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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The CP is so much more than an internship...

On the CP I...

~ viewed a live american idol audition...of sorts...
~ was dangerous with Drew Carey
~ did spectacular stunts with Indiana jones
~ went on a tour of the stars
~ dined with playhouse disney characters
~ rode piggy back on an ant the size of my car
~ played carnival games with toy story characters
~ took a journey into narnia
~ envisioned one mans dream
~ went on a voyage with the little mermaid
~ flew through a giant pink donut
~ fell 13 stories in an elevator that got struck by lightning
~ took the shuttle on a joy ride to mars... and never actually took one back to earth...
~ was a crash test dummy
~ Went on a quest in the big blue world
~ had a chat with a 500 year old turtle
~ went hang gliding over California
~ lived with the land
~ witnessed the entire circle of life
~ Went to Italy for dinner, France for dessert while having a drink from Mexico
~ experienced life through a bugs point of view
~ saved a baby elephant from wild poachers
~Lead my team on a crazy expedition through mount everest
~ went white water rafting
~ helped find nemo
~ time traveled back 65 million years to save a dinosaur
~ flew on a magic carpet
~ saw the backside of water
~ Plunged down a 5 story waterfall
~ survivied the wildest ride in the wilderness
~ Jammed with some country bears
~ Spent 8 minutes in the dark with 999 happy haunts
~ took a flight with peter pan
~ got mad at a tea party
~ hung out at mickey's house
~ flew through space
~ laughed with monsters

... it was so much more than an internship...

Sunday, August 23, 2009

My first request!!

This is exciting... my first request of information to be shared!!!

A reader of the disboards wants to know more information about general levels of work experience with hospitality cast members, the amount of hours worked and whether or not cp's worked over night shifts...

As far as general levels of work experience goes: Personally, I had worked with Hyatt for 2 years before applying for Disney. The position I had gave me experience mostly with front desk, but I also had a lot of experience working in the bar and backery... in the kitchen... setting up for meetings and minimal housekeeping. I think my interviewer was impressed by that...

MOST of the CPs at SSR and OKW were hospitality majors with experience in the field... but not all of them. 2 of my good friends were Art majors and i know one of them had no experience in the field at all... i'm not 100 % certain about the other...

Generally speaking, most CPs were hospitality majors though but there are always a few of them that just do a great job on their interview and really make it apparent that this is what they want to try.

Honestly, in the training you get, you don't need to have experience because at least in my experience, Disney's way is SOOOOOOO different than Hyatt's way.

For hours worked...

I was ALWAYS scheduled for 5 days and ALWAYS for 8 1/2 hour shifts. The only time I would get any less than that is if I had requested days off for something... and most of the time if I wanted 3 or 4 days off in a row, it would be approved... but... it would mean that i was scheduled for 7 or 8 in a row before AND after my days off. :)

Getting overtime in SSR and OKW was almost impossible and they really frowned upon it. However I know of other people in other resorts who claimed they could pick up shifts left and right... as well as people in the parks who were CONSTANTLY scheduled overtime, so go figure!

Another thing to consider is working front desk, there are only so many stations. Sundays were our busiest day of the week and they ALWAYS over scheduled to allow room for call ins and such... and most of the time I'd be in the back offices making packets all of my shift or just doing odd and end things.

The minimal amount of hours the can schedule you is 32.

ummm overnights!!!

I never had any. I was asked ONCE to work a double which would have put me into 7am b/c one of the over night full timers had called in. It wasn't required and with all honesty, i would have had NO idea what i was doing since they do different stuff... so they called someone else in.

The latest I ever worked was until 2:30 in the morning. I LOVED those shifts though because I never got tired until around 3 or 4 anyway and it wasn't so chaotic the later the nights got. Sometimes it was just nice to be able to actually talk with my cast member friends and get to know them a bit better :)

I do know a couple of CPs who did over nights... but i think they asked for it. The majority of CP front desk CPs only ever worked until 2:30 at the latest!!

Disney Look

Disney is a company that prides itself on putting on a show for every guest. Thus, each cast member plays a role onstage. Part of maintaining that role is making sure you fit the "look". Each "role" has a specific "costume". There are no UNIFORMS at Disney.

For the purpose of the college program, the first day that you are required to be in look is for "Traditions".

For women:

~ hair must be a natural color and if you have highlights they must blen in very well and look natural.
~ Business wear is appropriate. Nice shirt, jacket, skirt that isn't higher than the knee, dress pants, etc.
~ Shoes must be closed toe/closed heel
~minimal jewlery
~ Pantyhose

For Men:

~Clean Shaven
~Business Attire with tie.

