Disney World Book!

The facebook page for Fall 2010 cpers helps out alot! CPers of the past, present, and future post helpful links and one of the more recent one was of this book titled The Complete Walt Disney World 2010 (thanx Jazmine!).

Requesting locations to work at seems to be on alot of people's minds and this book gives a short listing and description of shops, restaurants, attractions, and resorts and even categorizes it by park. There is also a list of things that are new to the park this year. When it comes to resorts and restaurants it makes it pretty easy to compare prices. I havent picked up the book yet but it seems like it's going for about $17, at least it is at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

Also worth mentioning is an online Disney jukebox (thanx Michelle!). Actually to call it a jukebox is cheapening what it really is, cuz it's much more than that. Through this website you can also chat with other members (you have to sign up, make a screen name, and create a password), post photos and videos, and join groups. You can even have what they call 'pals'. This kind of reminds me of facebook but it has a jukebox...so it's cooler :-) They have the music to all the fireworks shows (well at least the big ones) and music to some of the parades (i forgot how much I LOVE Tapestry of Nations til I heard the music again), music that's played in some of the resorts, and music that's played around the parks including entrance music and some recordings of some rides and a monorail spiel (i think). Even if you're not a Disney nerd (I'm not) I'm sure you'll enjoy it

Custom shirts!

So I've been reading on the Fall 2010 College Program Facebook website that people are trying to get customized Disney shirts.

Someone posted a link to a website with some cute Disney/Florida shirts and I found a way to customize them! You can't add anything on the back but you can add anything you want on the front like Fall 2010 CP or your role like I did in the pic.

The shirt pictured above is $20.45

Quick Service Food and Beverage

I'm bored! I dont feel like writing these papers or cleaning my room so I figure I'll write about my role.

As you know from my previous entries I'm in Quick Service Food and Beverage. Basically this means that I can work anywhere in the park where food is served and you do not have a waiter. This is the type of job I've been working since I was 16; McDonald's, Cold Stone Creamery, and the dining hall in the dorms at school. It's not glamorous but oh well. I could be doing anything from cashier, cleaning tables, sweeping and mopping floors...actually let me just quote what's in my purple folder : selling food & beverages at outdoor carts and/or indoor restaurants, taking & filling orders, multi-tasking, preparing & assembling food items in a kitchen area including the use of a fryer, grill, broiler, &other industrial cooking equipment, cash handling-both manual & using computerized registers, bussing tables, cleaning kitchen & counter equipment, emptying trash cans, dispensing and selling alcoholic beverages, setting & stocking tables, working outdoor carts & in restaurants, heavy lifting, pushing heavy carts, working with cleaning chemicals, working independently or as part of a large team, standing for extended periods of time, and working outdoors.

Whew! That's alot, but not really when you think about it. I'm kind of sad tho cuz I have to cut my nails and can't wear nail polish :-(

The letter also informs me I will be taking a class that covers Bloodborne Pathogens YUM lol

One major part of my invitation letter is the pay rate...it's $7.56/hour, whomp whomp :-( I was understandably a little upset but was relieved to hear that most people in merchandise and attractions (my top two choices) only get $7.25/hour which is Florida's minimum wage. Hopefully that doesn't mean that my job is that much messier/harder!

I've been looking into locations to request from the recruiter (wdw.college.recruiting@disney.com).
It's not guaranteed I'll get a requested location but it won't hurt to send the email. I'll be sending a medical form saying that I can't be outside in the summer all day so I need to make sure all the locations are appropriate. I also figure I can't go wrong with places that sell cold food. It can get just as hot in the kitchen as it can outside! So far I've gathered a pretty decent list but think it can stand to be shortened. Here's what I have so far:

Aloha Isle

Located in the Magic Kingdom is a little shop where they serve ice cream "with a tropical twist" YUM

Here is where you get the infamous Dole Whip (I have yet to try this but am VERY excited to see what all the buzz is about)!

The Polynesian Resort

I would love nothing more than to spend 30-50+ hours a week in a place that is a replica of the Polynesian islands! I swear i'm gonna move to Hawaii one day so this will be the next best thing.

Kona Island
Location: Disney's Polynesian Resort

Cuisine: American
Come here for a pick-me-up of a quick snack and rejuvenating beverage with caffeine or without.

