Moving the Kidult to the House of the Mouse

[Katie]

The Kidult (formerly Miss Katie and the Teen) had sworn us to secrecy - well, online - and now we can spill the beans, so I can start this TR.

When the Kidult and I were at Disneyworld (Florida, USA) in 2024, we met a young man from Brisbane, working for Disney, on some kind of college exchange program. He tells the Kidult she should do it too.
Then, in January 2026, the Kidult sees that applications are open for the Disney International Exchange AU/NZ program. She can't contain her excitement, and her application to work at Disneyworld in this program is submitted within a day of the applications opening. The International Exchange program is an international variant of the Disney College Program, where college/uni students spend a semester or two working for Disney.
For Aussies, it comes under a J1 visa, they're allowed to work, and continuing Uni study during the program is really up to the student and the remote learning access for their uni. Each month of the program, they must submit a report about cultural activities they've undertaken - that can't be going to a theme park. Options might include visiting the nearest Buc-ees, going to a baseball game, and so on (to the Kidult's horror, I've suggested a few times that attending a very American church service could be cultural experience). There's accommodation available near Disney, which they need to pay for, and the participants are meant to have a minimum of 30hrs/week work and are currently paid USD 18/hr.

After submitting the application, it was maybe 2 months of anxious waiting before hearing anything back from Disney. Then - success! She was in for an interview in late April. The Disney recruiters were on a tour of Aus and NZ, and interviews were in most AU capital cities and one or two NZ big cities I think. The interview went well, she bonded with the interviewer over a love of specific Disney characters - how many job interviews are you asked about your favourite Disney characters and it's not some weird psychological assessment of you??
The recruiters also held an information session to discuss visa application, accommodation, the "Disney look", working at Disney and all of that information to help them make an an informed decision about their application. The applicants also get to nominate three roles they're interested in - such as Photographer, Ride attendant, Custodial, Character assistant, Food and beverage service, Hotel concierge. I think Disney still reserves the right to put them anywhere they need them, though.
Disneyworld has 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, and something like 30 hotels where staff may work.

In May she received an offer for a position! Do you think she waited to accept??!!

Her DS2019 paperwork (needed to be able to make the booking for the J1 visa appointment at a US Consulate in SYD, MEL or PER) finally came through in June. She then spent hours online on a Friday night entering information and waiting in an online queue to book her visa appointment at the US consulate in SYD. She got through, and the first visa appointment was for 11 August - and her start date was meant to be 17 August!! Luckily I'd researched and knew there was an expedite process for J1 visa applications. She submitted the expedite application that night, and over the weekend approval came through for an earlier appointment in July. To keep her costs down, I got her CR flights to/from Sydney. The consulate is in an easy spot to get to from the airport on the train, even if you stop at Kinokuniya or Haigh's on the way.

The passport and J1 visa came back in the week of 3 August. Eek! Felt very fine timing; the application sat at Approved for about 10 days before it became Issued. Really stressful time in our household. Even Disney recruiters were emailing her asking if her visa had come through yet ...

 

[kookaburra75]

So one question, will you be carrying her bags to get there?
It sounds like a heap of fun.

 

[Katie]

So one question, will you be carrying her bags to get there?
It sounds like a heap of fun.

How can it be a trip report without a bit of tripping??

 

[Katie]

So, in the lead up to the potential trip this year, we've been trying to get the Kidult to adult more - cooking dinner, etc. She's good at laundry, which is a start. I completely failed in helping her with cleaning tasks.
She tells me she knows, oh, except how to clean a bathroom. Hopefully she thinks to search Youtube ...

There were many comments about "we just don't want you to be the worst housemate in the campus!".

The campus accommodation has a few apartment configurations; I think all involve sharing a bathroom with one other person, but could be wrong. The most requested is where you get your own bedroom, and that costs about $275/week. The cheapest is where you share a bedroom and a bathroom with one other person, and the overall apartment with 3 other people (2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, 2 people share each with a lounge and kitchen) for about $240/week. You put in a request and you get what you get.
Wifi and utilities are included in the rent, the participants are responsible for all meals. At the campuses, there's gyms, pools, beach volleyball, and training rooms for the various training classes and sessions with guest visitors - John Stamos and Jodi Sweeten visited the other week and gave a talk. It's run by an external company, but only Disney college students, culinary interns and other interns can live there. It's a gated campus, and even parents can't get in without their child meeting them and escorting them into the campus. From a parent's perspective, that's reassuring.
There's a small mall area nearby, with Starbucks, a baby Target, Walgreens, some restaurants and some hotels.

Even though it would be the standard recommendation, I couldn't wait until the Kidult got her visa to book flights. In early June, when we knew she had the offer, I booked Mr Katie and my flights on separate QF vouchers, managing to book BNE-SYD-DFW-MCO-MIA-LAX-SYD-BNE on the voucher site. There were booking issues that IIRC I had to follow up with the call centre.

I got a CR released for the Kidult, so it didn't eat into her savings to pay for a Y flight. Mum and Dad are determined to have her build more independence, so paying for the flights, visas, courier, etc, etc, etc, was all up to her. That reminds me, she owes me points for the CR ...

We were all booked in Premium Economy for the big flight(s).

Some stress when QF cancelled our BNE-SYD flight, urrgghh, flying on a Saturday. They put us on a later flight, arriving into SYD at 11:00 to connect with QF7 departing at 12:00. Uh, no thank you.
The first call centre agent I got was able to move Mr Katie and my flights to an earlier one, but not the Kidult's as "it's a reward booking". That was pending for a while until some AFF friends sagely advised that QF made the change and it's up to them to rebook on a flight suitable to us, award booking or not. We got the Kidult onto the same flight when I got an amazing call centre agent, who said she'd send feedback to the first agent about rearranging cancelled flights.

I got a bit of practice assuring QF that I had my spouse and the Kidult's permission to act on their bookings on their behalf. The amazing call centre agent was able to link our 3 bookings, which helped with seat selection.

 

[ellen10]

Sounds like a great adventure and a wonderful experience for your Kidult.

 

[Flyfrequently]

What a wonderful adventure for your Kidult @Katie
Your heart must be bursting with (a bit of apprehension) pride

 

[Seat0B]

How exciting for her! And exciting-scary for you @Katie. The US work culture may be a bit of a shock to her if she has any Aussie work experience. This will be something that is very formative for the course of her life - lessons in adulting, lessons you learn when you get what you want really badly, time to appreciate the comforts of home, love of family and Australia, time to feel homesick and realise you won’t die of it, time to spread her wings.
And still, I’m glad I’m not doing Kidult again myself!!!