You are looked over before you are given your company ID/nametag.

I have seen girls turned away for their hair not looking "natural" enough and I have seen guys who were made to go to the vending machine and purchase a cheap razor and shave before being admitted.

For both genders, tattoos must be covered.

For the most part, everyone "passed" with no problems:)

Here's a couple pictures taken on the way to Traditions so you can know what to expect... we all passed :)

Disney Discounts

As a cast member you are entitled to some pretty nice discounts. You are given a book at the beginning that lists various discounts that you can take advantage of... some of the basic discounts include:

- roughly 10-20% off dinning and merchandise
- up to 50% off merchandise during the winter holiday season
- Up to 40% off Disney Resorts for friends and family
- Up to 50% off Disney Resorts if you are on the reservation

- Access into Cast Member discount stores such as Company D, Property Control and Cast Connection

- Free admission into Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot

- Free admission into Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach during select times of the year.

As mentioned earlier, there are a bunch of discounts that Disney cast members get! If you have any questions if the place you are at gives such discounts, all you have to do is ask!!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Inspections/Housing Rules

Inspections...kind of suck. I mean, when it comes down to it, they really aren't that big of a deal but we pay rent and are all over the age of 18...just like a regular apartment and they never have inspections.


All in all, we had 4 total inspections over the 7 months that I was there. There are always the chances for surprise inspections, but my apartment never had one. We always knew when ours would be by looking at the board they had at security.

For inspections, you have to have everything clean...beds made, surfaces clean, floors (tile wood and carpet), oven, stove, microwave, showers, toilets, garbages empty, blah blah blah. If one thing isn't clean, you will be failed on that part but pass overall. If more than a few things aren't perfect, you fail over all and each person in the apartment has to pay $25.00 so they can get a cleaning crew in to clean your apartment.

So that is inspections.

As far as housing rules go...

~ all residents must present apartment IDs every time you enter the complex.
~ if it is after 9 pm, all visitors (even CPs from other complex's) must be signed in and will not be admitted in if they aren't.
~ Everyone that does not live in that complex must be out by 1am
~if you have friends over that live in the same complex as you, there is not a "curfew" and there is no official rule about the opposite gender spending the night as long as they live in the same complex.

If you have issues with your roomates having "sleepovers" that is something you will want to talk about right away because as long as they live in the same complex, they aren't breaking any rules and you can't really do anything about it.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Hours/Points/Repimands/Great Service Fanatics

Hours:

As a CP, you are guaranteed 32 hours a week. Of course, this all varies by your work locations and some roles and locations will always have a lot more hours to hand out then others.

Working at SSR and OKW... i was ALWAYS given 5 days a week at 8 1/2 hours each day... so that was what? 42.5 hours a week. Some of my roomates got a lot more than that working attractions and Merch in the parks.... and if you work crazy buzy times like over spring break, I know someone who worked 70 hour work weeks doing attractions. It can get kind of crazy.

The only time you may have less than 32 hours is if you request the time off and it gets approved... but even then, be prepared to work more days in a row than your used to before your "vacation" and even after you get back to make up for those days missed!! ...

Points/Repimands:

If you call into work or are late... do something you shouldn't while working... something like those scenerios chances are you may rack up some points.

examples:
-You call into work for being "sick" or "personal"... you get 1 point each day.
-You are late to work by 1 second-2 hours... you get 1/2 a point.
- you are late to work by 2 + hours... you get a whole point
- you do something bad on the job... missing money, poor judgement, etc etc etc ... you could get anysort of points/rep's... it really varies by severity and it's up to the discretion of the leader

repimands are no good. As a CP, unless you call in allllllllll the time or just do really bad or really stupid stuff, it's hard to get terminated due to having repimands. I'll try to explain...

3 total points in 30 days = 1 repimand
6 total points in 60 days = 1 repimand
9 total points in 90 days = 1 repimand...

3 1/2 total points in 30 days = 1 repimand + 1 point...

say you call in 4 days in a month ( 4 points)... and then the bus gets you late to work even by a minute 4 times in that same month (total of 2 more points)... you would equal out 2 repimands for that month... but this is hard to do, really...

in order to get termed AS A CP (i'm not honestly sure if it's the same for full time/ part time)... you need:

4 attendance repimands or I believe it's 3 performance reprimands (most commonly given in hospitality for being short a lot of money in your drawer, REALLY poor judgement while working.... something like that)..

