Bucket List...

Here are some of things I have actually done from my list...

Pick a Pearl!

Wow one whole thing! I have gone to Jellyrolls the dueling piano bar at the Boardwalk Hotel. While it wasn't on my list it was still a blast! Thankfully I haven't been here too long so I don't feel bad but I have started to chip away at those rides & shows.

So far I've Ridden

At Magic Kingdom:

Pirates of the Caribbean

Big Thunder Mountain

Haunted Mansion

It's a Small World

Peter Pan's Flight

PhilharMagic

Snow White's Scary Adventure

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Tomorrowland Transit Authority

Carousel of Progress (for the first time!)

Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin

Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor (another first for me)

Shows:

Wishes

The New nighttime castle show

Epcot:

Spaceship Earth

Test Track

Living with the Land

Gran Fiesta Tour

Maelstrom

Shows:

Illuminations

Animal Kingdom:

Kali River Rapids (a first)

Expedition Everest (go Chelsea go Chelsea)

Dinosaur

Hollywood Studios:

The Great Movie Ride - Gansta & Cowboy version (first time for Cowboy It's awesome!)

Sounds Dangerous (first & last time)

Muppet Vision 3D

Toy Story Mania

Rock N Roller Coaster

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Show:

Beauty and the Beast

So out of an approximent 93 rides/shows/parades I've done: 31 shows/rides! Not too shabby for my first 13 days!

The Post that Never Was...

So I wrote this post back in October. While looking through my blog this afternoon to update it and check out what I've done I notice that I can't find it. After a long search I finally realize it doesn't exist. So from the timecapsel of my computer I present to you...

Walt Disney World Bucket List

Instead of typing up notes on 4 chapters like I actually should do I’m instead spending my time writing about all the fabulous things I’m going to do in 3 months and 4 days when I finally move to FL! Some might be cliché but I’m going to work hard to cross off everything on this list. So here we go…

Ride every Attraction

See every show

Visit every resort

See La Nouba

Visit Universal Studios and Islands of Adventures… YAY Harry Potter!!

See the sun rise at the beach

Eat at all the restaurants that appeal to me

See an outdoor movie at all the resorts that show them

Eat a Kitchen Sink – not alone of course

Do the desert party at Magic Kingdom

Be at each park at rope drop at least once

See the Electrical Water Pageant

Have a Disney scavenger hunt

Rent a boat on 7 seas lagoon – if it’s not too expensive

Visit all 4 parks in 1 day and ride at least 3 rides in each Park

Do some tours

Take Funny pictures on rides - http://xkcd.com/chesscoaster/

Watch Fireworks from all the different places outside the MK like the beaches and restaurants

Drink around the world

Have an ADR for breakfast before the park opens

Lazer Tag! Possibly in suits…

Jersey Boys in Tampa

In the Heights in Miami

Les Miserables in Ft. Lauderdale

Wicked and Hair in Orlando

Blue Man Group

Pick a Pearl in Epcot

What Fun! I thought I had more than that on my list but oh well.

Good Stuff to Know

Here are some tips for your first few days...

Your apartment door locks behind you so make sure you have your keys with you

The housing meeting is long and boring so eat before

The earlier you get to Vista on Check in day the earlier you get done.

Rooms are first come first serve. If you want a certain number of bedrooms in a certain complex get there early. The same goes for a room inside your apartment. If you’re the last one there you get what’s left.

You need your housing ID with you all the time. Security doesn’t like if you forget it so find a place to keep it that you’ll never forget about. I have a lanyard with a plastic case on the end that I keep my housing ID and Disney ID in.

Set out rules with your roommates as soon as possible. This will help you live in harmony.

Wal-mart will be completely picked over. There wasn’t a hanger or a mattress topper/pad in the entire place on the day after my check in.

Make sure your alarm clock works!

The internet in your apartment SUCKS!

Your first 2 paychecks are almost nonexistent.

The Waterfront Dance Party at Downtown Disney is the best thing ever!! (I'll explain later)

Have fun! There is so much to do and so much going on that you should just have as much fun as possible!

Your Journey Starts Here...

