A DCP Adventure

My name is Jamie and I'm going to be participating in the Walt Disney World Spring Advantage 2015 College Program as a Lifeguard! Stay tuned to follow my life and my experience!

[captainonemorechance]

Disney Bucket List

(My Current Bucket list, I reserve the right to add/delete more)

·         Harry Potter World! :D

·         Buy a Wand

·         Buy Robes

·         Head Girl and Prefect pins

·         Universal Studios

·         Blizzard Beach

·         Typhoon Lagoon

·         Eat at a High End Disney Restaurant

·         Shop at a Cast Member Only Store

·         See as many Hotels as possible

·         Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian

·         Get a Caricature

·         Attempt the Kitchen Sink at Beaches and Cream

·         Have a Spa Day J

·         Participate in Dapper Day

·         Get at least one Four Keys Card

·         Save a real person

·         Go to a Character meal

·         Stay in a Disney Hotel

·         VoluntEAR

·         Visit a beach

·         Go to a Star Wars Weekend

·         Get all the pressed pennies and souvenir book

·         Buy some pins

·         Go to the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival

·         Have a candy apple

·         (If Applicable) Go to a Cast Member Preview

·         Go to a Housing Event

·         See the Kiss Goodnight

·         Get a PAC shift

·         Try Sorcerers of Magic Kingdom

·         Swim with the sharks

·         Get Mickey in as many costumes as possible

[captainonemorechance]

Of my Birthday, Forgetting vital Cards, and New Hire Paperwork

I’m positive that every person with a December birthday feels the birthmas feels. I have been experiencing Birthmas—the combination of a birthday and Christmas—since I was a child. I understand that it is easier, but still it my birthday, please don’t treat it like Christmas. >.<

  I naturally had finals on my birthday, another plunder of having an early December birthday on Christmas, but one of the finals was for my favorite class, so it wasn’t bad. I also had a yummy lunch with my mom at Olive Garden. In a small-ish town, Olive Garden is top of the line. After lunch, I went to go buy the wine I wanted to have for my birthday, but naturally, I forgot my ID. I’m super fun like that. I had order my new one to get the “under 21” removed, but I forgot it on my desk. I made my fist alcoholic purchase, took my finals ate dinner and had a glass of wine. It was a very nice way to end the semester before going to DISNEY WORLD!

  Speaking of Disney World, I receive my new hire paperwork yesterday. Fun Fact: it take internet explorer to work. So, things still require Internet Explorer, who knew?

  I actually read through everything, but my favorite thing that I came across was that while working, cast members could not “Gamble or Sleep”.

  What? Really?

  Think, that had to have been an actual issue for them to put it into a form that was to be signed by every employee.

  Anyway, I am going to be celebrating my birthday this weekend with my one friend who is of legal drinking age, and I will be writing and posting about that soon.

  Until then!

[captainonemorechance]

Of Classes, Postcards, and Decor Possiblities

There are officially 65 days until my check in date! I am super excited; I also am going to be getting a link to game soon, so I’m also really excited to be playing that when classes end in 2 weeks.

  Probably a grand total of 2 hours after my last post I was able to figure out DORMs, login, and register for the one class I wanted to take. I ended up needing to use the “incognito” window in order to sign in. It was really weird, but it worked, so I’m just going to roll with it.

  A couple of weeks or so ago, I got my Congratulations! Postcard.

I also took a photo with one my friend from high school, Janelle. (She will probably be involved here too.)

  I am looking forward to receiving some money for my birthday/ Christmas so I can, hopefully, get some new sheets for my bed down in Disney. I also am thinking about doing a couple of very crafty things for my bedroom.  I really need to entertain myself for most of December and January.

  My 21st birthday is coming soon, so in order to sort of “practice” taking pictures, I’ll be sure to do so then.

  Until then, bye! 

[captainonemorechance]

Of Sickness, Class Registration, and Roommates

I have been super sick the past 5ish days, and I am 100% done. I missed class today, I hate missing class. It makes me super sad.

  Speaking of class, Disney class registration was this morning at 8am (Mountain time). The Facebook pages immediately lit up with excitement and frustration. People were having trouble logging on and DORMS kept crashing due to the high volume of people trying to do the same thing at the same time.

  I was, and still am, one of the fortunate ones who cannot log on. I tried constantly for the first 90 minutes, yes 90 MINUTES. Since then I have tried every 30 minutes for 5 minutes. I have officially come to the conclusion that I am not meant to take classes and therefore will not. At least this session, the class I want to take is still available during the summer, so I might try again then.

  Anywho, my roommate hunt is completely on hold. I found two fabulous ladies, Amity and Makaela, both of whom I am excited to spend time with and I believe we will be friends. :D With the increase of people being accepted, there is an increase of people who are looking for roommates, and a large percentage of those speak to their “potential new roommate” (fellow Greeks laugh at that the way I did? No, okay) for like 5 seconds and say “YUP, LEZZ DOO IT”. I have never been one to immediately and quickly make a decision, other than accepting my offer ;), so it’s driving me nuts.

