Talk:Walt Disney College Program

Redirect Suggestion

The official name of the program is "Disney College Program" or "Disney Theme Parks and Resorts" College Program.

The program located at the Walt Disney World Resort is the "Disney College Program at the Walt Disney World Resort" or more officially, the "Disney Theme Parks and Resorts College Program at the Walt Disney World Resort".

Since this page deals primarily on the WDW program, pages for the generic Disney College Program may need to be created with seperate pages detailing the programs available at Disneyland and Walt Disney Imagineering.

Care should be taken so that this information supplements the official site and does not repeat the information that is already available.

The term "Walt Disney World College Program" was no longer officially in use as of January 2005.

Sweetums 23:07, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

Just want to chime in here and say that although the overall name of the program has changed, the term "Walt Disney World College Program" still does get used by the program (ie I have just recived an e-mail this week from recruiting where there first line is "Congratulations on your invitation into the Walt Disney World® College Program!"). But I do agree that there should be the generic redirect page to the other branches of the program.

--Cw532 20:18, 28 July 2005 (UTC)

The fact is that it is being phased out. Trust me on this, C.W., come early Sept. you won't see it at all. It takes a little while for nomenclature to change (how many still refer to "Port Orleans Riverside" as "Dixie Landings"?). Look at your CAROLEs and Marketing Minutes from the past 6 months to see where this is going.

Sweetums

I have heard that the WDWCP is being intergraded, renamed and remarketed this year. I figured at some point, the site might need to be broken off into a separate page for the "Disney Theme Parks and Resorts College Program" or even 3 separate pages for each new branch of the program (DLC & WDI) but like CW stated, there is still alot of usage of WDWCP, besides emails merchandise is still being made for the WDWCP CM's. I was gonna hold off until they officially start promoting it, I heard they are making a new website for it. (as opposed to the current website which just links 3 separate program pages)
Shifter55 00:33, 3 August 2005 (UTC)

Fan Site Feedback

"Shifter55 (→External Links - Fixed spelling errors & added Fan sites - Don't remove)" Sorry Shifter55, but this isn't how wikipedia works. Anything can be removed at anytime. As stated on the editing pages: "If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, do not submit it."

These "fan sites" are full of inaccuracies that stem from the fact that they most were created years ago (old information), inaccuracies (one person's experience presented as how the program operates), opinions stated as factual information, or has no useful content for someone wanting to learn more about the program.

Examples:

Disneyalumni.com- the base information from this site came from the offer booklet that was distributed to participants between 97-98. The message board area may be OK since it does contain current topical discussions. Although many of these dicussions contain inaccuracies, this tends to be the nature of message boards.

Vistawayallstars.com- Although this site was created by former partipants, it does not contain information regarding the program. It appears that the sole purpose of this site it to promote their clothing and their promotional night at a local bar.

Cpdatabase.info- While this site serves as a site for participants to post their contact info, it has no content regarding the program itself. By the number of people who registered their information, this doesn't appear very popular.

Wdwcpinfo.com (whose message boards were linked to as "Walt Disney World CP Message Boards")- The main content of the site is a personal testimonial from a participant from Spring 2000. All aspects of the program have changed in the 5 years since that time. However, my opinion of the message boards here is the same as the message boards for disneyalumni.com. There is inaccurate information given by unreliable resources, but that is the nature of message boards.

I feel that due to the lack of content and the inaccurate information presented on these sites that they should not be included with this article.

Alternatives may be to add a section for message boards (with disclaimers), add sections that contain links to the Disney College Program Alumni Associations (school clubs- http://www.iup.edu/career/disney/) provided that these organizations are not just repeating the information available on the official site and that they are kept current, or links to pages on school sites that directly discuss the program (http://www.wdwcp.cmich.edu/).

I think it is great that you took the initiative to create this article. I'm sure that you would agree that this should be as accurate as possible, free of opinions (articles must be neutral), and refer people to the sites that have content that will supplement this article w/o detraction.

