Back in March of 2004, JHM ran a letter that had allegedly been written by a veteran of Disney World's College Program. This rather sensational note reportedly revealed the rude awakening that one college student had received once he arrived in Orlando to take part in the program.
To hear this under-graduate tell the tale, his apartment at Vista Way (I.E. The apartment complex where college students stay while they're taking part in the program) was filthy. His room-mates were heavy-smoking sex fiends. And that cushy Guest Relations position that his Disney recruiter had promised him? That actually turned out to be a job flipping burgers at Peco Bill's.
After JHM ran this particular letter in our "Cast Member Corner" section, this site was inundated with angry e-mails from WDW College Program vets. People who disputed virtually every single aspect of the first letter that we'd posted. Which was why JHM was then forced to print rebuttal after rebuttal after rebuttal ...
Given the strong reaction that JHM readers had to that original "A Cautionary Tale about WDW's College Program" article, I'm almost reluctant to bring up Wesley Jones' new book, "Mousecatraz: The Walt Disney College Program" (Lulu.com, July 2006). Given that this new paperback covers much the same turf as that controversial letter ... Only in a much more graphic manner.
Mind you, in the afterword for "Mousecatraz," Welsey says that:
I did not discuss the dirtiest details pertaining to the sexually related stories and alcohol related incidents because I wanted "Mousecatraz" to be readable for all audiences. However, excluding all sexual and alcohol content would not have done the College Program justice. I did not want a G-rated book or an X-rated book, but somewhere in the middle, like PG-13. The content I included provides the general idea of just how sexually active it is behind the walls of Vista Way, I mean Vista Lay.
Well, if Jones was shooting for a PG-13, he kind of missed the mark. There are entire sections of "Mousecatraz" that are (to be frank) just gross. Take -- for example -- this story about one WDW College Program member who over-indulged while visiting PI:
During one late night bus ride home from Pleasure Island, a student could not control his vomiting. Before the bus could return to the apartment complex, the seats, floor, windows and several other students were drenched in a hefty amount of protein spill.
Or -- better (or should I say worse?) yet -- this unfortunate exchange between a WDW College Program participant and their WDW manager:
After attending a classic party the night before, one sick student could not miss any more days at work. The student went to work and after only ten minutes of working, he informed his manager he needed to go home. The student then vomited all over his manager's white shirt. The manager needed no further explanation and sent the student home.
And I have to warn you that vomit isn't the only bodily fluid that flows freely through "Mousecatraz." Jones also crams lots of horny-college-student stories into this 184-page paperback.
Copyright 2006 Lulu.com
Take -- for example -- this after-hours tale that one 2005 alumnus supposedly shared with Wesley:
I woke up in the middle of the night to get a glass of juice. I went out to the kitchen and my roommate and his girlfriend were having sex on the kitchen table. I got the glass of juice and returned to my room, as they continued on. I think that they knew that I was passing through, but they didn't care.
Clearly what Jones was hoping to do with "Mousecatraz" was capture the "Animal House" aspect of WDW's College Program. Make all of these collegiate hijinks seem fun. But given that this poorly-constructed paperback seems to lurch from crude anecdote to crude ancedote ... In the end, it's not all that fun a read.
Of course, Jones has to shoulder some of the blame for this. The overly-negative tone that pervades this paperback, I mean. Given that -- in his afterword -- the author flat-out admits that ...
Before I began the research process, my intentions were to "slam" the Disney College Program. I wanted to uncover the worst components associated with the program.
"Why would Wesley want to do something like that?," you ask. Well, in "The Journey That Changed Me" chapter of this book, Jones talks about how he was forced to leave the WDW College Program two weeks ahead of schedule because of some allegedly unprofessional conduct on the part of the Magic Kingdom's Human Resources Department.
Mind you, Wesley then goes on to explain how -- over time -- his attitude toward WDW's College Program eventually softened to the point where he now wanted this book to be much more even-handed. Though one wonders if that was really his main motivation for this editorial change. Given that -- in a press release that I received along with this paperback -- Jones stated that ...
I'm a fan of David Koenig's books; "Mouse Tales," "More Mouse Tales" and "Mouse Under Glass." Koenig has a nice franchise going on there and I think "Mousecatraz" could result in the same.
Okay. So what Wesley really wants to do here is launch a brand-new series of books. And there's nothing wrong with that. The man's entitled to make a few bucks.
But here's the thing: The reason that David's books are so popular with Disneyana enthusiasts because Koenig obviously puts a lot of time & care into their creation. And even by taking a quick glance at all those pages of footnotes toward the back of "Mouse Tales" and "More Mouse Tales," you just know that these books have been thoroughily researched.
Whereas "Mousecatraz: The Walt Disney College Program" ... In the research phase of this book, Jones claims to have talked to 500 people who participated in the program. Yet nowhere in this 184-page paperback do we ever get the full name of a single person that Wesley interviewed. Or -- for that matter -- the names of the colleges that they attended.
I mean, this is the age of Tucker Max & Paris Hilton after all (FYI: Among the rumors that Jones reports in "Mousecatraz" is that Paris Hilton has been known to party at Vista Way). So surely there must have been someone who was willing to go on the record about their heavy drinking, bed-hopping days in WDW's College Program.
