From Cast Member to Annual Passholder! Updated 03/14/16

[disneyworldluvr349]

Hi there!



My name is Robin and I am 22 years old! I participated in the Disney Career Start Program in the Spring of 2011 and I have been dreaming of going back to Disney World and working for The Mouse ever since!

After a very challenging and sad 2014, I decided that now was the time to chase my dreams!

On January 4th, 2015 I got into my car and drove from Iowa to Florida to interview to work at the best company in the world (to say I was nervous would be an understatement!). 1,800 miles later (with multiple bathroom breaks in between!) I arrived in Orlando. After a very restless night the day of the interview finally arrived and on January 8th, 2015 I was hired to be a full-time cast member at the Walt Disney World Company!

I am so impossibly happy and excited to start this new adventure in my life and I want to document my experiences here on the Disboards!

Here I am checking into the Disney Career Start Program back in 2011! (That's me in the middle!)




I will be working at Epcot and will move down there January 24th! In 2 short weeks I will be off on this adventure and while I am a little scared since I won't know anyone I am very excited to live my dream!


My plan for the next few posts will be to document my travel plans as I will be leaving Iowa on the 17th. I will also be putting up my packing list, and casting experience, as well as my Disney Bucket List!



**This trip report and my opinions do not reflect those of the Walt Disney Company. This report is written purely as a diary to keep track of my personal adventures. If you ever have any concerns about any of the content, please contact me directly.**

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http://disboards.com/threads/i-can-...pdated-03-26-15.3367986/page-15#post-53342971

 

[disneyworldluvr349]

PRE -ARRIVAL
Interview Process
Disney Bucket List
Travel/Life Plans
Update From Denver
Leaving Tomorrow!
Travel Day 1
Hotel Touring Checklist

POST-ARRIVAL (PRE-DISNEY WORKING)
Arrival Day
Day 1: Part 1 DTD Exploring
Day 1: Part 2 Yacht and Beach Club/AKL
Day 2: DTD and Port Orleans Riverside/French Quarter
Day 3: MK Resort Loop, POP! Century, and Poly CP/Alumni Meetup!
Day 4: DTD and Saratoga Springs
Day 5 Part 1: Onboarding and Orlando Premium Outlets
Day 5 Part 2: Art of Animation...AND EXCITING THINGS!!
Day 6: Face Character Audition!
Day 7: Exploring Orlando
Day 8 and 9: Cocoa Beach and POR & DTD
Day 10: Caribbean Beach, Old Key West, DTD

Cast Member Life!
Day 11: Traditions, DHS, Epcot
Day 12: Orientation and Magic Kingdom
Day 13: Animal Kingdom and DHS
Day 14: Be Our Guest, FOF, and Epcot
2/7-2/10
Day 3 and 4 of Training
Day 5 of Training
Days Off: Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom (V-Day Weekend)
First Week of Work!
Days Off: Magic Kingdom, Jellyrolls, and Animal Kingdom
Update 2/25-3/5
Update 3/5-3/9
Update 3/10-3/12
Update 3/15-3/17 (St. Patrick's Day at DTD!)
Update 3/20-3/22
Update3/24-3/26
MY FIRST VLOG!!!
Update 3/27-3/31
My Second Vlog!
Update 4/3-4/6 and VLOG 3!!
Update 4/8-4/11
Update 4/12-4/17
Update 4/18-4/29
Update 06/21


Post Cast Member Life/AP Life
Update 3/14/16

 

[PrincessEeyore]

hi robin!

i'm excited to follow your journey!

i'll also be moving to disney (next week actually) to start my college program! anddd i'm also 22 so hopefully we get the chance to meet

best of luck with everything!

 

[disneyworldluvr349]

I know when I was preparing to interview for the Walt Disney Company I couldn't find anyone's experiences with the process, so I figured I would share my experience!

I applied for a position on the Disney Career website on December 28th. Within a couple of hours I received an email to complete the web based interview. This portion is essentially a personality test to see if you possess the traits that would potentially make for a Disney employee.

After completing my web-based interview I was sent an invitation through email to select a date for my in person interview. Since I live in Iowa I had to think carefully about when I could interview. I finally landed on January 8th at 9:00am.

I arrived at around 8:40am (the email suggested arriving at least 10 minutes early). There is currently a lot of Downtown Disney construction as they are putting in an amazing parking ramp that will be so useful once it's all finished, so I wanted to make sure I got there on time!

I met with my recruiter and she asked me about living in Iowa and when I told her that I drove all the way from Iowa she looked at me and said, "I hope you didn't drive all this way for the interview!" (WHICH OF COURSE I DID...I LOVE DISNEY OKAY?!)

After discussing my qualifications and work experience I was offered a full-time position at the new Starbucks location in Epcot! (AND I OF COURSE ACCEPTED )

After the interview I scheduled my on-boarding appointment and was given my Traditions date!

The process was pretty painless and would probably have been a breeze if I lived in the Orlando area, but the drive was worth it. (And I have to do it again so it'd better be okay!)

​

 

[disneyworldluvr349]

hi robin!

i'm excited to follow your journey!

i'll also be moving to disney (next week actually) to start my college program! anddd i'm also 22 so hopefully we get the chance to meet

best of luck with everything!

That would be wonderful! I hope we get a chance to meet as well!! Feel free to add me on Facebook!

 

[PippiDancer]

Hi! I'm joining in. Can't wait to hear all about your adventure. I would love to work for Disney, unfortunately there aren't any opportunities that would make sense for me. So I guess I'll have to settle for reading about other people's experiences, haha.

