Hospitality Management Experiences?

Hi

I've just been accepted on the Hospitality Grad programme starting in April 08 & i'm a bit concerned over a few things i've read on here about it :S

Has the course got any better since the first applicants did it?!
How many hours a week do you work while on the course and during peak months? is overtime available??

sorry for all the questions!!

I've just created a facebook group for all those arriving in april so we can swap info and get to know a few people beofre we get there:

http://lancs.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6319022855

xx

 

Hey Vicky. No one has heard anything from the second group yet. I'm in the third group going in January. I'll be sure to let you know how the classes are and everything.

You work 30-45 hours a week. You get two days off a week but one of those days you'll be going to classes. It's not an easy ride working at Disney but if you are passionate about the company and like meeting new people you'll have an awesome experience. From studying posts on here I get the impression it's the people that go out there thinking it will be easy, a breeze and like a holiday that have the hard time with it. Not always the case tho. If you're younger I guess it can be quite a shock becoming independent and being away from your family.

As for overtime... that depends really. It's usually pretty readily available but especially available (and expected) during peak periods.

Ben

 

I think it is going to be mega hard work...but totally worth it! i know i will get homesick and fed up with working so much but as long as i keep it all in prospective it should be ok!!!!hhaaarrrddd wwwooorrrkk hheerrre iii coommmee!!!

xxx

 

Thanks Ben

Any feedback that you get the time to pass on would be greatly appreciated!!

I'm under no illusion that its gonne be one long holiday, but I think its up to everyone to get the best they can out of the opportunity. Work Hard Play Hard is what i'm gonna aim for and enjoy the ride.

Safe flight to everyone going over in Jan!

 

Hi, I had an interview in November for a J1 visa working in one of the resort hotels, is this the same as what u guys are talking about. I havent heard yet.

please someone let me know

 

They tell us in UCF that they are always trying to improve things and one of my lecturers was taking a list of all our complaints a couple of weeks ago to see what he could do about it. Not all the classes are a waste of time it just depends on the lecturer, also most of the time the students in the class cant really be bothered and just talk over them so then the lecturers dont bother either!

As for the hours it really depends on your role and area, I'm in operations and rarely work more than 30 hours a week and the most I've ever done in a week is 42!!

 

I really have my fingers crossed that Uni wont be a waste of time! im really looking forward to it :-(...though i think sometimes it is what you make of it!?!...lets hope so.

Nina....with regards to the hours....is there just no hours to give you? i really dont mind working soooo....not worried if i have to work 50 hrs a week (lol i say that now...lets just see ey!)? What modules have you picked and which ones have you enjoyed?...Thaaankkkss!

xxx

 

I'm really looking forward to the uni bit too! I know its probably going to be what you make of it, but i've heard the "post grad with disney, it a bit of a mickey mouse degree" kind of comments already and I don't want it to be like that.

As for working, I had worked out that I would need to work around 50 hours a week to make back the money i'm going to need to get there and then come out with some at the end! so any info on overtime/how easy it is to get it would be great.

I've been offered a place as a lifeguard (pending passing the assesment when I get there) so do the lifeguards not work from park open to close, which I thought was approx 9-7?!

xx

 

Vicki in my opinion you would be much much much better off if you worked lots in the UK before you went. The conversion rate is so good for us you'd be silly to try and earn back your fees working at Disney. It's what I'm doing anyway. I don't want to get there and not be able to enjoy my free time because of needing to save everything I earn.

For $1000 you'd need to earn £500 and you could probably earn that in a minimum wage position in the UK in half the time it would take to earn $1000 in a USA minimum wage position.

I've also heard from other people who have gone out on programmes there that £500 can last you a good long while. You have a few months yet... you could earn quite a bit! ;-)

If you're determined to earn a lot of money over there you might want to consider a tipped position. They are not for everyone but there is a girl at my work who did waitressing in Disney and she earned A LOT of money in tips. And trust me... it was A LOT.

Ben

 

I just realised you've been accepted as a lifeguard so ignore my comments about the tips haha.

P.S The water parks don't open as much as the parks do unfortunately. If I had to take an educated guess I would think lifeguard would be one of the harder positions to get overtime for... just because they don't operate stuff like 'extra magic hours' to the same extent as the four parks. But perhaps it is possible for you to work in a different position in one of the parks for overtime... I'm not sure tho I'm afraid :S

Any money you can take will seriously help you out and ensure you get some enjoyment when you're not working hard!

