I've been neglecting this blog again and for that I do apologize.
I've been in Walt Disney World now for a little over three months and a lot has happened in that time. I've met a lot of people, made some really good friends, and worn more costumes than I ever thought I would. The experience of the Disney College Program is one that I will never forget. I find that I've been fundamentally changed, not only in how I work, but in how I view guest service. I always understood that Disney holds their cast members to a higher standard than anyone else, but I never really took the time to think that it only takes a minimum of effort to go from McDonald's service to Disney service. I find myself now looking at every encounter with a service provider in terms of how they stack up against Disney's guest service and I know that I always will because now I completely understand that great guest service is not a chore, and providing service at a high level actually makes work that much more fun!
I've also developed a love for creating magical moments and I go out of my way on a daily basis to try to create those moments for my guests. Whether it's writing them a fast pass or giving a family a ride in their own private van to the park of their choice, there's nothing like giving a family a memory that will last a lifetime. I've also started doing chalk drawings at the bus stops I'm assigned to, but that's going to be a completely different post because there's a pretty good story that goes along with the drawings. Suffice it to say, though, that I'm getting quite a bit of positive attention because of those drawings, and anyone who is friends with me on Facebook has been able to watch them evolve over the last few months. With all of this positive stuff going on there has to be at least one negative. In actuality there's quite a bit of negative and it all comes in the form of misconceptions about the Disney College Program and what it actually is.
Before I move into this part of the post, please let me say that my opinion of Disney, and of Walt Disney World, has not been tarnished at all. What has changed, however, is my understanding of the inner workings of Disney as a company and exactly what it is that Disney does provide to its College Program participants. I use the word participants rather than cast members for a very specific reason. That reason is that we really are only barely cast members, our status listed as "Casual Limited." This is the lowest level of cast member in the Disney system, and as such, we are also in many ways considered to be second class citizens. The reality of the situation is that we are here to provide Disney with a way to staff their parks and resorts without having to pay overtime to their regular cast members. Because of this, many CPs are harassed and looked down upon by full-time cast members who are upset because they're losing their overtime to these "interns." On top of this, the chances for overtime for CPs in many roles are almost nonexistent, and the scheduled hours are often under those promised when we accepted our program invitations. Speaking from my own personal experience, making anything over 30 hours in a week is a struggle every week. This is not very helpful when you actually have real bills to pay, and many people in my role have second jobs outside of Disney just to make ends meet. Every day is a constant storm of checking the hub to see if extra shifts have opened up that don't require any special training, another thing that Disney fails to inform us of when we accept our invitations. You see, I was told in my interview that there would be constant opportunities to make extra hours, and my decision to participate in the program was largely based on that assumption. The truth of the matter is that you are only allowed to pick up extra shifts in areas that you are either trained for, or that do not require any training at all. As far as shifts that I'm trained for, all that I'm trained for is bus operations, and resort bus greeters only have one shift available, and that one goes from 6:45am to 12:45pm. Any additional hours have to come from Parade Audience Control shifts that are released by Magic Kingdom or Fantasmic shifts released by Hollywood Studios. The problem with this is that you never really get more than a day's notice that you'll be working, and normally you'll have only a few hours because the shifts release at odd times during the day. The end result is that it's a constant struggle, not only to get to 40 hours, but to actually get into overtime and make something that resembles a real paycheck because these shifts are not often released because Magic Kingdom wants to fill them with their own people. Outside of the work issues, there are also the "networking" opportunities that Disney says they provide for CPs.
Let me be straight before I continue. This is not intended to be a rant or just me blowing off steam. The intention here is to provide a very real view of what we go through on a daily basis from both a work and a networking perspective. I'm not being biased and I'm not exaggerating, just presenting things as they have shaken out for me over the past three months.
