Disney College Program VS International College Program

The Disney College Program (DCP) and the International College Program (ICP) are very similar, but have a few distinct differences. The first one, obviously, being that to do the DCP you need to have American citizenship. The ICP's come from all over the world, they must be fluent in English and be in college, same as the American CP's. All Americans pick their arrival dates, and they range from early May to early September, the ICP's are all here for six months, so they have less flexibility on dates. Something really cool about ICP's, however, is that they get to work two roles. So the first three months (give or take a few weeks) they work one role, then switch for the second half of their program. All of the internationals that I worked with in QSFB worked merchandise for their second role. I don't know if those two just go together, or what, but that's how it worked for them!

Also, character performers don't switch halfway through. I actually met a lot of international character performers, but they stay character performers for the whole program. They were all fur characters, no face, but face characters are pretty rare for CP's anyways! The ICP's end dates were about a week or week and a half after ours were. Oh, and the Commons is no longer just for internationals! Also, the international students don't have the same arrival dates as CP's, so (for my program at least), we weren't allowed to room with ICP's, which is stupid.

If you have a roommate term for whatever reason, you might get a Brazilian in the late fall. I don't know if they have this program for spring, but the Brazilian CP's fall into their own category: they work from November - late January, and they're all from Brazil. Most of my friends who had an empty room ended up with Brazilian roommates (whom they loved!) so that was their best chance of getting placed with internationals.

So as you can see, there's only a few differences between the DCP and ICP programs. One of my favourite parts of the program was all the amazing internationals I got to work with!!

FOOD (Grocery Shopping VS Eating Out)

So here's a whole lot of things I wish I knew going in about food. A lot of this depends on whether or not you have a car, I will mostly focus on those who rely on the bus system. Because I did. :)

The bus will take you to either Walmart or Publix, and I shopped at both of them. I usually preferred fresh produce from Publix, and frozen anything from Walmart. Publix has a lot of good deals (buy one get one free - ALWAYS), but if you take in those coupons to Walmart, they will give you that discount there.

My grocery bills usually consisted of apples, a bag or two of lettuce, a whole or part Rotisserie chicken, cereal, milk (I used gallon jugs, but I use a lot of milk), butter, Kraft mac n cheese, noodles, canned fruit/canned soup, frozen veggies and frozen mango, yogurt, bananas, junk food if I was being weak that day, juice, and the occasional eggs/flour/salt, stuff like that. I shopped every other week and probably spent like $50-$80 per grocery bill.

Now my problem is that anytime I was in the parks (so like at least 3-4 times a week as a guest), I always bought food. I almost never brought stuff from home because I knew I couldn't resist a good hot meal! I would definitely go either/or. EITHER buy good groceries, and keep eating out to a minimum OR only buy a few groceries like breakfast food and sandwiches, and save your money (and calories!) for eating out. I know some people that never bought groceries and just ate out all the time. They actually ended up saving money and losing weight (I know, sounds totally backwards), but that is probably not the healthiest way to do it.

If you have a car, you have more freedom for grocery shopping, but also for eating out. My friends with cars definitely spent more on food, just because it's so much more accessible. So plan accordingly if you're bringing a car!!

Also, if you do decide to eat out in the parks a lot, order kids meals. They are much cheaper than adult meals, and come with a bigger variety of food. This way you have a more balanced meal, a better portion size, and you're saving money. I ended up maintaining my weight/maybe gaining a pound or two, but I ate out A LOT and also ate in A LOT. The only reason I didn't gain 234234 pounds is because you walk and sweat a ton. My roommate Lindsey ended up losing almost 25 lbs (or something like that) because the amount of exercise she was getting here was more than she did back home. We both had similar diets, but different exercise habits pre-DCP. So whether or not you gain or lose weight really depends on self control, and your habits before you come to Disney.

I hope you found this somewhat helpful!! Food is where at least like 80% of my money went, so come with a budget, or expectations. I ended up making more money than I spent, but only by maybe $300 or so. That's all the advice I have :) Make a decision on where you want your money and calories to go, and stick to it! I was in the grey area for my whole program and ended up spending a lot of money on food I didn't need, or didn't eat. I had to sell my groceries to a coworker at the end of my program, and it was SO much food. Like at least a few weeks worth of dry groceries. So make good choices!! Hopefully I will next time around ;)

I GOT A YOUTUBE CHANNEL!

