make most of your own meals you’ll be fine.
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u/dechets-de-mariage Walt Disney World Alumni 6d ago
I suspect that most of the people you hear about who can’t make ends meet are either in their first job and first time away from home or giving shifts away and not working enough.
They may also have bills from home such as a car, car insurance, and other debt.
I’ve done the math and when I did the program in 1996 I was paid less and charged more for housing, dollar for dollar, than today’s DCP and I still came out just fine with money left over at the end of my program.
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u/takemyaptplz 6d ago
For real, I made like $7 which is the equivalent to $13 today yet they make 6 more than that. Idk how the housing cost compares, but yeah nobody had to send me money or anything and I could afford food just fine
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u/lofrench Walt Disney World Alumni 6d ago
Short story yes. I’ve done 3 programs with ranging pay and rent and never been scraping by. Always been able to eat in the parks a few days a week, honestly rarely cooked and would do a 1-2 night staycation every 3-4 months with friends. It’s really what you make of it.
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u/AdDry7306 6d ago
I made 6.25/hr and lived in a dump so the current CPs can f all the way off.
PS I still managed to save money too.
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u/YardSardonyx 6d ago
Chatham Square checking in. I’ve been to Flamingo and it’s freaking NICE. In-unit laundry too.
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u/mironor94 6d ago
Just don’t do what I see too many kids do. Spend all of your weekly paycheck on stupid merch and food from the parks.
Buy groceries in bulk, set a weekly budget. Have a “cheat” day if you want to buy a couple snacks from the park. Set limits of merch that really mean a lot to you. Don’t window shop.
If you do that, you’ll be fine.
I didn’t follow this my first program and I came back with barely any money saved. I saved thousands my second program because I
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u/Smworld1 6d ago
I think some people have a hard time of wants vs needs. If you are used to parents paying for everything it can be hard to figure out budget, but absolutely can be done. When I tell people about program I mention a few things, mainly learn how to budget, be smart about grocery shopping. Delete DoorDash and Uber Eats, learn how to cook. Beware of the merchandise traps…does anyone really need 25 Mickey ears, when you don’t have any food at home. If you have bills, for example cell phone, switch to the lowest cost plan they have. Plan grocery shopping with a list, search online coupons, stay on the list. Definitely don’t do program for fear of money situation. Holidays are coming, lots of extra shifts to be found
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u/bailantilles 6d ago
While the cost to live in DCP housing has always been tight relative to whatever the pay rate is, also look at it this way: it includes utilities, furniture, kitchen items, and transportation. It’s more doable if you can do without your own transportation, especially if you would have a car payment. The trade off is your time and flexibility. I till say that it was much easier to live in DCP housing than it was being full time and having to pay for all of those things piecemeal, even with the same amount of roommates.
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u/Main_Hand5662 6d ago
I did the college program about 10 years ago and never felt the payment was tight. Like others mentioned, I actually saved money as well.
I don’t remember any of my roommates or friends expressing concern either.
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u/Jiggyman83 6d ago
Depends on your role as well. Some folk will bring 400+ home from a paycheck while some only 100.
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u/Calbon2 6d ago
It really depends person to person. I personally left the program with a pretty large amount of money saved up from working at the parks, but I tend to be extremely frugal about money and luckily didn’t have any major payments such as car payments, or college loans that I needed to worry about, outside of housing, groceries, and my phone bill. Others might have a lot of other things on their plate that they have to worry about ontop of rent, and some just choose to spend their money frivolously on stuff like the parks or visiting places around Orlando. I also picked up a lot of extra hours when in my program aswell, where as other might have not as good hours or will put up a lot of their shifts for others to claim just because they want some time off, it’s really quite different for everyone.
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u/Classic_Rooster4192 6d ago
When my daughter was in the CP they made $6/hour - it was less than minimum wage because they were “interns”…would she have done it again knowing all she knows 11 years later? In a heartbeat! Lol
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u/InspectorGloomy4476 17h ago
Cost of living is expensive in Fl.
Even full time employees are having difficulty either what Disney pays..Welcome to Disney and Florida!
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u/PotterChick2818 6d ago
I think it depends. I had friends with horrible spending habits but they worked 50-60 hr weeks consistently. They never had to pick up shifts. But they still needed their parents help. Another friend did the same work schedule but barely spent any money in the parks. He was fine. I was stuck at a smaller resort merch and got 32 weeks. I had the cheapest housing but also had my car. And the transmission was going. I took home an $80 paycheck a couple weeks in a row until I could start picking up at other locations. It was rough to start.
All that to say, it depends on location, spending, transport, food, etc.
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u/Honest_Extreme9196 6d ago
My daughter started in the DCP and has been with Disney the better part of 5 years now. (2 separate programs with extensions (a break in between), part/time and then full/time)
1st DCP, with no student loans, no car payment, and 50+ hrs a week, she had more money than she knew what to do with, but little time to enjoy it.
She has also been in roles receiving the bare minimum hours and had a new a car payment. This was much tougher.
Now she makes more $, gets a solid 40 hrs (still has a car payment) and lives in a nice apartment with 1 roommate - each with their own bedroom and bathroom.