  That’s all for now, but I had to “rant” a little, (yes this is a mild rant) about class registration. 

[captainonemorechance]

90 Days until check-in!

I am still so excited.

  Still VERY excited.

  Yesterday, my mother gave me my birthday present—even though my birthday is in December. ;) She bought my plane ticket to Orlando. It’s a one way, nonstop flight, so it is bound to have a lot of little happy children, and me, that are excited about going to Disney World!!

  I am actually not struggling with schoolwork as much as I thought I would be. I think that’s because I know that if I do really well this semester nothing will hold me back when I finally get to Florida, or my birthday, which is the last day of Finals.

  Any-who, I should probably go to bed, its midnight, but I couldn’t let this day pass by without announcing my plane ticket. :D

[captainonemorechance]

I love your DCP blog! Great posts☺️

Thanks! It will probably get a lot better when I actually get to Florida. :)

[captainonemorechance]

I don't remember what I put down for my roles, which sucks big time, so now I'm not sure what I qualify for. I looked up role descriptions and it just seems like operations, lodging, food/beverage, retail, and entertainment. I just feel nervous, because I've never wanted anything more, but I don't know how to prepare fully.

You'll be fine. :) Your interviewer will have preset questions about the roles they are interested in giving you anyway. You are right though, those are pretty much most of the categories, just each role in each category is different. Just line up what past jobs/ volunteer experience you have and just know how that might relate to the roles you are interested in. 

What I did to prepare was Google "DCP Phone Interview Tips", a lot of things will pop up. You can even go on youtube and watch some people take their actual phone interview. Just breathe and relax and you will be just fine. 

[captainonemorechance]

I'm so sorry if I'm flooding you with questions, I just don't want to miss an opportunity or take one away from someone else by proceeding to go after this. When you say it's $89-$119 for rent, is that with roommates, or do you split that between them?

The rent is actually each, weekly (we get paid weekly). Its actually rather expensive, but there are no additional bills, so that's nice. The rent is taken out of your paycheck, so you don't have to worry about having enough money at the end of the month for the next moth's rent. 

[captainonemorechance]

When you say "know the roles," what do you mean by that? Also, this may be a stupid question, but do you get discounted park admission on your day off? I feel like maybe I'm not as prepared as I thought I was.

"Roles" is Disney's term for the jobs that they offer. If you go to the Disney College Program Website, you will see a list of roles, under program components--earning and there is a description of all the roles. Knowing what roles you are qualified for and are interested in prior to the Phone Interview will help you relax and you'll be able to do better. That's not a stupid question, so many people don't know, but as an employee, you will get in 100% free. :) 

[captainonemorechance]

You were so helpful! I have my phone interview on Wednesday and I wanted to make sure that I'm not wasting anyone's time. I just didn't understand completely. So when you say that "Disney actually provides housing, which is of course, optional." Is that what you defined as "common area" or something of the sort in your video and if you choose different you pick out an apartment that's in the area? Honestly, thank you for your time!

That was my way of saying that it isn't required to stay in Disney Housing. In my little video the "common area" means the living room or kitchen. 

Good luck on your phone interview, I was such a hot mess during mine, but it all worked out. Just know the roles, make sure to do as much research on those as possible. If you end up with more questions, you can always ask your recruiter at the end too, so everything will be fine.

I also feel really cool being on the other end of the questioning too. So thank you. :)

[captainonemorechance]

Please excuse my ignorance, first and foremost. So the gist is: you work at the park, live somewhere close, and classes are optional? I am so confused. I also see people filling out these roommate surverys. How do they know where you can live? Also, when people say wellness and non-wellness, how do you know? How do you know how much rent will be? I saw that you have to pay like $800 or so upfront, but how do you know what expenses to plan for?

Wow! Haha I hope I'm able to help.

 Yes, you pretty much have the gist of the program correct, BUT on a resume, you can list this program as an internship, which is huge.

 Disney actually provides housing, which is of course, optional. (Provides is a loose term since they take out rent with every check.) Everyone is filling out roommate surveys to try and find people to live with ahead of time so they don't have to do the "random" option.

 The "wellness" and "non-wellness" has to do with alcohol. Wellness means no alcohol in the apartment, if a participant is under the age of 21 s/he is automatically placed in a wellness apartment. Someone over the age of 21 can opt into a wellness apartment but s/he must sign something that says that they will not bring alcohol into the apartment. Non-wellness is an apartment that allows alcohol.

 Rent is actually a bit up in the air right now. The minimum wage in Florida was increased, so naturally everything else increases with it. I believe that the rent ranges from $89 to $119 (depending on the amount of people. Less people, more money. Each apartment has at least one bedroom with at least two beds (people) per room, and some of the rooms have three beds (people).

 Now, the payment, everyone's favorite part. The Walt Disney World College Program, the one that I will be participating in, is a grand total of $354.50 (Once paid, it is 100% nonrefundable). $200 goes to the first two weeks rent, for when the participant is not being paid (refunded if the students decided to live off property), $150 goes to program fees, (that I believe Disney uses for housing events,) and the $4.50 is a processing fee. Disneyland I know a lot less about, the $860 fee was enough to make not even consider that program. But, I know that some of the fee is refundable, like a cleaning deposit and the rest of the fees are used in a similar way to that of Disney World.