So I now have a YouTube channel!! Yay! I'm seriously debating starting vlogs... (video blogs). I tried when I started my program, but it was just too awkward. Well now I think I might just do a few on my role, my experience, and stuff like that. So far I only have 3 videos up, one from the DCP, one from my summer on a dude ranch, and one from here in New Zealand. Here's the link to my DCP video, feel free to check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0dI_5rkEqE

Sorry that it's not incredibly interesting, I didn't film much footage while I was there. It's just the few videos I have mixed in with some photos :) I'll definitely be putting up more videos from New Zealand (since I happen to be here right now with a GoPro), but stay tuned for updates on vlogging! I hope y'all are having a magical week, and that everyone waiting to hear back for fall gets accepted!! <3

That's it for my brief update. I think I might attempt my first vlog...wish me luck ;)

UPDATE: I MADE A VLOG. It is probably the most awkward thing you have EVER seen in your life. But here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSN5B3c0O1w

Summer Alumni Program

So here's something I just recently found out about....THERE'S A SUMMER PROGRAM FOR ALUMNI! Sooooo I wouldn't have to wait until fall 2017 to do another DCP. Do you have any idea how happy that makes me?!

Okay so for those of you who don't know, the summer alumni program is a DCP but from May-August instead of the traditional fall or spring length. This program is only offered to those who have completed a Disney College Program, and previously was only offered at Disneyland. Apparently this year they started a WDW one too? I'm a little confused on that part, but I'm so excited that this is a thing! The application comes out around the same time as fall applications, and the process is pretty much the same. I was following one girl's vlogs who did the summer alumni program a couple years back at DLR, and she said there were only 25 of them doing it, so that's pretty crazy! That's also not the most recent record. I'll throw her link in right here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_3qGHzeq-k 

I'm seriously considering applying for this for next summer. Apparently this year they only had the applications open for like a 24 hour period, so I'd have to be on top of it next time! But my NEW plan is to apply for the summer program for summer of 2016, and also apply for some marine biology internships, and see where I get accepted. Both would be beneficial so it's a win-win! I'm still planning on doing another program in fall of 2017, then extending into a Professional Internship, preferably the marine mammals internship. I change my mind a lot, but I know one thing is for sure: Disney has not seen the last of me! I also just applied for the Disney Alumni Association, which is basically a group for people who have successfully completed a college program. They send you free stuff, so that's pretty cool ;) I'm just waiting to hear back from them! Also. My DCP roomies and I are planning a REUNION!! Most of us are west coasters, so we're planning on a Disneyland trip in early July, which would be incredible. I miss my girls so much!!!! <3 Shoutout to the princesses in 26301, you made my program so magical :)

UPDATE: One of my old coworkers from Studio Catering Co. actually did an alumni program this past summer and I got to visit her! She worked QSFB cashier in Disneyland at the dole whip stand and LOVED it. Disneyland is a little bit different than Disney World and at least when she worked at DLR she got TWO guest passes per day for something like 10 days. So pretty much the same amount of passes total, but for less people over more days. I know other people have had other experiences, so this might not be accurate anymore, but at least that's what she had for summer 2015. She said she preferred working in DLR to WDW, but preferred living in Orlando to Anaheim. Also it was much more expensive to live at DLR and the bus system is different.

Roles: QSFB, Housekeeping, Merchandise, and Custodial

So I'm going to do a post on these specific roles, because that's what my roommates and closest friends were!

QSFB 

So you guys have already read A LOT on this role from my point of view so I'll include what my two roommates, Mikaela and Lindsey did at their locations.

Mikaela worked in Magic Kingdom at Pecos Bills (by Splash Mountain) and had a pretty different experience from Lindsey and I. I believe it's specific to Magic Kingdom (I could totally be wrong here), but they don't work all areas of the restaurant. Mikaela was trained for front of house, so that basically means everyone who interacts with the guests (aside from the register). So she bussed tables, worked on the counter, and greeted guests. She did NOT serve food, work cash, or work dish. I remember her saying something about preparing food, but she didn't work the fryers and stuff like we had to. Also, her hours were much longer, and much later. On an average day she worked 4pm-1am or something like that. Mikaela LOVED working at Pecos! She had worked food before, so it was nothing new, but she loved her coworkers and managers and ESPECIALLY loved hearing Wishes play every night <3 I don't know if she'd pick the role again, but she had a positive experience. MEGA PLUS: they get to wear cute Christmas party costumes. Also MK QSFB get paid more per hour than all other QSFB locations, and they also get paid an extra 10 minutes every day because they have to walk so far to get to work.

Christmas costume!

Every day costume feat. super cool hairnet.

