Are Disney Adults the Happiest Debtors on Earth?

Photographs by Sinna Nasseri Save this story Save this story Save this story Save this story In 2023, Ashley, a freshman at Quinnipiac University, in Connecticut, had fifteen thousand dollars in her bank account. Excited by her newfound freedom as a college student, she decided to start going on solo trips. Walt Disney World, in Orlando, Florida—a place she had fallen in love with as a child, after visiting for the first time when she was four—seemed like an obvious choice. She went during her winter break. Then she returned, six times, in two years. “It’s just so magical,” she explained. “It keeps drawing me back.” Soon enough, her account balance had dwindled to just five dollars.

Last year, Ashley landed a job with the Disney College Program, a semester-long internship during which college students and recent graduates serve in entry-level roles throughout the parks. For around four hundred dollars a week (her salary, after Disney deducted rent for her company-sponsored housing), she worked as a PhotoPass photographer, taking pictures of guests as they enjoyed various attractions. One of the perks of being in the program was that she had free access to Disney World when she wasn’t on the clock, and so she’d often hang around in the park, spending liberally on food and merchandise. (She collects Disney pins.) As a result, she said, “a lot of my money went straight back to Disney.” She also spent more than what she was earning, accumulating roughly a thousand dollars in credit-card debt, which she had to ask her parents to help pay off.

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