In terms of networking, Disney does not take an active approach at all. They told all of us that there would be ample opportunities to network with people who could be instrumental in the advancement of a career with Disney. This is just not true at all. If your major is hospitality or hotel management or something similar, then yes, there will be opportunities presented in the form of speaker series and other such presentations. If, however, your major area of study is outside of those, you can expect a whole bunch of nothing in terms of networking. As an art graduate I can tell you with complete confidence that you have to make your own opportunities. I have met people and I have gotten my work looked at, but this is all through my own work, basically cold-calling and talking to sketch artists and such while they work. This is not what I was expecting nor is it what was promised to me when I accepted my offer.
In the end, what I've found is that if you are a college student, not financially independent, and don't have any real bills or career aspirations with Disney beyond the end of your program, then this is most definitely the program for you. I wouldn't trade this experience for the world, especially not the guest interaction and the fun of working in Walt Disney World. If I was still 20 or 21 years old and living with mom and dad, I wouldn't have a complaint at all. As a 35 year-old with real bills and no financial assistance available to me, however, this program has been nothing but a daily struggle to keep my head above water, and I'm not 100% sure that i would have made the decision to come here if I had known exactly what to expect from this experience in terms of career opportunities and money. I know this post is going to come off as incredibly negative and anti-college program, but that's not how it is at all. I believe that the Disney College Program is a great idea, just not the right idea for me. As it stands, I'm going to see this through to January and then head home to Louisiana, hopefully to find a career as a teacher.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Disney Whirlwind!
Okay, so I've officially been in Florida for a week and a half. In that time I've checked in, gotten my apartment, met my roommates, gone through Traditions, completed my role training and passed my assessment, and spent some much needed time in the parks! All I can really say is that this experience so far is bordering on the surreal. I wake up every morning and put on my costume to spend my shift playing with kids...really, they're paying me to do this!?!?
There are so many things about this that just boggle my mind. I'll try to go through the experience so far one step at a time.
I checked in on May 18th at Vista Way Apartments, the original Disney College Program apartment complex. I had already met 3 of my roommates so we all showed up together to make sure we were placed in the same apartment. We were assigned to Chatham Square in a 3 bedroom apartment, which meant that we would be randomly assigned 2 more roommates. All I can say about my roommates is that they're the greatest group of guys I could have hoped to live with. Everyone is respectful of each other and they're all incredibly laid back. The apartment is great with the exception of the broken air conditioner (but that got fixed on the first day so it's all good). It's only about 10 minutes driving from the apartment to the front gates of Magic Kingdom also. We didn't actually get to move into the apartment until late afternoon on the 18th because almost as soon as we checked in and got our apartment we were sent directly to Walt Disney World Casting to get our roles and location assignments. I was assigned as a Resort Bus Greeter, which I am beginning to believe is one of the greatest jobs I could have hoped for. The casting experience was incredible, just being in the building and knowing that I was being processed in for a job with Disney was amazing!
Once we were done with casting we were able to move in and relax for a little while before our housing meeting. Truthfully the housing meeting was incredibly boring but I can see the necessity of it. We had the following day off so we decided to host a cookout at the pavilion by the pool. We were able to meet lots of new people and it was a really great time. None of us really were able to sleep that night because we were so excited. After our day off we attended Traditions. I can't really say very much about it except that it was an amazing thing and there were tears at a couple of points. The legacy of the Disney company is so incredible and I am proud to now be a part of it. It was at Traditions that we received our nametags...this was a moment I had waited for almost my entire life! I was officially and without a doubt a Disney Cast Member...is there anything better?!? I can't even begin to describe the feeling of putting that nametag on for the very first time, it was surreal, incredible, satisfying, just pick a word and it was exactly that!
I am going to end this post here before it becomes a novel, but I will be posting again soon to talk about my role and the training I did for it!
Until next time, may all your days be magical and may all your dreams come true!!!
There are so many things about this that just boggle my mind. I'll try to go through the experience so far one step at a time.
