Disney Cruise Line Vs. Disney Cultural Rep Program

Edmonton..and snow!

Interview show down time.... My mind is somewhat all over the place currently so bare with me if this seems scattered. I had my Disney Cruise Line interview today and will tell you how it went and all that, and compare it to the Disney CRP interview process.

BUT FIRST...

I found a blog last night that is about vegan food at Disney World... it kind of made me super stoked! It's like a whole new world has opened up ... here's the link. I am not a vegan myself, but a vegetarian ('But Kate, how do you sell steaks then?' 'Easily, I pretend well :) and it doesn't bother me, except when they order rare prime ribs without horseradish sauce...it just looks alive. But besides that we're all good, it's interesting to me actually haha. but that's another post...) For Lent I decided to give up dairy, refined sugar (which I started early on March 1st) and booze (which I actually gave up February 1st so that I could drink in the beginning of April when I go on a trip with my friend Ashley...I figure 40 days is 40 days, it's actually be a bit longer, plus I'm not actually Catholic) SOOO long story short, I'm currently vegan thus a vegan Disney site is superbly interesting! Phew! That was so unnecessarily long winded. I apologize.

I also apologize for those of you who are reading this strictly to see if I have heard news from Kristen yet as to whether we all have CRP jobs or not. I have not heard yet therefore you can stop reading now and check back tomorrow ;) Believe me, when I know, everyone will know!

Yes I am inserting random airplane pictures throughout this blog

So yes, my Disney Cruise Line interview!!

On a side note: I will never sit in a window seat again. My first flight I of course was on the aisle and it was beautiful, and then I decided to try a window because it was close to the front and there weren't any aisles left except for the back. The window was awful. I'm the annoying person on the plane who can't sit still and always has to pee (TMI I know...it's mainly that I just want to walk around) but I always need to get up and move around and I felt soo trapped in the corner on the window. I had two big men beside me and they were sleeping with their legs sprawled apart and were mouth breathing really loudly and forcefully..at me! It was just too much. I know I sound like Howard Hughes or one of those people who can't deal with germs, but it's not true! I love germs, I was just too boxed in. Besides that the travelling went great! My bag appeared right away and I had zero layover in Edmonton, walked off one plane and right into line for the next :)

And it was SOO GREAT seeing Carrie and my cousins and Aunties!! The little girlies are getting so big and chatty and it's so cute. I was trying to do my hair this morning for my interview and found myself asking 4 year old Kira if my hair looked professional enough...she did end up saying I looked nice so that was good. A lot better than what she thought of my Auntie Mary's outfit... hehehe.

Ice Ice baby..do do do do do do do... vanilla ice

So Carrie and I left for the interview just before 8 and I arrived with perfect timing, just as everyone was entering the room. I sat with two girls, Joyce and Erin, and chatted with a girl in front of us as well, Jenny Lee. Joyce was going for merchandise and Erin and Jenny Lee who were both teachers, were going for Youth Activities Counsellors.

Eric, the recruiter from Cast-A-Way was stuck in traffic, but arrived shortly (and I will say was wearing a super nice clothed dress shirt..it was a turquoisey-blue. I was a fan haha) and we all sorted out paperwork and filled in an DCL application. The Disney recruiters weren't in the room at all and never introduced themselves.

Then we watched a video that introduced several positions on the ship from dining room server to engineer to sound technician to youth counsellors to shore excursions and showed around the cast areas of the ship. They talked honestly about what it was like working on the ship, how hard it was, how fun it was and advice for new cast members on homesickness. People started getting interviewed during the film, then when it was over Eric told the rest of us our interview times. Mine was at 12:15pm. Eric then put of a video of the lifeguards who get to live on Castaway Cay, and then about working in the galley. I chatted with the girls sitting around me for a bit until their interview times, and then Eric informed us they were running pretty far behind so my interview wasn't going to be until 2:15!!

It was so crazy actually seeing what was down below!

With this news I messaged Carrie and we met for lunch at Big Fat Burrito!! There are few foods I love more than burritos so it was exciting, however I must say it didn't hold a flame to Chipolte Mexican Grill! The no cheese or sour cream may have had an effect though as well. It was fun though and Carebear loved hers!! Then being the incredibly awesome sister she is, Carrie bought me a soy chai tea latte, and not just from anywhere, from Starbucks!! Which if you know Carrie you know she does not like chains, especially evil ones like Starbucks, and if you know me, you know I LOVE STARBUCKS! It's a dirty secret of mine. High heels, a pencil skirt, a pretty blouse, a blazer - AND Starbucks! I felt like such a power player in the world! It was great! haha. Also it was just super super chilly out and I greatly appreciated the warm drink - Thanks Carrie!!!

I returned to the hotel the interviews were at around 1:30, and it's a good thing I did because they somehow got ahead of schedule, and I was next! While I was waiting in the seats just outside the doors for the interview I also Eric if I was the only person applying for Dining Room Server - and he looked confused at first, then realized he had forgotten I had to write a test! So I had to go back into the waiting room and write a two page test with questions like "What type of grapes are Champagne made from?" and "If beef is wrapped in this and topped with this and this what is it called?" and things like that! It wasn't easy! Apparently I did alright though. Sheesh! Some warning would have been nice!

Then I went in for the actual interview... The interviewers name was Missy and she was from Human Resources. She asked why I wanted to work for the Disney Cruise Line, about my time at Disney World, about what I do in my current job, about my wine knowledge, and if I knew anyone who had done serving on the ship before. I told her I knew people who had started serving and quit, and she asked why I thought I could do it, or why after hearing all the bad stories about it I still wanted to do it. I told her that I had no false pretences of it being anything like when I worked at Disney World except in the service standards, but that I was ready to work extremely hard, think I could learn a lot and gain a lot from the experience, and that I was willing and prepared to have to prove myself so that I wouldn't be labelled as 'just another lazy Canadian or American who was just going to quit' as she so eloquently put it. She asked if I had any questions, told me after they approve you to be hired and you get a medical/background check done, you usually get a start date within 30 days, therefore I would be starting in late May to early July. And I should find out sometime next week! And that was it, I said thanks to Eric, by to the girls I met and left.

My interview outfit...yup, bathroom shot! pure class ;)

So we shall see :) It seemed like Missy was somewhat trying to frighten me, or more make sure I was aware of the realities of the harshness of serving on the ship. She did say I would make good money though :D

Alright so first of all: It's weird to me that Missy's name tag said "Missy: United States" I realize that the cruise ships cast is from all over the world, but country are soo huge, it seems weird saying you are from the entire place. And yes I don't know the name of small random towns in Czechoslovakia or the Philippines or even Eastern Canada, but I don't know, it just seems weird. I remember when I got my first name tag for the CRP and it said "Kate: Canada," I was so upset! Everyone kept asking if I was from the whole country, or if I was a nomad, and things like that and I was sooo excited when I got one that said Courtenay, BC on it.

Now that that is out of the way I'm going to break it down a bit into steps, and then talk about the CRP (Cultural Represenative Program) then DCL (Disney Cruise Line) then my opinions.

The Application Process:

CRP - For the CRP you apply to the recruitment company Yummy Jobs. Their website is usually very up to date and Kristen, the Canadian Recruiter (she herself is American, lives in Michigan) usually responds to emails pretty well. So you fill in an application on their website at the time they say they are accepting applications, send in your resume and wait to hear back. If your application checks out you have a phone interview, usually scheduled through an email before hand. A few weeks later you find out if you get to go to the face to face interview. If you do you are given information about locations, dates, and what to bring with you. The first time I applied the process was overall smoother and all the face to face interview information was available as soon as I was asked to interview. This last time the face to face interview information (location etc) was not known for many weeks after finding out I was invited to the interview. Kristen was helpful though and even when she herself didn't have any information, she emailed to let us know she didn't know, and that as soon as Disney let her know, she would let us know.

DCL - The the DCL you apply to the recruitment company Cast-a-Way Cruise and Resort Hiring Agency. The DCL recruiter's name is Eric and he himself working on the Disney cruise amongst others, at one point. I originally applied to Cast-a-way in the summer and had a phone interview in August. I was invited to the face to face interview in September and sent an informational email with the location, time, and a bunch of paperwork I had to fill out. Then Eric emailed a few days later and said that there was a problem with my rehire status! This freaked me out (obviously!!) and I called and emailed all my old managers from Disney to find out what happened. It turns out there was another Kate Armstrong at Disney around the same time who has a restricted status, however when he put in Kathryn Armstrong and Epcot/Le Cellier I could be hired again. I ended up not being able to go to the interviews and Eric said it was totally fine and I could attend the interviews in February/March (aka now!). I waited until January to email Eric asking if there were any dates or information about the Spring interviews and he said not yet but he would keep me posted. By mid February I emailed again because the dates were posted on the Cast-a-Way website. Eric emailed back asking for my resume. I was a bit surprised but emailed it to him. Then got no response. So I emailed again, and he again asked for my resume. I sent it again, with a bit of an outline of how I'd already had a phone interview etc reminding him who I was, and got a form email back saying 'they would contact me if I had any of the qualifications they were looking for.' This freaked me out as I had ALREADY BOOKED MY FLIGHTS TO TORONTO! Yup, the secrets out (sorry Mum and Dad!) but there was a seat sale, he has already previously told me I was invited to the interviews, and I wasn't expecting such a run around, and had booked my flights around the dates posted on the website. So when Eric started emailing as if he didn't know who I was, and that he had already invited me to the interview it freaked me out. I emailed again telling him who I was, reminding him, and he said responded saying he couldn't book me for an interview because I had restricted rehire status! I couldn't believe it! So I had to reply reminding him/telling him about the situation in September and how we'd already figured it all out, and then he booked a phone interview for me last Thursday (which I missed because my phone was on silent...I'm a mess) and then rescheduled it and had it on Friday and got invited to the face to face interview again - thank goodness!!