Lindsey's experience was very similar to mine. She worked at ABC Commissary in Hollywood Studios (right around the corner from me!) and also loved her coworkers/managers. She, like me, was trained in all areas of the restaurant, not just front of house. She was mostly on register, but was trained to handle food and bus tables, and all of that! Her shifts were generally like 10:30-5 or something like that. Middle of the day, shorter than Mikaela's, longer than mine. I don't think she would choose QSFB again but had a great experience this fall!

Lindsey is in the middle! The lefthand costume is for coordinators, and the righthand happens when costuming runs out of aprons.

You all know my experience! I worked at Studio Catering Co. in Hollywood Studios and (same as above) LOVED my coworkers/managers/coordinators, but would not do it again.

My costume, featuring Rose licking her finger behind me. Her hat is the hat we're supposed to wear, mine is when costuming runs out of that hat.

HOUSEKEEPING

My roommate Sarah worked housekeeping at Caribbean Beach Resort. She kind of hated it. Her schedule every single day (without fail!) was 8am-4:30pm, and she got tips. So she probably made the most amount of money out of all of us, but she liked her job the least. She was responsible to towel changes and room turnovers, the usual, but you work on your own. She had to clean X amount of rooms in a certain time, or she had to use her break time to keep up. So it's a high pressure job with low social interaction, guest or coworkers. She DEFINITELY wouldn't work it again. She did enjoy her coworkers, however, and got a good chunk of tip money, which is a plus. Her costume was white pants with a giant rainbow tie dye smock thing, so she never let us take her picture.

MERCHANDISE

My really good friend Katy worked merch in Magic Kingdom at Big Top Souvenirs (Circus tent by Dumbo). She worked LONG hours (compared to me), usually 10-12 hour shifts, and almost always at night. Some merch locations include a confectionary style setup as well as traditional merchandise (hers did), so besides being trained in merch, she also had to pass some food handlers material. That included dishes, making chocolate covered treats, and extensive clean up. Besides those rotations, she worked register, stocked shelves, greeted guests, and other similar tasks. She enjoyed her role and location, but would pick a different role next time. She had worked merch before, so it wasn't very new to her, and her location had weird lulls where it would be SUPER busy, then SUPER dead, and that kind of sucks having inconsistency (though sometime unavoidable). She had a super cute pin striped costume with every color possible, but she wouldn't let us take a photo ;) Also, she got paid like $0.25 more per hour when she worked in the kitchen.

CUSTODIAL

My roommates Ashley and Allison were both custodial, and had very similar experiences.

Allison worked at Hollywood Studios, and would either do streets (trash and sweeping), or bathrooms. She usually got put on bathrooms. She enjoyed parts of custodial such as interacting with guests, and having the freedom to wander the whole park, but would not do it again. She hated bathrooms because people were constantly complaining, and it's a hard spot to work around the guests. When doing bathrooms you have a bathroom buddy (aka boy cleaning the mens restrooms), but a lot of custodial is just you. They do get to carry cool radios, though. And get ready to be asked TONS of questions on parades and shows! In DHS it was always the Spectacle of Dancing Lights during Christmastime. 

Ashley worked at EPCOT and liked custodial more than Allison. This might be because she usually got put on streets, though. She also usually didn't get put on World Showcase, and that's the busiest/dirtiest spot. Ashley actually got accepted for Disneyland Fall 2015 custodial, but turned it down because she didn't want to do custodial again. So she liked it, but didn't love it. Also custodial is responsible for vomit (depending on the circumstance, we all have the supplies to clean it up!), and ALWAYS for blood because that has more special procedures. 

All custodial costumes are the same.

Also, custodial it is super easy to pick up shifts all over the place, which can be a plus. Both these girls worked evenings, generally around 3pm-10pm!

CONCLUSION

Keep in mind that all these role descriptions are based on personal experience, and I know I botched some of the terms, so sorry about that. These were all accurate as of fall 2014. We all enjoyed our roles (none of self termed), but none of us would pick the same role again. We definitely got the most common roles, or the ones that Disney is always looking to fill. I hope you found this helpful! How much you like your role really just depends on your attitude and your coworkers! We would all never DREAM of terming, but many people go in expecting to hate it and quit after a week. So just try be positive, and give it a chance :) I promise they ALL have their pros and cons!

DCP: Round Two? (In 2017)

I now have plans to do another program. I just can't hold myself back. So here's what I would do if I were to do another program!