I checked in on May 18th at Vista Way Apartments, the original Disney College Program apartment complex. I had already met 3 of my roommates so we all showed up together to make sure we were placed in the same apartment. We were assigned to Chatham Square in a 3 bedroom apartment, which meant that we would be randomly assigned 2 more roommates. All I can say about my roommates is that they're the greatest group of guys I could have hoped to live with. Everyone is respectful of each other and they're all incredibly laid back. The apartment is great with the exception of the broken air conditioner (but that got fixed on the first day so it's all good). It's only about 10 minutes driving from the apartment to the front gates of Magic Kingdom also. We didn't actually get to move into the apartment until late afternoon on the 18th because almost as soon as we checked in and got our apartment we were sent directly to Walt Disney World Casting to get our roles and location assignments. I was assigned as a Resort Bus Greeter, which I am beginning to believe is one of the greatest jobs I could have hoped for. The casting experience was incredible, just being in the building and knowing that I was being processed in for a job with Disney was amazing!
Once we were done with casting we were able to move in and relax for a little while before our housing meeting. Truthfully the housing meeting was incredibly boring but I can see the necessity of it. We had the following day off so we decided to host a cookout at the pavilion by the pool. We were able to meet lots of new people and it was a really great time. None of us really were able to sleep that night because we were so excited. After our day off we attended Traditions. I can't really say very much about it except that it was an amazing thing and there were tears at a couple of points. The legacy of the Disney company is so incredible and I am proud to now be a part of it. It was at Traditions that we received our nametags...this was a moment I had waited for almost my entire life! I was officially and without a doubt a Disney Cast Member...is there anything better?!? I can't even begin to describe the feeling of putting that nametag on for the very first time, it was surreal, incredible, satisfying, just pick a word and it was exactly that!
I am going to end this post here before it becomes a novel, but I will be posting again soon to talk about my role and the training I did for it!
Until next time, may all your days be magical and may all your dreams come true!!!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Wow, just wow!!!
Here I am at 8am the morning after my check-in for the Walt Disney World College Program...I'm settled into my apartment, have met all of my roommates, been through casting, and attended my housing meeting. The funny thing is I still have a hard time believing any of this is real! I'm actually a Disney Cast Member! How did this even happen?!?
In case you hadn't noticed, I'm extremely excited right now! Yesterday was one of the most incredible days of my life! I'll give you the shortened version of what went on yesterday, because to tell the entire story would take a pretty long time.
First, I met two of my roommates on May 17th, the day before we checked in. We knocked around Downtown Disney and Boardwalk until the dinner that was set up by some people on one of the Facebook groups. In all honesty, the dinner was kind of a bust...less than a third of the people who RSVP'd for the event actually showed up, and they weren't able to seat us all at one table, so it was like little groups of 4 sitting all over the place. On a positive note however, we were able to pick up a 4th roommate for our apartment.
May 18th was check-in day for me, and let me tell you, it was incredibly busy! Me and my roommates met at the front gate of Vista way at 7am and waited until they let us in. I won't go too much into the actual process (gotta leave some surprises) but I will say that if you want to room with a particular group of people, make sure you all show up together because one person from the group will be responsible for negotiating the apartment for everyone. I was responsible for negotiating the apartment for myself and my 3 other housemates, and it was a very easy process. I was able to get us exactly what we wanted, a 3 bedroom apartment at Chatham Square. We were assigned 2 other housemates randomly, but that was what we wanted anyway. All in all it was a very easy process.
After finishing up at Vista Way we were able to go to our apartment for about 30 minutes before we had to catch a bus over to casting. At casting we took care of all of our paperwork and got fingerprinted for our background checks. The whole process is incredibly streamlined and it doesn't feel like it takes nearly as long at it actually does. The good news...when you walk out of casting you will OFFICIALLY be a Disney Cast Member! You will also find out your location, date for Traditions, and the date and time of your first day of training.
Once the casting visit was over, we again headed back to our apartment. We had about a 2 hour break before our housing meeting at The Commons. The meeting itself lasted about 2 hours, and I highly recommend walking over instead of taking the bus as The Commons is literally right around the corner.
