Christmas Wishes and Bucket Lists

Merry Christmas everyone!  Tomorrow is Christmas Eve here in Australia and I am writing this from my parent's house where I am spending the festive season.  I'm looking forward to spending some time with my family before I head off to Florida next month!  I can't believe how quickly everything is happening - it's less than 20 days until I leave Australia!

You will hopefully begin to see more frequent updates from me very soon, in fact there's already some blog updates you can check out.  You will notice I've added my bucket list to the navigation bar at the top of the page, I will try to keep that updated throughout my program as best I can.  Please let me know if you have any ideas for things I should add to my bucket list or great things to do in Florida, because I would love to hear them.

Also, I have been feverishly trying to get my DICP Guide up-to-date before my departure because I don't know how much time I will have to work on it once I'm in America.  I'm currently finishing off my posts on the visa process which has been a mammoth task.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy taking some time out to enjoy being with your loved ones.  Thank you to everyone who has been following along with me in this journey so far, and the real adventure hasn't even begun yet!

And the Vlogging Continues

I'm sorry that this is just another vlog update (unless you really like my vlogs, in which case - you're welcome!).  I am officially done with school as of tomorrow so I plan to work on updating this blog a lot more in the coming weeks.  But for now I just want to share my two latest youtube videos.  The first is an About Me/Roommate Survey video and the second is a Disney Tag video.  If you enjoy them, please head over to my channel HERE and subscribe!

About Me/Roommate Survey

The Disney Tag

Thanks for watching!

Vlog Update!

Just a quick update on my vlog.  I took my camera along when I went to Melbourne for my visa appointment, and got some random footage with some of my roomies.  I also share a little bit about my experience at the consulate.  The video is linked below if you're interested!

Visas, Roomies and Packing - Oh My!

Hey guys!  sooo sorry I've been MIA lately - I've just been so super busy and despite thinking "Oh I need to blog" about a hundred times, I never quite managed to actually write the post!  And this one is going to be just a quick update sadly, because I'm in the process of moving out of my apartment but I have plans to do lots of blogging and vlogging in a few weeks once things have settled down.  

So the three big things going on with me at the moment in regards to the program are:

1. Visa:  I have my American J1 Visa!  Yay!!!!  It was quite the stressful experience, but I'm relieved it's over and done with now and I'm all good to go work in the USA.  It took close to two weeks from receiving the forms in the mail to recieving my actual visa, but that was because I had to travel to Melbourne for my visa appointment.  If you live in the same city as he US Consulate it can take less than that.  I won't go into any great detail here and now because I plan to write a detailed post in the DICP Guide so keep an eye out for that!  I also vlogged some of my trip to Melbourne so I'll post that video as soon as I get a chance to edit it.

2. Roomies:  So I've got my Roommates sorted for Disney, which is super exciting.  There are 6 of us in total and I'm already having so much fun getting to know them.  Some of them are from Melbourne too so I got to catch up with them when I went over to do my visa.  Finding great Roomies was something I was really worried about so I feel really calm now that I have that sorted.  I'm sure you will see/hear more of them as time goes on :)

3. Packing:  No I haven't started packing for Disney 2 months early - I'm moving out of my apartment this week so I'm packing up all my worldly possessions and discovering how much crap I actually own!  I'm staying with family for the rest of my time in Australia so that will be interesting, but a good chance to spend time with my loved ones before I head off to the states.

So, that's a really quick update on me for the time being - I promise I will post more once I've got some spare time and I've finished packing and moving!

And we are live in 3...2...1...

Exciting news people!  I now have a YouTube channel!  I won't be uploading much between now and when I leave for Florida, but I have uploaded two videos that you might like to check out.  The first is just a little intro video and the second is a vlog of my interview day.

I will post the videos below, but if you want updates when I add more videos you can head over to my channel HERE and click on the 'subscribe' button.

Here's the Intro video...

And the Interview video...

The Countdown Continues

Helooooo!  Ok, super quick post because I have this amazingly awesome countdown ticker and I just had to share it!  Plus it's exactly 100 days 'til check-in :D

99 Days and Counting

So today is exactly 99 days until I leave Australia!  That might sound like a lot but when I think about all I have to do in the next 99 days I realise it's all going to go so fast.  To begin with, I have a big list of all the things I have to do for Disney like the visa and immigration paperwork and sorting out health and travel insurance.  On top of that I am also moving out of my apartment in about 6 weeks so I need to do a huge sort through of all my stuff and begin packing (my stuff is going into storage and I'll be staying with family until I leave for the States).  I also still have another term of classes, but fortunately I've finished all my major assignments so I just have to go to classes.

In the week since I received my acceptance I've been pretty busy.  Luckily, I am on mid-semester break for this week and next week, so I've been able to start sorting and packing but I've also done some Disney stuff too.  After officially accepting my offer from Disney, I received an email to pay the program fee, so I took care of that.  The next big thing I wanted to take care of was my flights so I popped down to the travel agent to get a quote HOWEVER, when I got home I realised I could buy the flight online myself at a cheaper price, so I ended up just doing it myself.  I'm flying out of Melbourne on January 9th so I'll have 4 nights in a hotel before I check-in at Vista Way on the 13th.

In between all my packing and organising I've been working on updating my blog and in particular my DICP Guide.  Make sure you head over there to see the new info about the Presentation and Interview Process and I'll hopefully have more updates coming soon.

I'm sorry this is a bit of a mixed-bag update, but I'll share more soon!

I'm Going to Disney World!!!!

In case you couldn't work it out from the title - I've been accepted into the Disney College Program - J1 Cultural Exchange Australia/New Zealand!!!!