So as you may have read in my last post I saw Les Miserables on Tuesday night. That was in Ft. Lauderdale. Which is 3.5 hours away from Orlando. So by the time I got to Orlando got checked into my hotel and into bed it was 3:15am. For those of you who don't know. Check in is at 9am at Vista Way. After reading past blogs and talking to a friend who checked in earlier in the semester we decided to arrive at 6:30am. That might sound crazy but apartments are first come first serve. So if you want a 3 bedroom at Chatham (which we did) the earlier you are there the more likely you are to get the apartment you want. Also waiting in line earlier means that you have less waiting to do later and in general your day wraps up sooner. When we got in line at 6:45 there were a fair number of people in front of us. By 7:30 we couldn't see the end of the line. So I had less than 3 hours of sleep on check in day. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express which is right across the street from Vista.

At 8am they actually let us through the gates and into Vista (where you check in). They lead you back to the registration and welcome pavilion. Overall the whole thing is handled amazingly well. My favorite thing about check in is that they split in into different sections. So you wait in line and then fill out some paperwork. Then you wait in line again and they check your IDs. Then you wait in line and get an apartment. The fact that everything is broken down like this really helps keep things moving and you never feel like your waiting forever. This is when they will hand out parking permits. Make sure to have your REGISTRATION and INSURANCE IN YOUR NAME. My insurance company sent out a letter confirming that I am insured to drive my car. If for some reason you don't have any of this stuff you can go to the Clubhouse and get your permit there. At the Welcome Center you will be given a program book that will have all your information on it. Consider this book your new bible and carry it with you all the time in the first few days.

Once you get all your information at the Welcome Center you are sent over to Casting. Make sure when you go to Casting to look around and enjoy all the fun stuff there is to see. My favorite is the doorknobs on the front door. They look like the doorknob from Alice in Wonderland. As soon as you walk through the door into Casting you find out where you will be working. They put a sticker on the back of your program book with your location on it. The woman who was doing it was hilarious. She made a big deal about each and every person. For instance she asked one girl if she was fond of honey because she was going to be eating a lot of it as a new friend of Pooh.

From that point on it's pretty much all a blur. They send you all over the Casting building in a crazy circle maze of rooms. In one I saw Randy who was a recruiter at my college. At Casting you can also sign up to get direct deposit.

In the background check area they take your fingerprints. Well apparently prolonged computer use among other things can wear down your fingerprints or in my case cause cracks in my prints. Which meant I was in the security area for like 15 minutes. First they tried to get my fingerprints to work and when they couldn't I had to fill out paperwork about my last 7 years.

After you done at casting you head back to Vista. We had a 2:45 mandatory housing meeting. So we ran upstairs dropped stuff in the room we wanted then had lunch. I totally recommend having lunch before the housing meeting. The meeting is 2 hours or more and it is SO boring! Everyone says it's really boring but I didn't realize how boring it was until I was there. After the meeting is done your check in day is officially over! YAY! You can use the rest of the night to unpack and get to know your roommates. The next day is a free day to get yourself ready for Traditions and training.

I'm still here...

I promise. Sorry folks for being gone for sooooo long! December was a crazy month for me and the start of January has been nuts too. I'm at Disney right now! I'm sitting on my bed at Chatham writing to you. I figured I'd skip to the part of checking in and go back to waiting later.

I packed up and left Chicago on Thursday January 13th. I had planned to stay in Atlanta on Thursday night with my cousin but for those of you who don't know Atlanta got beat to hell by a winter snowstorm. Stephen Colbert called it the "Storm of Northern Aggression." Basically the roads were completely impassible. So I drove Thursday night to Nashville. Nashville was way different than I was picturing. I'm sure there are nice parts but it won't be on the top of my list for vacations anytime soon. Thursday I drove all the way to Orlando. For those of you who don't know Nashville to Orlando is far. Friday night I stayed in Orlando then Saturday I went down to the Ft. Lauderdale area to spend a few days hanging with friends. We had an awesome time. Saturday night my core group of friends (minus Hilary) got together in Boca at Irishmen. It was so much fun. I had forgotten how awesome it is to have friends that good around. We know all the dirt and where all the figurative bodies are buried. So we laughed and drank and just enjoyed being together again.

Saturday Night Heather, Danielle, and myself met Hilary at LuLu's Bait Shack in Ft. Lauderdale. I LOVE LuLu's. It's in Beach Place right on the ocean and has amazing Cajun food. I always make a stop there when in FL. Not only do they have great views and food they also have amazing drinks.








Here is Danielle and Heather with one of those amazing drinks! Yes you get to keep the fun glass!










Like I said LuLu's is right on the beach and since it's January it was a bit cold. When the waitress brought us a candle heather actually tried to warm her hands on it. This is a recreation.















The 4 Ladies!










