A guy in one of my classes was talking to me about the Disney College Program and I was giving him some of the ins and outs of the program. See, I was a CP(college program) cast member Spring term 2011 and enjoyed it a lot.
After talking extensively about the program and the benefits/negative sides, I found myself thinking about Disney all the time. It was getting slightly obsessive. I just couldn't focus on anything else! Then it hit me!!
APPLY FOR THE PROGRAM AGAIN!!
I'll be graduating college in December and I won't have to be back home to start classes so why not look into starting a Disney career?! I already have experience working there and a pretty clean record card so why not try to get into the program again. Maybe this time I can extend like I wanted but couldn't because of a summer course I had to have. And who knows, maybe I'll stay even longer. Maybe forever!
Flash forward a few days from the moment of clarity. I get on my laptop and sign up for the Spring semester. I do the web interview and I was relieved I still was a "strong candidate." I set up my phone interview for the earliest date I could; Wednesday, September 28th.
The interview itself was really odd. It was completely different than the one I had experienced before. The whole interview took 8 minutes. The first was around 40 minutes long. The interviewer asked a total of 8 questions and almost all of them were about my last program. Did I like it, what were some challenges, did I like my roommate, if I took classes did I like them. She did ask about what role I would like which was nice. I told her Character Attendant would be my top choice since I had already done attractions.
Literally less than 40 hours later I get my acceptance email!! Some people have been waiting 3+ weeks and here I am on the super fast track! The only thing I can figure is that I'm an alum and have a good record so I must have done something right.
And the best part about it all? I got CHARACTER ATTENDANT!! I hear that it is one of the most competitive and challenging roles to get. Every Disney dream I've had so far has come true. I got the EXACT role I wanted last spring (Kilimanjaro Safaris at Animal Kingdom) and this time I'm getting the exact one I want again! Maybe that's a good sign for me and Disney in the future.
I paid my $300 which is for processing and housing fees. Last program, the $200 housing fee was taken out of your first full check so for the first 3 (ish) weeks down there you're not really making any money. Paying it now was a relief. Those first weeks are hard if you don't have money saved. I chose my check in date and picked January 9th- June 1st. Plenty of time and still a good but of time to extend the program as long as I might want to if need be.
Anyway, this is getting really long but a lot has happened so far. I probably won't be updating this all that much until I get to Florida since there won't be a lot to talk about. I will probably log on when i need to express my need for January 8th to hurry. Other than that, I'm out!
Thanks for reading!
Mags
