Working at Walt Disney World in Florida might seem like an elusive dream to some.

But for Seymour resident Demi Oakes, it has become a reality — at least for a little while.

A student at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus, Oakes, the daughter of Denny and Cindy Oakes of Seymour, headed down to Florida on Jan. 9 to begin an internship at Disney World.

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She found out about the program by researching jobs at Disney World when she was in eighth grade or around her freshman year at Trinity Lutheran High School.

“When I found the Disney College Program’s website, I started researching it by watching videos by current program participants on YouTube,” Oakes said. “It seemed very exciting and interesting.”

Oakes said working at Walt Disney World in Florida for a few months while in college seemed like the best option for her because she wants to work for Disney full time someday.

In order to apply for the program, she said applicants must fill out a lengthy application on disneycareers.com.

“For some people, they receive their first interviews a few minutes after turning in their application,” Oakes said. “But for others like me, I waited approximately two months for my interviews.”

The application process consists of turning in the application, participating in a a web-based interview, similar to a personality test, and then finally, a phone interview.

Oakes said unfortunately, many people do not get interviewed because Disney accepts only a small percentage of the more than 20,000 applicants annually.

She applied in August 2018, and then her web-based interview took place in early October, followed by a phone interview about a week after that.

“I was accepted as a merchandise cast member on Nov. 5 and found out my work location on Jan. 7,” Oakes said. “That’s when I found out I’d be working at Hollywood Studios in the Animation Courtyard.”

She said she’s a bit nervous about being so far away from home, but she has wanted to work for Disney since she was an elementary student at Immanuel Lutheran School in Seymour.

“I am lucky enough to be assigned my dream location, which will hopefully make it a little easier,” Oakes said. “It’ll be a big change because I’ve never lived away from home before.”

She said it was hard to leave her family, friends and German shepherds, but she is keeping in mind that the internship will only last a few months and she will be home again before she knows it.

“My parents are nervous and excited,” she said. “They aren’t crazy about me leaving home, but they are happy I finally got the internship I’ve been wanting for years. Some family plans on visiting me during my program, so that also makes things a bit easier.”

Oakes said it’s likely she could get an internship with Marvel because she’s currently working for its parent company. One of her leaders knows someone in the merchandise marketing department for Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“The Disney internship allows us to have connections I never realized we could make,” she said.

As for living arrangements, Oakes and her three roommates live in one of four Disney-owned apartment complexes near Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

“We linked up ahead of time but didn’t know if it would just be us until we arrived,” she said. “My roommates are from different places: Colorado, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.”

Oakes has not declared a major yet, but she has thought about business marketing with a minor in communications.

“Since I am in the merchandise role, I hope to get more of an inside look at the business side of the parks,” she said. “I want to learn new skills and meet people from all over the world.”

After graduation, Oakes wants to go back to Disney for another program, and then possibly a professional internship in their marketing department.

“A lot of people who work for Disney usually start with the college program, then professional internship, and then apply for a career,” Demi said. “My interviewer actually took those steps before getting the career in recruitment.”

If a student wants to work for Disney, Oakes highly recommends applying for the Disney College Program. If not accepted at first, she suggests to just keep applying and adding to the application every season.

Training is in two parts. One part is in a classroom where the interns are taught Disney’s policies and how to succeed in a role, and the other part is on-location training with real guest interactions.

“I got in my second try, but it can take people five tries to get in. They cannot give up after one rejection,” Oakes said. “I was rejected late in the season on my first try, and it was a little disappointing, but I just went back and improved my application for the second try, and it worked.”

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For information about working at Walt Disney World, visit jobs.disneycareers.com.

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