This morning, at 5:30am, I was in the middle of a dream about Maleficent when my phone pinged.  I woke up with a start, grabbed my phone thinking "An email!"  An sure enough, when I looked, there was an email with a great, big, bold CONGRATULATIONS in the subject line.

I am so proud to say that I have been offered a role in Merchandise, and whilst it wasn't my top choice, it was in my top 3 and one of my High Interest roles so I couldn't be happier.  The best part is that most of the friends I've made on the facebook group have also been accepted so it's a really happy day all round :D

I will write more on this soon, but for now I'm just going to enjoy the happiness of it all.

I'm off to the most Magical Place on Earth!

Thank You Email

Just a quick update that at 7:22am on Friday morning I got an email from Disney.  As soon as my heart started beating again I realised that of course it would just be the expected 'Thank you for Interviewing' Email.  I've put a screenshot of the email below.

Nothing too exciting but it's nice of them to send it out all the same and it's also good to know I've moved on to the post-interview stage (according to my dashboard).  So now the real waiting game begins.  We're supposed to hear sometime before the end of September so that's about two and a half weeks away.  Hopefully I don't go too crazy while I'm waiting and fingers crossed that when I do get a response it will be good news!

Interview Adventures

One of the things I love in life is having adventures, and when  my interview day finally arrived on Tuesday, I was definitely in for an adventure!  A word of warning: It was a long day so this may be a long post!

I went to bed early the night before, setting several alarms so I would wake up in time the next morning.  Now I use the term 'morning' very loosely here because I actually woke up at 2:45am on Tuesday!  So I got up at this ungodly hour and got myself showered and dressed up in my Disney Look compliant business wear.  Stupidly I forgot to get a full shot of my outfit so I can show you that.  Sorry!

I left for the airport about 4:15am even though my flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 6:05am because I wanted to have enough time.  I parked my car in the long-term car park, which is a little distance away from the airport terminal but they have a shuttle bus that will take you from the parking area to the terminal.  The weirdest thing for the day was catching a plane without checking any luggage - I've never done that before!  I went straight through security and found my gate, which was conveniently right next to a cafe, so I grabbed a coffee and sat down to wait.

The plane was on time so we boarded but it was packed!  I'm pretty sure it was a full flight, but luckily I had my trusty window seat so I could sit back for the 56 minute flight, rest my head against the wall, close my eyes and listen to Disney music.  Once we landed in Melbourne, I made my way outside to the Skybus, bought a ticket and jumped on for the 25 minute ride into the city.  It was about 8:15am at this point so after messaging my friend Lily to let her know I was on my way, and then called my parents to let them know I'd managed to get up on time (My mum was worried I'd sleep through my alarm!) and had made it safely to Melbourne.  When the Skybus dropped me off at Southern Cross station, I started to get a bit nervous.  Melbourne public transport is much more complicated than Adelaide public transport, but I took a deep breath, remembered that I lived for 8 years in Sydney - an even bigger city - while growing up, and found my way to the boards where all the train schedules were.  Thanks to a bit of internet research the night before, it wasn't too difficult to work out which train I had to catch and, despite getting caught in a massive crowd of high school kids and nearly crashing into a commuter while trying to read one of the screens whilst walking, I found my train easily enough.

Two stops later, I got off at Melbourne Central and followed the signs to the street I was supposed to go to, except I cam out at a different point along that street than I thought I had, so I was a little bit turned around for a minute until I worked out where I was.  Lily had messaged me to say she was at the cafe where we were meeting, so I was pretty excited to get there.  Lily and I met through a facebook group for the program and even though we had talked heaps, we'd never met in person.  So when I came around the corner and we saw each other, we both ran up and hugged like long-lost friends, squealing with excitement.  It was definitely a special moment and made me feel even more excited about all the new friends I would make and people I would meet if I get accepted into the program.  I got another coffee and a bagel ('cause they always remind me on America) and after spilling some coffee on my jacket (classy) we sat and waited until Nichola and Lauren (both also from the facebook group) arrived.

Lily and Me!  Sorry that I took such a terrible selfie!

Eventually it was time for the presentation (well ok, it was about 10:10am and our presentation was at 10:30am but we wanted to be early) so we made our way to the building and up what felt like an impossibly long ride in the lift until we reached the presentation room!  There was a lecture going on inside, so we waited outside and met even more people.  There was this guy there who was really loud and funny, but it turned out he wasn't actually applying!  I think maybe his friend was or something, but he just joined in for the fun of it.

This was on the screen outside the lecture theatre - I couldn't resist taking a photo!

Eventually, after a bit of a late start, they let us in.  We all showed photo ID and signed in before taking our seats.  Then the presentation began, and I was a barely controlled bundle of nerves and emotions throughout the entire thing!  My heart was pounding, my hands were shaking and yet I couldn't stop smiling.  At one point my lip was trembling from excitement!  The presentation was run by Jill, who is the Disney international programs recruiter who is in charge of the Australia & New Zealand recruiting and also Delinda, who is an Adelaide girl (yay!) and works for the Disney cruise line.  The presentation went for about an hour during which Jill went through all of the details of the program, almost all of which I already knew, but it was good to hear it all in an official capacity.  As part of the presentation, they asked some Disney trivia and gave out Disney International Programs luggage tags as prizes.  Aaaannd...I won one!  I knew all of the answers except one but I got chosen to answer "How many people does the Walt Disney World Resort employ each year?"  I said 66,000, which is what I thought the answer was but apparently I had old information because the answer is actually 70,000 but Jill still let me have the prize anyway, which I was super excited about.

