I would love doing this. Just imagine pointing at a painting or model of two dinosaurs fighting and yelling ‘MAH GAWD HES KILLING HIM! HE BROKE HIS BACK!!!’
"And as we can see from this computer model of continental drift in the late Triassic era... AS GOD AS MY WITNESS, THE SUPERCONTINENT OF PANGAEA IS BROKEN IN HALF!"
Ah yes, the Disney method. They know that they have a fanbase so loyal that they'd pay Disney for the opportunity to work for them, so Disney takes advantage of that and pays the bare minimum acceptable.
Well, there's that, and also because (in the case of World) it's the largest single site employer in the country - whatever they're paying is literally the minimum wage everyone else can get away with paying, because Disney is always hiring for something and the vast majority of people can just go work there if they'd make more money. Their unions try, but Orlando is fucked.
Go into the private sector and make the bank while you can then go into consulting. Save academia for later in your career when you're getting burned out.
It's so hard to figure out this stuff ... but as a guy into computers who was debating going into academia instead of the field, this is what I did ...
I took the money, but lived like I had only the academic salary and invested the rest. 15 years in, life is pretty cushy, I've found a relaxing niche in my field that I like my job, but it's basically optional as long as I stay willing to live like an academic. But there were definitely some pains to get here. I might quit and go back, I might quit and travel, or quit and do a start up, but I like my job a lot now so I'm keeping at it.