Sunday Heather, Danielle, and I met up in Downtown Delray (my favorite town in FL) and enjoyed a art festival. Danielle and I enjoyed it was more than Heather. I had this amazing traditional German thing. It's like a dough wrapped around a stone cylinder that is put into an oven and cooked, The outside if crispy with a small layer of soft dough on the inside. After it is cooked it is given a butter glaze and rolled in cinnamon and sugar. It was amazing!

Monday was a relaxing day. I hung out with Danielle and Heather. Monday night I helped Hilary prepare for a meeting with a client. It was actually kind of fun.

Tuesday was a bigger day. I was out of Hilary's place where I was staying by 12. I went up to Delray Beach to have lunch at my favorite pizza place in FL. Pizza Rustica! It is so amazing. I had my very favorite Greco Romana.

After lunch I met up with Anthony. He kindly let me leave my stuff with him while I went to see Les Miserables. After I dropped my stuff off we went for a walk on the beach. We used to do this all the time so it was awesome to do it again. We saw an amazing sunset start while we were out.

Once our walk was through I got ready quick and met Hilary for Les Miserables. I had originally been going alone but her new friend convinced her that they should go. That made it super fun for me! I was glad to have them both with me. Overall the performance was great. The new stage is incredible and completely different. Personally I'd like to see a blending of the 2. The simplicity of the original set made for a more powerful story. On the other hand there were some epic moments that this new stage just made even cooler. The person playing Jean Valjean overacted the first Act but got into the groove in the second. I would totally recommend the show to someone else. Right after the performance I hopped into my car, picked up my stuff, and drove 3 hours to Orlando. This meant I was in my room for 3 hours before getting up and out the door for check in. Next post will be all about the check in process.

Apparently I really don't want to do homework...

My "Waiting" blog has been mostly written in my school notebook and I was all set to type it up and post when I realized I didn't bring my homework dogsitting. So I figured I'd pick it up yesterday when I ran home. I got it all together and put it next to my purse and last night I start looking for it again and can't find it anywhere. Apparently I really don't want to do my homework because I left it at home again! I don't really want to rewrite it so I'll just have to wait on that again.

Instead I'll just post some pictures and tell you about my Friday night. Friday I went to see The Lion King, the play not the movie. It was awesome. The theater has a private box on each side that was filled with drums and other weird instruments. Since we were up in the Balcony we had a great view of them. The costumes were amazing. It was so completely different and unique. I really loved that they used the entire theater. During the first scene there were singers in the boxes with the drums and animals paraded in down the aisles. During the first scene of the second act there were actors with birds in the balcony and all over. Not real birds of course but a super long stick with a bird on a string at the end. They waved the birds in a circle to look like they were flying. It was cool seeing the actors up close. Overall the show was awesome. The songs that were added to make it longer were ok but not really that great. Rafiki was easily the best character. When the cast came out for bows I was shocked how small a cast it was. There were so many people on stage most of the show that it seemed like there should have been more people.

Every year around this time the actors in broadway plays all around the country, take a moment after the show to talk about Broadway Cares. Broadway Cares started out as a fund-raising organization for AIDS. Since it started it has branched out and donates money to all different causes. In the lobby after the show they had signed posters for sale as well as pictures with 2 of the actors. Last year when I saw rent I got a cast signed playbill. The posters this year were way cooler.

At the theater I finally took my purple folder picture. For those who don't know most people, especially in the facebook group, take a picture with the purple folder that Disney sends when you get in. This is both fun and helpful when requesting new CP friends. For those of you who haven't seen it yet here is a link for our facebook group.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/group.php?gid=272325548167

And here is my purple folder picture.



Here are a couple other random Disney picture for your enjoyment.


This one is from the gardens in China.

Is this still a good time to talk?

Sorry for the delay on posting but it’s been a busy week. I was out of town all weekend visiting my little brother at college.

So you’ve made it past the web interview. It wasn’t too tough right? If you haven’t already called to schedule your phone interview make sure to give yourself a generous amount of time. Your not going to want to feel pressured right before your interview. They suggest using a home phone because it will have better service but if your house is anything like mine, you have multiple extensions and run the risk of having someone else pick up the phone while your on it. I used my cell phone and just sat in the backyard.

Preparing For the Phone Interview

There is a lot that you can do to make your phone interview go smoothly. The links I posted earlier all have sections involving questions that are asked during the interview. When I was preparing I found all the questions I could and wrote out answers for each question.