Points and Repimands go on your record card and WILL effect the outcome of an extension or going seasonal. I can't remember how long they remain on your record card, but something tells me it's for a year... i could be wrong, so don't hold me to that:)

I'm not going to get into how many points I had and stuff, but i did get points. It's almost impossible to be there for 7 months and not call in. Stuff happens and comes up. Just don't make it a habbit to call in all the time... and whatever you do... DO NOT CALL IN AND USE YOUR COMPANY ID. CHANCES ARE... YOU WILL GET TERMED FOR IT!!! I've also heard stories of being termed for going to the beach and someone running into their manager there... not good !! Just be smart and you'll be great!

Great Service Fanatic cards:

Not a lot of guests know about these... these can be filled out by both guests AND cast members... for rewarding cast members for doing great things!!! They are so much fun to get because it means someone noticed you going above and beyond the call of duty and... personally, just made me motivated to go out there and do an even better job!!...

I was blessed enough to recieve three during my program all from other cast members. They DO go on your record card, and while they don't erase points or repimands, they do show the good that you do when it comes time to wanting to extend/go seasonal/transfer to another location after your CP.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Living Situation and Roomates

Ok... I started out in Chatham in a 4 bedroom. I was over 21 and lived in a non-wellness. I don't really drink too much and a couple roomates and I didn't get along at all, so I payed the $50.00 moving fee and moved into a different 4 bedroom in Chatham but this time, into an under-21 apartment and it was the best thing I did for myself on the CP.

First of all: 4 bedroom apartments have 2 1/2 bathrooms and 2 fridges and 2 freezers which is really nice!!!

The challange came in sharing an apartment with 7 other girls. I was lucky for the most part and loved most of my roomates but you're not going to get along with everyone no matter how hard you try.

Something I recommend is setting a "chores" chart of some kind. You would think that because w
e are all legal adults on the CP that something as easy as doing the dishes and taking out the trash would be easy...

wrong.

Something else to keep in mind is that you will be living with people from all over the United States and even from different countries, sometimes. People are brought up all different kind of ways and have different views on everything and you will have to take that into consideration.

Personally, I think it's AWESOME to know people from all over the world but some people aren't as into that, so if that is you, then definitely do the roomie notification program so you can get to know your roomie before you get down there and if you come to realize it's not going to work out, you can try to get a new one before you get down there.

Basically, just keep an open mind when it comes to roomies. You probably won't se
e them much anyway since everyone has crazy work schedules and if you just can't endure it anymore you always have the option of moving for $50.00 which is what I did.

Your happiness is what matters and you need to be happy so you can create that Disney magic!!!

Regarding rent: I paid $82/week for a chatham 4 bedroom and it was automatically deducted from my work checks.

Here's some pictures of my 1st apartment before I moved... note: these aren't really in the order i wanted them, but you'll get the idea.


*** closet. one for each bedroom. (2 people share)



*** Vanity area. 2 people share


*** Dresser. 6 drawers total. 2 people share.


*** Half of a bedroom. My side. Technically we weren't supposed to have the curtains up... or the posters up... but we took them down for inspections and it was never a problem. No new holes were made

*** View from our deck... where the red car is in the other parking area straight ahead... that is where i moved to :)

*** living room.
***Building 5 in chatham


*** Walkway once you came up the stairs in our apartment. If you went to the right, there would be the 2nd fridge and freezer.... and another bedroom. If you went to the left, there would be a bedroom.


*** guest bathroom***
***Kitchen: the door next to the fridge is a 6 shelf pantry



*** this is the pantry.




Training for Hospitality

The good thing about training for hospitality is that it is LONG and you feel like a professional before you are even half way done!!!

Training involved:

* Traditions: everyone in every role has traditions. It is held at Disney University and it is 4 hours long and for my college program group it was held on Day 3. You must be in 'disney look" to be admitted into traditions and this is when you get your name tag and your company ID... (think: free park admission ticket!!!... and the card that your life will be based on for the next 3-7 months!!!)

* "Welcome Home": 4 hours. Training for saratoga and old key west (or your specific resorts) only. included DVC overview and tours of both resorts. We also got costumes on this day.

*"Disney Vacation Club" : basic overview of what the Disney Vacation Club is. 4 hours long held at Disney University.