This is the description from the Disney website and seems like a chill environment

Seashore Sweets
Location: Disney's BoardWalk

Cuisine: American
The specialties at this old-fashioned shop are saltwater taffy, fudge and other "Confections Served with Affection."

Also from the Disney website. Who wouldn't want to work in a shop that sells saltwater taffy?

Polar Pub
Location: Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park

Cuisine: American
Cool off with tropical drinks at this pool bar.

Yup, the word tropical caught my eye lol but I've also always wanted to work at a water park for some reason..

Leaning Palms
Location: Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park

Cuisine: American
Breeze in for burgers and American fare. Special Kids meals are served in a souvenir sand pail.

Once again, a reference to the beach/island with the sand pail and it's at the water park I've always wanted to visit

Beaches & Cream Soda Shop
Location: Disney's Beach Club Resort

Cuisine: American
Listen to favorites on the classic jukebox while savoring sandwiches, burgers and irresistible ice cream desserts.
Sounds like the restaurant from 'Happy Days'! Seems like a place I'd look forward to going to every day

Auntie Gravitys Galactic Goodies
Location: Tomorrowland

Cuisine: American
Cool off with some ice cream or a smoothie.

Sounds cool and something tells me it will attract tons of enthusiastic little kids :-)

ABC Commissary
Location: Backlot

Cuisine: American
Take a break "back stage" for favorite fast-food dishes with international twists, like cheeseburgers, curry and Cuban specialties

This one's in MGM (now know as Hollywood Studios). I've never been there but this restaurant also serves ethnic cuisine. Sounds interesting!

These are just ideas, I haven't sent the email yet and would love any suggestions especially if someone has experience at any of these locations.

Alice in Wonderland review

I'm sure many people have seen commercials for the new Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton. First off let me say I LOVE Tim Burton and I especially love that he loves Johnny Depp (cuz so do I). I've loved all of his movies except Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (it was too creepy/weird for me)...and unfortunately this one.

I went to see the movie with 3 of my cousins and 3 of us fell asleep. To be fair only 2 of us count cuz I honestly dont know if the one saw past the previews at all but still. I was so excited to see it so we paid extra for 3d and everything and I kept nodding off.

Without giving too much away I do want to point out to those who haven't seen it that it is the sequel to the cartoon and takes on a MUCH more serious tone. It's really not funny, just weird. The only part I remember laughing at was when the Mad Hatter started break-dancing.

If I were you I wouldnt waste my money on it, but that's just my opinion

BOREDOM

So I logged on today and saw that I now have 10 followers. Yay! So I guess I should update this thing huh? Not much has been going on. I've already been accepted...so now I just have to wait til August 11th :-)

So to pass the time (155 days!) I've been watching previous and present CPers vlogs and decided that I'm definitely making one when I get down there :-) There are so many good and informative ones but I think my favorite is Ryan O's Disney Show. I can tell he loves his job and it makes me want to love my job!

Being in QSFB it's been hard to find someone who's documented their journey and will give an unbiased review of it but I found a girl named Larkin who does just that! She even wears her hideous costume for the camera, Thanks Larkin! Now I'm actually excited about my role

So today I walked into class, looked up on the board and saw the sign for the Disney presentation next week. I'm excited even though I'm already going. I'm definitely going to see if they'll give me that little sheet they have with everyone's email. You can never have too many resources!

While searching for vlogs I've come across a couple funny youtube videos.

This one is from So Random or Sonny With A Chance, a show i think (you can tell I dont watch the Disney Channel) It's called The Real Princesses of New Jersey

Next is my FAVORITE Lion King moment!

Here's Mean Girls, Disney edition

"It's like I have ESPN or something" HAHA

Here's a cute/funny commercial I stumbled upon

And last but not least here's my FAVORITE Disney commercial

SUCCESS!

It's officially official! Tech support came through, worked everything out and I am officially set to arrive in Florida August 11th :-)

I didn't get the summer job I wanted but hey, I have one from August 11-January 7th!

Now I just need to get my plane ticket and find someone to watch my cat Nemo...

Speed Bump

I haven't yet confirmed my arrival date. I was waiting on a job that I applied for for over the summer. It pays really well and I'm afraid that if I confirm too early I'll miss out because this job requires full availability, I just don't know til which date yet.