 

[disneyworldluvr349]

Hi! I'm joining in. Can't wait to hear all about your adventure. I would love to work for Disney, unfortunately there aren't any opportunities that would make sense for me. So I guess I'll have to settle for reading about other people's experiences, haha.

Glad to have you here!

From a financial point of view it was a tough decision to make, but in my heart I have always known that Disney was home for me and that outweighed everything else!

 

[disneyworldluvr349]

When I was participating the Career Start Program I had a list of everything I wanted to do while I was in Disney World. I did some of them but as it turns out, 6 months wasn't enough time to even dip my toes into the list. Now that I will have an unlimited number of days I am going to write a list of things I have to do! I will add more as I think of them. There will be so much to do!

Also feel free to leave suggestions to the addition of this list!


1) Eat at Be Our Guest Restaurant *DONE
2) Ride The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride *DONE
3) Ride The Little Mermaid Ride
4) See the Storybook Circus area *DONE
5) See the Tangle Bathrooms *DONE
6) Buy a nice camera and take photos of the parks and face characters.
7) Eat at every restaurant on property and write reviews.
8) Visit every hotel on property.
9) Eat a cupcake at Starring Rolls Cafe*DONE
10) Eat a tie-die cheesecake at Pop Century *DONE
11) Go on a Disney Shopping Spree
12) Watch the Festival Of Fantasy Parade *DONE
13) Watch all of the Castle shows at Magic Kingdom
14) Watch all of the parades at all of the parks and take photos
15) See a concert at House of Blues
16) Do the 24 hour event
17) Find Hidden Mickeys
18) Drink around the World Showcase
19) Try La Fou's Bre *DONE
20) Get a Minnie Mouse headband *DONE
21) Audition for Face Character *DONE
22) Participate in a bunch of animation classes at Hollywood Studios
23) Have my friends and family visit
24) Meet Gaston *DONE

A few non-Disney things:

1) Go the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
2) Go to the beach *DONE

​

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Congratulations of this new chapter of your life. Have fun!

 

[disneyworldluvr349]

Congratulations of this new chapter of your life. Have fun!

Thank you so much!

 

[ariane37]

Congratulations! Interested to read more. I'll bet you're eagerly counting down to the 24th

 

[allybabba98]

This sounds so exciting!! I hope you have a wonderful time and good for you for following your dream. If it makes you happy I say go for it!!
All the best.

And yes, while I read the Disboards a great deal...this is my first post! I just really wanted to say all the very best and I think it is super that you are going.

 

[Huskerkelsey]

Congrats! I'm excited to read about your experience! And maybe live vicariously through you a little bit...

 

[disneyworldluvr349]

Congratulations! Interested to read more. I'll bet you're eagerly counting down to the 24th

Glad to have you! I am so excited for the 24th, I can hardly contain myself!

This sounds so exciting!! I hope you have a wonderful time and good for you for following your dream. If it makes you happy I say go for it!!
All the best.

And yes, while I read the Disboards a great deal...this is my first post! I just really wanted to say all the very best and I think it is super that you are going.

Thank you for following along!!

Congrats! I'm excited to read about your experience! And maybe live vicariously through you a little bit...

So glad you're here!

 

[disneyworldluvr349]

Hey everyone, since I leave for Denver on Saturday morning I figured I'd post my plans for the next week! I can't believe I'll be officially an Orlando resident in 7 days!

I plan on leaving Iowa this Saturday around 8 am and getting to Denver around 5 or 6 pm. It's about 637 miles for that leg of the journey. I'll be spending Saturday night through Thursday morning with my family.

I'll leave Thursday morning around 8 am to start my journey to Orlando! It's about 1,850 miles to Orlando so I plan on getting in at around 4 or 5 pm on Friday. I am meeting my new landlord that night to get the keys and to move into my new room! I'll have two other roommates who also both work for Disney so I am hoping to have some built-in friends!

My first appointment with Disney is on the 28th to fill out new-hire paperwork, and I won't have Traditions until February 3rd so I'll have some non-park time to kill! I plan on visiting the resorts and touring the Downtown Disney area and participating in some Alumni/DisneyCP meetups to hopefully meet some new people and make some new friends!

I have been packing like crazy and I can't believe I'll be starting this journey the day after tomorrow! I am so excited and nervous at the same time, but I know it will be wonderful.


​

 

[dvc at last !]

Congrats and Best to you !
We will be at WDW in February - might see you.

 

[ariane37]

Congrats and Best to you !
We will be at WDW in February - might see you.

Ooh I didn't even think about this! We'll be there in March. DH works for Starbucks and we go into the ones in MK & EPCOT every time we walk into the parks lol. I'll be sure to look for you

 

[disneyworldluvr349]

Congrats and Best to you !
We will be at WDW in February - might see you.

Ooh I didn't even think about this! We'll be there in March. DH works for Starbucks and we go into the ones in MK & EPCOT every time we walk into the parks lol. I'll be sure to look for you

I hope to see you both!!

 

[disneyworldluvr349]

Made it to Denver!

Some of my travel plans have changed. I plan on leaving here on Wednesday night because my very best friend Haley (who lives in Mississippi) asked if I wanted to stop and stay at a hotel on Thursday night since her boyfriend can get a free room!

I haven't seen her in 3 years (we met during the Career Start Program) and while she is planning on moving to Florida with me when she graduates college in May it would be nice to see her for a little bit!



So I'll spend the night on Thursday and make my way into Orlando and get to my new home around 8:00pm or so. Only 3 days till I head out! ​

 

[avic77]

Subscribing Maybe we will see you in October (i love some Starbucks)