Me with my luggage tag - look how excited I am, haha!

After the presentation we went and found the interview room because Nichola was in the first group of interviews, then we said goodbye to her and Lily, Lauren and I headed off to get some lunch.  While we ate we talked Disney and musicals (I was seriously in the best company!) until Lauren had to head off for her interview.  Lily and I did a bit of window shopping, stopped by the bathroom to freshen up (where I proceeded to poke my finger through my stockings and had to abandon them in the bathroom trash can!  Could I be any clumsier?)  and make sure we were looking our Disney Look best and before we knew it, it was time to head back for our interviews! When we got there, there were still a few people waiting to be interviewed, so we just chatted and made friends and proceeded to get even more nervous.

And then the time arrived.  Jill stepped out into the hall and said "Rebecca" and I just about jumped out of my skin.  For some reason I'd gotten confused and thought that another girl was in the interview time slot before mine, so I wasn't expecting it to be my turn when I was called.  I quickly rushed forward to shake Jill's hand and made my way nervously into the room.

What I did next was just about the stupidest thing you could ever do in an interview short of ripping off all your clothes and setting the furniture on fire: I let my nerves get the better of me.

I am sorry to say that I completely panicked, and it took about half the interview before I managed to get myself back under control.  My answer to the question "Why do you want to do the program?" was not the lovely, heartfelt and well thought out response I'd planned.  It was more like me rambling on about why I loved Disney so much.  Jill even had to repeat the question because I was doing such a rubbish job at actually answering it!  Yeah...not my proudest moment.

I do think that by the end I managed to get my brain in gear, even if I did forget some words (like when I spent what was probably five seconds but felt like three hours trying to remember the word 'retail'), and I made sure to end off with a nice solid handshake and even got to say what my absolute top choice for a role would be.  For the record, my questions were something like this (I may have missed a couple and these probably aren't word for word but it's the general idea).  I've added my own commentary on some:

• How are you?
• Where are you studying?
• What are you studying?
• What are your future career goals after your study?
• So you've been to a Disney park before? (this was in response to something I'd said about Disneyland)
• Have you worked in America before?
• Why do you want to do the program? (asked twice because I'm such a dingbat!)
• I see your top role choices are Operations/Attractions and Merchandise.  How would you keep guests safe in these roles? (I think this was my best question/answer.  I gave examples for both roles, but then also talked about how I would keep people safe as a Character Attendant because she'd somehow missed that it was one of my top roles - actually my number 1 role!)
• How do you feel about living with other people?  Do you currently live with others or at home with your family?

At this point she asked me a series of rapid-fire questions which I guess are questions they have to ask at all interviews.  They were very much 'yes or no' questions, and there wasn't really time to elaborate on them:

• Many of the roles involve working with cleaning chemicals and heavy lifting.  Are you ok with this?
• Are you okay working indoors or outdoors in high pressure environments?
• You may be working in large groups or independently, is this okay?
• Do you have any tattoos or piercings? 
• What colour are your glasses? (Obviously you won't get this question if you don't wear glasses.  Also, this probably seems like a funny question since I was sitting right across the table from her, but the glasses I was wearing are a sort of dark plum colour and it can be hard to tell what colour they are.  For the record, she said I may need to wear different glasses for work, such as black or brown frames).
• Do you have any questions? (I did - I asked two questions and then said that Character Attendant was my top role choice).

My interview felt so ridiculously quick, that when I walked out the first thing I said was "That was so short!"  It honestly felt like five minutes, but the others promised me that it was at least double that.  I then proceeded to tell the others about my brain freeze and how I was sure I'd stuffed up my chances.  Lily was called in soon after me and I continued to chat with the others while we waited.  We waited for the last couple of people to finish their interviews so we could say goodbye and then that was it!  After all the months of waiting and planning and preparing and struggling, my Disney interview experience was over!

Lily walked back to the train station with me and helped me work out what train I was supposed to catch (it involved going two stops and transferring to another train but it wasn't too complicated) and then we said goodbye in the hopes that we will get to catch up again soon when and if we have to go to the American Consulate for our visa appointments.  It was cold and wet and rainy and I was starting the really feel my 3am wake up time (It was about 3:30pm at this point) so I was feeling a bit emotional on the Skybus shuttle ride back to the airport.  Once I got there, I found a quiet spot near the international gate and called my parents to tell them how it went.  I was still feeling pretty teary and at this point I was almost sure I'd ruined my chances in my interview.  I tried to stay as positive as I could but I was feeling pretty disappointed.

After I got off the phone I got some dinner and found a place to sit where they had phone recharging stations because my battery was nearly dead.  By the time I had eaten something I was feeling a bit better but still ridiculously tired and I just wanted to get home.  Unfortunately there was a storm in Melbourne so the airport shut down the runways for a bit, which meant my flight got delayed by about an hour and a half.  I wandered the shops for a while and even found this awesome Disney luggage and neck pillow!

Eventually, after more coffee, chocolate, a wander through more shops, a phone call to my sister, some people watching and countless games on my phone, I was finally able to board my plane.  Once again it was full, but I had my window seat and I was so tired I didn't really care.  When I got back to Adelaide I had to wait a couple of minutes in the cold night air (cursing myself for not taking a spare pair of stockings because my legs were freezing at this point) before the shuttle bus picked me up and took me back to the car park.  I called my mum (legally, using bluetooth) on the drive home and arrived back at my place about 11pm.  I dumped my bag, washed off my makeup and put on some pj's before falling into bed and fast asleep.

What's in My Bag?

Today while I was making lunch my phone pinged.  When I had a look at what it was, I had a notification from my countdown app...

