Kelsey Hogan, NNHS alumnus, spends a semester interning at Disney World 

By Staff Writer Dempsey Bilotta

In order to make her dream a reality, NNHS 2012 graduate Kelsey Hogan had to venture to a place where dreams come true. Now, she lives the dream and spends her days working the park at Disney World.

“I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s been an amazing experience so I definitely love it,” Hogan said.

Hogan had always wanted to work for Disney, and in her second year at Bradley University, she applied for their internship.

“I kind of knew I wanted to work for Disney, and I knew that they had this internship. To get my foot in the door with Disney, I knew that this was the best idea,” Hogan said.

Initially, the Disney internship offered Hogan several perks.  Not only was she able to start off working at a place she loves, but originally she was able to receive class credits. However, she changed her plan.

“I was in hospitality. For the major, I needed internship hours,” Hogan said.

But a change in major removed her credit opportunity.

“I am actually switching majors to public relations so I’m not really getting credit for it. It’s kind of like I took a semester off,” Hogan said.

In her internship, Hogan spends her days in the park working attractions and rides.

“Right now, I’m working on the attractions in Fantasyland and Magic Kingdom. I work at “Peter Pan” and “It’s a Small World” so basically you run the rides and get people on the rides,” Hogan said.

In addition, she’s been able to gain valuable skills at Disney. She said she has learned techniques to deal with guests.

“In the guest service class, we learned about all the different types of guests [and] how to help guests roles,” Hogan said. “We had hospitality come and talk to us, we had food and beverage come and talk to us, [and] we had guest relations from the park come talk to us.”

Hogan found these classes to be beneficial for her future career.

“Disney is one of the best companies in the world so I’ve learned a lot from what their business goals are and how they own their company. I’m definitely learning and taking [that] with me for the rest of my life,” Hogan said.

Hogan hopes to work for Disney after college and plans to reapply for another internship to help get her foot in the door.

“Since I am an alumni of this internship, I will be able to get one of their professional internships,” Hogan said.  “I can apply again and try to get another college program, but I think I’m just going to finish school and then apply for a professional internship.”

The people she met and worked with at Disney, along with special advantages she received for working there made her experience worthwhile.

“[The people] who I actually work with at Fantasyland have become my best friends, and we’re all really attached and we’re all really sad we’re leaving soon,” Hogan said. “We get to go in the parks for free on our days off.”