Disney has recently announced that the Cultural Representative Program will be returning in August of this year to Epcot! This program is beloved by Epcot fans and has unfortunately been on hold since 2020, but that is about to change.
What is Disney’s Cultural Representative Program?
Disney’s Cultural Representative Program allows people from various other countries to work at Walt Disney World for a pre determined amount of time to represent their home country in the parks and resorts. The most known place that this occurs in in the World Showcase in Epcot. According to Disney:
The Cultural Representatives play an important role in our storytelling by helping us create authentic, immersive experiences for our guests as they share their countries’ culture, heritage and traditions that have inspired our resorts, pavilions, and theme parks.
The countries that are being featured are:
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Japan
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Norway
- South East Asia
- Sub Saharan Africa
- United Kingdom
Where Are The Representatives Located?
A large portion of the representatives of the Cultural Representative Program can be found throughout Epcot’s World Showcase. The World Showcase is home to 11 different pavilions, each representing a different international country. In these pavilions the cultural representatives wear traditional clothing from their home country and talk with guests to teach them about where they are from.
Another area that guests can find the representatives is in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. Representatives at the lodge have positions as restaurant hosts, animal spotting guides, and greeters.
The Relaunch
The news of Disney’s Cultural Representative Program return comes shortly after relaunching the Disney College Program, which was finally resumed at Walt Disney World as of June 2021. This college program recruits college students as well as recent college graduates from around the country to work at Disney World theme parks during a semester, which allows them to gain real-world life skills, while earning college credit at the same time.
When Disney World shut down in 2020, and with international travel being more difficult, there were many participants whose program was either canceled, shortened, or waitlisted. At this time, Disney is beginning the relaunch by reaching out to those participants to see if they are still interested. After the original participants have all been contacted, Disney will allow for others to apply. Disney has listings on their Disney Careers website for those interested in applying for a job within the program. To qualify for this program, you must be at least 18 years of age and authentically represent one of the countries or regions that has inspired the Disney World resorts, pavilions, or theme parks.
The countries that are going to be included in the initial recruitment for Epcot will be Germany, Norway, Italy, France, United Kingdom, and Canada. Other countries, such as China or Morocco, will be allowed once travel restrictions are cleared and there is CDC-authorized vaccine availability.
Are you looking forward to more cultural representation in Epcot again? Do have have any amazing experiences with these special Cast Members at the Disney World Theme Parks? Let us know in the comments below!
Written by
Rachel Van Norman
Contributing Writer
Rachel fell deeply in love with all things Disney as a little girl. Now as a wife and a mother herself, she shares this Disney obsession with her son and everyone around her. From her love of princesses to eating all the Disney food, Rachel spends her time radiating Disney magic and keeping everyone up to date on Disney news.