* "1st impressions*: 7 days. 8 hours each day. Held at Disney University.... learned the computer systems and how to check in and check out guests. Also learned how to bank in and bank out... but each resort does it differently so that part was kind of pointless. Also got practice in "lab" on the "real fake front desk".

* "On the job training* : 7 days. 8 1/2 hours each day in costume at your work location. Included resort tours and one on one with a trainer behind your while you run the show!

Training concluded with a manager standing behind me and he watched me do a check-in, took notes and we discussed it afterwards!

Hospitality is one of the roles that has the most training but I'm grateful for that! There really isn't a lot of margin for error and you take in a LOT of money during a shift and the guests first real conversation with a cast member is probably going to be with you at the front desk so it is important that you know what you are doing and talking about !!!

After front desk training, I worked that for about a week and then got trained as a "runner". I had two days of on the job training for this role. One day at SSR and the other at OKW. A front desk runner's job can be quite fun, actually... you deliver stuff to rooms, I've picked up guests from the airport, gone grocery shopping, and done regular walmart shopping runs for guests... i've picked up VIP golden fastpasses at Hollywood Studios, gone to Cinderella's Royal Table at Magic Kingdom and brought guests to other Disney Resorts... and the list goes on! It's a lot of fun and makes the shifts FLY by because you get to drive around propert a lot! You also become very familiar with the resorts you work at and it helps you out a lot when you are working the front desk!!!

Day 2

As explained earlier, day 2 activities are supposedly rolled into day 1, but this is how it was for me:
I had to be at Vista Way at 8am and we found out our work locations. Before I had arrived in Orlando, I had emailed my recruiter to see if I could be placed at either Saratoga Springs, Old Key West or the Polynessian since I'm most familiar with those resorts and she had emailed me back saying that it was just a request and nothing was guarenteed but she would put the request in my file.
So, I was very anxious as I was approaching the table. The guy asked for my name was like "oh wow! You're going to be working at two Disney Vacation Club Resorts: Saratoga Springs and Old Key West!"
YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!! I was so excited!!!
If you get placed in hospitality, the chances are good that you will be placed in two resorts. I was placed at SSR and OKW because they are DVC sister resorts and most cast members go between the two, not just CP's.
After we found out the work locations we went to another area at Vista to sign up for classes. I wanted to sign up for two : Marketing you... and... Advanced Studies in Hospitality Management. The lady really tried to talk me out of it because for the most part, classes are held on your days off but I was nieve and didn't care... I "knew" what i was doing... The classes seemed pretty interesting but I dropped both within the first two weeks because not having a full day off actually really sucked and I wasn't getting any credits for them anyway.
Most of my friends ended up dropping their classes, too.
My recommendation: sign up for the classes if your school will give you credit for them. If not, i probably wouldn't bother taking them because you probably won't have a whole day off and it's just too easy to get burnt out!!
Some classes cost money and Disney deducts it straight from your paychecks. Some classes also require books and you need to get those on your own. Each class is different though and you'll find out all that information when you sign up for the classes.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Pre Check In and then... MOVE IN DAY!!

So before all of the January 21st people arrived, I had set up a VERY large reservation at the Rainforest Cafe at downtown Disney for 65 people. I just thought it would be a great way for people to meet each other and start talking and have some food and all that.

I highly recommend that someone does that for each session because everyone thought it was really fun and it turned out really well and was just overall really successful!!!

Check in day... From my understanding, the day 1 and day 2 activities are now combined?!? But this is how it was for me:

I carpooled with some friends and we got to vista around 7:30am and there were already a ton of people there parked in the little parking lot across the street. We had car parties and our friends were out there "directing traffic"... it was funny. The security let us in to vista at 8am and we went through all the stations... paperwork, housing, IDs, car decals, finger printing, Disney look, when traditions would be, etc.

for getting there right at opening it took about an hour and a half to do everything... but i also had a VERY hard time getting my fingers to print for whatever reason so I had to do more paperwork...

For the most part, You room by the people you are in line with. My roomate Meghan and I "met" a couple people on facebook that we wanted to try and room with, so we asked the people in the housing section and they said it was no problem but we either had to do a 2 Bedroom or a 4 bedroom.... so we did a 4 bedroom.

After checkin, we went to chatham and started moving in. We had to go to Pop Century and grab the rest of our stuff, too and on the way back, ended up getting lost, so we never actually made it to the housing meeting.... but... it's not MANDATORY that you go. It's reccommended that you do it, but you don't have to.