• Here is a link to an extremely helpful post on micechat.com. Look for post #1009. http://micechat.com/forums/walt-disney-world-resort/10779-college-program-68.html

• Here is another link with some more interview questions http://www.facebook.com/#!/topic.php?uid=272325548167&topic=16498

A few minutes before your call I’d head to a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted and try to relax a bit. I was sooooo nervous before the phone call. My stomach was a mess but once I got on the phone and got going I completely relaxed. Make sure to have any notes you took handy along with your role checklist and a pen. There will be time to ask questions if you have any so have those prepared and ready to go.

The Actual Phone Interview

The phone calls are usually on time. There have been a few people who have had late phone calls. The call might come up as an unknown number so be prepared for that. The biggest tip I can give is to answer your phone with a smile in place. They want an outgoing happy person. When they call they will confirm that this is a good time to talk. The interview is generally around 20 minutes, sometimes it’s a bit more. Mine was 25 minutes. During the interview they will have you select your top 3 roles and confirm some information. The questions they ask during the interview will usually center around those roles with a few other questions about some of the other roles that you selected. They will ask if you are interested in doing Quick Service Food and Beverage if you didn’t pick it. It’s not a big deal to say no. I just said that there are so many other areas I’m interested in I’d prefer to be in one of those. They will take notes during the question section. Feel free to make conversation with the person who interviews you. I spent maybe 5 minutes or so during the course of my interview just talking with her. I made an effort to give the woman a snapshot of who I am and found a way to show we had something in common. I wanted the woman to get off the phone and remember me later. Overall just relax and have fun with it, try to make it a conversation versus an interview, and most of all smile and be friendly!

Step by Step Application

So you’ve decided to apply. Congrats! It’s a scary and exciting step your about to take but don’t worry there is so much information out there you’ll be fine if you just take the time to prepare. Here is the step by step process for applying.

Step 1. Watch web presentation or go to school presentation.
Step 2. Take Web Interview
Step 3. Do role checklist
Step 4. Phone Interview
Step 5. The dreaded wait.

Step 1. I did the web presentation because I wanted to apply right away. I watched the web presentation and did the web interview on August 18th – the very first day possible. I found Tara, the girl who shows you around, extremely irritating. I watched it 2 months ago so I don’t remember everything but I also don’t think it was very helpful. I still had tons of questions that I didn’t get answered. I turned to blogs, vlogs, and discussion boards for real answers.

• I also went to my school’s presentation on Sept. 29th. I was already in at that point but it was really really helpful! Even if you’ve applied or are already in the program I’d suggest going to your school’s presentation. There were former CPers there to talk to about their experiences. My school offers credit so that was talked about as well. Also the videos they show are way better and Tara wasn’t in them!

Step 2. The web interview is really easy. Some people do fail but just take your time, answer honestly and you’ll be fine. The format is the same all the way through just kinda long. For example the question might be “You are frequently late” and you can choose “strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree”. There might be a neutral in that but I can’t remember. Earlier I said answer honestly and I do believe that you should but I fibbed a bit. In my personal life I am frequently late but when it comes to work I’m on time and work hard. Some people say that Disney prefers the “strongly” answers but who really knows on that. I tried to put mostly “strongly” responses but I also didn’t want to exaggerate it. They will repeat questions later in different ways so make sure you read each questions carefully!

Step 3. The role checklist, one of the hardest parts to me, so many choices! Read the role descriptions carefully and make sure to check off only roles you want to do. You can check off as many or as few as you want. The mores roles you check the greater your chance of getting in. Checking off quick Service Food and Beverage will greatly increase your chances of getting in. Just don’t forget if you check it they can give it to you so don't check a role unless you really want it.

• I was confused on when we rank what our top 3 roles are. You do that during the phone interview. I thought we did that here for the longest time so when I was checking off roles I was a bit worried.

Step 4 and 5 will have their own blog because this is getting a bit long! Feel free to leave me a comment if you have any questions!