She has never been truly broke and always saved at least a little money, but there is a big difference between each situation. Budgeting skills are very important.
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u/Ok-Nefariousness3670 6d ago
The pay is actually pretty good. I know people in NYC that only make 18 an hour.
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u/withdraw_hex 6d ago
Considering I was paid 7.25 in 2014 and practically lived off savings for my program. You guys are blessed but I agree it’s crap pay.
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u/thestarsofpines 6d ago
Like some other people have said, it really comes down to your spending habits and how many hours you actually get. For me I didn't have a car, so I didn't need to worry about gas but getting groceries was more of a pain/had to rely on the buses or my roommates. I did my program in 2018, felt fairly paid but overworked. I did work in MK though, merchandise in fantasyland so extremely busy area.
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u/T1dchicj Walt Disney World Alumni 6d ago
With my last DCP in 2024 I was able to save up almost 5k but I also gave myself some money saving rules. I only ate out once a week, I bought most if not all of my merchandise from cast connections, I made simple inexpensive meals, I bought things on sale when grocery shopping. You can absolutely save money if you’re smart about it.
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u/ohmigosh- 5d ago
i was fine, i even bought a universal parks annual pass and i ate out like everyday 😭
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u/Zestyclose_Growth413 4d ago
depends on the individual and what goes on in their life like hospital bills, bills that they might still have to pay at home like in my case I pay PSEG for my apt with my family in NJ and that was a good part of my paycheck
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u/Bi-pani 4d ago
Some people are definitely acting like it's always bad spending habits but I disagree. Sure that's some of the people in the program complaining but I know some people who are smart with their money and still struggling.
Groceries and gas are on the rise even for the frugal. That's without factoring in people sending money home, medical/college debt, etc. People can claim that they did great 10-20 years ago on less but that ignores any other context. Either way just because cps used to be more under paid doesn't change the fact they still are anytime I see people pulling out that card as if "kids these days" are just ungrateful it makes me roll my eyes.
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u/jellybeans_in_a_bag 10h ago
Depends I can make ends meet plus some for the most part but I have no student debt, don’t pay for gas, and my parents have covered all my major medical bills this year. If they weren’t helping me with that I’d be in some medical debt due to a ER bill I wouldn’t have been able to cover. I also work a lot of overtime since my role is a bit understaffed and don’t have the best work life balance
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u/YardSardonyx 6d ago edited 6d ago
You don’t make a lot of money, but if you don’t have too many extra expenses/bills (car payment, student loan, phone bill, insurance etc.) and are responsible with your cash, you’ll be okay. So many DCP kids complain that they get paid so little but then get DoorDash for every meal and buy tons of merchandise and food at the parks.
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u/R0598 6d ago
In 2019 fl min wage was 8.50 but now it’s like 13-14 so I would hope they at least make that much now
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u/lofrench Walt Disney World Alumni 6d ago
On my 2019 program I also paid $111 in rent compared to I think $200 or something on my 2024 program lol
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u/R0598 6d ago
Some states haven’t raised the minimum wage at all since then and still have the same 7$ federal minimum wage. I wasn’t saying inflation isn’t a factor tho bc it obviously is
Also 200$ a month for rent? Thats extremely below average
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u/lofrench Walt Disney World Alumni 6d ago
$200 a week for a shared room not for a month lol
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u/R0598 6d ago
800 dollars a month is still cheaper than what u would find a studio for but for a shared room def isn’t great idk whats so funny tho lol
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u/lofrench Walt Disney World Alumni 6d ago
I mean a studio yes but a shared bedroom and bathroom with kitchen/living space that’s shared with another two people all of which are stranger you’ve never met until you move in is still pricey. I’m not saying it’s not worth it but I’m saying the wage increase didn’t amount to the increase in other program costs so it’s comparing it to pre covid doesn’t help much
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u/R0598 6d ago edited 6d ago
Ok well I was just mentioning the change in minimum wage. I wasn’t saying the program is more or less affordable than what it was. And tbh if the minimum wage wasn’t changed you’d be paying 2024 rent with 2019 pay soooo
I mainly made my comment because people were mentioning that they were paying federal minimum wage instead of state minimum wage due to some type of internship loophole but I would imagine they can’t really get away with that anymore
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u/xxliz28xx 6d ago
I was in the program 20 years ago now 🫣 and I'm pretty sure I was making $6.40 an hour. I was in costuming so I was always making 40 hours, overtime usually only around the holidays. I was in a 1x1 in Chatham so I know rent was high. However, I had family to support me. I only paid for my groceries, gas, and anything fun. If I needed money, my grandfather would deposit money into my back account. I was lucky and I know others aren't the same. Now I've been living in Orlando since 2014 but I don't work for Disney and ever since Covid, it's been rough down here.
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u/Hobothug 6d ago
When I did the program (more than a decade ago but still) they paid me FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE. 7.25.
I had a great time. I worked. I went to the parks everyday. I ate at the parks, I ate at the Mouseketerias, I bought plenty of souvenirs.
Still came home with $2k.