part of that world @erindreamsofdisney - Tumblr Blog

Your cast member is showing!

For anyone who doesn’t know, Disney cast members must always point with two fingers, or a full hand. Never just the pointer finger. As I was walking to Fantasmic with my roommate, we both Disney pointed the way we wanted to walk. A cast member saw and so he said, “Your cast member is showing!”

So anyways, I have pretty much been here for three weeks and I already feel at home. My five roommates are amazing, and I am so lucky that they are all normal and not crazy psycho roommates.

I have officially ‘earned my ears’ and have completed the very thorough training required to work as a merchandise cast member. World of Disney is CRAZY BUSY ALL THE TIME and on a slow day there is always something to do and still a bunch of people there. I’ve realized how much I like my location because unlike other stores (like the ones that are at the exit of rides in the parks), guests actually go there on their own will to shop. I have already had several memorable interactions with the guests while working. One of the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutiques is located in World of Disney (aka WOD) so I always see new princesses every day. They are always so excited to hear someone call them Princess, and it is adorable every time.

My hours are long, and so far I usually work until midnight or later. So the initial excitement of being here has worn off, and my realization of me having to work long hours is settling in. Don’t get me wrong though, because I still am absolutely ecstatic to be working for this company, and sometimes it still doesn’t feel real that I am here working for Disney.

#Disney College Program #dcp fall 2015

First Week.

After a claustraphobic three day road trip, we finally arrived to Orlando Sunday evening. The first day was the worst drive-wise but it was really cool to see the sights of ‘merica the beautiful.

Monday was check in day, and I found out my work location and housing. I am going to be working at World of Disney in Downtown Disney (ahem...Disney Springs) which is the BIGGEST DISNEY STORE IN THE WORLD. I was originally hoping to be in one of the parks, but the more I think about it, I am really excited about my location. The store is only open until midnight, which means no 2 am extra magic hours for me.

I went to Casting on Tuesday, and that building was wicked cool. We had to go there just to do paperwork, but somehow it was still a magical experience. Each Cast member there asked me my location, and they all told me that I am going to be very busy.

Friday was Traditions, which made this experience finally feel like it was really happening. We learned about how to do certain things the Disney way and also got a quick tour of the Magic Kingdom through the Utilidoors!! When we got back to the classroom, the boss himself, Mickey Mouse, delivered our official name tags! It was such a good day and everything they told us and every video they showed us just made me so excited to be working for this company.

My roommates and I went to Magic Kingdom FOR FREEE for the first time Friday night and watched Wishes the closest I’ve ever been to the castle to see it.

I should have posted this about two weeks ago, but its been sitting as a draft as I have continued to train for my job and explore the area.

#Disney College Program #dcp #dcp15 #disney college program fall 2015

my partay.

Yesterday was my graduation/going away party. I originally didn’t really want to have one, but I’m glad that I did. There weren’t a whole lot of people that came, but all the people who mattered did. I realized how loved I am and that some people will actually miss me, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Check-in day is exactly one week away and i have a crazy amount of stuff to do. I’ve been procrastinating and probably will continue to do so for the next few days.

#DCP countdown #dcp arrival #disney college program fall #dcp fall 2015

new hire paperwork!

I did my new hire paperwork yesterday...that’s about it. It took a while because of the crappy internet here in Maine. But I am officially ready to work in Disney! 33 days until move in AAAHHHHH.

#Disney College Program #dcp #dcp2015 #disney college program fall #dcp fall 15

DCP BUCKETLIST!

Okay so I’ve been wanting to make a list of the things I want to do/see during my time in Orlando. I’m probably going to add to this as I think of other things.

1. Eat a Dole Whip ASAP

2. Go on the Jungle Cruise

3. FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL (at least three trips and must try at least one thing from each country)

4. AVOCADO MARGARITA FROM MEXICO. When I read that these exist in Epcot, everyone I told about it thought it sounds gross. PSH.

