Hooray!

This morning at 9:00, I went in for my last final before heading off for the college program. Hooray!

8 hours, 4,000 words, and 12 pages later, I walked out, thinking I never wanted to write another coherent sentence ever EVER again.

Clearly, that didn't last long.

ORLANDO HERE I COME

Tangled

I just wanted to check back in and say that last night, on Walt Disney's 109th birthday, I saw Tangled. As Walt Disney Animation Studio's 50th feature, it had a lot of expectations. 

And MAN, did it deliver! Tangled is great!! The animation is just beautiful, hair especially (which makes sense, seeing as it's such a big part of the storyline), the story works really well, and most of the songs are extremely catchy. I didn't even wait until I got home to buy "I've Got a Dream."

Look at her! She's adorable! Also, how awesome is the frying pan thing?

I was impressed with some of the darker parts of the story. Trying to stay spoiler free, the demise of the villain is pretty darn gruesome, and there are a few scenes that are really tense for our heroes.

I can't wait to own this movie forever and ever! Hooray for Disney Animation and a new princess! I hope Rapunzel stays in the parks for a long time. She deserves it. I can't wait to meet her and Flynn come January!

How can you not love those two?

Whoooa

So, I guess it's been about 3 months, huh?

Oops.

I'm back, though, and I vow that I will not fail you again, dear blog!

So, we're about 5 weeks out from January 10th. This is so crazy! In fact, I'm still not entirely convinced that I'll make it to Orlando, and I don't think I'll believe that this is actually happening until I'm standing at my work location with my nametag on and the "earning my ears" ribbon taken off. THEN I'll finally be convinced that I get to stay in Orlando.

Until then, I'm still here in Birmingham being paranoid that something with my school won't work and this will all blow up in my face. It's too good to be true, right? Something's going to happen, right?

Oh well, it'll all work out.

Right?

Anyway, I'm extremely excited to get to Orlando and meet the people I've sort of met on the internet. I have a group of awesome girls for roommates already, so we're planning on meeting at 6:00 AM (eek!) outside of Vista Way, the apartment complex where registration takes place, so that we can beat the crowd and make sure we all get into the same apartment. You can only guarantee your actual ROOMmate, the one who will be in your bedroom with you, beforehand, so getting to check-in early is the best way to increase your chances of getting the apartment you want in the complex you want.

We're making the best of it by making a breakfast potluck while we hang out waiting for check-in to open up. I'm super excited!

Before that, though, we have a College Program meet up on December 20th for those of us in the surrounding area who want to hang out for a little while. This is why the CP is awesome, you meet fun people even before you start your program! I'm really looking forward to this, especially because the restaurant we're going to uses paper tablecloths and gives you crayons (!) to use.

I think I'll leave it here for now. I just thought, now that there's a whole 14 of you, that I'd actually go back to the blog! Sorry there aren't any pictures, I might be in class right now.

Guess What I Got!

"Knock Knock!"

"Who's There?"

"PURPLE FOLDER!"

"HOORAY!!!!!"

And they lived happily ever after....

FLASHBACK #2

THE INTERVIEW

My interview was at 4:00 in the afternoon on Friday, August 20. I had to wait until my classes were done, so while it seemed like almost everyone else in the Facebook group had already finished their interviews, I was stuck sitting in my room doing this:

"IS IT 4:00 YET?"

So, 4:00 came... and it went.

4:02 came.

Then 4:05.

4:08 passed without even an "OHAI!"

And finally, after 9 minutes of agonizing "did they forget my phone number? Did my cell phone lose service? How many more times can I watch 'Hakuna Matata' before they call?" I finally got the call.

After a fleeting vision of me running out of the room, down the elevator, and finally out into the streets and fading into the distance, I answered the phone.

Now to be honest, I don't remember my interviewer's name! I know that sounds terrible, as most people like to talk about their interviewer afterwards and find other people who had the same one, but I was too busy concentrating on not throwing up to take note. 

After I answered the phone, we jumped right in with confirming my information and getting all of that good stuff sorted out.

Honestly, I was pretty darn nervous. Most of the interview went like this:

Kindly Interviewer whose name might have started with a C: "Alright, just to make sure, you do understand that the pay rate starts at $7.25, right?"

Katy: "Oh yeah. Most definitely. For sure. Haha, I know that! Yeah. Yes ma'am. Ja. Yep. Sure enough! You bet! Heh heh heh."

