Coast Mouseketeers' new careers
RHIANNE O'Brien, Rachel Colina and Natasha Ridge are heading to the land where dreams come true.
The three Sunshine Coast TAFE Diploma of Tourism graduates will spend a year at Walt Disney World in Florida after being accepted into Disney's Australia/New Zealand work experience program.
On August 2, 18-year-olds Rhianne of Buderim and Rachel and Natasha of Maroochydore will be America-bound to their new jobs.
"We all have different roles. I'm doing operations and front desk at the hotel, Rachel is doing merchandise and front desk and Natasha is doing lifeguarding and operations," Rhianne said.
"By the time we get there, it will be straight into work. We're hoping to travel after the program.
"We all can't wait to have and share the experience which is really exciting.
"None of us (has been to Disney World). We're really excited, it's been a kid's dream for all of us.
"The opportunities that it's going to open up, they're going to be endless.
"We're experiencing something not every teenager gets the opportunity to do."
Rachel said their Disney experience would be the icing on the cake.
"Throughout our study with Sunshine Coast TAFE we experienced some fantastic things - Tangalooma Island, the travel expo, industry presentations and tour guiding," she said.
Fun facts about Walt Disney World, Florida
Walt Disney World Resort covers about 60sq km, about the same area as San Francisco and twice as big as Manhattan
Walt Disney World Resort is the largest single-site employer in the United States, with more than 58,000 cast members
Enough Mickey Mouse ear-hats are sold each year to stretch 280kms if they were laid end-to-end
Each year, guests at Walt Disney World Resort drink 75 million Cokes, 13 million bottles, eat 10 million hamburgers, 6 million hot dogs, 4 million kilos of French fries, 3.3 million chocolate-covered Mickey Mouse ice cream bars and 146,000kg of popcorn
