This is why Running is Disney Related!

I have never been a huge runner...until now. Over the past few months I've somewhat fallen head of heels in love. They say you fall in love when you're least expecting it..and that seems to be what has happened. Some days it feels amazing and as if I could run forever, and some days, like today, that last mile is ridiculously hard! 2 days ago I had a fantastic run, where all the songs hit at the perfect times and once I finished my 5 mile run (just over 8km) I thought why not run one more, and then I ran the rest of the way home so it ended up being about 6.75 miles (10.86km) and I was tired afterwards! The last two days have been tougher and I've done 5 miles each day. All of this started when I heard one of the guys I worked with my first go around was running the 2010 Disney Marathon. I thought that was so cool, and as I had always secretly wanted to run a marathon at some point made the decision that I would run the 2012 Disney Marathon, and now it's less than a year away! I've always been sporty but not necessarily very fit. This year is the year though, as I don't really have a choice! I start a running clinic every Tuesday evening on the 25th for 12 weeks leading up to my first official run - The Vancouver Sun Run on April 17th! I just found a 8km or half marathon that happens on May 1st, however the original plan was to run the Scotiabank Half Marathon June 26th - so we shall see!
If I get to be in Florida by October I'm hoping to do the Epcot Food and Wine Half Marathon then! And then the grande finale - the 2012 Disney Marathon taking place the first weekend of January, the 6-8th!
I hope that whoever reads this, besides my family, doesn't mind that I'm blogging a bit about running in between hearing from Kristen at Yummy Jobs, and the Face to face interviews, but I need some distraction or I'll go stir crazy! My friend Ali from my first contract emailed Kristen and she still hasn't heard any news from Disney as to when the interviews will take place, which means we're all in the dark still too!
I'm sooo nervous and excited to hear about the face to face interviews and actually have them happen! It's so frustrating having to wait wait wait... maybe running will teach me some patience?
Until next time... if any of you are in Florida here is one of my best tips: Rent boats from one of the resorts on the Seven Seas Lagoons!!! You get a cast member discount (if you're a cast member of course) and even if you aren't they are soo much fun, especially on a sunny day! When I went we rented the 2 seater kinda of speed boats, and I'd never driven a boat before, but we each got one, and after initially being freaked out, it was INCREDIBLE! Zooming around the water, with the castle in the background, the beautiful wilderness lodge, the Floridian, it was great! If you ever get the chance...DO IT! :)

Happy Holidays!

Yes I waited a little long to wish everyone a Happy Holidays, however it's been a busy, crazy, emotional, fantastic season and well, I dropped the ball! BUT I'm hoping everyone has a beautiful New Years, however they wish to celebrate it, and a 2011 full of love, laughter, imagination and Adventures!!!

So the update on Disney....I've been added to an email chain of applicants all introducing themselves, which is exciting! I remember it last year and then meeting all the people...getting accepted, and how good of friends I am with so many of them now. It's quite bizarre actually. I couldn't believe how many names I knew on the list! There are SOOO MANY REPEATS! It's completely freaking me out! It's super stressful having so many people know you're reapplying...and if I don't get it, I'm going to be super sad..and everything will know! Also it feels like there is no way they could take everyone who is reapplying, so either me, or someone I know who was great there may not get accepted again. Gah! I don't even like thinking about it because it just stresses me out a lot. It keeps making me think of everything I didn't do, everything I missed out on seeing, and everything I did that I absolutely loved!

I did get everything sent in for university so that is exciting!!! I am waiting to hear in the New Year whether I'll be accepted or not, and if I do it's to start in MAY! Ahh! So crazy. I also have a Disney Cruise Line interview in February. Soo many things! I want school to accept me the most of course, and then the CRP so I can postpone school a year and save save save :)

So that's the update. No word from Kristen yet on the actual dates of the interviews...but trust me, you'll be the first to know!

GOT THE FACE TO FACE

Greetings Kathryn (Kate),

Thanks so much for taking the time in the recent telephone interviews for Disney’s Cultural Representative Program.

It was an absolute pleasure speaking with you and getting to learn a bit more about yourself and your reasons for wishing to work at Walt Disney World. I was impressed by the enthusiasm and personality that you had for this program and would be delighted to invite you to the final interviews for the Cultural Representative Program!

Currently we are still working with Walt Disney World to verify the exact locations and the time frames of when we will be holding the final interviews, however they will be held in early 2011. I will be contacting you in January with more information about the interview locations as well as cities we anticipate to interview in.

Along with the interview city information, I will also be inviting you to submit your email address to share with others interviewing, so please do keep an eye on your emails throughout this fall and if your contact information changes please do inform me.

Once again, congratulations on reaching this stage of the recruitment process and I very much look forward to contacting you with more information in January 2011!


Have a Magical Day,


Kristen Thornton
Yummy Jobs


YAY!!!! I'm soooooo excited!! I can have a lovely Christmas holiday now not stressing whether I got the interview or not! This waiting period is annoying, but so much less stressful because I know I'm onto the next step. One step closer to FLORIDA! Loveeeee it. Life is Good Today!

Starting All Over Again...

So I checked my email this morning and this is what I found:


Greetings!

I hope your October is start great, and that you are getting excited about the possibility of spending a year at Walt Disney World on the Cultural Representative Program! We would like to schedule a telephone interview with you to get to know you a bit more. We will be inviting you select an interview time on Thursday, October 14th. Please do note that the interviews times are in Eastern Standard Time. You will be receiving a second email to confirm how to select your specific interview time. Please do note that you will need to have confirmed your interview time slot by Wednesday, October 13th at 4pm Eastern Standard Time.

I hope you are as excited as we are for your telephone call, and I look forward to chatting to you soon!

Have a Magical Day,


Kristen Thornton
Yummy Jobs


Super exciting, and SO fast! So my phone interview is October 14th at 8:15 AM my time. I'm sooo excited and sooo nervous! haha. I hope I do alright. We'll see, I could be starting this whole thing all over again :)

6 Months Later...

It's hard to believe it's been six months since I left Disneyworld. At this time I was stressing about leaving, packing, boys, friends, flights, UPS, everything. I definitely went though a hard time when I left Florida. It was wierd being about my friends and family from home because they couldn't know what it was like and I started every sentence with 'at Disney we,' which is never nice for the other person. I was also going through my first heart break, which as most people know isn't so easy. I also was moving to a new place in another new province with a new job. It sounds like the depression should have kicked in pretty hard, but I was okay. And now I'm even better. When I read that last message I wrote on March 19th, while I was staying at the Cabins, I can feel all the emotions seeping out of it. No wonder my Mum was concerned! However now looking back, a lot of those things that seemed like the end of the world have been reset to their actual size and things go on. I left the job I first had after Disney, and now I'm in Vancouver, where I really truly feel at home. I have incredible roommates (my sister Kimmy, her fiance Gareth and their pug Lily), and a job that even though I'm not fond of it, the people are so kind and I'm looking for something better. I have mended the friendships that I could with the people from Florida that I did wrong, and have forgiven those who hurt me. My heart is fully healed and doing well, I learned a lot of lessons about myself, love, trust, and guys from my relationship with Barry, and even though we were awful for each other, my only hope for him is that he finds someone who is right and works hard to make his life goals come true. A lot of the growing I thought I did in Florida, I actually did reflecting on it. I can honestly say that I am truly happy right now. Yes I have incredible stress about money for school, I'm boyfriendless, and have a somewhat crappy job, but I have a peace and calm inside me telling me that right now, as it is, life is good, and I'm happy. I am planning on reapplying to work at Disney, not to relive the experience but to further my career and love in the hospitality business. As I go through the process again I'll do my best to track it here, and I may eventually tell you about my Aunts visit (which was a lot of fun, we stayed at Animal Kingdom, ate breakfast with princesses and rode Dumbo soo many times!) or Klassy and mine's trip to New Orleans (it was absolutely mind blowing! The culture and history of the French Quarters gives you this feeling that there is so much to be thankful for and so much to celebrate and love) and I may even tell you about my last day of work (on St. Patrick's Day! We drank around the world).
If you are thinking of doing the Cultural Representative Program, all I have to say is don't think twice, don't hesitate, grab this opportunity by the horn and throw your entire self into heart first. It will make you cry, laugh, want to quit, never want to leave and if you're lucky it'll change your life.
Thanks for reading my blog and wanting to follow along on this journey that was the product of a lifetime of loving Disney, from the moment I first walked through the gates of Disneyland when I was 4 years old, to discovering the program when I was 12 years old, to the 5am drive home from Victoria to Courtenay when I decided not to wait and to apply right away, to the interviews, the waiting, getting accepting and to finally stepping off the airplane in Orlando and driving under the sign into the Happiest Place on Earth. I'm sorry I didn't always write as much as I should haveThank you all, and ttfn, because this isn't the last Disney has seen of me :)