It's things like this -- plus the overly sleazy tone of this paperback -- that makes it extremely difficult for me to recommend "Mousecatraz."
But if you're looking for a cheap thrill, a quick peek at the allegedly steamy underside of Disney's College Program, I guess it might be worth it to pick up a copy of this paperback. Otherwise, I'd suggest that you take a pass on "Mousecatraz."
Yet another "typical college" stereotype, but with Disney pulled into it. Another chance to glorify the nasty, and to pull a supposedly "sacred" object into the realm of the naughty just for the fun of it.
Yes, I'm a college student myself; and I do hear these sort of tales floating around campus. I was also accepeting into the WDW College Progam, but unable to attend. I must say, I am the antithesis of the stereotypes that the books represents, and it disgusts me. It really bothers me to no end to see people try to drag down Disney's reputation just because it is Disney - the Little Mermaid bishop and "penis-castle", "sex" written in The Lion King, "take off your clothes" in Aladdin, and the millions of rumors about Walt Disney having Nazi ties. Quite frankly, it's attention-seeking bollocks.
i did the college program in the spring of 2005 (jan-may). like many prospective participants, i had false expectations. a presentation was held at my school that really hyped up the program... portraying it as very selective, flexible, and exciting. i thought i would have flexible hours, tons of spending money, and lots of opportunities to network and really get the "internship" experience. well, i was wrong. really, the program is all about luck.. you may get lucky (really lucky...) and get a great job, and also get placed with great roommates who will be your best friends for life. or...you may get a terrible job, say, scrubbing bathrooms or serving hot dogs in 95 degree humidity for 10 hours straight, and get roommates from HELL who will make your experience miserable. it's really all the luck of the draw, and the attitude you take about the program. i'm gonna be honest, a lot of the wild stories are true. i lived in vista way, and it was a constant party all around me. i slept with earplugs every night. i lived right above the hot tub and pool, and at night...enough said. but honestly, i don't think it was unlike many typical college dorms or apartment complexes. if you put hundreds of 20 year old kids together with no adult supervision and spending money...what do you think is gonna happen? yes, there were parties every night. yes, there was sexual activity and drug use out in the open at times. but ... if you didn't want to take part in these things, you could choose to avoid it. yes, the interns are cheap labor to disney. they don't require benefits like full-timers do. it's sad really, the CP's are very expendable and not seen as a valuable resource like i envisioned. all the CP's i knew (expect for a very lucky few) worked TERRIBLE hours. think 5 PM to 3 AM, 6 nights a week. also, disney was only required to give us one day off a week, and this day was usually tacked together to the day off for the NEXT week (kind of confusing) ... which basically meant many of us were stuck working eleven or twelve days straight, routinely. this day off is also reserved for classes, so any of the CPs taking class would have to "go to school" on their day off. i would say that 60-70% of the CP's were there for a "semester off" from school, to party, meet people, etc. a small majority were trying to launch a disney career. there were very little opportunities for networking. we worked so much, that the last thing we wanted to do on our day(s) off was nag some relucant manager about his role. yes, i saw another person make a comment....vista way, chatham square, and the commons (international students) are NOT disney owned. yes, they are exclusively for disney college programmers, but they are owned by a company called price management. it's just a partnership between the two companies. i will say, i did learn a much stronger work ethic from the college program. i learned how the corporate ladder worked. i have something interesting for my resume that always raises eyebrows and invites questions from employers. disney had awesome benefits, even for the CP's, i must add. 40-50% discount on hotel rooms, free park admission for your friends or family, disney cruise line discounts, get into the parks free all the time, and discounts all around orlando. i wouldn't recommend the program to everybody. it was a lot of work. but honestly, it was a LOT of fun at the same time. i met some amazing people, got to play around disney world for four months, and enjoyed beautiful weather.
I participated in the college program in the summer of '94 and I went simply because I was a huge Disney fan, and was very interested in learning how things worked behind the scenes. I also went for the perks...free admission to the parks when most people spend thousands of dollars to go for only a week! So for those of you who were complaining about the pay, why? Why did you accept this position if the pay was not right for you? In our presentation we were specifically told that this was not a money making opportunity. We were told exactly what the salary was, how many hours we'd work, and how much rent would be. The salary was also reiterated in my acceptance package. Although my job was not great, I did work some double shifts to make extra money and still had 2 days off each week to enjoy the disney parks FREE OF CHARGE. As far as the partying, the drugs, and the sex.... Yes, I did see this happening with I'd say about 40% of the participants, however these activities happen at ALL college campuses and college settings throughout the country. It's inevitable. I did come home one evening to find a "pot" partying going on in my place. I simply had the courage to ask them to take it somewhere else...and they left. My roommates and I weren't the best of friends after this moment, however, these weren't the kind of people I wanted for friends anyway. It was NO LOSS. For those of you who put up with offensive roommate behavior I'd say it's your own fault for not speaking up. I would have taken it to the top if necessary. This was definitely not a prison situation.