Leaving TOMORROW!

So, today is my last day at home. Tomorrow morning, my mom and I will be leaving for our 20 hour drive down to Florida. The plan is to arrive in Disney World early Sunday morning, so that the two of us can spend the day in the park before I check in on Monday.

My roommates and I found out our apartment location by going back into the DORMS site. We are going to be living in Chatham Square, which was our first choice!! We don't know yet how many bedrooms will be in our apartment, but the four of us are definitely together, which makes us feel better already.

I'm planning on spending my last day at home packing, working on my online course homework (yuck), and spending time with my family and friends. I can't wait to post on Monday and share with everyone where my work location will be! I'll write about all of the details of what is sure to be a long check in day.

Wish me luck as I begin my journey with the Walt Disney Company!! Disney, I'll see ya real soon (:

It's Almost Time!!

With 6 days until I leave for my program, and 9 days until the start of my program, you could say that my anticipation level is through the roof! It still doesn't feel real that I start my Disney College Program so soon. I feel like it was just yesterday that I applied, and now here I am with my days limited to the single digits!

So, an update on what's been going on since my last post. I finished my semester at Clemson, and had to say goodbye to all of my friends. It was really hard saying goodbye and knowing we wouldn't see each other again until August, but I know that once I get to Disney, make friends, and settle in, that it will all be worth it. Some of my friends even promised to come visit me, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!! 

Disney was supposed to send me an email about filling out my new hire paperwork, but I never got the email. I called them twice about it, and after the second phone call (with a very helpful cast member!) I got it all figured out and began the process of filling out my new hire paperwork. The paperwork is essentially you electronically signing a bunch of papers that give you information about working for Disney, including their policies and procedures. I had some technical difficulties filling the forms out at first, but after I looked up some help hints on the Facebook group, I was able to get it all sorted out and submitted. I also learned that you can fill out the forms during your check in, so there's no real need to fill them out beforehand, it's just to make the check in process go more quickly and save people some time.

A few days ago, I got my DORMS email. DORMS is the new system that Disney is using the help the college program participants indicate their preferences as to roommates, apartment complex, and apartment size. It's another tool designed to make check in easier on everyone. Unfortunately, because my arrival date is one of the earlier ones, there were no 4 bedrooms available, so my group of 8 had to split into 2 groups of 4. But, we all did agree to still go out to dinner on our first night and get to know one another in the hopes that we can all still be friends! As far as the DORMS system goes, it's extremely straight forward and really user-friendly. 

As for now, I'm just waiting. I've made a packing list, and am starting to try to get together with people before I leave at the end of this week. I'm checking the Facebook group (almost obsessively), trying to get any last helpful hints about check in and stuff. 

I promise to write about my check in day (January 13th!!) and let everyone know the details about my role, apartment, roommates, and everything else about the Disney College Program! I want to try to blog pretty frequently so that I can share my experience with others! 

For now, I hope all your Disney Dreams come true... See you on the 13th!

My Disney College Program Bucket List

I've been to Disney World over 50 times in the past 20 years of my life, but there are still some things that I want to accomplish during my Disney College Program that I have never done before! I want to share my list with you all, and I will definitely keep you updated as I check things off of this list.

1. Explore New Fantasyland
2. Eat at Be Our Guest
3. Make an International friend
4. Take a picture with every Disney princess
5. See every parade at all 4 parks
6. Watch every night-time show
7. Explore all parts of Downtown Disney
8. Go to a Florida beach for a day
9. Go into the utilidor (first floor of the Magic Kingdom)
10. Have a Disney date 
11. Have a roommate movie and dinner night with all 8 of my roommates
12. Visit an Orlando club
13. Ride every attraction at all 4 parks
14. Go to Harry Potter World and not get lost (it's a long story)
15. Network with current Disney employees
16. Scuba dive in the Seas with Nemo and Friends
17. Play grocery bingo
18. Meet a celebrity while working
19. Witness the opening of all 4 parks
20. Visit all of my roommates at their work locations
21. Watch all of the Disney movies I haven't seen yet
22. Try the Kitchen Sink with my roommates
23. Learn new things about the Disney company
24. Have a guest ask to take a picture with me
25. Go to every College Program event possible

So, there you have it: my Disney College Program Bucket List! It's not too long, but I look forward to experiencing all of these things and more during my program. 

39 days until check-in!

Interview Tips

I know that a huge part of the application process for the DCP are the two interviews, the web-based interview (WBI) and the phone interview. For those of you who are considering applying, or who just want to know more about the application and interviews, I wanted to write a post about my experience with the two interviews.