You might have noticed that nowhere in all of that did I mention food or a lunch break...there's a very good reason for that. We were so busy all day that my roommates and I were not able to stop for food until after 5pm. We did eventually make it to Subway before heading off to do our grocery shopping. We finally finished up with everything at around 8pm, at which time we all pretty much collapsed around the TV!
I'll update this later on and add more to it because there's really a lot more to say, but I just wanted to get my first impressions down while the memories are still fresh. It's going to be a great experience and I can't wait to meet everyone and create some really great memories!!!
In case you hadn't noticed, I'm extremely excited right now! Yesterday was one of the most incredible days of my life! I'll give you the shortened version of what went on yesterday, because to tell the entire story would take a pretty long time.
First, I met two of my roommates on May 17th, the day before we checked in. We knocked around Downtown Disney and Boardwalk until the dinner that was set up by some people on one of the Facebook groups. In all honesty, the dinner was kind of a bust...less than a third of the people who RSVP'd for the event actually showed up, and they weren't able to seat us all at one table, so it was like little groups of 4 sitting all over the place. On a positive note however, we were able to pick up a 4th roommate for our apartment.
May 18th was check-in day for me, and let me tell you, it was incredibly busy! Me and my roommates met at the front gate of Vista way at 7am and waited until they let us in. I won't go too much into the actual process (gotta leave some surprises) but I will say that if you want to room with a particular group of people, make sure you all show up together because one person from the group will be responsible for negotiating the apartment for everyone. I was responsible for negotiating the apartment for myself and my 3 other housemates, and it was a very easy process. I was able to get us exactly what we wanted, a 3 bedroom apartment at Chatham Square. We were assigned 2 other housemates randomly, but that was what we wanted anyway. All in all it was a very easy process.
After finishing up at Vista Way we were able to go to our apartment for about 30 minutes before we had to catch a bus over to casting. At casting we took care of all of our paperwork and got fingerprinted for our background checks. The whole process is incredibly streamlined and it doesn't feel like it takes nearly as long at it actually does. The good news...when you walk out of casting you will OFFICIALLY be a Disney Cast Member! You will also find out your location, date for Traditions, and the date and time of your first day of training.
Once the casting visit was over, we again headed back to our apartment. We had about a 2 hour break before our housing meeting at The Commons. The meeting itself lasted about 2 hours, and I highly recommend walking over instead of taking the bus as The Commons is literally right around the corner.
You might have noticed that nowhere in all of that did I mention food or a lunch break...there's a very good reason for that. We were so busy all day that my roommates and I were not able to stop for food until after 5pm. We did eventually make it to Subway before heading off to do our grocery shopping. We finally finished up with everything at around 8pm, at which time we all pretty much collapsed around the TV!
I'll update this later on and add more to it because there's really a lot more to say, but I just wanted to get my first impressions down while the memories are still fresh. It's going to be a great experience and I can't wait to meet everyone and create some really great memories!!!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Okay, So I couldn't wait...
I still have 9 days until I leave for the Disney College Program, but I thought I would throw in a quick update on what's been going on.
For starters, my senior thesis exhibition is finally over! I had my reception on Tuesday of this week and my thesis defense on Wednesday morning. The thesis defense was brutal and I never want to do anything like that again, but the good news is I got an A! That means that all I have to do is finish up a couple of small assignments for one class, take a final next week, and I'm on my way! If anyone had told me three years ago that I would have my college degree and be on my way to my dream job with Disney, I would have called them a complete liar! I don't think I've ever worked so hard for anything in my life, but the rewards have been so great that I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. It's been an incredibly difficult, fun, and rewarding road to get here, and I can't wait to start on the next chapter!
For starters, my senior thesis exhibition is finally over! I had my reception on Tuesday of this week and my thesis defense on Wednesday morning. The thesis defense was brutal and I never want to do anything like that again, but the good news is I got an A! That means that all I have to do is finish up a couple of small assignments for one class, take a final next week, and I'm on my way! If anyone had told me three years ago that I would have my college degree and be on my way to my dream job with Disney, I would have called them a complete liar! I don't think I've ever worked so hard for anything in my life, but the rewards have been so great that I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. It's been an incredibly difficult, fun, and rewarding road to get here, and I can't wait to start on the next chapter!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Almost There!
It's been quite a while since my last update, mainly because there really hasn't been anything new to tell...
The end is approaching, however, and I find myself with some very mixed feelings. I'll be done with school completely one week from today. I will also be checking in at Vista Way to get my apartment in WDW three weeks from today. I still can't believe that it's already been three years since I decided to go back to school...it really does feel like it was only yesterday! I'm happy to be finishing because it means that I did exactly what I told my family I was going to do, and that means a lot to me and to them. That's also where the mixed feelings come in, because in three weeks I will once again be leaving my family behind and not coming back. They know this and they're totally supportive and happy for me, but things are so much different now than they were all those years ago. Now I have two Goddaughters and two nephews who I love with all my heart, and the thought of not being able to watch them grow up is one that I don't relish. I know that I'm making the right decision for me and my life, it's just now starting to set in exactly how big of a decision this is. Thankfully though, I live in a family of Disney freaks so I know I'll be able to see them at least a few times a year.
Apart from that there's not much to report. I'm done writing my last paper of my college career, my senior thesis show is done and ready to hang, and I graduate in a little over 2 weeks. It's been a crazy and exciting ride and I can't wait, mixed feelings and all, to share the next chapters of it with my family and with you!
It will probably be a few weeks until my next update, but that update will be coming to you live from Walt Disney World!
Until then take care everyone and may all your days be magical!
The end is approaching, however, and I find myself with some very mixed feelings. I'll be done with school completely one week from today. I will also be checking in at Vista Way to get my apartment in WDW three weeks from today. I still can't believe that it's already been three years since I decided to go back to school...it really does feel like it was only yesterday! I'm happy to be finishing because it means that I did exactly what I told my family I was going to do, and that means a lot to me and to them. That's also where the mixed feelings come in, because in three weeks I will once again be leaving my family behind and not coming back. They know this and they're totally supportive and happy for me, but things are so much different now than they were all those years ago. Now I have two Goddaughters and two nephews who I love with all my heart, and the thought of not being able to watch them grow up is one that I don't relish. I know that I'm making the right decision for me and my life, it's just now starting to set in exactly how big of a decision this is. Thankfully though, I live in a family of Disney freaks so I know I'll be able to see them at least a few times a year.
Apart from that there's not much to report. I'm done writing my last paper of my college career, my senior thesis show is done and ready to hang, and I graduate in a little over 2 weeks. It's been a crazy and exciting ride and I can't wait, mixed feelings and all, to share the next chapters of it with my family and with you!
It will probably be a few weeks until my next update, but that update will be coming to you live from Walt Disney World!
Until then take care everyone and may all your days be magical!
Monday, March 14, 2011
The waiting continues...with a little bit of rejection
And to be quite honest, it's really starting to suck!
In terms of my DCP experience there's not a whole lot to report unfortunately. I'm still counting down the days until I leave...64 and counting. Everything that I can possibly do before getting there has been done for weeks now, I just can't wait to get down to Walt Disney World to start living the dream!! There is, however, a little bit of news regarding school that I thought might be worth reporting.
First the good news...
last month I submitted 3 pieces of my artwork to a juried exhibition in Natchitoches, Louisiana. For those of you who aren't familiar with the idea of a juried show, it means that people submit work, and once all the work is in an outside judge is brought in to "prejudge" the show. This means that only a fraction of the work that is submitted will actually be accepted to the show. I'm happy to report that of the three drawings I submitted two of them were accepted, and these two drawings constitute two-thirds of the drawings accepted. also, the show committee has emailed my school and requested me by name to attend the reception this Friday, which usually means that either a first place or an award of some sort. I can only hope. I addition to this, I have also finished cutting most of the wood blocks for my senior thesis show. This is a huge weight off my mind and really lets me see the light at the end of the tunnel! All that's left now is to print all of the blocks and get ready to hang my show. I'm still trying to figure out how I finished almost a month and a half early!