Sweetums 22:14, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

Maybe these sites would be better served if they were moved off the main page and put on their own alumni/links page. And then seperated into diffrent sections over there (message boards, program info, journal/experences on the program; with some disclaimers). While I agree that these particular sites are "content challanged" on diffrent levels, I think some do think its important to include some of these sites on one level or another.

--Cw532 20:28, 28 July 2005 (UTC)

Some good thoughts, here. However, I feel having a link directory is better served by sites like Del.icio.us. Perhaps linking to a Del.icio.us tag?

Sweetums 21:54, 28 July 2005 (UTC)

Response

While I an very familiar with the premise of wikipedia, and how that "phrase" is on every page, I do appreciate you taking the time to explain to me how you think Wikipedia works, and outlining the reasons why you disagree with each of the fan sites; but there is a larger picture. Not every single link will be additional information about the WDWCP. The fan sites give the viewpoint of previous CP's, which is what most readers will be looking for after they finish with the article.

With DisneyAlumni, this is one of 2 sites where people who wish to stay involved with WDWCP can collect, and is the best place to get questions answered. It is so popular that Disney College Recruiting actually check's it each day to monitor message board discussions. There is no lack of content or inaccurate information presented on this site, it is kept up to date and provides many WDWCP related services. The idea is not to link to another page with more "neutral" info about the program, but to supplement it with contemporary sources. I think this one should stay on, although I would agree with renaming it or having a disclaimer about its content.

Vistawayallstars.com I added them because they are the most contemporary site to connect with CP's, their main page is basically an ad for their clothing line and JJ's bar parties, but they also have a peer to peer networking tool called "Vista Tree". This is like www.thefacebook.com (which I am on) for CP's, and they do advertise (vistatree) at the housing complex's and JJ's.

Cpdatabase.info ok, i give you this one. The database is very small, prob not as popular, but it is a great idea.

Wdwcpinfo.com this main site is one guys experience, but I was hoping to emphasize the message boards which are very popular and are updated every year. Many new CP interns go here to get info before they do the program and is the other main site for peer info on the program. I think this one should stay on, although I would agree with renaming it or having a disclaimer about its content.

What do you two think about it? Doesn't the feedback from prev CP's merit mention in the article?

Shifter55 00:33, 3 August 2005 (UTC)

As an alum, I do see the value for the fan sites, especially with the multitude of alumni groups on Facebook, folks publishing alumni rags, etc. We are still here and there are many official and unofficial alumni sites. How about changing this to an alumni section? Alums deserve their part in this article, and yes, we do help prepare the next CPs ("Circle of Life", anyone?)  ;)

Aswick 10:06, 5 March 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Aswick (talk • contribs)

Neutrality?

I did a IP query on 192.195.66.45 and found that it originates from Disney servers in Burbank. I'm curious if anyone feels that the edits made by the Disney Company may tip the balance on neutrality? It's not badly written grammatically or anything, but it sounds a lot like a sales pitch off of their brochures. In that vein, I'm also curious if any of it was ripped word for word off of said brochures. Comments? --129.252.69.47 01:24, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

much of it was ripped word for word from brochures and the official website by the initial article creator. That has since been corrected and I have a feeling that WDW Co. probably made other corrections. Sweetums 23:07, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Housing

So it looks like having a page for each complex is not working out. And to me, putting all the details of the 3 complexes on the main page here will just make the article way to long. What if there was a new article that housed all the housing complexes together? And then redirect the 3 housing complex names to that one page. Thoughts? --Cw532 23:31, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Why does there need to be anything on the housing complexes other than a mention that they exist? Disney provides discounted housing for program particpants. Period. What else is there to say? Signal70 (talk) 04:22, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

