The last job I worked at Disneyland in California was for the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Test and Adjust Team. We were all former Attractions Trainers and/or Leads (Supervisors) and we transferred over to Galaxy’s Edge to essentially build it from the ground up.

I transferred in about half way through the project, so by the time I was there, the attractions were functional (though nowhere near complete).

My typical day

On a typical day, we worked 12 hour overnight shifts 6 days a week. Majority of the time we would just operate the ride on a continuous loop so that the engineers could make sure everything was working properly.

We also had to perform specific tests on the ride to make sure all the safety features worked. For example, one test could be waiting for a vehicle to reach a certain spot and then emergency stopping the ride. This ride has brand new technology that has never been used in an attraction before so these tests were important.

We would have to manually reset every vehicle and ride feature (like the elevator shafts) every time we did this and it would take roughly 15-30 minutes every time. But the fun part was walking through the attraction and seeing half built special effects or animatronics.

Several times we got to watch Disneyland fireworks from the rooftop of the attraction and when Millennium Falcon was completed we had to ride it over and over for an entire day to test out the guest flow through the attraction.

When the land was preparing for its grand opening, we had a special preview day for us where we got professional photos in our new costumes and we got to sample the Blue and Green Milks and the Popcorn. We also got a second preview day where we were able to bring in a couple friends or family members to go on the ride and try the food before it opened to the public.

Pros

Some pros of the job are seeing the project be built from the ground up while zero information was being shared with the public. Also since we were on a construction site we were able to dress in casual clothes rather than in Disney costumes since we were backstage. We also rode the rides long before anybody had the opportunity to which was awesome.

Cons

The biggest con was working overnight shifts for 12 hours a night, 6 days a week. It was a hard adjustment to come home and try to sleep during the day when trash pickups, landscaping, and construction is going on outside my window. We didn’t work that many hours the entire project, but there were several months where that was our work schedule.

Another con was not being able to share what we were doing at work. Luckily all of my roommates worked on the project with me, so we could discuss things amongst ourselves at home.

Advice to students looking to work in Disneyland

What I highly recommend to get into a project like this is the Disney College Program. It’s an internship that you can do at Disney World or Disneyland (I’ve done both) and Attractions is one of the positions they hire for in this internship. Disney offers a lot of extra fun things as well as career support for interns that regular cast members don’t get access to. After your internship, you are given the option of staying on in your role for a full or part time position. From there you can become a Trainer and/or a Lead (supervisor). Then when projects come up like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Avengers Campus, etc you are eligible to join the Test and Adjust Team.

Your academic background does not have to be in Hospitality and Tourism (though mine was). Any college major can do the Disney College Program and no degree program is favored over another. It’s all about your interpersonal skills and your commitment to continuing Disney’s legacy.

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