Inner monologue:

"I should probably stop sounding so affirmative. I sound like an axe murderer"

Anyway, she asked me some questions, and I'm sure if you're like me and you're reading this blog because you might want to apply to the WDWCP in the future and you enjoy looking at every blog ever in existence, you would probably like to hear about said questions.

• Why do you want to participate in the WDWCP? (This one always gets asked)
• Top three? (attractions, character attendant, MEO)
• Why do you want to be a character attendant?
• Tell me a time when you gave great guest service (let me tell you, this was not a good question for me. But apparently it wasn't too big of a deal. I just said "let me take a minute to think," came up with an OK-ish answer, and moved on!)
• How do you feel about living in a diverse environment?
• How are your computer skills?
• Do you have experience with cash handling?
• What's your favorite part of your job experiences so far?
• In response to what I said to that, which was hanging out with the kids in my summer camps, my interviewer attempted to persuade me to change my top 3 to include Quick Service Food & Beverage. Um, I can deal with it, but it's definitely NOT in my top 3. Sorry! (Of course I answered much more politely and charmingly than that.)

Then she made sure I would be able to handle standing on my feet all day (another "Oh yes! For sure, most definitely. Affirmative." on that one) and she let me go to enjoy my weekend.

After 21 minutes, it was over.

"Aaaand exhale. For the first time in 3 days."

Nothing left now but to wait. And wait. And wait some more.

Up next: MORE WAITING!

Sooooooo

Just decided. The goal for my next post? Do NOT say the word "so."

FLASHBACK BLOG

Date: 8/18
Time: 12:05 PM CST
Place: Dorm

So, there I was. nonchalantly checking my Facebook in between classes on my first day back for the semester, when lo, and behold, I discovered the WDWCP Facebook group was going nuts because APPLICATIONS ARE UP!

This was me:

"WAAAH"

But I still had class to go to, so no filling out applications for me yet!

Fast Forward to 2:30 PM

FINALLY! I finished classes, but a friend came over and forced me to play Mario Kart on my roommate's N64 (yes, after much persuasion, he finally got me to play video games.), so it was around 3:30 when I got to the application for the WDWCP.

I watched the E-presentation, got my number, and went about finishing the application. On a side note, don't you think it's about time for them to update to a format that works on something other than Internet Explorer?

Me after using IE for the ENTIRE application process.

The web interview, briefly (there might be a whole post later if anyone's clamoring for more details), was pretty stressful, I'll admit, but as long as your answers make sense logically and you stick to the "strong" answer categories, you should be fine. At the end, I got a screen that said "You've been identified as a Strong Candidate" and so on. Hooray! I know everyone gets the "strong candidate" message, but it still felt good!

"I'm a strong candidate!"

Anyway, by the time I finished, it was 4:30 CST, so when I called to schedule my interview (hooray!), the CP offices were already closed!

This was me:

So i had to wait until Thursday to schedule my interview. How did it go? What time was my interview? Does anyone care? What questions did they ask? Did they get my email address right? You'll have to tune in next time on FLASHBACK BLOG #2!

What's this? A blog?

Hi! So, I'm late to the party, it would seem.

I'm Katy, by the way.
I started a blog because I know I really like to read about other people's experiences in the Walt Disney World College Program, and now it's my turn! I was afraid to start a blog before I got my acceptance (Who wants to deal with the mess of deleting their blog when they're already sad enough that they didn't make the program? Not me!), but now that I'm officially in, I'm feeling like it's finally time for me to start one of these babies up. So. Here we go! Join me, will you?

So Katy, you've been accepted. What role will you have during your program?
Main Entrance Operations!

Wait, what's that?
That's the fabulous job where you either:

• Work the parking lot directing cars into their spots, driving the tram, or delivering spiels on the tram
• Work selling ticket media at the booths at the front of the parks or other complexes on property

Or

• Work taking tickets/manning the turnstiles at the front of the parks (please let me get this!)

So you're going to be working in Main Entrance Operations. What dates will you be in WDW?
I'll be in WDW as a Cast Member from 1/10 until 5/13. Mark your calendars!

What else can I expect from this blog?
Well, I'll have to have flashbacks to the application process I'm sure. Then, I'll probably babble on about the program for a few months until I get to WDW, then HOPEFULLY I'll continue making updates from Orlando!

Blogs aren't cool anymore. Don't you have a vlog?
No. At least not yet. Until someone persuades me to look at myself for hours on end, I won't do it. I will probably take video in the parks come January, though!

So, I started this blog much too late at night, so I think I'll leave you with a joke.

How much did the pirate pay for corn?
A Buck-an-ear! (A buccaneer, get it? eh? eh?)