After you complete the initial application, you may get an email telling you that you have moved on to the next step of the application: the web-based interview. This is a completely online interview, where you select an answer to a variety of questions from Disney. My advice for this step is to be yourself, and don't over-think the questions. Some of the questions are timed, but I promise you that you will have enough time to finish the question before time runs out. Just take a deep breath, read the question (out loud helps!) and select the answer that you think is the most "Disney-appropriate question." I've been to Disney World over 50 times, so I have a general idea of how the cast members act and what Disney expects of its cast members, so I didn't have too hard of a time putting myself in a cast member's shoes and selecting the answer that I thought fit best. I know that this step can be really nerve-wracking, but just try to stay calm! As soon as you answer the last question on the WBI, you will get a message saying whether you have moved on to the next step. I passed the WBI, so my next step was to schedule a phone interview!

My phone interview was scheduled 10 days after my WBI. I know some people only had a few days in between their interviews, but I liked having more time. I felt like I could prepare more and think about my answers thoroughly. I did A LOT of research online, I googled it and read people's blogs and looked at the Facebook group. I compiled a list of questions that people claimed were commonly asked, and then thought about how I would choose to answer these questions. On the day of the interview, I had a bunch of notes written out saying things like "smile!" "be magical" "relax" and "take a deep breath". They really helped to calm be down. My school offers a private room for phone interviews in our career center, so I did my interview in there. I had Disney music playing while I was waiting, and I was pacing around the room waiting for my interviewer to call! Be prepared for your interviewer to call anytime from 15 minutes before to 15 minutes after your scheduled time. About 8 minutes after my scheduled interview time, I got a call from a blocked caller, and I knew it was "go time!"

My interviewer's name was Carolyn. She was really nice, very to the point, and very thorough in her questions. I can't tell you too much about the questions that I got asked, but I'll just let you know that you should be prepared to answer situational questions and of course the obvious question "Why do you want to work for Disney?" I got asked a lot of questions that I hadn't even prepared for, and I just took a moment to think about it before I gave my best Disney answer! At the end of the interview, I made sure to thank Carolyn by name, and she told me to have a magical day! All in all I believe my interview was about 20 minutes long!

I'm not going to lie, after my interview I was very unsure about how it went. I thought that I answered most of the questions really well, but I'm one of those people who always second-guesses things, so I began to second-guess myself. But, at that point, I knew all there was left to do was to wait!

I got my acceptance email 13 days after my phone interview, while I was eating lunch after class. It was easily the most exciting day of my year. It was so nice to know that all of my hard-work, preparation, and research had paid off!

My advice to all of you is to do your research! Take the time to think about what kinds of questions you will get asked, and have a general idea of how you want to answer them. Don't try to memorize anything, it will only trip you up if you make a mistake during the interview. All in all, be yourself, SMILE, and make sure the interviewer knows why you deserve to work in the most magical place on earth!

The Waiting Game

At this point in the application season, it seems like all there is to do it wait. Some people are still waiting for the WBI (web-based interview), while others are waiting for their phone interview. Applicants may also be waiting for their pending status to change, and some of the lucky few are waiting for their program to start!

Regardless of the status of your application, a huge part of the Disney College Program experience is "The Waiting Game." The waiting game consists of constantly refreshing your email and dashboard (Disney's way of communicating with you), checking the Facebook pages incessantly, and stressing about your plans for the next semester. I know how real the struggle of waiting is, so I've compiled some tips to help you get through this transitional period:

1. Try to have patience. Understand that Disney knows what they are doing, and you will eventually be done with all of this waiting. 
2. Focus on your schoolwork for the current semester. You still have several weeks to get through before you can even get to Disney, so don't let your grades suffer because you're too anxious!
3. Keep yourself busy. Join a club, spend time with friends, work on homework, just do something to take your mind off of the waiting.
4. Make plans with your school for the next semester. Regardless of your application status, it can never hurt to talk with your advisor or other faculty members about your future and how the DCP can play a role in it.
5. Talk about it! Talk to your family, friends, roommates, Facebook friends, whoever you need to, and express your excitement/frustration/anxiousness or whatever you are feeling! Keeping all those feelings in will do you no good, so it's best to express yourself. 
6. Prepare. If you still have an interview to complete, prepare for the interviews. If you are waiting for an acceptance, prepare for both outcomes, and have a back up plan in place. If you are just waiting for your program to start, prepare for the program. Stay on top of the paperwork, look for class signups to start coming out, discuss apartment items with your roommates. Don't let it all wait until the last minute, especially while you have all of this valuable waiting time to prepare!

The Waiting Game is  tough, but just stay positive! Remember, we are all in this together. Have the most magical of days! (: