Top Choices

So i know you don't get to pick where you get put at Disney, but if you did, these are the places i would totally ask to get put.
So i am going to be a lifeguard, and i would love to end up at one of the waterparks. To be honest, I'm not particularly fussed when it comes down to it, because theres probably more chances for guest interaction and getting to know different people at one of the resorts. But I've never stayed in a Disney World resort, and I've spent many a hot Florida day at the waterparks!

Blizzard Beach
My personal favourite. I think its because, being Scottish, i can relate to the snow…
For anyone who's never been, the story is, Blizzard Beach became a popular ski resort during a freak snowstorm in Orlando, but now, as the snow has melted (obviously Florida isn't exactly known for its skiing…) it is a waterpark!

It is amazing. And although i love Typhoon Lagoon for the wave pool and things, i think this is the waterpark that has the best use of Disney magic!

As for the parks, if i had been put in another role, such as operations or merchandise, i already know where i would want to be.

EPCOT
The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Ive always been a sciencey person, i study maths at uni and I've grown up with a chemist for a dad, so its always been there. Epcot is my sort of thing.

 

My favourite part is Future World, i think its full of the best parts of Disney that not everyone knows about. Things like Journey to Imagination, most people hate it, my mum being its worst fan (except the first time when she was all about the Figment merchandise!) i love it, it never has a queue, theres a song, and the guy out of Monty Python is in it. Also Ellen's Energy Adventure. Bill Nye the Science Guy. Need i say more? And of course, one of my two favourite rides, Mission Space.

The first few times i went to Disney World i was too scared to go on this, mainly because i didn't even know what it was. But as i got older i thought i would try it and i fell in love. And not just with Gary Sinise. Ive always been a simulator ride person.

Finally, my second favourite ride. While its not in my favourite park, this ride has always been one of my favourites, ever since i went on it in Disneyland Paris, where is was exactly the same, but i didn't have a clue what the robots were saying.

Star Tours
I like Star Wars, I'm not like, obsessed by it, but i enjoy watching them. I love this ride. Even more so now its been updated so its different every time you go on it AND its 3D! Even though me and my sister would happily go on the old version over and over if the queue was short.

So those are my favourite parts of Disney World. The places i would happily work, and the places my inner Disney geek comes out.

Im trying to update this with stuff to get excited etc, and to put off uni work… But obviously its going to be pretty bare until i get there! 

Theres only 196 days! 

(Note: I take no credit for photos)

Summer 2013? Disney here i come!

So for a few years now, I've known about a little thing called the Disney International College Programme. My family went through a phase where we went about 3 or 4 summers in a row going to Orlando every year. It was mainly for Disney World. Ive always been a fan of Disney. Not in a massive way, like I've seen most of the films like Snow White, The Lion King etc. but i can't remember the last time i watched them, most of my favourite Disney films are the new Pixar ones. But i have ALWAYS wanted to work for Disney. Ever since my first time in a Disney park, Disneyland Paris, when i was about 4.
In my final year at school, i thought i wasn't going to get into university, so i was looking at what my options were if i had a gap year. I looked at jobs at Disney, but it was one of those things that i thought would never happen because i would have to get a visa, move to America, and i was only 17 and i live in Scotland… It was then that i found the Disney College Programme and it was perfect.

I turned 18 last January, so i decided to apply in August through the Yummy Jobs website. It was one of those things that i did without really thinking about it. I thought that there would be so many applicants that mine would just be brushed aside and i wasn't even expecting to hear back. I submitted my cv without even looking at it, let alone updating it, then forgot about it. I went back to Glasgow, went back to uni. Then i got an email inviting me to a Pre-screen interview in Edinburgh. So i went along. I didn't really know what to expect, but it was alright. I arrived by myself and when i went into the room, i ended up sitting in a row by myself whilst everyone was making friends and chatting, so i got worried that i would stay like that even in the group interviews. But when they came around i came out of my temporary shell and it felt like it had gone really well. I said my top choices were operations and lifeguarding.

The next day i was home to see my sisters dance show, and checking my emails in the interval, i saw that i had been invited to the second round of interviews, this time in London, with the Disney representatives. The idea of going all the way to London by myself scared me, but it was for a job where if i got it i would have to go all the way to Florida by myself, so i manned up. So i had a little adventure to myself, arrived in London on the Monday, and stayed in a Days Inn at Lambeth North. The interview was the next day at a restaurant in Waterloo, so i met some girls off Facebook at the station and we wandered round together. I felt so much better at this interview because everyone there was so friendly and chatty so i was a lot more at ease, so when the actual interview came, i just carried on chatting to the interviewer as if she was one of the other applicants. I don't think it could've gone any better! I don't think I've ever been so confident. I had to order my top 5 choices, and it went like this:

1. Lifeguard
2. Recreation
3. Operations
4. Merchandise
5. Full Service F&B

Then came the waiting. It is the worst part of the whole application process! 

Until finally, around 6pm on the 2nd of November, Facebook went mental. People were getting emails, but only to say if they had been rejected or were on the opportunities list. I was constantly refreshing my email, and face timed my mum. I got the email while i was talking to her and i didn't want to open it! But i am glad i finally did.

So, from the 3rd of June 2013 i will be working as a lifeguard in the Walt Disney World Resort. 

It can't come quick enough! I don't know how I'm going to last the wait...