So that's the good news, now for the bad...
My graduate school application to University of Iowa has officially been denied. I applied for admission for this fall in their drawing program and really felt good about the work that I submitted in my portfolio. However, I'm pretty sure that I would have declined the invitation if I had received it anyway since I've already accepted my invitation to the DCP. This makes it only slightly bad news for me. Disney is and always has been my dream job and I don't think even an invitation to attend the #1 printmaking school in the country could have stopped me from taking the opportunity I've been offered.
Anywho, that's about all I have for now. Hopefully next time there will be more to report!
I'm thinking I may go back to license plate postst for a little while...I've been missing doing them quite a little bit!
In terms of my DCP experience there's not a whole lot to report unfortunately. I'm still counting down the days until I leave...64 and counting. Everything that I can possibly do before getting there has been done for weeks now, I just can't wait to get down to Walt Disney World to start living the dream!! There is, however, a little bit of news regarding school that I thought might be worth reporting.
First the good news...
last month I submitted 3 pieces of my artwork to a juried exhibition in Natchitoches, Louisiana. For those of you who aren't familiar with the idea of a juried show, it means that people submit work, and once all the work is in an outside judge is brought in to "prejudge" the show. This means that only a fraction of the work that is submitted will actually be accepted to the show. I'm happy to report that of the three drawings I submitted two of them were accepted, and these two drawings constitute two-thirds of the drawings accepted. also, the show committee has emailed my school and requested me by name to attend the reception this Friday, which usually means that either a first place or an award of some sort. I can only hope. I addition to this, I have also finished cutting most of the wood blocks for my senior thesis show. This is a huge weight off my mind and really lets me see the light at the end of the tunnel! All that's left now is to print all of the blocks and get ready to hang my show. I'm still trying to figure out how I finished almost a month and a half early!
So that's the good news, now for the bad...
My graduate school application to University of Iowa has officially been denied. I applied for admission for this fall in their drawing program and really felt good about the work that I submitted in my portfolio. However, I'm pretty sure that I would have declined the invitation if I had received it anyway since I've already accepted my invitation to the DCP. This makes it only slightly bad news for me. Disney is and always has been my dream job and I don't think even an invitation to attend the #1 printmaking school in the country could have stopped me from taking the opportunity I've been offered.
Anywho, that's about all I have for now. Hopefully next time there will be more to report!
I'm thinking I may go back to license plate postst for a little while...I've been missing doing them quite a little bit!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The Waiting is the Hardest Part...
As I said in my last blog post I'm changing the face of this blog in order to document my experiences in the Walt Disney World College Program. There will still be the occasional post about license plates and such, but it's mostly going to be WDWCP from here on out. Now that we've got that straight, away we go!
Unfortunately there's not a whole lot to say so far...I know, what a let-down! So basically I'll give you a rundown of what's gone on so far.
So I attended a live presentation for the College Program at my school, Nicholls State University. It was great! Extremely entertaining and it got me very excited about trying it out, so much so that I went straight from the presentation to a computer to do the web based interview that night. I passed the web based interview with no problem and was advised to call to schedule my phone interview...whew, one step down and several more to go. Since it was after working hours I called the next morning, February 15th and scheduled my phone interview for February 17th after my last class so that I would have time to get home and settled in and prepared. Being the dork I am, I downloaded all of the job descriptions for all of the roles that I had selected on the role checklist. My interviewer was a little late in calling, but my interview started pretty close to on-time and...