To CP or not to CP…

Is that your question? I know many people debate over participating in the program. I can really only tell you why I decided to do it. I love Disney. I really enjoy spending time at the parks and have always found the history as well as the behind the scenes aspects of the company interesting. I don’t think that there is any feeling in the world like walking under the train and coming out on Main Street and seeing the castle for the first time. I’ve made amazing memories and found out some very bad news in the Parks. Disney has been a part of my life for a long time and I want to make those kinds of memories for others. I used to play a game in the park with my friends. We would walk around and say “if I worked at the park I’d want to…” The end was usually whatever we had just done. Though my answers were mostly “work at the Haunted Mansion” or “plan weddings”. As to how I went from loving Disney to planning my move is very simple. I was walking around campus one day and saw a flyer for the CP. It made me think. I love Disney World. I love Fl. It would be hella fun. I have tons of friends in FL. I could make a bunch more friends. Oh and it would look great on my resumé. After that I spent hours on different sites reading all about the program and people who have done it. I asked someone I knew who had done it and they loved it. When I was in WDW in June I actually talked to someone who was doing a Summer Alumni program. She loved it too. Some people believe they got their current jobs because of their CP. Having a company like Disney on your resumé makes people take notice. The level of service and quality of training that Disney gives stays with their employees. Furthermore I want to do the wedding planning Professional Internship and I have to do the CP first.

Some people are worried about being homesick. I’m something of an expert on that. I moved to South FL right out of high school for college. I knew not a single person. It was an amazing experience. You get to reinvent yourself. You can become anyone you want. Of course I missed my family but I found ways to deal with it. I usually locked myself in my bedroom for an afternoon and watched Christmas movies. I know it sounds weird but Christmas has always been a constant when it comes to my family. If your afraid of being away from family just remember they are always a phone call away and eventually you’ll find something that brings home to you. Besides you’ll be surrounded by friends who will make you smile when you feel down. If that doesn’t work how about a spin on your favorite ride or a hug from a mouse? It’s a chance to spread your wings in a safe place. Believe me nothing is more freeing than taking that leap of faith.

If your looking for some more information to help make your decision. Here are a couple of links.

Micechat has a massively long forum all about the College Program. It's a long read but once your finally done your head will be full of great info.
http://micechat.com/forums/walt-disney-world-resort/10779-college-program.html

Disboards is another site like Micechat. Tons of info and worth the time to read.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2034882

And for a something a bit more fun a legend in the Disney College Program Vlog World
http://www.youtube.com/user/JohnWDWCP#p/u/50/M1okcjfTiE8

Move In date

Well I’ve done an awful job of posting like I said I was. In all fairness I have tons of schoolwork.

I picked my move in date. This was a tough decision for 1 reason only. I know it’s going to sound crazy but Les Miserables is playing in Ft. Lauderdale. It starts on the 18th and goes until the 30th. I have seen Les Mis before, like 5 times, but that doesn’t matter. It is one of those plays that no matter how many times I see it if I have the chance I’m all over it. Also it’s only been playing in London for years and isn’t playing all over the US so this is a rare opportunity.

Anyways you guys get the point I’m dying to see Les Mis but my dates conflict. I ended up picking January 19th - Aug. 5th for 2 reasons.

1. I want to live in Chatham 3 bedroom and I think the sooner I move in the better.
2. I found a kick ass roommate!

#2 is the main reason. We did these roommate questionnaire and her response to the “Are you tidy/messy” question was “I am messy but not dirty, if that makes sense but I will respect your space and do my best to keep picked up.” DING DING DING!! We have a winner! I’m not tidy. I’m messy but not dirty and everyone else was saying they were “tidy” and I knew that wasn’t going to work too well. So I snagged the honest person and we’ll be messy together.

I totally like picking my roommate in advance. It gives me a chance to get to know her and we’ve found out we actually have a lot in common. I think it’s a great idea to at least get your roommate picked out in advance. This gives you a chance to get to know at least 1 person before move in date.

I'm In?

Well I’m in. I guess. LOL. It’s kind of a crazy story but I have officially been accepted for Spring Advantage 2011 as a Merchandise College Program Participant!! I wanted Attractions but I’m actually really excited about Merch for one specific reason… I can work ANYWHERE!! Well almost anywhere, I can work in any retail location that doesn’t need special training. I am totally going to pick up shifts in different locations.

Now for the story, on Sept. 20th I decided that after 4 weeks I should email them and find out why I hadn’t heard from them yet. In the Thank You for Interviewing email they ask you to do this. Right after I sent that email my inbox reloaded and I had an email from them already. Figuring it was a standard thanks for email I opened it up. To my shock it was an email from DCP informing me that I was running out of time to accept my invitation for the Spring Advantage Merch Role. Ummmm huh? At that point I had not gotten an email or letter from them inviting me to even join. At that point I wasn’t sure what was going on but Tech Services emailed me later. DCP had sent an email 2 WEEKS ago! It apparently bounced back so I never got it! Yikes! I almost missed out entirely because of that bounced email! But I didn’t so that’s good. I’ve officially accepted and paid the fee at this point. Now to pick an arrival date…