Squeeee!  The excitement and nerves are definitely building!  I've been thinking about my answers to possible questions and double checking all of the details for Tuesday's adventure to Melbourne for the interview and presentation.

One of the things I've been doing to get ready is working out exactly what I'm going to take with me.  I'm only flying to Melbourne for the day so I won't need any checked luggage, but I want to be sure I have all of the essentials in my bag.  Here's a picture of my supplies...

Now there are a couple of things missing from this photo, but I'll go through everything I'm taking:

1. Handbag
Obviously I'm going to need something to put everything in.  I got this bag 25% off at Strandbags because I thought is was a nice-sized, professional looking accessory.  It also has lot of compartments so hopefully things won't get lost in there!

2. Important Documents Folder
The only thing you're required to take to the presentation/interview is photo ID, but I prefer to err on the side of obsessive, over-prepared caution.  In my lovely pink folder I have a printout of my flight itinerary, copies of my CV and Cover letter, a photocopy of my passport, my Proof of Student Status form and a photocopy, and a printout of the confirmation of my presentation and interview times and locations.  I'm also planning to print out a typed copy of some questions I want to ask so I can make sure I get answers for them on the day.   Once I've checked in online for my flights, I'll print out the e-tickets and put them in there too.

3. Notebook and Pens
Just in case I need to take any notes or write down important dates, I've got a small notebook and 2 relatively new pens (just to be on the safe side).

4. Water Bottle
Hydration is important people.  Plus it means I won't have to waste money on buying bottled water.

5. Sunglasses
Very important because I'll be on the move in the sunshine and I want to be able to see properly!  And I'm sunsmart.

6. Passport
Even though I'm only travelling domestically, I thought it would be a good idea to take my passport with me in case they want to see it.  By the way, how cute is my little green passport case?

7. Camera
I've recently bought a new camera and I thought it would be fun to vlog some of the experience and maybe even get a few happy snaps.  Plus, I'm catching up with some family for dinner before flying home so I'll want to get some pics then as well!

8. Tissues
So, so, so important!  These little guys are so versatile - running noses, a surprise sneeze, a particularly poignant moment in the presentation makes me tear up, I get bored waiting for my interview slot and decide to make origami boats...

Plus, how cute is the little packet with owls on it?

9. My Survival Kit
This is the green thing that looks a bit like a pencil case.  That little pvc bag is what I call my 'Survival Kit' and I always make sure to chuck it in whichever bag I'm taking with me (unless it's like a tiny little evening bag and then my over-preparedness must suffer for the sake of fashion).  It's a bit like my own version of Mary Poppins' carpet bag because I had managed to cram so much stuff inside it like: paracetamol and ibuprofen tablets, hand cream, deodorant, sunscreen, lip balm, a hair brush, band aids and a few other bits and pieces.  Very, very handy.

10. Makeup
Since I'm going to be out from about 4am until around 9pm on Tuesday, I figured it's best to have some makeup in case I need to touch up a little bit.  In my colourful little pouch I have lipstick, lip liner and lip gloss, eyeliner and mascara as well as a small compact set that has blush and eye-shadow as well as a mirror.

11. Extra Items
There are a few things I haven't photographed but will definitely be taking:

• Purse with photo ID/Driver's License and some money for food and anything else.
• Phone & Charger
• A couple of snacks like museli bars in case I get peckish
• Possibly a small foldable umbrella
• My Keys (so I can drive to the airport!)

So that's my interview bag!  Hopefully it doesn't get too heavy, I think the water bottle is the only thing that will really weigh it down so hopefully it's not too bad.  I probably won't get a chance to blog again before Tuesday, but I'll make sure to write an update afterwards!

Have a magical day!

The Emotional Equivalent of Space Mountain: Part 3

I've been a bit busy lately but I'm finally getting around to updating the story of my application dramas, and tonight I shall share the conclusion of my tale thus far!

Last time, I had just received an email from Disney's Australian recruiter, and in that email she asked if she could phone me in two days time to discuss my application questions.  To say I was stunned would be an understatement of epic proportions!  I quickly replied to confirm the time for the phone call and then proceeded to spend the next two days wondering what it could all mean.  I figured she was just going to explain the situation to me, but there was that tiny glimmer of hope inside that made me think that just maybe I could still have a chance with Disney.

We had organised for the phone call to be at 8am so on the morning of the call I woke about 7am and just lay in bed waiting for the call.  Around 8:10 my phone rang and I had to take a few deep breaths before I could answer.  The conversation started with the usual pleasantries (I think we may have talked about the weather) before Jill, the recruiter, began to talk about my studies.  She confirmed that I had indeed begun my course in January 2013, but then she said the words that made my heart skip a beat.  It was something along the lines of "And you completed that in December 2013?"

For a moment I forgot how to breathe, how to speak, how to do anything.  

Eventually though, I found my voice and managed to say "Uh, no.  My course doesn't finish until December 2014.  I'm still a student."

Jill sounded surprised and quickly re-checked my application and CV before telling me the wonderful news: A mistake had been made and I was still eligible for the program!  I tried to remain calm as the conversation finished up, Jill promising I would receive the interview invitation in the next few days.  I think I said "Thank You" about fifty times in two minutes!

When I hung up, I just sat there staring at my phone for a couple of minutes, not really sure what to do or what to think.  After a week of devastation at having my dream taken away and finally beginning to adjust to that, suddenly it was being handed back to me.  I will admit that even though I was excited, it did take me a couple of days to re-adjust.  But by the time my interview invitation came through, I was ready to take my second chance and make the most of it.