Advertisement

This whole article sounds like an advertisement for the program. This page basically sounds like the actual program's website or something like a brochure or presentation for it. I'm adding the advertisement tag for now, but I plan on completely cleaning the thing up when I get a chance during the next week or so. There's so much frivolous, unencylopedic, unecessary information here; it's just completely ridiculous. An encyclopedia article should give background information about the program and its history and future; not housing, notification, and benefits for being in the program. Most of this information should be lumped into one short section. The fact that it takes up roughly 90% of the article makes me cringe. --pIrish ^Arr! 16:28, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Ok, I've already re-written the majority of it and added it. I've shortened it down to the most basic, but most important, points of the program and, basically, I've gotten rid of that brochure sort of feel that it had before. Since it no longer sounds like an advertisement, I've also taken the advert template down as well. If you have any concerns or suggestions, please discuss them here. --pIrish ^Arr! 21:19, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Good job on the page. I was too lazy to re-write it, as it did sound somewhat like an advertisement. As a CP alum (or whatever they call it), I certainly understand the excitement former and current CPers have w/ the college program...but it was sounding a bit too personal. However, it is (I feel) a bit too basic. I will add a little more on employment, housing, and how CP's are treated benefits-wise (as seasonal part-time workers) in the next day or so. I can certainly understand that it should all be contained in basically one section of the page. Later Radio-x 01:54, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

"An encyclopedia article should give background information about the program" Too little is an advertisement, too much is "uncyclopedic". What is the College Program? Is it just an internship? It certainly is not. The College Program involves:

• 1. The recruiting process
• 2. Working as a CP/receiving pay and college credit, and
• 3. Being an alum (see "Fan Sites" section for more info).

All 3 parts encompass what the program is about. As far as being a CP, it involves classroom sessions, working as a cast member (being "on stage", costumes, overtime in other park locations), and participating in sponsored and non-sponsored activities (such as the Tacky Tourist Party, Grad Ball, and Snow White Challenge).

To say that "housing" is not an important piece of the entire experience is inaccurate. The College Program fosters camaraderie between the students. When students are not working or attending the classroom sessions, they are most likely "hanging-out" with other students at the "housing". When I was a CP, most official and unofficial activities occurred in or around the trailers at Snow White Village. The trailer I stayed in and students I stayed with were just as important as the work and the classroom sessions. Yes, you can argue this is personal experience, but it is also part of the "total package".

I feel that the content of this article covers history and the recruiting process (and nothing more). The other sections mentioned above should be included.

Aswick 11:02, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

Update: I added details for #2 and #3.

Aswick 01:57, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

There's a difference between adding information and turning it into an advertisement. With your edits, you did an awful lot of the latter. I left a lot of what you wrote, but I removed a lot of the excessively promotional material. With stuff like this, less is more. --13² 04:06, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

'Learning' Aspect of the Program

This article includes nothing about the 'learning' aspect of the program- the college credit courses and exploration series available to CP's. Is this included somewhere else that I didn't see? As the three aspects of the program (living learning earning) are mentioned, I feel each one should have a section. MsJudyMovie (talk) 21:57, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Unreliably sourced criticism

I just removed a bunch of criticism inclusions. It was all unreliably sourced. This source is unreliable because it is a message board. This source is unreliable because it is a YouTube video. This source, while normally reliable, does not actually say what it was being sourced as saying (as in synthesis). This source is unreliable because it is a message board. While I have zero doubts that a lot of this is happening, it absolutely cannot be included unless reliable sources for it can be found and cited. Sorry. --13² 03:47, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

Yes it was my research; however I represent a conflict of interest becuase I participated in the program and I'm now employed by Disney and work closely with the College Program offices. So yeah. --A3RO (mailbox) 09:05, 28 September 2009 (UTC)

I really, really appreciate your honesty. I don't think there's a problem with you editing the article and improving it because it does need improving. The only thing I would suggest avoiding is adding anything that sounds either promotional or critical. Basic facts are A-OK and much needed though. :-) --13² 03:37, 29 September 2009 (UTC)