In my invitation my deadline to accept is March 6th, I of course immediately accepted and paid my deposit, but did not finish the confirmation. Seeing how March 6th is a few days away I decided that I should go ahead and confirm my arrival and not wait on a job that isn't guaranteed.

So I went to log in and everything yesterday but kept being told to pay my deposit again! I received a confirmation email and have physically seen that the money was taken out of my account. What's going on?

So I called the Disney number, talked to some guy and told him my issue. He gave me tech support's email but of course they left the office before 5pm yesterday so I still havent heard from them.

Hopefully this is just a speed bump and not a sign that me and Disney were never meant to be

Housing!

So while in the college program participants are allowed to stay in housing that is provided by Disney or they can find their own. The nice thing about the housing that is provided is that not only is rent deducted from your paycheck but there is also a bus that will pick you up at your apartment and take you to work and some restaurants ad stores. Since I will be without a car I'm 99% sure I'll be choosing this option.
From what I understand there are 4 options when it comes to Disney Housing: The Commons, Vista Way, Chatham Park, and Patterson Court. You also have the option of 1-4 bedrooms (not all these options are offered at each apartment complex) and they assign 2 people to each bedrooms so you'll ideally be with 1-7 roommates

The Commons
From what I've heard, The Commons is basically full of international students and includes washing machines and dryers inside the apartments. It is also the most expensive option.
I personally think I'll pass on this one. Having washers and dryers in the apartments is convenient but not necessary. I lived in the dorms for 2 years and had so much fun in the laundry room meeting new people and you'll be surprised at how many funny things go on there so....

Vista Way
Vista Way (sigh), where do I begin? First off, from what I've heard it's the cheapest of all the options, is right across the street from a couple of restaurants and stores and is party central (there's even a youtube video about the infamous parties

)

Once again, I think I'll pass. I've heard that there are so many parties here that they get disruptive to people in other apartments. I'm a hardcore napper and do not look forward to ANYONE interrupting my naps especially if I have to work 40+ hours a week. There are also rumors that if you sit in the hot tub you'll catch herpes HAHA As ridiculous as that sounds I'm not trying to find out if that's true
This doesn't mean you won't ever catch me at a Vista party, just know that I'll be happy to know that I can go to my (hopefully) quiet apartment any time I want

Chatham Park

From what I understand this apartment is in the middle of Patterson and Vista and across from the Mickey's...cast member place (can't remember the name right now). The apartments look pretty big (from what I've seen on youtube) and the appliances seem nice. I believe this was built in like 2001

This is probably the only one I have no problems with so far, oh yeah except the fact that I've heard there's no cable or internet hook ups in the room, but then again after working 40+ hours a week is my tv/laptop really gonna seem that important to me? Something tells me my bed will be the only thing on my mind

Patterson Court

These are the newest apartments, built in 2008 so they're obviously kind of expensive. Unfortunately there is no bus stop at Patterson so you have to walk to Chatham but it's only like 5 minutes away so thats not bad.

From youtube videos that I've seen these apartments are really nice (new appliances and everything) but they are smaller than Chatham. I dont know how I feel about this, is it worth the extra cost for new appliances and less space?

I would really appreciate anyone's input on where I should stay whether you're an alum of theprogram, are going this fall, or just wanna give your 2 cents. Of course I still have like 5, 6 months to officially decide but I like to figure out things like this early

Acceptance Dilemma

So of course I'm excited about being accepted and a few hours after I received the email I paid my deposit, but I have a question. Everyone's told that they have to accept within a certain time frame or it'll be assumed that they've declined, does that include choosing your arrival date too? I only ask that because there is another accept/decline box on that same page.
I don't want to pick my arrival date too early. I want to make sure I don't get offered a summer job that will conflict but I want to make sure that I don't waste that $100 I just sent Disney either!
I don't know what to do! My deadline is March 6th!

ACCEPTED!

So...I'm soooo excited that I'm going to be living in Florida in August thanks to the Disney College Program! I got accepted like 2 weeks ago after having my phone interview 7 days earlier (quick huh?). I FINALLY checked my mail and found that I've received the infamous purple folder. I know people r tired of hearin me talk about Florida this, Disney that but I'm so excited Haha

I'm going to be working in Quick Service Food & Beverage. I'm not too excited about that or how much I'll be getting paid but hey, it's a guaranteed full time job til January 7th and in this economy that's like finding a needle in a hay stack!