So after not hearing anything for months, being made NLIC then being told it was a mistake, I finally got to book in my interview with Disney on August 25th, exactly four months - to the day - that I first applied to Disney.  My interview is on September 9th which is now only 4 days away and I'm pretty excited, so I'll make sure to update again soon!

Blog Update

I've been working on my blog a lot lately and there's more to come so I thought I'd give y'all an update:

1. I've finally set aside some time to update my DICP Guide.  See that button up the top there?  Go click on that and it will take you to my guide.  It's a work in progress and I plan to update it as I go through the interview.  I've recently added a tour of the Disney Careers Dashboard (including what those blue status bar boxes all mean!) and a guide to the Disney Look, complete with awesome (if I do say so myself) collages of Disney Look appropriate clothing that I made myself.  There will be more updates to the guide coming soon, so please keep checking back.
2. I'm doing some tweaking on my resources page (Once again, just up there in that row of buttons under my lovely banner).  I've recently updated the blogs section and as soon as I post this I will be adding links to some of my favourite vlogs too, so you should definitely check that out.
3. I've added a new way for y'all to contact me to ask questions, say hi or just to tell me whether or not I should be using the word 'Y'all'.  If you look to the column there on the left (with my smiling picture) and you scroll down a bit, you will see a section titled 'Contact Bec' and then there's a little form to send me a message!  I'll try to get around to questions as quickly as I can.  Of course you can also comment on any of my blog posts, in fact comments are encouraged!  I love to hear from people and I love making new friends so don't be shy to drop me a line.
4. For those of you following the story of my application dramas, I promise that the third (and final) installment is on its way.  If you haven't read about my dramas yet, follow these links to Part 1 and Part 2.
5. My interview with Disney is on September 9th and I promise to do a full report afterwards, so make sure to check back for that.
6. I recently hit 600 page views for this blog, which may not seem like much for some people but it's a very big deal to me.  Thank you so, so, so much to everyone who is reading along, please keep reading and make sure to tell your friends about my blog too.  

Ok, that's enough updating for now.  I better keep my promise and go add those vlog links to the resources page.  Keep reading and have a magical day!

The Emotional Equivalent of Space Mountain: Part 2

I promised I would update my application saga today so here I am, keeping my promise.  When we left off, I was about to call Disney International Recruiting in America.  After working out how to put in the international phone codes I managed to get through to Disney recruiting.  Unfortunately, my delight at speaking to a real person was short lived when I realised that I wasn’t going to get much help.   Unfortunately the recruiter in charge of the Australia and New Zealand program was out of the office (I knew this already as she was in New Zealand conducting interviews) and apparently she was the only one who could tell me anything about my application.  I was told “Your application still needs to be reviewed”, but pretty much couldn’t be told anything else except to call back in about a week when the recruiters would be back in the office.

So, frustrated and confused and a little worried, I waited that very long week until the day I’d been told to ring back.  Because of time differences between Australia and America, I had to wait up until about 11pm for the Disney offices to open so I could call them.  I spoke to a different person this time, but this call was even less helpful than the first.  Despite being advised to call back at this time, the recruiter was once again not in the office so I couldn’t speak to her.  This time I was given some generic information about application reviews involving a lot of variables like experience etc.  When I tried to question further about my application and personal information, it became evident that I couldn’t be told anything specific.  Even more frustrated, I wrote yet another email to recruiting but decided to call back the following day.  Once again the recruiters weren’t available but this time I was told that the delay could have been caused by me being ineligible for a visa.  Still confused, I woke the next morning to an awful discovery – according to my Dashboard, I had been made No Longer In Consideration.

I was devastated.  I didn’t understand what I had done wrong or why they wouldn’t even give me an opportunity to interview.  The explanations I had received didn’t make sense and suggestions that I wasn’t eligible were equally baffling.  I was disappointed, upset and completely bewildered.  Not expecting to really hear much, I nonetheless wrote one last email to recruiting, asking politely for some feedback or at the very least an explanation for the decision to make me NLIC.  To be honest though, I didn’t really expect to hear anything.

And I didn’t hear anything…until 5 days later, when an email popped up in my inbox from none other than the very recruiter I hadn’t been able to contact.  And what she had to say gave me a very small glimmer of hope.

To Be Continued…

Interview Prep Update

So this is just going to be a quick update on my interview prep - I promise to update my application saga tomorrow!

Today has been a crazy busy day and it started with me (finally!) officially booking in my Disney interview in Melbourne on September 9th!  Cue that excited dancing I was talking about in my last post.  Next up was my role checklist, which I filled out pretty easily because I'd planned my preferences aaaages ago like the nerd I am.  When I got home tonight I hopped online and booked my flights to and from Melbourne (I will be flying in and out on the same day).  After that I downloaded the Proof of Student Status Form to take into Tafe with me tomorrow and then logged into DOC (Disney's Onboarding Central) to upload the rest of my documents.

I'm going to update my DICP guide soon, hopefully over the coming weekend, and I'll go into detail about all of these things there so keep an eye out for that.

Also, I went shopping yesterday to get the last of the things I needed for my interview outfit.  I did a bit on co-ordinating with pieces I already owned so all I needed to buy was a new skirt, some stockings/tights and I treated myself to a new black handbag so I don't have to take my ratty handbag that's falling apart.

Today marks two weeks until my interview so I'm glad to have all of these things sorted now.  It's been a pretty bumpy journey for me to get to this point, but now I can sit back and enjoy the excitement.

Thanks for Reading!

