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!!!
Friday, May 27, 2011
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!
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