The expenses that a student will have to pay for are normal living expenses. Food, clothing and entertainment, gas if s/he has a car and any other bills that one might have. Students in the program are paid for their time; this is a paid internship, which in my opinion makes it so awesome. All utilities are also included in the rent, so there isn't that worry either.

[captainonemorechance]

Can I ask you some questions about the DCP?

Umm. Sure! Please note that I am not an alumnus, so I only have limited knowledge. :)

[captainonemorechance]

My Disney College Program Spring Advantage dates are 2/2-8/7 I'm having awful luck on Facebook, everyone seems to pick roommates so quickly! We will be living with each other, I'm not going to talk to you via the internet for less that 30 minutes and decide to live with you. 

[captainonemorechance]

Mixed Feelings about my Role

I have determined that this “blog” is going to act as a journal for my time in the Disney College Program. I want to focus on my experience, and what the program is like for me, not about the program as a whole. If the supposed people who read this—assuming there are people haha—are reading it thinking about doing the program are anything like me, they have done the research and they just want to know what the program was like for different people. Another thing, I understand that I am not a gifted writer by any means; I know that I should probably edit everything and I could always write better, but that’s why this is so informal and I am an Education major instead of a creative writing or English major. :D

  Finally, onto what I wanted this entry to be about.

  After a couple days of excitement, I have had time to think about the role I was given and I have mixed feelings about it. I have been a lifeguard for almost every working hour of my life and I was really hoping to get the chance to do something else. I was looking forward to having a lot of guest interaction, and instead I’ll be watching guests, most likely never talking to them.

  I also understand that the lifeguard training is completely different that the training that I am used to, and is ingrained in me from muscle memory. I am genuinely nervous that I will not be able to change what I have been doing for 5 years super quickly. I am a Red Cross lifeguard, and Disney uses the Ellis Lifeguard training system.  I’m also very disappointed that I don’t get to experience the special things that Cast Member in a park gets to experience.

  Please do not get the idea that I am mad or ungrateful that I was given the lifeguard role, I’m still so excited and honored to have been given the opportunity.

  I am really hoping to be placed at Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach, the two water parks. I have been lifeguarding at a regular pool for so long that I’m really hoping to be placed in a water park. I’m also happy I don’t have to wear a costume that I find ugly; a little superficial, but still a point.

  All in all, I was really hoping to get a role that I have yet to experience, but I also understand why Disney gave me this role, and I look forward to getting to Lifeguard in a completely different environment.  

  100 days until my College Program!

[captainonemorechance]

More Pending and Other Things

So, last week marked 3 weeks since I initially received my pending email. It was rather heartbreaking. I want to just simply know where my life was going to go.

  And that is how this entry would have started had I not received my beautiful ACCEPTANCE email today!! I was accepted for Spring Advantage 2015! I will be a lifeguard, somewhere. I won’t find out until I check in on the 2nd of February.

  I can’t even explain how humbled I am to even be given this opportunity. I am so excited and am very much looking forward to going and living in Florida for 6 months. :)

[captainonemorechance]

Another Wave of Confusion

Hi All!

  This has been an interesting couple of days. Yesterday, as far as I could tell, nearly every single person that has not yet been updated of their application status received an email of some sort. Now, I know that not everyone did, but everyone that I have spoken to, including myself, did.

  I got the previously dreaded “your status is pending a final decision” email. In previous years (I am saying this according to research I have done), this has been sent out if and only if the applicant was not going to be receiving a final decision by the end of the 2-3 week initial period. This year is a little different in that sense.

  I know, from what is said in Facebook groups, that some people were told “2-3 weeks, but you probably won’t hear anything until late October.” I personally was only told late October, so that’s why I was not too worried, up until about 2pm yesterday. I am a little concerned, but I still do believe that I did the best I could have, and that’s all I can do.

  Here’s what I think that the HUGE pending email wave was about: I think too many people were relying on the timing of previous years and were continuously calling recruiting. This was their way of saying, relax, we said late October, for a reason.

  If, I don’t hear anything as of Halloween, my genuine concern level with increase. Until that time, if it happens, I’m still relatively confident with what I can bring to Disney and that if it is part of God’s plan for me, it will happen.

  Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust!

[captainonemorechance]

Week 4 Post Phone Interview-Submissioners

Hi All!

Those whom were in submission are pretty much out! I’m pretty sure a lot of the people in submission were offered a WBI (Web-Based Interview) and from that point it’s up to them. That’s super great and I’m happy for those who were finally given more opportunity to show just how great they are.

  Today marks 1 month since my phone interview. Wow. Honestly feels like a lot less than that, but also more. If that makes sense. I've seen quite a few people get accepted through the Facebook groups, and I’m crossing my fingers that it will be my turn, if not this week, then by late October.

  Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust! <3