The Emotional Equivalent of Space Mountain: Part 1

 If you read my last entry, you know that my application process for the program has been rather eventful.  I thought I would go into more detail about what I went through and the roller-coaster of emotions that I had to endure.

I feel I need to preface this story by saying that you cannot ever be over-prepared for the torture of waiting for updates on your application.  I thought I was prepared and boy was I wrong.  So very, very wrong.

So let’s back up to a couple of weeks ago.  After 14 weeks of waiting, Disney finally sent out emails inviting Australian applicants to interviews.  This should have resulted in me dancing around the house, squealing and singing Disney songs at the top of my lungs...right? 

Wrong!

In case you haven't worked it out yet, I did not receive one of those lovely "Please book an interview" emails.  My mind immediately started racing with thoughts and questions that all revolved around one theme: Does this mean it's all over for me, that the Disney Adventure has stopped before it's even begun?

Well, in a word: No. 

In three words: I'm not sure. 

In four? I don't think so.

You see my friends, this process is not always easy as the lucky, never-had-a-problem, gosh-this-was-simple, applicants would have you believe.  Oh no, not at all.  At this point I felt like I was on the world’s longest train journey and just as we were almost at our destination the train stalled at some stupid town where nobody ever goes!

"Attention Passengers, we have made an unscheduled stop at Frustration Station.  We have no idea when we will be back on our way again, so please just sit back, relax and stew in your over-active imagination's capacity to think up as many worse case scenarios as possible."

See, whilst I hadn't yet received an interview invite, neither had I been made NLIC.  In other words, my application was still open but just hasn't moved anywhere yet.  I’d been suspicious for a few weeks that something might be wrong, since I hadn't received an email about uploading anything to DOC.  I tried to get to the bottom of this through research and emailing Disney recruiting and the answer I got every time was "Keep checking your email and dashboard for updates."  (I will tell you now that nobody can send a vague email that doesn't actually answer your questions like Disney recruiting).  I did what I was asked and remained patient, sure that Disney recruiting knew what they were talking about, yet in the back of my mind this niggling little thought wouldn't leave me alone - a thought that told me something was wrong.

Well when I didn't receive an interview invite, it took me all of 2 minutes on to work out that something was indeed very, very wrong.  I emailed Disney but couldn't bear the waiting so eventually I bit the bullet and made a phone call to Disney recruiting.  It was an international call to their offices in Florida, since that was the only number I had been given.  And if I thought the waiting was annoying, I was about to learn that frustration could reach a whole new level!

Stay tuned for the next installment of my application saga!

Disney Drama in 9 Easy Steps

So I haven't updated in forever and for good reason too!  I will update with some more in-depth posts soon but for now I don't have a lot of time so I'm going to keep it brief.  I have been AWOL because my application has been rather...erm, well...let's say 'rocky' (I want to use much stronger language but my rational brain is suggesting I keep it censored for now, lol.

Long story short :

1. I did not receive a DOC request
2. I did not receive an interview invitation
3. I rang Disney and bugged the daylights out of the poor recruiting staff
4. I got made NLIC
5. I was devastated
6. I emailed Disney and asked for an explanation
7. Jill (The wonderful Aus/NZ recruiter) phoned me and we discovered there was a misunderstanding about my student status.
8. I have been made eligible for the program again!
9. I am now awaiting the promised interview invitation.

So there you have it!  Jill said I should receive the email this weekend so expect lots of updates soon!

Distracti-Baking Walt Disney World Style!

So as I continue the long and seemingly never-ending wait to hear something from Disney, I am trying to find productive ways to distract myself.  So far I've done well with chores and errands and trying to sell my worldly possessions (aka: the horrifying massive amount of junk I've accumulated over the years!) on Gumtree and Facebook.  But last night I decided to do something not terribly productive, but more than definitely worth it: Distracti-Baking!

I figured that since Disney is the reason I need to keep distracted, I would let it inspire my cooking choice (that and the fact that I didn't have butter or eggs and I needed a recipe that didn't require either of those things!).  So I decided to go with my favourite Disney Parks snack: Churros!

If you don't know what Churros are, they're a bit like a Mexican version of cinnamon donuts, only about a bazillion times better!  This is what they look like:

Are you drooling yet?  It's ok, I won't judge.

Anyway, here is my little attempt, which wasn't as disastrous as I was anticipating.  (I'm clumsy at the best of times and I actually chose to work with hot oil?  Yeah ok.....)

Not too shabby huh?  Although I honestly believe anything tastes good when covered in cinnamon sugar!

You can find the recipe I used HERE if you would like to make them yourself. I would recommend using a little less oil and sugar in the dough because they were a little bit chewy and burnt easily, but overall it's a good place to start!

And just for fun I am going to leave you with some fun Disney churro pics I found on the interwebs.

An Aussie in Anaheim (aka: A Trip Down Memory Lane)

I've been trying to get a lot of stuff done around my apartment these holidays in preparation for my hopeful acceptance to the Disney International Program.  I've been going through cupboards, throwing out all sorts of things, selling my worldly possessions on gumtree and facebook selling groups (well not all my worldly possessions, but quite a bit) and finding all sorts of things I'd forgotten about.  yesterday I was going through one of my bookshelves (quite the task given the fact it has been my personal goal since 1992 when I saw Beauty in the Beast to get myself that library!) and I came across all my old photo albums.  Amongst these was the album of my first trip to America when I was 16 including photos from my first trip to Disneyland!  So I thought it would be fun to scan them into my computer (because back in the olden days we used film cameras) and take you all on a trip down memory lane :)

The Entrance and Main Street train station.  I took this photo through the gates because we got there early for rope drop

This sign was such a special moment for me.  I remember getting chills as I walked under this bridge and read this.  I sort of felt it in my soul...you know?

