Hey Keely, you’ve come to the right place since I have now actually done both the Disney ICP and Bunac’s Work America program. I’m just going to compare the program’s in my opinion and let you make your own mind up if you like 🙂

So one of the advantages of the ICP is that once Yummy Jobs accept your application you are guaranteed a job at Disney. With Bunac however, it is all on you to find that job. It is a lot more stressful and much harder to secure a job however you have so much more freedom to choose exactly where and what you wanna do. Not only that but you are much more independent and I think you learn more skills from doing Work America. It might be daunting at first but as long as you’re determined to put the effort in and really send those applications off, you will find a job and it will pay off. Also, now that you’ve done Disney already you will be more than prepared for Work America.

The difference with the program is that you pay Bunac an application fee and they give you access to a job zone. You will then apply for a job on there and they will most likely ask you to take a Skype interview. They will then offer you the job…or not. An other option is to find your own job on various websites or just to hand Cvs out when you get there. I actually got my job by emailing someone Bunac suggested and then I just met them in Chicago and they took me to work! Another new option for this year, which I don’t know much about as it wasn’t available last year, is to pay to have a guaranteed job. I can imagine this works very much like the Yummy process. You will go for an interview and they will find a role well suited for you.

The great thing about Bunac’s program I must admit, is the money. Whilst It was never my intention to do it for the money (it was for the amazing experience) I actually ended up making a whopping amount of cash. Perhaps even 3 times the amount of money I made doing the Disney Program. Now, I’m not fussed about making money but having said that, the amount you can make is more than enough to even do the whole program and then pay a visit to Walt Disney World afterwards if you wanted!

So it cost me around this much: £400 flight. £150 internal flight to work location. £350 Bunac application fee. £140 visa costs. £200 insurance for the summer.

I believe that is everything totally an amount of £1240. On top of this I also spent a whopping £1500 before I got to my work location but that is only because I took a 3 week holiday travelling around New York, California and Chicago. (The best 3 weeks of my life might I add)

The Disney ICP cost me £1200 also. The only difference is that I came home with no money at all. With Bunac’s Work America Program I saved $3000 by the end and was able to travel all around the East Coast and Canada afterwards.

So you do have the ability to completely customise what you do out there. I struggled to find a job as I was left in a dilemma really close to my departure (you can read previous entries about this on my pre-departure tab) but I did manage to find something and following that I was even able to secure a second job when I got out there.

You are free to quit your job if you hate it, you can work mostly wherever you want, you can earn pay rises, bonuses and overtime. You can live wherever you want and in any state you can find work.

So you have a lot of freedom and I’d definitely recommend it. I am absolutely obsessed with Disney and my favourite place in the world is Walt Disney World. But even having said that, I had a million times more fun this summer than I did on the ICP so I’d recommend you going for it for sure.

If you dislike your job or where you are. The main purpose of the program is work and travel, so make sure you focus on the travel portion and plan something that you won’t regret 😀

Sorry, such a long message but I can’t recommend the program enough. Even with all the problems me and people I met online encountered with the application process, I haven’t met a single person who didn’t enjoy their time on the program!