Right away she asked the question that I had been dreading...do I have any visible tattoos or piercings. If anything was going to put a quick end to my dream of working for Disney it would be this, and I knew I had two choices: tell them the truth and take my chances or lie and risk being found out and possibly terminated later. I chose the truth. I told her about all of my tattoos since a lot of them are visible on my forearms and would need to be covered. She immediately put my mind at ease, telling me that it wouldn't be a deciding factor in whether I got in or not. With that out of the way and a HUGE sigh of relief we continued on to the rest of the interview, which from that point on went as smooth as silk. I was relaxed, happy, and smiling, and I know it came across in my voice. She asked me why I wanted to work for Disney and I happily told her that it had been my dream since I was a little kid. We then talked about the roles that I had selected and why I had selected them. My number one choice was transportation and the rest of the interview seemed to center mostly around that. She asked a lot of questions and we laughed and joked to the point where it felt more like an easy conversation than an interview. What was supposed to be a 15-20 minute interview lasted almost 45 minutes and it was very enjoyable. My interviewer was enthusiastic and so was I! So after the interview was over she told me that it would be 4-6 weeks before I would hear a response by email so I hung up and prepared myself for a long and nerve-wracking wait...Day 1, nothing, Day 2, nothing, Day 3, well, you get the picture.
To try and make the wait a little more bearable I started scouring facebook and found a group specifically for people who had applied to the Fall/Fall Advantage programs. Having applied for Fall Advantage I joined the group and started reading their discussion boards and replying to topics. I also found out via the group that people were waiting on average 3-4 weeks for a response. I was only on day 4 so I figured that I would be in for the same wait. Day 5, nothing, Day 6...yeah, Day 6. I was working in my studio at school, and as usual I had my laptop on playing music on Pandora. I looked up to skip a song and saw that I had new email in my inbox. I opened it up and saw that the sender was "Disney College Recruiting" and the email header said simply "Your Invitation." I'm only on Day 6, there's no way it could come that fast...my thoughts were all over the place as I clicked on the email. All I remember seeing was a big purple header and the word "Congratulations!" I think I only actually read the first two lines of the message, just enough to find out that after only 6 days I had been accepted to the program, and for my first choice role to boot!!! I had been accepted for Fall Advantage to work in transportation!!!
At that point I ran out of my studio like a madman, smiling from ear to ear! I rushed to call my mom because she was the only person who knew that I had applied...and she didn't answer her phone! I sent her a text message that said only "CALL ME!!!" She called me back and was ecstatic to hear the news. We set up a family dinner for that weekend so that I could tell the rest of my family. They were out of their minds with happiness when they found out. We had a great dinner and talked about the program and what I could expect. After the euphoria of the email and the fun of the family dinner reality quickly set in...it's still only February...I still have to wait three more months before I actually go to Florida to start the program!!!! Time to start waiting again!!!
So now here I am, 76 days away from May 17th, the day that I leave Louisiana to start a new life in Florida, and I'm going out of my mind!!! As if I didn't think about Disney enough already, now I spend large chunks of every day on the CP website, reading everything I can about the program, chatting with fellow CP cast members on skype, and wishing that the semester would hurry up and end so that I can graduate from college and get on the road! Oh well, we can't have it all, or can we?
I'm 76 days from fulfilling a lifelong dream, I graduate in May with my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and I'm going to work for Disney!!! Nah, I really couldn't ask for anything more than that!
Until next time, keep moving forward, because for me there's no turning back!!!
Unfortunately there's not a whole lot to say so far...I know, what a let-down! So basically I'll give you a rundown of what's gone on so far.
So I attended a live presentation for the College Program at my school, Nicholls State University. It was great! Extremely entertaining and it got me very excited about trying it out, so much so that I went straight from the presentation to a computer to do the web based interview that night. I passed the web based interview with no problem and was advised to call to schedule my phone interview...whew, one step down and several more to go. Since it was after working hours I called the next morning, February 15th and scheduled my phone interview for February 17th after my last class so that I would have time to get home and settled in and prepared. Being the dork I am, I downloaded all of the job descriptions for all of the roles that I had selected on the role checklist. My interviewer was a little late in calling, but my interview started pretty close to on-time and...
