Business Management Major Succeeds in Disney World Internship

Juliana Thimmel was not waiting for any ordinary call. This was Disney World.

Five months ago, her phone rang. All it took was a 15-minute conversation for Thimmel to pack her bags and head to Walt Disney World, Florida, where she has been ever since.

“I only hope that I never lose sight of one thing,” she said. “It was all started by my mom.”

The East Stroudsburg University senior heard about the Disney internship through her mother, who pushed her daughter to take the initiative and apply. The first round was an online application. She realized she made it to the second round of the application process in an e-mail she received during one of her classes.

“I promise I withheld my screams until after class,” she said. That e-mail was followed by a phone interview a few weeks later to confirm that she earned her spot in the internship and the rest is history.

Thimmel, who is a business management major, started out in Disney in the food and beverage industry at the Electric Umbrella in Epcot. She recently extended her internship and moved to the ESPN Wide-World Complex where she’ll remain until the end of July. In Disney World, Thimmel is not referred to as an employee. She is a cast member.

And for Thimmel, her internship does not feel anything like a regular job.

“Honestly, there is magic here,” she said. “It’s such a happy place where you get to make people laugh and smile all the time.”

While wrapping up the best five months she’s ever had, Thimmel recognizes there are many lessons she’s learned at Disney that she will carry on in her professional and personal life.

Cast members at Disney World get to see about 50 million people from around the world smile every year. For that reason, Disney requires that all cast members take a class where they learn about cultural differences. That’s where she learned lesson number one.

“You do not point with one finger- you use two fingers or your whole hand because to different cultures one finger can be insulting,” Thimmel said.

She has been immersed in different cultures from the beginning of her trip. The minute she walked into her new place she was greeted by roommates from all over the world. She’s even been brushing up on her Spanish with one of her roommates, who is from Puerto Rico.

But her lessons did not end with discovering new cultures.

Thimmel recalls the lines of hundreds of people wrapped around the Epcot Umbrella that taught her how to persevere in stressful situations, how to be patient with others and how to do it all with a smile.

“There were times in those hectic moments when the guests would actually surprise me and tell me how much they appreciate everything we do for them,” she said. “I had to work really hard but it was all worth it by the end of the day.”

Thimmel also picked up parade control shifts at the Magic Kingdom Park. These shifts strengthened her leadership and communication skills as her duties were to keep the crowd organized and in control to ensure the crowd would not interrupt the parade.

“Disney is different from any other job that I have ever had- and I’ve had 10 she said. “It’s a lot more responsibility and I am completely independent here.”

Thimmel also learned lessons in her classroom at ESU that she was able to witness firsthand in Disney World.

“I really learned a lot from Professor Sheila Handy,” she said. “Her accounting class came to life in Disney, and she played a huge role in coordinating this internship and making it happen for me.”

When Thimmel was trained in stocking a kitchen, Dr. Handy’s “first in, first out method (FIFO)” echoed. The method determines that inventory purchased or manufactured first is sold first and newer inventory remains unsold.

She credits her time at ESU for helping her make it on her own the last few months. She left her parents for the first time when she moved to campus, and although Florida is 17 hours farther than ESU, Thimmel knew she could make it on her own.

“ESU was the right fit for me and really helped me get used to living away and having to take care of myself,” she said. “Starting at ESU helped me branch out into a bigger environment.”

Thimmel admits she could go on for days talking about all of the great times she has in Disney. But she definitely wants to share her favorite thing: greeting every little princess that comes through the park.

“I love seeing their faces light up when I say ‘How are you doing today princess?’” she said.

As she heads back to ESU for her senior year in fall of 2015, Thimmel feels confident that if she was able to make it at Disney she can make it anywhere. She wouldn’t hesitate to go back to Disney after graduation and play a role in their marketing department to see how things work behind the scenes. But she hopes to explore many other options as well, thanks to the lessons she’s learned. Wherever she ends up after graduating from ESU, she hopes to bring a little magic with her.

“It’s like Walt Disney said: ‘You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality’” she said. “It’s up to me to make that magic wherever I end up.”

3 Responses to “Business Management Major Succeeds in Disney World Internship”

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Sheila Handy

Posted July 1, 2015 at 3:32 PM



You are very welcome Dad!! It was my absolute pleasure!

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