Main Street USA!  And you can just make out Sleeping Beauty Castle in the distance too!

Aw, there she is!  I may have teared up a little bit - the moment I'd been waiting for, for so long!

Me and Winnie the Pooh!  The first Character I met at Disneyland.  Note the date on the little calendar - I'm going to come back to that later.

The first of the three rides I was desperate to experience - The teacups!  The second was The Haunted Mansion and the third was Space Mountain (which was closed).  Sadly I still haven't had the chance to experience Space mountain :( but hopefully that will change soon!

Just chillin' with Goofy in Toontown.  Man I was such a dork!  Check out that classy green-corduroy-jacket-tied-round-the-waist look I've got going on there.  What was I thinking???

Mickey's mailbox!  I love the character houses - so adorable and brilliant themeing (as always)

Now remember how I said the date on the Winnie the Pooh picture was important?  When I looked at that picture yesterday I started to think about dates and how long ago that first trip was.  My first time in a Disney Park was on January 11th, 2000.  If I get accepted into the Disney International Program, I will be starting sometime in early January 2015 - almost 15 years exactly since my first time at Disney!  I might even end up with something significant on my anniversary like Traditions or my first day of training or the first time I get to ride Space Mountain.  I love little things like that, sentimental fool that I am :)

I hope you enjoyed my trip down Memory Lane!

You Gotta Have a Good Back Story

So It's been a while since I updated and I realised I had already half-written this post a while ago, so I thought I’d take advantage of the chance to finish and post it.  A while ago I posted my ‘About Me’ blurb type thingy, but I thought it would also be nice to talk about my history with Disney, and how I came to apply for the DICP.

Being one of the lucky kids to be born in the 80's, I grew up during the 'Disney Renaissance', so my childhood was littered with animated classics like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.  I was also obsessed with a show we have here in Australia called ‘Saturday Disney’, which goes for about two hours really early on a Saturday morning and at the time showed Disney cartoons like Duck Tails, Talespin, Darkwing Duck, Gummi Bears, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh… And the list just goes on and on!  I watched that show well into adulthood, but the cartoons aren’t as good as they used to be anymore. 

When I was very young, friends of our family went to America and on their return gave us a souvenir book from Disneyland.  I remember poring over that book and dreaming about one day going to the Happiest place on Earth.  I was also a super-avid reader and loved The Baby-sitter's Club series, and became rather obsessed with their very first 'super special' novel, a story about the club's vacation which involved a cruise followed by a trip to Walt Disney World.  After that I was hooked on the dream of getting to Disney one day, by whatever means necessary!

My first trip was to Disneyland when I was 16 years old as part of a 3-week cultural exchange program.  I worked for nearly 2 years in my after school job at Pizza Hut with an awful boss to pay for that trip, and it was worth every late night, grumpy manager and the weeks it took me to get the smell of garlic out of my pores!  I only got one day in the park (this was pre-California Adventure) but I knew that my Disney dreams were not going to be satisfied that easily!  I returned to Disneyland 4 and a half years later with my family and that trip was the catalyst for the change of my dream. Although it took a while for my new dream to grow, over the next 5 years I became more and more sure of something: I wanted to be a part of a Disney park - I wanted to be a Cast Member.

Around the time I finished my teaching degree at University, I looked into the possibility of working at Disneyland and even emailed someone at the company.  The response was a simple “Yes we hire international cast members as long as they are eligible to work in the United States.”  Since that didn’t include me, and no further information was offered, I will admit that I gave it up as a silly dream and started a teaching career which eventually led to returning to school to study Costuming.  The idea of one day returning to Disney didn’t die though, and I often browsed Disney sites and even went to the travel agent for information booklets so I could fantasise about my dream trip to Disney.

Fast forward to New Year’s Eve 2013.  I had been invited out to watch fireworks at the beach with some friends, but I was tired and didn’t feel like fighting the crowds, so I opted to stay home, have some chocolate and watch the NYE programming on the telly.  I found myself online, browsing ideas for jobs at the end of my studies, because I had decided I wanted to go overseas.  I was looking into cruise ships when I remembered that Disney had a cruise line, so I looked into that a bit more, watching YouTube videos until I stumbled across a video by a guy called Adande or ‘Swoozie’ about his time working as a Cast Member at Walt Disney World.  The videos were hilarious and in a few he mentioned the Disney College Program, which sparked my curiosity. 

A little bit of detective work later and I found myself at the Disney International Programs website.  Nervously I began clicking through the tabs that linked to the various programs, hoping against hope that there might be a program for people from Australia.  Typically it was the very last tab that I tried that was entitled “Cultural Exchange Program” and under that tab were the most beautiful words in the world: “Australia/New Zealand.”

Thus began my obsession with this program.

A quick read of the eligibility list told me I was able to apply, and I quickly devoured all the official information about the program.  Then I began the search for other blogs and vlogs that could tell me more about the program and let me tell you – there is so much information out there I’m surprised it hasn’t caused the internet to implode or something!  The hardest part was knowing I was going to have to wait several months before I could apply, but eventually in late April, applications opened.  However my excitement was short lived when I realised there would be more waiting involved…so here I am today – just waiting.

Window Shopping

So I had fully intended my next update to be about my history with Disney, but I'm a free spirit and I paint with all the colours of the wind and ... ok, honestly, I have discovered the joys of the Wal-Mart online store and wanted to share some of my finds!  You may or may not be aware that part of the Disney Program Experience is the inaugural, check-in day trip to the local Wal-Mart to buy essential items for your apartment.  And the awesome thing is that you can check out Wal-Mart's range of products online to get an idea of things you may like.  This was all nice and fun and normal until I typed 'Disney' into the Wal-Mart website search bar, and I found Disney merchandise paradise!