Right away she asked the question that I had been dreading...do I have any visible tattoos or piercings. If anything was going to put a quick end to my dream of working for Disney it would be this, and I knew I had two choices: tell them the truth and take my chances or lie and risk being found out and possibly terminated later. I chose the truth. I told her about all of my tattoos since a lot of them are visible on my forearms and would need to be covered. She immediately put my mind at ease, telling me that it wouldn't be a deciding factor in whether I got in or not. With that out of the way and a HUGE sigh of relief we continued on to the rest of the interview, which from that point on went as smooth as silk. I was relaxed, happy, and smiling, and I know it came across in my voice. She asked me why I wanted to work for Disney and I happily told her that it had been my dream since I was a little kid. We then talked about the roles that I had selected and why I had selected them. My number one choice was transportation and the rest of the interview seemed to center mostly around that. She asked a lot of questions and we laughed and joked to the point where it felt more like an easy conversation than an interview. What was supposed to be a 15-20 minute interview lasted almost 45 minutes and it was very enjoyable. My interviewer was enthusiastic and so was I! So after the interview was over she told me that it would be 4-6 weeks before I would hear a response by email so I hung up and prepared myself for a long and nerve-wracking wait...Day 1, nothing, Day 2, nothing, Day 3, well, you get the picture.
To try and make the wait a little more bearable I started scouring facebook and found a group specifically for people who had applied to the Fall/Fall Advantage programs. Having applied for Fall Advantage I joined the group and started reading their discussion boards and replying to topics. I also found out via the group that people were waiting on average 3-4 weeks for a response. I was only on day 4 so I figured that I would be in for the same wait. Day 5, nothing, Day 6...yeah, Day 6. I was working in my studio at school, and as usual I had my laptop on playing music on Pandora. I looked up to skip a song and saw that I had new email in my inbox. I opened it up and saw that the sender was "Disney College Recruiting" and the email header said simply "Your Invitation." I'm only on Day 6, there's no way it could come that fast...my thoughts were all over the place as I clicked on the email. All I remember seeing was a big purple header and the word "Congratulations!" I think I only actually read the first two lines of the message, just enough to find out that after only 6 days I had been accepted to the program, and for my first choice role to boot!!! I had been accepted for Fall Advantage to work in transportation!!!
At that point I ran out of my studio like a madman, smiling from ear to ear! I rushed to call my mom because she was the only person who knew that I had applied...and she didn't answer her phone! I sent her a text message that said only "CALL ME!!!" She called me back and was ecstatic to hear the news. We set up a family dinner for that weekend so that I could tell the rest of my family. They were out of their minds with happiness when they found out. We had a great dinner and talked about the program and what I could expect. After the euphoria of the email and the fun of the family dinner reality quickly set in...it's still only February...I still have to wait three more months before I actually go to Florida to start the program!!!! Time to start waiting again!!!
So now here I am, 76 days away from May 17th, the day that I leave Louisiana to start a new life in Florida, and I'm going out of my mind!!! As if I didn't think about Disney enough already, now I spend large chunks of every day on the CP website, reading everything I can about the program, chatting with fellow CP cast members on skype, and wishing that the semester would hurry up and end so that I can graduate from college and get on the road! Oh well, we can't have it all, or can we?
I'm 76 days from fulfilling a lifelong dream, I graduate in May with my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and I'm going to work for Disney!!! Nah, I really couldn't ask for anything more than that!
Until next time, keep moving forward, because for me there's no turning back!!!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Time to change things up...
So I've been trying to figure out what to do with this blog since my license plate collecting has been kind of stagnant for the last few years due to the lack of cash that comes with being a broke art school student...
And then today I got the best email I've had in a loooong time. I am officially accepted to the Walt Disney World College Program, Fall Advantage 2011! I can't wait to get done with school and get to Florida to start on the program!
So I'm going to change this blog from license plate collecting to a journal of sorts of my experiences in the WDW College Program. I figure it's a good use for this space that would otherwise go to waste!
And then today I got the best email I've had in a loooong time. I am officially accepted to the Walt Disney World College Program, Fall Advantage 2011! I can't wait to get done with school and get to Florida to start on the program!
So I'm going to change this blog from license plate collecting to a journal of sorts of my experiences in the WDW College Program. I figure it's a good use for this space that would otherwise go to waste!
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