5. Pin trade with customers

6. I hope at least once that someone will ask me what time the 3 o’clock parade is

7. Disneybound with friends in all four parks

8. Eat at Crystal Palace (never gets old)

9. Go to a park alone and just people-watch

10. Go to Character Performer auditions

11. Universal Studios annual pass...HARRY POTTER WORLD!!

12. Make dinner with roomies at least once a week

13. Go resort hopping

14. Buy a Mickey balloon and walk around with it all day

15. See La Nouba

16. Meet princes!

17. Pick up shifts at the Not-So-Scary Halloween Party!

18. Explore the countries more

19. Get a Starbucks mug from each park

20. Take jumping pic in front of the castle

21. All four parks in one day challenge

22. Keep track of where the guests I meet are from

23. TURKEY LEG (lifelong dream)

24. See opening show at Magic Kingdom

25. Watch Finding Nemo the Musical

26. Watch Beauty and the Beast

27. Befriend a Dapper Dan

28. Enjoy Starbs whilst lounging on hubgrass

29. DisneyQuest!

30. Explore Innovations

31. Go to the beach!

32. Nightlife at the Boardwalk (Jellyrolls!)

33. Nutella waffle sandwich at Sleepy Hollow

34. CONQUER the Kitchen Sink (most likely with help of friends)

35. Celebrate my unbirthday

36. Buy the mermaid pair of Mickey ears. Get name engraved

37. Write down all favorite memories and put them in a jar during your program to read at the end

#dcp #dcp bucket list #disney college program bucket list #disney college program

#dcp countdown #dcp fall 2015 #dcp

So I didn’t get a character performer role. I’m upset but I can’t be too upset because I’m still living the dream by working for Disney. Hopefully I can audition while I’m in Orlando and extend my program.

bemygympartner

waltdisneydiary-blog

I. CANNOT. WAIT. 158 DAYS.

maeghandoesdisney-deactivated20

General

· Be one of the last ones out of each park once

· Go on every ride at least once

· Do the Backstage Magic Tour

· All 4 Parks in one day

· Go to a park and people watch

· Go play in a park in the rain

· See every parade

· Stay at a park from open to close

· Take a picture with each parks ‘landmark’

· Visit all the Resorts

· See more than one show in a night

· Meet a guest from all 50 States

· Meet every character

· Buy a shirt from each park

· Get a picture with Mickey at each Park

· Hidden Mickey Photo Hunt Day

· TAKE PICTURES LIKE CRAZY

· Learn to surf at Typhoon Lagoon

· Swim with sharks at Typhoon Lagoon

· Finish the Cupcake Crawl

· Eat the Kitchen Sink with my friends!

· Participate in one Half Marathon

· Ears, Ears, and more Ears!

· Mickey Ice Cream Bar at every Park

· Pin Trade

· Collect a Fast Pass for every ride it’s available for

Magic Kingdom

· Take a picture with the Mickey Balloons & buy one

· Get Pixie Dust from Castle Court

· Watch Celebrate the Magic and Wishes from right in front of the Castle

· Get a picture on empty Main Street

· Make a wish in the Wishing Well

· Experience the Kiss Goodnight

· Take the Ferryboat

· Try pulling the sword from the stone in Fantasyland

· Eat a Dole Whip

· See the Suite in Cinderella’s Castle

· Celebrate my Birthday!

· Try the Grey Stuff

· See a proposal in front of the castle

· Attend Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

· Attend Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

·

Epcot

· Try all the flavors at Club Cool

· Sit in the front row of Soarin’

· Get a Passport from Guest Relations and visit every country to get it stamped

· Pick a Pearl in Japan

· Eat at every country

· Take a picture in every country

Hollywood Studios

· Do the Animation Class

· Experience Character Palooza

· See both Fantasmic shows in one night and sit in the front row

· Sit front row on Rockin’ Rollercoaster

Animal Kingdom

· Do the Wild Africa Trek

· See (and get to be a part of) Festival of the Lion King

· Go on Kali River Rapids until I’m soaked

· Play in Dinoland

Downtown Disney

· Design my own shirt at Design-a-tee

· Get ice cream from Ghirardelli

· Stroll around at night

· See a movie at the dine-in theater

· Rent a platoon boat

· Have ice cream for breakfast

· Shopping spree

erindreamsofdisney

I want to make my own bucket list but I love some of these!!

hfen

Disney College Program Acceptances

Reblog this post if you’ve already been accepted! I want to see what kind of presence there is here on Tumblr!