Now I've never been hugely into having my home plastered in Disney characters.  That doesn't mean I don't love Disney (because I do - very much), but I've just always preferred things to be a bit more subtle.  However, in my recent cyber-journey to Wal-Mart, I found a few items that are just too cute not to share with someone. 

How cute would it be to wake up every morning with this bedding?

You can make yourself some Mickey Mouse toast

Or Mouse-Head waffle on a stick?

You can deck your bathroom out Disney-style (Yes that is a Mickey-Head bath mat!)

Sport some classic Minnie style out at the parks!

And at the end of the day you can cosy up in your Mickey or Minnie Snuggie!

All of the photos are from WalMart

My DICP Guide

So, I'm still in the process of waiting for interviews to be announced, but I thought I'd share a little project I'm working on.  I decided that after a lot of searching and not being able to find a lot of information on the Australia/New Zealand J1 Cultural Exchange Program, that I would start making my own little unofficial guide, using my experience as a starting point and hopefully providing some useful information for others.  If you look at the tabs at the top of the page you will see one there for the guide so you can check out what I've done so far.  It's very much a work in progress, but please have a look around and keep coming back to check for updates because I plan to keep adding to it.

Start Your Engines!

Ladies and Gentlemen, after months of obsessively checking the Disney International Programs website for updates, the applications for the January 2015, J1 Australia & New Zealand Cultural Exchange Program are finally open!!!!!

(Wow...the program has a very long name, doesn't it?)

So a couple of days ago I checked the Disney Programs site and much to my excitement the Jan 2015 applications were finally open so yesterday I sat down to write my application!  It was very exciting, I can tell you.  I'm not going to write much here, because I'm going to do a more information focussed post soon outlining each step of the process.  I'll try to keep it concise and easy to follow so that future applicants can use it as a bit of a guide since I've had to do a fair bit of searching to find relevant information for Aussie applicants.

So keep checking back and feel free to leave a comment or ask a question if you would like.  I'll get back to you asap.

The power of Disney.

A friend of mine shared the following article on Facebook this morning and I sat down with my morning cup of coffee to enjoy what I assumed would be a lovely, feel-good Disney anecdote; however what I got was so much more.  I am going to say very little about the story, rather I will link it here for you to read yourself, and if you read nothing else that I post on this blog, I recommend you take the time to read this.  It's a little long and you will no doubt need a box of tissues, but it is more than worth it.

New York Times - Reaching My Autistic Son Through Disney

Grumpy to Snow White in 0.22 Seconds

So the worlds second largest Fringe Festival is happening at the moment and amongst the business of my final year of studies, I'm excited to be a performing artist this year!  The gospel choir I sing in has a one-nite-only concert next weekend at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.  If you're ever in the area, the Adelaide Festival season is incredible, featuring several festivals around late summer/early autumn (Aussie seasons here so February - April).  Arguably the feather in my little city's artistic cap is the Adelaide Fringe Festival, an amazing Fringe Festival second only to the Edinborough Fringe Festival.  I won't ramble on about it but if you get the chance I'd seriously recommend coming to Adelaide one year to check it out.

Anyway, the point of this post is to talk about a Fringe show I went and saw on Thursday night.  How I found out about this show is kind of a cute story (in my opinion anyway).  I was doing a sort of pop-up promo performance with my choir at the 'Fringe Caravan', a temporary performance space set up in the city where Fringe Artists can do little 10-minute sets to promote their shows for free.  I was tired from the busy-ness of being back at school and just not having a great day and I'll be honest, I was pretty darn grumpy.  I was standing with my group waiting for our turn to perform, feeling sorry for myself and just wanting to go home and be an anti-social hermit when I hear this gorgeous male voice singing along to an acoustic guitar.  Considering where I was, this wasn't that much of a surprise or anything out of the ordinary - until the lyrics broke through my grumpy-pants-aura.  

"I wanna be where the people are, I wanna see, wanna see them dancing..."

Oh yes my friends.  This guy was standing there, bold as brass, singing Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid!!!  I swear I went from Grumpy to Snow White in 0.22 seconds!

Anywho...this guy finishes the song and then starts talking about how that was from his previous Fringe show  called 'The Disney Project'.  Obviously at this point I am completely enthralled and when he starts talking about his new show called 'The 90's Project' I've already decided to buy tickets (Have I mentioned my deep rooted love of 90's pop music?).  So I convinced/bullied a friend into coming with me and bought tickets for Thursday night's performance.  Mr. Ariel, which I have at this point dubbed him, performed as part of a 4-piece pub band and the 90 minute show was fantastic.  I mean I'm happy with a mixed tape of 90's songs but to listen to 4 very talented musicians performing some of my favourites live was just spectacular.   A bit of searching and a tip from my friend led me to Mr. Ariel's YouTube channel (His name is actually Max but I think Mr. Ariel suits him), where he has a whole bunch of videos of him singing covers of various songs and lo and behold! There is a playlist called...The Disney Project!!!!!

As a Disney nerd, this has made my week...well my festival really (well ok, performing has made my festival but this is a close second!) and I wanted to share the love with everyone (plus it is shameful that his vids don't have more hits) so go and check him out HERE!  

Amazing voice, great musician and Disney tunes - what are you waiting for? He's a rather handsome young chap too (Bit too young for me sadly! Hehehehe!), so really, it's a win-win-win situation.  Enjoy!