Note: I would not advise assuming you are going to get an interview. I did and it worked out because he had already told me I could go before so I thought it was a given...led to high stress levels until it was all worked out :)

The Goods:

The CRP application process was a lot smoother. Although it is much more drawn out, it is also much more organized. Waiting drives you crazy, but not having a clue what is going on and having to be repetitive is worse. Cast-a-way use to do the hiring for the CRP as well, and from what I've heard from friends who went through Cast-a-way it was messy then as well. I will say that Cast-a-way deals with hiring for a lot of other companies as well and I think doesn't have a large staff, but then again Yummy Jobs does a lot of other programs as well, I'm not sure how many people work for Yummy in the UK, or if Kristen is alone in Michigan for that matter...

CRP - 1 DCL - 0

The Face to Face Interview:

CRP - This was such an exciting day!! My first time through the Disney recruiter was Roger and when we arrived he was playing Mary Poppins music while he set up and it just made my insides SO EXCITED! The presentation was a power point with a mix of slides and video with an overly peppy girl named Valerie. It went over all the major facts of the program and I was so jazzed up and pumped to go after I saw it. I couldn't stop smiling! They also did Disney trivia with prizes! Then we were given our interview times and mine was pretty much right away, so I interviewed then left. This last time I had a face to face the Disney recruiter was Jeni and she was so full of energy. Her presentation included the same Valerie videos, but there were two different programs interviewing so she had slides and program information for both. Watching her presentation made me feel so ready to hop on a plane and do it all right then and there! I wanted to share Disney with the world and interview right away - however I was nearly last! When it was my turn Jeni seemed just as energetic as she was in the morning.

DCL - I recounted most of the face to face already in this post. I thought it was weird that Eric ran the presentation and the Disney recruiters didn't even introduce themselves. I don't have a clue what the other interviewers name was. It felt very unmagical. I know we are going on the ship to work and work hard, but it is still Disney... I thought there would be some kind of excitement or something?

The Goods:

It's kind of clear who this is going to...the CRP interviews were an event in themselves. The DCL interviews were a day I just wanted to be over. The people I met were nice, but it just had a really somber we're here because we have to be mood. Eric kept lipping (dissing...making fun of) the video because he's been watching it since 2003, and yah, it was just not the best experience.

CRP - 2 DCL - 0

Waiting:

CRP - They told us we have to wait 3-4 weeks to find out.

DCL - They told us we will find out next week.

The Goods:

DCL takes the cake!

CRP - 2 DCL - 1

Overall I would interview for the CRP over and over and over again, and maybe even be a Recruiter someday if I could. I don't think I'll ever interview for DCL again, but you should never say never .... right JB? ;)

To Toronto We Go...

Where shall we go?

It's currently 5:49am. and I am wide awake....well as wide awake as one can be after sleeping on a bench in the airport from 2am-5am waking up every hour. The fact that this place

is directly behind me isn't helping the situation. I'll have you all know I showed great self restraint and did not give in to my Starbucks addiction. I packed some dried apricots, almonds and carrots (thanks Kimmy!!) and a coffee mug for water myself so I didn't have to buy any food today, and although that grande soy chai tea latte with extra foam is currently calling my name soooo badly, I'm not giving in.

I thought I might explain a little bit why I'm going to Toronto...for a Disney Cruise Line Interview! "But Kate," you may be thinking, "you already interviewed for the Disney Cultural Representative Program?" That's true, however, I might not get the CRP, therefore I'm interviewing for the Disney Cruise Line as well! Either job would be incredible, and a totally different experience, so let's hope one of them wants me!! My Cruise interview is tomorrow, March 8th, at 9 am downtown Toronto at the Marriott Courtyard. It's somewhat the same format as the CRP interviews, where there is a presentation for about an hour in the morning, and then they give interview times throughout the day! Hopefully mine will be early! I'm nervous about the experience, there is a lot more crazy paperwork and such that I have to have, and I'm not sure if I have it all! Ahh! I think I do, just waiting on a reference letter from my dear friend/old manager Ashly!

Mmm Churros!

I'm also excited about Toronto because I get to see my lovely sister Carrie! She's kind of the best thing that's ever happened to this world and it makes me so sad to live far away from her so I'm very excited to spend some time catching up!! I also get to see my uber cute little cousins Savita and Kira which is nice, my Aunties!!! and a few of my friends I hope! It's a really short visit so I'm not able to see everyone that I love in Ontario. I know I already wrote about all this in my last post...sorry I'm repetitive...but it's 6am :P excuses excuses

Just to rid myself of the frustration of it, I'm going to tell all of you that American taxes are a lot easier than Canadian taxes!!! I did my American ones in a snap, and figured my Canadian ones would be easy too. Boy was I wrong!! I have to fill in all these different forms for moving for work so many times, and to account for the whole living in America thing, and a word for those going down on the program: Keep all your receipts! Keep everything!! It's a good thing I'm a pack rat (honestly I'm going to end up on that hoarders show when I'm older...except it's going to be spread between my parent's, sister's, and Auntie's house as well!) because I have all my receipts from moving and flying and such it makes it easier, but if I threw things away I'd be in trouble! Good ol' tax season :)

That's all for now, I'll be on my way to Edmonton soon and then after a few hour layover on to Toronto!! I love flying. I'm super weird and anal about it...in the way that I have to have an aisle seat as close to the front as possible...and don't like taking off, or when you land and they brake...and I don't like sitting beside people who want to talk... but besides that, flying is soo fun! Especially in first/business class ;) It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, man oh man, luxury! I can't even imagine those Air Emirate flights where they have full on showers on the plane!!! So yes, I love flying, I'm very excited, and I did not pack for the snow and cold weather I know is waiting for me in the east. Why you may ask? (Especially Mum, I know you're shaking your head), and the answer is: I brought layers! I just didn't want to pack those clunky boots. Sorry I didn't have the guts to tell you on the phone I wasn't going to bring them :D Love you!!

I am slowly going crazy...

Yes I realize I just started waiting.

Yes I realize they only just have the Toronto interviews today.

Yes I realize they still haven't even had the Montreal interviews.

However, I just can't stop thinking how poorly things might have gone.

I was the first rehire she interviewed and she could have thought she liked me - until she met everyone else!

Gah!

I keep trying to tell myself it isn't the end of the world if I don't get a contract...because it's not. However now that I've had a taste of it, I'm going to be disappointed. Majorly.

I keep thinking what I should have said instead, what I should have gotten across and how I could have answered sooo much better!

24 days 3 hours until I should hear something...

The Face to Face Interview…For Real!

Alright so it’s currently 6:42am and I am on the ferry HOME to visit my family as I mentioned yesterday! I’m weirdly awake after going to bed around 2am and hope that the awakeness will stick around as I have to run 10 miles, cook dinner and participate in a wonderful Oscar Party this evening! Long day…but sooo worth it!

Now to what you’re really interested in..THE INTERVIEW! I will do my best to recall everything..now:

We decided that Sam would wake up and shower first as she had to straighten her hair so I got to snooze a wee bit longer and got up around 6:45am. (It was a long week of waking up well before 7…except for that one sleep in…oops!) I showered, then scrunched my hair, dried it and wore it in a low bun slightly to the right of my neck with my bangs sweeping across my forehead. Natural, neutral makeup topped off with little gold hoop earrings and my swirly Mickey Mouse necklace! (I loveee this necklace…I bought it for myself last Christmas when as a cast member we got 50% off all merchandise! here is a picture!)

I was really anxious about what I was going to wear to the interview and spent many stressful hours shopping and calling for opinions, until my phone died! for the right thing. I ended up in a Jacob skirt suit with an RW& Co white detailed blouse. It may be the prettiest white blouse I’ve ever seen in my life – I love it! The outfit was the first clothing I’ve bought myself (besides a World of Color tshirt from Disneyland which doesn’t count) since March 2010 when I dropped 300$ at Lululemon. It felt very weird being in stores and handing over the credit card! I had mad sticker shock, and still am uneasy about the amount of money spent. However I was reminded that I have a bunch of other important interviews coming up as well, plus will need a nice outfit for Traditions if I do get accepted. So I’m convincing myself it falls under the category of ‘life purchase,’ that every bright young woman needs a go to suit! I finished off the outfit with some killer 2” black pointy toed heels from Wal Mart! You couldn’t even tell, they were nice! Haha.

So we left the hotel around 8:10 with Bri in a cab to the Sutton Place Hotel. We arrived early, but there were other people around that you could tell were interviewing. We went upstairs and waited outside the room. I saw my friend/old roommate Courtney which was super nice! We caught up a bit, and then everyone headed into the room. Sam, Bri and I sat in the front row, and a super nice girl named Tricia sat beside me.

The Disney recruiter’s name was Jeni and the manager interviewing was Shandon, a food and beverage manager from Norway (the pavilion, not the country ;) ). My heart was racing at this point as Jeni started the presentation! I was so excited! Even though I’ve obviously seen the presentation before, both online and at my first interview it was great. As cheesy as the Valerie character is in the video portions, seeing Epcot, the Commons, the costumes, and the whole Disney world, and having Valerie tell us to come and work there was amazing. It was also cool because there were International College Program people interviewing (the go just for the summer in between university years) so we got to see their presentation too with bits about working quick service, custodial, at resorts, and as character performers! It really made me miss the experience and super pumped to have my interview! Then Kristen from Yummy Jobs stepped up and told us our interview times…and mine was 4:15pm. It was currently about 10:30am? Yes, that is a lot of waiting! We headed out the door and a group of girls headed over to Starbucks! There was Danika (who is actually the sister of this guy Adam, who I just missed on my contract but heard all about and was friends with some of his friends. It’s a small world after all!), Shannon, Rodi and Jodey (all from dinner the night before), Tricia (she had some really interesting stories about being in Mexico while there was an earthquake!), Sam, Bri and I. I hope I’m not forgetting someone. We had Starbucks and chatted about lots of random topics, including natural disasters, which was really neat! Rodi had been in the eye of a hurricane on one of her trips to Florida! Hurricane Charlie if I remember correctly. She is really into photography and I’m excited to creep her facebook photos…yes I just admitted that publicly, but she’s been all over Europe, Australia, Fiji etc and takes pretty artistic photos, I bet you’re all wishing you could snoop the pics now too! J Tricia had some great stories about a mission trip she did to Mexico, she said the earthquake felt like the whole world was swaying, and then rumbling, and you couldn’t step off it. Seems like a pretty intense sensation, I’ve only ever felt little quakes.

Rodi’s interview was at 12:15 so she headed off for that and the rest of us went to Joey Burrard for lunch. It’s an upper scale Cactus Club I’d say, and I had a really yummy, yet over priced salad. $20 dollars for some greens, two sliced up strawberries, some pecans and dressing? Yikes! This post is making me realize how insanely cheap I am now. Don’t judge me! The highlight of lunch was when Tricia spotted TOMMY EUROPE!! He’s the trainer on the Slice shows “Bulging Brides” and “The Last 10 Pounds Bootcamp!” Kim and I watch these shows often and I was so excited! Probably way too excited haha. I tried to creep a picture, because he was having lunch with his wife and adorable little girl, so I didn’t want to interrupt. However when he left alone and walked right past our table, Bri asked if I could have a photo and he said YES! It’s an awful picture of me, but proof!

I wanted to beg him to let me on the show, however instead I just told him we PVR all his shows. Yup, I was a swooning dork. I saw something like that to him, yet when I peed with Mariah Carey last year I didn’t even flinch until I got out of the bathroom and yelled to my friends “I just peed with Mariah Carey!!!” right in front of Nick Cannon. I’m a special girl J

We headed back to the Sutton Place Hotel and waited downstairs for a few hours as time crept closer to 4pm. The other non-repeat girls had their interviews and our group slowly dwindled. I called my Dad for a quick pep-talk which actually worked great! All day my emotions kept going from excited to anxious to nervous to nervous excitement to anxious. Eventually we went upstairs and met up with Courtney until it was time to give my paperwork to Kristen!

I had to bring 3 copies of my passport, my resume, and my filled out Disney application. She stapled them all together, asked a few questions and then we were ready to go! I waited outside the room for Jeni so nervous excited! We shook hands and went in the room. Let me just say this about Jeni: She is the friendliest lady ever! The exact person you would think of as a Disney cast member. Smiley, welcoming, she puts you at ease right away and the whole interview felt like a casual conversation.

I sat down and she said she was just going to look over my paper work. She commented on the fact that I had other fine dining experience (in a good way) and then asked me how I felt about the restaurant going signature.

*For those of you who don’t know, Le Cellier Steakhouse is becoming a signature restaurant March 1^st, 2011. This means that the entire restaurant is getting an overhaul, new tables, new settings, new menu and new wine/drinks lists! And of course – better service! It’s going to make an already fantastic experience unbelievable. Hopefully!*

So I told her how excited I was and that I thought it would be an incredible change and she asked why and I told her about how I’d been to Artist Point and Victoria and Albert’s (which are signature restaurants) and how the service was there and such. She was interested in Victoria and Alberts because she had never been yet, so I told her it was incredible, especially being a vegetarian, I’d never had the option of a 7 course vegetarian meal before. She said she was also a vegetarian (score 2 for the animals ;) ) and then asked me all about the experience and service level. Then she asked what it was like selling steaks at Le Cellier and I told her I had no problem with it, but that I loved cooking so it was interesting to me how the prepared everything. I honestly never had problems selling steaks, I told my tables all the time how absolutely incredible they were – and no one was ever disappointed by my recommendations. The only thing that got me sometimes was when the prime rib was ordered rare…it looked like it still had a heartbeat…but I digress.

She asked me how my first contract was and if I was okay that it would be a different experience. I told her that my first contract was unbelievable, it was the best year of my life and actually made me switch my entire career path to hospitality from politics and that I was excited for a whole new experience this time, and that there was so much that I wanted to do that I didn’t have the time to the first time. She asked how I felt about a new management team and I said that I loved Christina and learned a lot from her but that I was also excited about a new manager because he would bring a different group of skills so I’d learn even more. She asked if I had tattoos and how my record card was and then that was about it. It was super short and having read Sam’s blog, she asked us totally different questions. I kind of said oh wow that was short, and asked her if she looks at us rehires differently than new applicants. She said that it was a good question and that they are looking for people with serving experience but also that they want to give new applicants the opportunity. She said she kind of just gets a feeling about people and that she loved my enthusiasm and not to worry. Then she said the dates wouldn’t be until the fall/early 2012!!!! SOOO FAR AWAY! And that we won’t find out for 3-4 weeks!

The Toronto interviews are this Tuesday and then the Montreal ones are Friday I think? Then she has to make some decisions, get back to Orlando, start processing everyone into the system, and then they tell us! Such a long wait. After our interviews Courtney told me she told Jeni that she was nervous about going into service and that I really helped her study the menu and such, and that Jeni told her ‘I forgot to tell your friends, but tell them that when you guys get down there you’ll be in quick service for a few days then go right into service.’ It sounds so positive that it’s freaking me out hugely!!! I’m scared of being excited because I’ll be even more disappointed. Plus my interview was first of the rehires so many she thought she liked me, and then is going to interview all the others and realize I wasn’t so special. Or maybe they only have a few spots for rehires and I don’t fit into their plans. I don’t know. I can’t know and won’t know for WEEKS! Gah! I am one of the most impatient people on the planet so it’s going to be really tough.

I also have to make some huge decisions this month which is stressful in itself. I have an interview to work at a luxury resort for the summer on Wednesday, and then I’m going to Toronto the week after for another interview. Then have to decide what to do about university as well! And I can’t make any decisions until I hear back from Disney. I didn’t want to get my hopes up about a second contract so I got a lot of balls rolling and now is the time where I have to juggle all of them! We also have a new family member arriving in the next month or so which is so incredibly exciting, as well as my ½ marathon training and regular working. I also may be starting a new part time job next week. There is so much going on!!!

I also feel like I forgot some of the questions/answers from my interview! I’m sorry! This is what I looked like when I got home from my interview:

I crashed HARD on the couch after a very stress/anxiety filled, early mornings, late nights, week. Originally I was leaning on my sister with the pug curled up on my legs, but I was the sole one left by this time. The sad part is I missed the rest of Say Yes to the Dress!

So please cross your fingers, cross your toes, cross your brother’s, sister’s, boyfriend’s, girlfriend’s, parent’s and pet’s fingers and toes as well that I get good news from Disney, and if not from Disney then from one of my other interviewers, and if not from one of my other interviewers then from the student loan people ;)

26 days and counting…

The Pre Face to Face Interview

Alright...first of all I did not post the night before because I stayed downtown with my dear friend Sam and they did not have internet. I'm pretty sure it was a sketchy hotel now that I think about it... haha. So I'll start from the beginning ... two days ago...

Thursday !

I've worked at 7am all week this week so it's been early long days. Thursday was no different and I finished work at 3. I walked down the hill to work rather quickly as I had left without my keys that morning (I woke up late...well fell back asleep...and my dear brother Gareth saved me..THANK YOU!) and my sister/bro-in-law were going to work out right when I got home. So as I walked in the door they walked out and I was left to pack my bag, walk the pooch, and head on my way to the bus stop to meet Sam downtown. For someone who lives in Vancouver I rarely go downtown...or anywhere outside of my work, running, friends bubble. I know - not very exciting! So I got downtown, strolled to the HOJO on Granville (aka the cheapest hotel downtown!) and met up with SAM! It was so exciting to see Sam, and it didn't at all feel like it had been nearly a year since I had seen my 'little sister.' We fell right into conversation as if we'd had coffee the day before, and went up to check out our hotel room and wait for Sam's friend Brianna, who was also interviewing, to arrive.

If I were clever I would have taken a picture of our hotel room to show you..but lets just say it was SMALL! But perfect for us :) We had a closet to hang our fancy outfits, a bed to sleep in and a bathroom to shower in. We went for dinner at Red Robins with some of the girls (Bri, Sam, Jodey who was 18 from Calgary, Rodi who was 24 from Coquitlam, and Shannon who was 19 from Red Deer but was going to school in Vanocuver) interviewing the next day. It was nice meeting new people and I really liked them! It was the first time I've been to a restaurant in a very long time so it was exciting!!! I had vegetarian fajitas and they were yummy!!!

After dinner we walked back to the hotel and I chatted with Shannon on our walk. She was really really nice and we discovered we both are big fans of Spring Awakening! It's so exciting! haha. So perhaps if we both get programs we can hit New York and some musicals, or at least some travelling shows when they come through Orlando/Tampa!

Sam and I talked way too much! We couldn't stop catching up and talking about old friends and times. I really didn't think it would happen - clearly I was ridiculous thinking I wouldn't chat chat chat. haha. We also went over our questions and answers we'd been working on and eventually I fell asleep.

6:20 came really soon when Corben Bleu started singing this song to us

Yes, we went all out with our Disney theming! This song played after Illuminations every night during the Celebrate promotion while we were working at Disney World and it was really cute to hear it! We also blow dried, straightened, primped and primed to The Disneyland 50th Anniversary Dreams Come True Fireworks music! I was jammin' ;)

So speaking of 620 coming early....I am catching the 630am ferry tomorrow morning to travel over to beautiful Vancouver Island (aka HOME!) to see my Mum and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Kona and Breeze and my BED!!! .... I love my bed.

Therefore I'm going to leave this one as a cliff hanger and if I have the will power to keep my eyes open I will give a full recount of my interview day during the ferry ride...otherwise I shall share all the dirty details later on in the day! I will do it tomorrow though because if I don't I'll forget!

Here's to a lovely evening..even though it's already 1am, and I shall give you the details and my ridiculous non-stop reliving of every moment tales - tomorrow!

3-4 weeks until I find out if I'm going to Disney World!

Imagination

There is a buzz in the air.

You're huddled together with your family on the towels you bought a few hours earlier just for this reason.

Everyone has taken turns holding your spots while the others grabbed dinner.

You feed scraps to the ducks swimming along the waters edge..even though you know you're not suppose to.

You look around for any sign that it's about to start.

You've heard the warning that the lights around the Rivers of America are about to dim. You ask again and again the time on your Dad's watch.

Your head whips around and your stomach gets butterflies as you hear...

You know that nervous excitement you get when you hear that you're about to enjoy Mickey's vivid imagination? But it could become an overwhelming nightmare? And then the sound of the lights going up...man o' man.

That's kind of how I feel about my interview right now. Nervous excitement, because it could go really well or become an overwhelming nightmare! haha. Let's hope the good prevails!

1 day 15 hours 31 minutes until my Face to Face Interview! Gah!

Freakout!

So I'm having a major panic attack! I'm so anxious and nervous and can't think about anything but the interview!! and not in a productive way! I keep trying to say in my head 'Kate why do you want to work for the mouse again?' (I know they won't word it like that haha) but I just get so kerfuffled and can't get my answer out straight. 'Ummm because it's been my life plan since I could think consciously??!!' Not really an acceptable answer. I need to just have some tea and calm down a bit, it doesn't help that I'm stressing because I just found out two more past cast members are interviewing as well. Soo many repeats! Yikes. I know I just have to worry about me and do my best. I'm going to repeat that. I just have to worry about me and do my best. ...There, instantly calmer :)

Well, sort of.

Ahh I'm So Behind!!

So to make my excuse quick, we haven't had the internet at home for the last couple of days!! It's one of those things I definitely take for granted - and sadly, feel lost without!! I didn't really realize how much I do on the internet until I didn't have it. Such as blog, www.wdwip.com creep, livestrong-it-up, track my 1/2 marathon training schedule (thank goodness I wrote it out or I may have missed my 10 mile run today ;) ) and of course my favourite www.pbfingers.com!!

The writer of Peanut Butter Fingers is Julie, who I don't know at all, but she went to the University of Central Florida (which is where I've been accepted), lives in Orlando (which is where I shall live!) and writes about healthy eats and exercise (two of my favourite things!). It's super dorky but I also like when they go places that I've been, it's kind of like seeing your favourite places as part of a TV show. Yup, I'm just that dorky. I thought it was weird at first to read her blog and not know her, but my dear from Alyson turned me on to it and said - "If she didn't want it read by strangers, it wouldn't be on the internet!" So I've missed my creeping ways, and am currently at work early, computer in hand, just so I can update MY blog with this post - and check my email on a full size screen, sometimes the blackberry just doesn't cut it!

So anyways....back to the REAL point of this blog...I recieved this email from Kristen on Friday:

Greetings Kathryn!

Wow… just 1 week to go before the Vancouver Interviews with Walt Disney World! Disney Representatives and Yummy Jobs are so excited to meet you and help you get started on what will be an adventure of a lifetime!

Just to help you feel more comfortable about the interviews, here is a little recap on how the day will go!

On arrival at 845am you will be greeted and signed in. At 9am you will get to meet Jeni and Shandon, from Disney World, and see a presentation all about the program! This presentation will include all the information you will need; it covers everything from housing to job roles, and everything in

between. And there are even some keepsake prizes for a few lucky people! Once the presentation is over you will be assigned an interview time and a have a chance to sit down and chat with the others at the interviews, you never know you could be sharing a room/apartment with one of them!

Once you have your interview, which will probably be one the most fun interviews you will ever have (it’s Disney style!) you are free to go, or stick around to talk to your newly made friends.

Some tips for the day:

Just be yourself, Disney wants to see you! Be excited!

Have all your paperwork ready to go.

And of course…

SMILE J

I look forward to seeing you bright and early next Friday!

Have a Great Day!

Kristen Thornton

Yummy Jobs

Paperwork....yah...about that. My printer is out of ink, so my resume has been printed in a slightly grey colour, think I'll lose points? If I don't get the job we're totally blaming the printer ;) I've been trying to think about answers to possible questions, and have been talking to my good friend (and little sister!) Sam about the interviews quite a bit, as well as all the incredible things we hope to do if we get accepted!

This was my to do list last program:

My friend Matt went through the list at one point and put his name beside all the things he did as well. Although some things will stay the same, such as ride every Disney ride at least once, and see every attraction (except It's Tough to Be a Bug!) and go to Key West.. how could you not want to go somewhere that looks like this:

Yup, that's a REAL PHOTO! Wowzers!

The list will also be a lot different in many ways. I'd love to attend Disney University courses on resume building, interviewing skills, contact building, and Disney history (Maybe I could teach that one ;) ) as well as run the Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon, the Walt Disney World Marathon, and the Princess Half Marathon! I would like to go to the Gaylord Palms ICE! show thing, canoe, go horseback riding, do a segway tour, and finally, stay a night at the Polynesian Resort! It was the resort I always really really wanted to stay in, and I stayed in a lot of resorts, but never made it here. I'd also like to go for Tea at the Grand Floridian Resort!

Obviously this is just the beginning of the things I would like to do! There is so much that Disney has to offer it's guests, and as cast members we get an even better deal on most of it! And has much time as we spend taking advantage of it, at some point a lot of it becomes just there, and we rather sleep in or chill and watch TV in the A/C. If I get this second contract I'm going to make a huge priority of exploring every nook and cranny of Walt Disney World and making sure that at the end of the year I can look back and say - hey, I did pretty much everything I wanted to here, and still saved tons o' money ;) (don't worry Mum!!).

The interview is this Friday and I'm totally nervous, anxious and excited! Thursday evening a few interviewees are going for dinner at Red Robins on Robson Street to meet up, chat, share a meal and get our jitters out a bit! It should be nice. I'm still undecided on what I'm going to wear for my interview, which you would think wouldn't be that big a deal, but it is! You have to feel comfortable and like you look good to feel good sometimes ;)

I'm off to work hard now! Have a beautiful day and hopefully the home interview will be working soon :)

4 days 15 hours 3 minutes until my Disney Face to Face Interview!!

(Ps - Hope you loveddd the bold today! It has started out as just the kind of day, when you can't open your mouth without a song jumpin' right out of it...)