My Disney Audition.

Alright so I am going to recount everything about my experience auditioning.

The audition was yesterday, March 14th, 2015....aka PI DAY!!!

The Day Before:

Katie and I took the bus friday morning and arrived in NYC around 4pm. We checked into our hotel and then went to dinner at McGee’s, the pub that How I Met Your Mother is based off of! We both got sliders (even though it was a lenten friday...sorry jesus) which were delishh and cocktails with names based on the show. I got the Pineapple Incident and she got the Slutty Pumpkin. Then we met up with my ballet teacher from back in the day and she showed us her apartment on the 47th floor and the view from her room was INCREDIBLE. We met up with some of her friends at Carlos’ Bake Shop and split a $10 red velvet pastry. We walked around Times Square and then called it a night.

Audition Day:

We woke up at 7:45am (ish) and got ready. We went to the free hotel breakfast and were on our way. The audition was at Pearl Studios. The lobby was super crowded. We showed the man at the desk our licences and he let us in to go upstairs. We waited in a line before the studio that people were signing in. The line was zig zagged, and one of the people directed me to go all the way around the room even though I could have walked right across to get to my spot in line. She redirected me and it was super embarrassing.

After signing in on the iPad, we were directed to another studio to put our stuff down and wait. Two cast members came in. Katherine was the choreographer and she was essentially Mickey Mouse in a woman’s body. Kent was the recruiter. They talked for a little bit just explaining how the day would go. Then, Katherine taught us two counts of eight and we practiced it A LOT before actually doing it for the audition. If you have even the slightest bit of dance experience, it was a very simple routine. *March march march march jazz square pony pony pivot turn pivot turn AAND repeat* They lined us up four at a time in numerical order and for two counts of eight we had to first pretend we were a character on a float. We then did the two counts of eight three times in a row. After everyone had gone, they sat us down and said that no matter what we all should be proud of ourselves and were basically already in a Disney parade. Kent called the numbers of the people who were to stay, and everyone else was cut.

I was lucky enough to have my number called (I was #82, by the way). Such a big wave of relief went through me, because out of the 50 people in my room, they only called about 8 or 9 numbers. I am still incredibly happy that I got picked, and the more I think about it, the more amazing it gets. The recruiter thought I could have a chance, he thought I have the potential to be a Disney character. There were many amazing people who I saw get cut, and I felt so bad, yet so lucky and blessed.

We were then relocated (they made us switch rooms like three times) and had to wait for all the other groups to go before moving onto the next round. There were over 300 people at this audition, so we had to wait a solid two hours before doing anything else. In that amount of time, I ate all the snacks I had with me, finished a water bottle, a gatorade, and a special k protein shake, and peed about 4 times in the nasty bathroom with no lock on one of the stall doors. I sat with a group of people who were all really nice! We ended up playing that game Heads Up to keep ourselves entertained. Once the final group of people who made the cut came into the room, we were all handed a piece of paper to write our name, email, shoe size, etc... and then got in line to be measured and have a head shot taken. I’m nervous about how my picture came out because I didn’t get to see it and I’m not sure how my smile looked.

We moved rooms AGAIN and were taught the animation exercise we would be doing to audition. The scenario was that we were at the zoo and had to bathe an animal or creature. We then had to become this animal. After practicing it in groups, Katherine taught us a slightly harder, yet still easy, dance routine. It got SUPER hot in that room, and I then understood why they had taken our pictures beforehand. After learning it, we were sent into the adjacent studio to wait while they called people in five at a time. General recruitment people went first, then the college programmers. The guy came into our room to say that Kent might ask us to stay after this, but if we are not asked to stay, it doesn’t mean that we were cut. I’m still not sure what it meant for the people who got to stay, because I was not asked.

When it was my turn to audition, I was front and center, right in front of Kent, which scared the crap out of me. I didn’t have the mirror space to see what I was doing, which I shouldn’t have been doing anyways, but I can’t help it. I think I got too dance-y with the animation exercise, and in retrospect, I could have slowed a lot of my my actions down to make them more readable. After that, my audition was complete. I will hopefully be hearing from Disney sometime before April 20th. I know my chances are SUPER slim of becoming a face character or parade performer, but hey, a girl can dream.