Words of Wisdom

Hello!

I am going to be doing the DCP starting in August I'm so so excited..I'll be in merchandise! I'm a little nervous too though, about the hectic nature of the hours and the fact that I'm still trying to find a roommate. Do you have any words of wisdom? :)

Thank you!

Danielle


Congratulations! I remember that horrible waiting period between getting in and actually going. It was torture. I couldn't focus on anything other than the dream of being at Disney World for five months. In terms of words of wisdom let me see what I can tell you...


Let's start with roommates. I know how stressful that can be. For a bit I didn't think I'd be able to find one, but the biggest tip I can give you is to use Facebook to your advantage. Join the Facebook group for your program and talk to people. Get to know the people who will be on your program, and if you do that someone will stand out to you. You'll make a connection with someone and before you know it you'll have a roommate. That's what happened with me and lots of other people that I know.

But if all else fails don't be afraid of a roommate you don't know. I knew lots of people who didn't meet their roommates until they moved in and they ended up being the best of friends. And if the roommate thing turns out badly they are more than willing to help you anyway they can. I had friends that were able to move to a different apartment due to roommate situations. Believe me, if it's just too bad for you to stand they will help you.

Now, let's talk about your role. Merchandise. Merchandise is great role. It can be stressful, but only if you let it. Most of the time I had a great time at work. The people I worked with became some of my best friends while I was there. You see them a lot and so they sort of become your family. If you work as best you can, and make sure to be patient and pleasant with the guests you will have no problem. The technical aspects of the job are not hard, and Disney's training is handled very well. You'll go in knowing basically what you need to do, and the things you won't know will be easy to figure out.

As for hours, in the Fall there are only a few weeks that I experienced with truly hectic hours. The week of Christmas was very busy and I had lots of hours to work that week, and the week of New Years was down right insane. But it's usually never more than you can handle. You will always have at least one day off a week, and they were always give you a decent amount of hours between shifts. If they ever don't do those things then don't be afraid to have a talk with your manager. That's what they are there for. Now, if you work at Epcot be aware that you'll have busy weeks when the other parks don't. Epcot hosts the International Food & Wine Festival in the fall and it will be crowded. This is a favorite event for season pass holders and locals. During Food & Wine if you work the World Showcase you'll have plenty of hours. Not so many that you feel like you're constantly working like around Christmas and New Years, but enough that you'll really look forward to getting your paycheck every week.

Overall, I'd say there's really nothing to be nervous about. There will always be someone to help you, and when there's not somehow things always work out. That's the magic of Disney. Things somehow always work out.

Just make sure to maintain a positive outlook and show everyone at your location that you're willing to work. As long as you do that then they will be more than happy to help you out when you really need it. Proving that you're willing to do your best no matter what the task goes a long way with managers.

But make sure you take advantage of everything you can during your off time too! Don't be afraid to go places by yourself! Just because no one else has the same days off as you does not mean you can't go to the parks. Take a camera and play with photography in the parks. Try different foods. Meet characters. Do as much as you possibly can and I promise you you will have an excellent time on your program.

Congratulations, be safe, and have fun! You'll make memories you'll never forget and friends that you'll never lose. Enjoy every moment.

And that's all the wisdom I have for you. I hope that answered some of your questions and eased your nerves a bit! Thanks for visiting my little blog! I appreciate it!

College Program CHAOS

Okay so a few crazy things have happened to CPers since June started.

1) Room mate matching opened up

Room mate matching means Disney will find a room mate for you. They look at your arrival date, your role, and your age and match you with another CPer. I did not opt into this (so I thought) because I wanted to find my own room mate (And I did, Hi Michelle!). Imagine my surprise when I get an e-mail from Disney Housing telling me about my new room mate. She seemed really nice and she sent me an e-mail but I already had a room mate. So I got in touch with her, explained the situation, and then opted out. After that I quickly contacted Michelle and asked for her application number so that I could request her as my room mate. I did this, and now Michelle is my OFFICIAL room mate! YAY!

But how did I opt in? I thought I had said no earlier and told them I was picking my own room mate. Well, apparently I opted in. This happened to several other people. Your options weren't explained very well. But it's all good now.

2) Disney sent out an e-mail asking if anyone wanted to switch from August 9th to September 6th.