I would apply for fall advantage, 2017, so I can apply while still in college but do the program after I graduate so I don't get behind in school! This time around I DEFINITELY wouldn't do my phone interview the same way. Last time I did it in the morning, so I sounded kinda groggy and sick, and I was in the dorm so I was talking quietly. This time I would go for more of an 11am call (as opposed to 8am or whatever I did), and would make myself relax. I practically had all my answers completely written out! I would absolutely make it more natural and relaxed.

Last time around I put interest in every single role EXCEPT housekeeping. This time around...

I would put no interest in these roles:

• Housekeeping
• QSFB
• Custodial
• Character Performer
• Costuming
• Transportation

I would put low interest in these roles:

• FSFB
• Maine Entrance Ops
• Hopper
• BBB
• Bell Services
• Recreation 
• Lifeguard

I would put moderate interest in these roles:

• Merchandise
• Concierge
• Hospitality
• PhotoPass Photographer

And high interest in these roles:

• Vacation Planning
• Attractions
• Character Attendant 

It's definitely limiting myself a bit more, but now I know what I want and what I'm good at. Pretty much the bottom line is that if I'm going to work for Disney (again), I want it to be in a role that you can't really do elsewhere. For example, you can get similar jobs to attractions, vacation planning, and character attendant at theme parks, but that's about it. And theme parks are SO different from Disney!! I want to really immerse myself in the magic of Disney, from playing to work :) 

That's the biggest difference I think if (when) I apply again. I'm not doing the program so I can play in the parks, I actually want to work in a role that I enjoy and can excel at. With all that being said, I CANNOT WAIT to apply again! My Disney withdrawals are through the roof >.<

Post Disney Depression

Post Disney Depression (PDD) people, it's a real thing. Especially now that applications have come out for fall of 2015, it's taking ALL of my self control not to apply. I've spent the day reading my old blog posts, going through pictures, listening to Disney music, I'm out of control people. The DCP may seem like a lot of work, I definitely had my days where I just came home and complained about work, but when you leave you truly realize what you had. That cliche saying about you don't know what you had until it's gone is SO TRUE. And I'm friends with so many people that extended into spring and are doing the program that it's always at the forefront of my mind!  So I'm trying to convince my mom to do a detour with me in July when we go to Colorado...I propose we stop by Disneyland on "the way" ;) It's totally out of the way, but whatever. It makes a nice triangle. WA -> CA -> CO

What you don't fully appreciate about Disney until after you're gone is the full extend of Disney magic. It doesn't stop at the park exit, or under that magic archway, it stays with you, never truly forgotten. I used to see giddy adults, full grown adults, acting like children because that part of their brain that remembers all those good feelings Disney stirs up in you. Disney magic not only transports you to another time and place, it transforms all people into children. Small children who's only cares in the world are being happy. For a time you forget your troubles, your job back home, a failing marriage, whatever is weighing you down in life, and can spend one blissful week in every child's paradise. Because all of us are children at heart, whether or not your body shows it. Working for Disney allowed me to create happiness for children of all ages, whether they're two years old, or 103, by working for the company you are a part of something so much bigger than yourself. You see, we're where the magic begins. Disney cast members create happiness in everything they do, whether or not it's noticed. Keeping the parks spotless, cleaning the hotel rooms, driving the trams, every single cast member generates a bit of magic, and all of it combined is where it all starts. And the best part about Disney magic? It never ends. It only grows. I loved Disney as a child, and now every time I go back to Disney it gets a little bit harder to leave. And once you've lived the life of a Disney cast member, there's no going back. Your goals are no longer to be a successful business woman, or doctor, or lawyer, it's simply to be happy. Because being immersed in Disney magic allows you to embrace the child within, the part of you that wants one simple thing: happiness. Life no longer is about achievements and recognition, it is so much simpler. It's a new world where you gravitate towards love, hope, happiness, and anything that generates good feelings. Disney gives your life meaning.

Of all the people I met while working for Disney, the happiest were the youngest and the oldest. Children are still young enough to escape many of the negative influences of adult life, and the older generation are wise enough to know how to give life meaning. I've heard people say that the elderly have the most in common with children, because to them, there is nothing more important than being around people you love, and doing the things that give you joy. This is what Disney has taught me, life is not about how much money you make or how popular you are, it's about bringing it back to the basics and striving simply for happiness and contentment.

So that's my two cents on my personal experience with PDD...I don't even know where that giant monologue came from but as you can see, doing the DCP seriously changed my life. Of course I'm still going to finish college and be sensible about things, but it's no longer so important to pack my free time with internships and volunteer experience: now I think I'd rather just enjoy where life takes me.