And that was basically it for the day. It was pretty easy yet a little stressful but a lot of fun. I recommend getting to check in right away because it allows you to have the rest of the day to do stuff like un pack!!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Meeting new people and pacccckkinnnggg

Ok... so you are accepted!! Congratulations!!! You filled out all your paperwork, paid your assessment fee and are wondering what to do next?!?...

Join some online groups!!!! Check out my two favorite: facebook and the disboards (www.disboards.com the college boards)... I guarantee you will "meet" a ton of people who are actually going down the same time as you!!! Without those two sites, I would have been terrified going down there with not knowing anyone. But through the beauty of online social networks, I felt like I had already became GREAT "friends" with a TON of people!!!

Now... as far as packing goes. I drove my own car down to Florida, so I could fit a little more than most people could if they were flying... but basically:

The apartments: Vista Way, Chatham Square and Patterson Court *and the commons*... come fully furnished. This means...

Living room:
- couch
- chair
- end table (2)
- kitchen table
- 4-6 table chairs

Kitchen:
- stove/oven
- dish washer
- microwave
- fridge/freezer (New: 2 fridges and 2 freezers if you live in a 4 bedroom apartment which is REALLLLLY nice!!!)
- some pots/pans and silverware... the basics.

Bedrooms:
- two twin size beds in each bedroom (NOT comfortable but by the time you go to bed, you're normally so tired you don't even notice)
- two end tables
- 1 dresser with 3 drawers for each person
- walk in closet
- closet for towels and such

Bathrooms come with the basics... shower with a basic shower curtain, toilet... ya know... but NOTHING fancy. therefore... here's my recommendations for stuff to purchase. You be the deciding factor if you want/need it and to get it before hand/after you get there... but this stuff came in handy... if nothing else, it made the apartment feel more "at home".

Bedroom:
- MATTRESS PADS... yeah. i had two.
- bed risers (they help add extra storage room under the bed)
- over the door hangers for towels, clothes, whatever
- clothes/shoes hanging storage cubby things. they are very helpful in adding extra places to put stuff!!!
- I bought a TV tray table thing to add another "end table" to my side of the room
- a fan is helpful to drown out noise from other roomates ... and to cool of during the HOT summer months!!
- decorations, of course!!!
- curtains are nice to block out the sun in the mornings on your days off :)
- bedding... sheets, comforters, pillows... the basics:) TWIN size.
- hangers!!! (FYI: the local walmart runs out of most of this stuff A LOT since all CPs basically shop there.)

Kitchen:
over the 7 months I was there, my roomates and I eventually bought:
- a couple extra pots/pans
- muffin tins
- sandwhich maker/quesidilla maker
- pizza pans
-PLASTIC silverware (cheap and less dishes!!)... and paper plates/tuppeware stuff

Living room:
- curtains
- TV/dvd player/movies/gaming systems/games
- my roomates and I bought a couple board games
- bean bag chairs were found cheap at target and added extra seating options / pillow options for late night movie nights
- white board for roomate messages/schedules

Bathroom:
Shower Curtain for decoration and personality
floor mat
towels
my roomates and I bought a 3 bin storage box thing where we stored toilet paper and other items... came in handy!!!
shower caddy

and then not to mention all your personal items that you would normally pack like clothes, toilitries, etc etc etc...

and again, not ALL of this stuff is stuff that you NEED but it helps make the plain white walls and "basics" feel like you're more at home!!!...

and another important note, even though i mentioned it before.... is....

the local walmart sells out of stuff A LOT during the times of CP arrivals. If you can buy it at home and pack it... DO IT! Also... keep in mind... the lines at walmart are FREAKISHLY TERRIBLE during cp check in dates. I went the first night with my roomates to get groceries and we waited in line for TWO hours....and EVERY lane was like that... yikes:)

Happy Packing !!!

Interviewing and Acceptance!!!

The day the applications came available on line was pretty much the best day of my life!!! I watched the e-presentation online since Disney recruiters didn't come to my campus and then I printed out the application and filled it out online. Then I called Disney Recruiting to set up a date to interview.

Words cannot begin to describe how incredibly nervous I was every single step of the way!!!