This caused CHAOS on Facebook. Luckily, my awesome room mates warned me about it before I even GOT the e-mail. I'm not sure if September 6th is a new date that they added or if they just over booked people on the 9th. Either way this e-mail caused a few panic attacks. Some people thought Disney wasn't really asking, and they were just notifying us of the switch. Some people thought they were politely saying "You MUST change dates."

Whatever they were requesting I'm not changing my date. I'm going insane waiting for August. I do not want to add ANY days to my countdown. I WILL be there on August 9th, and hopefully I'll see a lot of you there.

On a more personal update note.

I no longer need to worry about Financial Aid. As long as the school knows my situation THEY will take care of it. I've also been given permission by my parents to opt out of my federal work study. Mom said I should spend the last semester completely focused on schoolwork and enjoying my last semester.

And I'm all for it.

Alright, well, that's all for now folks!

Have a magical day!

Looking for Two More Roommates!

Hey guys! So my room mates and I are looking for two more room mates to fill up our third bedroom!

For the details please visit the facebook discussion thread I created at:


http://www.facebook.com/#!/topic.php?uid=40093307155&topic=17365

If you're interested in rooming with us please paste your room mate survey in the thread!

Or leave me a comment with your roommate survey and I'll make sure my other roomies see it! If you have any questions please feel free to comment or submit them to my formspring! :)

Job Hunt and Final Exam Countdown

Finally, I have time to do a personal update post. I feel like it's been a while.

New TOP 5 things to do list:

-Call Financial Aid and ask questions about leaving and coming back. (I've already done this once, but I want to ask everything again just in case. If anyone out there has any suggestions for things I should ask, then please comment and let me know!)
-Find a Job (I've already applied for 10 jobs. If I don't hear from any of them by next Wednesday I'll applying for more.)
-Create a Spec Ad for Angie at Skirt Magazine (This is for my internship supervisor. She wants to see what I can do, but I'm having a hard time finding time to sit down and make an ad for her.)
-Stop spending so much money. (I need to cut out everything unnecessary. Just need to spend money on food and things for school. Nothing else.)
-Finalize who's going to be in the apartment in Florida. (The apartment is essentially full, we're just waiting to hear back from some people.)

I've left out things related to school assignments (of which there are many) because I just wanted to focus on things that will affect my summer and the DCP. I've got a crazy amount of things to do for school right now. I've got 3 group projects to do, 3 huge single projects coming up, a ton of quizes and exams, and then after all of that...Finals.

Dum, dum, DUM!

But all in all I'm just trying to get through the semester because once the semester over I'll only have to wait three months before going to Disney. 12 weeks! YAY! Right now there are 16 weeks until I check in at Vista Way! Woo!

Also, I have 53 followers! *FIVE SECOND DANCE PARTY*

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Awesome! I think I might record my next Vlog this weekend. It will be a normal average vlog. With my awesome intro. I'm going to read a few of my formspring questions from the last two Formspring Wednesdays, and talk about the make over my purple folder received (It was starting to fall apart so I had to save it.) See you guys this weekend!

Until next time, have a magical day!

Formspring Wednesday!

where do u want to live? and when are u leaving for disney? -daisy

I want to live in Chatham. Patterson is my second choice. And I'm leaving for Disney on August 5th. My family and I will be spending a few days in Orlando before I check in on the 9th.

what is going to be arrival date? -daisy
My official DCP Check in Day is August 9th. I'll be in Orlando a few days before that though in order to spend some time with my family before the program starts.

k i just found out my question i just kept on reading ur blog sorry would u like to b roomies? check me out https://twitter.com/daisymercade777 http://www.youtube.com/user/daisymercade777?feature=mhw5 http://daisywdwcp.blogspot.com
Well, I'll have to discuss it with my other roomates. At this moment I have three other roomates, and right now we're waiting to hear back from some people, but I will definately keep you in mind and discuss it with them! Just took a look at your blog! Can't wait to meet you in Florida.


Thanks for all your questions, Daisy! I just realized that I think I'm already following you on Twitter. Congrats on getting in to the program! See you in Florida!

That's all for right now. Until next time, have a magical day!

Tales of a Disney College Program Hopeful -- Vlog #7

Until next time, have a magical day!