Disney Careers Can Start with Training from Lincoln Culinary Institute

Since 2012, Lincoln Culinary Institute (LCI), a division of Lincoln Tech, has helped aspiring chefs and passionate foodies discover exciting, rewarding new career paths in the worlds of Culinary Arts and International Baking & Pastry.  Thanks to the Disney Culinary Program, each year a select group of future chefs and bakers receive the opportunity to take part in the most magical externship on earth at Walt Disney World® Resort in Orlando, Florida.

At Lincoln Tech’s Shelton, Connecticut campus, LCI welcomes Walt Disney World Resort recruiters as the company seeks out the best, brightest and most talented rising culinary stars to join their team at the world-famous resort.  Bi-annual recruiting visits from Disney Chef Pauli Milotte give LCI students the chance to receive, as LCI Career Services Director Kathy Trister puts it, “the experience of a lifetime.”

“[Training] at LCI gives you the foundation,” Trister explains.  If selected for the externship, she says, “you’ll apply everything you learned in classes, and also learn the Disney way.  You’ll see the guests enjoying your food, and you’ll have fun with your fellow cast members.”

And, she adds, “[Future] employers will see Disney on your résumé, and it’s worth every penny.”

Externships lead to exciting opportunities for Lincoln students

The Walt Disney World® Resort is home to almost 600 food and beverage sites, from formal dining in Cinderella’s Castle to the Epcot World Showcase pavilion stations throughout the park and the quick service locations at each hotel.  Disney estimates that more than 81 million meals are served each year, and at any given time more than 18,000 different food items are available to guests.

LCI externs expect to work in a variety of food service facilities, something Culinary Arts student Sharon Palmer experienced firsthand during her externship.

“I’ve worked in quick service and specialty dining,” she says.  “I get to interact with the guests, and I love it.  When I started training [at LCI], Disney was the farthest thing from my mind.  I was working in customer service for an alarm company, and a friend told me I needed to do something [to utilize] my cooking skills. I went for it, and now I’m here.”

Lincoln graduate Caitlyn Cervero also spoke recently about her Disney Culinary Program.  “I come from a culinary background. I grew up cooking with my father, who is a chef, and with my grandparents. Stepping into a kitchen at a young age, seeing the passion they had, I thought, ‘Why can’t I do that?’”

Cervero explains that her learning experience at Disney involved trying different approaches and methods taught by different professional chefs at the resort which is something her LCI training had prepared her for.  “The training that I received at LCI helped me adapt to different styles of learning,” she says.

Selected externs can take the skills and experience they build at Disney and pursue full-time careers with the iconic company after graduation or step into the kitchens of other fun, fast-paced settings across the country.  Wherever their careers take them, students selected for the Disney Culinary Program will gain invaluable exposure to the industry in a place where quality and commitment are the first ingredients of every recipe.  As Cervero says, “The one thing I’d tell any LCI student is that if you have any doubts in your mind whatsoever, you can do it.”

Stop wishing upon a star, and train at Lincoln Culinary Institute if you want to make your Culinary Arts dreams come true.  You might just find yourself externing in a place where millions of dreams have come true for guests from all around the world.