My interview was set up for the very first day they started interviewing the batch of spring hopefuls and it was set up for first thing in the morning. I'm not going to lie.... I totally rocked the interview in my pajamas, but that is the beauty of a phone interview, haha. The important thing that I kept in mind was to constantly smile because they can most definitely tell through how your voice sounds... but it wasn't hard, because helloooooo, i was talking about DISNEY... why WOULDN'T I be smiling :)

The interviewer, Rhonda, called me at the EXACT time the interview was set for and it only lasted about 10 minutes. It started out just going over some basics such as the correct spelling of my name and having me verify some information. She asked me the normal questions as any interviewer would such as "how did you hear about the CP" and "why do you want to be a cast member"... stuff like that!!!...

Then came the role specific questions based off the roles I selected... which were:
1. Character Attendant
2. Attractions
3. Hospitality
4. Merchandise
5. Vacation Planner

I felt GREAT about all the answers I gave her and she ended the interview saying I did a wonderful job and I sounded so happy and that I should be hearing something within 2-3 weeks.

TWO - THREE WEEKS?!?!... that seemed like a lifetime away!!! However, I sucked it up. Then..... 2-3 weeks passed and still nothing. 4 weeks came... 5 weeks came... I was freaking out!!!! I wanted in SOOOOOO bad and just not knowing was driving me insane!!!

A bunch of people had joined the Spring CP group on facebook and we were all keeping track of who got their letters and when. I had called my recruiter at the start of my 5th week just to ask about the process and to make sure everything was ok with my application and such. She called me back and explained the process of everything to me and told me while she couldn't really flat out tell me that I was accepted, she COULD tell me that i should be hearing "VERY good news within the next couple of days..."

I think that day I had a heart attack due to overwhelming excitement!!!!!!!

I found out 2 days later. I was at work and my dad comes in holding a large white envelope. I brought him to the back, opened it and pulled out my PURPLE FOLDERRR!!!!!

In it, it told me that I was accepted for:

Spring Advantage as a Hospitality Cast member and it told me the amount I would be making an hour.

I was THRILLED!!!!

I accepted my offer that night and I picked the dates of January 21-August 7th, 2009... the first dates available for Spring Advantage!!!!

the next weeks entailed finding out what everyone else was accepted for, getting to know everyone that was accepted... lots and LOTS of chats online with people, watching lots and LOTS of Disney movies and packing and saying goodbyes and just pure EXCITEMENT!!!!

Moral of whatever this post was: stay patient and stay POSITIVE. I know 1st hand how anxious you can get while waiting for that beautiful purple folder, but trust me... the wait is SOOOOOOO worth it!!! <3

How About An Introduction!!!

Heyyyy Everyone!!!

Welcome to yet another blog of mine... you see, I had/have a livejournal and it was my goal to write in it every single day while I was doing the college program and it was going to be amazing and perfect and jam-packed with all kinds of information...

and then... I arrived on the college program and I realized what an unrealistic goal that was, haha!!! There just wasn't any time. So, I blogged every now and then, but it just wasn't as organized as I wanted it to be so I decided to ditch livejournal all together and try out this blogspot thing.

So that brings me to now: Hi! I'm Crissa. I'm 23 years old and I'm from a subarb of Minneapolis, MN called "eden prairie". My first time to Disney World was when I was 5 but to be perfectly honest, I don't remember much about it. After that, It took me about 10 years to get back there and I had been a couple times more up until I started my college program (CP).

Let's see I've stayed at Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Polynessian Resort, Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa, Disney's Old Key West Resort and Disney's Pop Century Resort.

I've cruised on the Big Red Boat (pre-Disney owned ships) and on both the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder.

I have a bajillion, trillion favorite Disney movies but If I had to pick an animated it would either be Cinderella or Beauty and the Beast.... non animated would have to be the Pirates movies!!!

I also have a bunch of favorite Disney Characters, but Goofy and Pooh Bear hold a special place in my heart.

Let's see... why did I decide to do the college program? Easy. Every single time I went to Disney World I felt "at home", which is a little ironic since they recently started using the "welcome home" slogan to greet guests at Disney Resorts!!! I always felt like this is where I belonged!!... Call it "love at first sight", if you will. I consider it a calling. So one day I was searching around on the DisBoards and came across this thing called the "college program". I researched it and realized this was something I HAD TO DO!!

I talked about it with my parents and they were pretty open to it and so I talked to a couple people at school about it. Sadly, they weren't as open to it and I really had to push them to say it was ok for me to go... but boyyyy was it worth it!!!

So I suppose that brings me to about the time I decided to interview... thus, time for another post!!! I'm not really sure where this "blog" is going to take me or how long the posts are going to be, but if I help one person or answer one question, I would say it's worth it... If nothing more, it will give me something to look back on and smile at, I suppose!!!