 

Well my aim is to have made enough to pay for everything before I get there with a bit left over, but its not as easy as you think. I've just finished uni so have got overdrafts to clear before th interest starts kicking in.

When i finished uni I moved into a shared house so i'm also payin bills and rent - I didn't get the luxuary of moving home rent free as my parents live in spain and the rate of pay/opportunities over there are not very good, so taking all this into account i'm not really coming out with much at all and i'm on a much higher rate than minimum wage!

As for the overtime over there, i've looked into it and seen the water parks are open 10-6 for the time i'm there and you have to be there an hour before and finish an hour or so after close so I would be happy working 10 hour days 5 days a week(off peak) or 6 days a week (peak). I'd also read that lifeguards are expected to work in other areas (like as a park greeter/attractions) in peak times if required.
I was just wondering what the shift patterns were like for lifeguards and how easy it was to get an extra shift or two in other areas.

xx

 

hey do you fly out in april i am doing the college program to where abouts are you going to be working think i am in operations but im trying to get into characters and performing

 

Ah ok Vicki I can see y it mite be a bit harder for you to save up sum money. I didn't allow myself to have an overdraft coz the loan depressed me enough. I have to give rent money to my parents but I've been a complete loser since I've left uni to be honest. Don't really know anyone where I live so it's very rare I go out... hence easier to save.

 

I'm sure i'll sort evrything out in the end, i should stop panicing really, when i sell my car I should get enough to cover the fees and flights etc!

But i know what you mean about the overdraft, managed without for a while but ended up getting two (prob should have stuck with one!) and can say I thouroughly enjoyed spending the money.

2nd job here i come!! haha

I'm still so excited though, and I dont even know what day i'm supposed to be there yet - have been told I will be getting a phone call next week so i'll be all over-excited again ;D

Anyway, back on topic...

Has anyone heard from those that are doing the UCF programme now? Has it improved?? Are people enjoyed it and their time out there?

xx

 

Hey,
With regard to hours they have an online site called the hub which had an extra hours hotline where you can pick up shifts in areas where you are trained but for me there's hardly ever any on there that I could pick up and also other people are always looking on there!! The best way to get extra hours is to pick up shifts your workmates need to give away the only problem with this is it will usually mean working one of your days off and when you go to UCF on one of them you only really have one proper day off so this option had never really been appealing to me!!!
I totally agree with the comment that someone made about trying to save as much as possible before you get out here if at all possible thats what I did and am so glad I did that coz it mean I can do all the great things there is to do here in Orlando and it means I dont have to work crazy amounts of hours on disney wage to do them! Yesterday I went to Discovery Cove ;D

We finished the UCF classes on Friday. The first semester I took Theme Park Management which I had been interested in studying but it was an abosute joke like one week we spent the whole 2 hours of class deciding what attractions we'd visit in Florida if we had a certain budget and the point was that money makes a difference to where a family will spend their time which I think was pretty obvious to everyone anyway!
The second class I was given without even choosing was Wines of the World which I really enjoyed and the lecturer was a really nice man.
For the second semester I did Guest Service Management which I found interesting and useful and Branding was my second class, it started off well but towards the end we seemed to do nothing really in his classes.
The thing about the classes is that for most people attending this was the only program they could do if they wanted to work for Disney so they dont really have much interest in the classes and the lecturers dont mind this coz theres no exams anyway so thats what makes it a bit of a joke.

Anyway I've less than 4 weeks left on my program now so if any of you have any questions or comments feel free to send me a PM and I'll get back to you coz I dont check the forum too much when there's so much other stuff here to do!!!
Nina

 

Hi, I had an interview in November for a J1 visa working in one of the resort hotels, is this the same as what u guys are talking about. I havent heard yet.

please someone let me know

 

Thanks Nina...thats v helpful...!!

Heather...was it for a year long program or 6 months? we are going on the 6 month program! and i have been placed in hospitality! hope that is helpful?!

xx

 

There's a new 'Front Desk' programme... so it could be that one.

 

I think that is the programme my friend Katie is on? if so...she loves it!

xx

 

yeah it is the front desk one, so u friend really likes it, do u know where she is living