Dictionary of Differences

Today was good :) Started out a little rocky with the bus to our orientation being super late, but after that it was pretty smooth. Orientation this morning was boring, they talked to us about banking with the Disney bank, Partners, and what we can and cant do with our work visa (to prevent deportataion). That presentation was pretty cool, themed to Toy Story with us as the Aliens... haha. And then we had lots of paperwork-- Interrupted by falling asleep on apt 2402's (angelica, sam, giuli, gemma's apt) couch.

It's now thursday, but I'm gunna try to expand this entry...

Tuesday:

The paper work at our morning orientation was mostly to do with homeland security and our status in the country. We then had a presentation by Partners! The bank exclusively for disney cast members and their families. After that, we got back on another late bus, and headed back to vista way for a little break. At 2 ish we had another session, this one was here at the Vista Way clubhouse, and was one of the walk around and go to certain stations. At this session, most people found out their placements-- Angelica is a custodian at The Studios, Giuli is Food and Beverage at the Grand Floridian Resort, Sam is a Lifegaurd at Pop Century resort, Gemma is Food and Bev on Main Street of the Magic Kingdom, Alex is Lifegaurding at The Beach Club resort, Fanny is F&B at All Stars Resort ... and thats all I can think of off the top of my head... Me though, i just found out, again, that I have an audition thursday afternoon. Most people start their training on thursday, but apparently i start at 6:15 am friday morning... or thats the rumor anyways.
So after we got our assignments, we got out main gate passes, the little card that lets us let up to three people into the park on 6 days. Then we walked from the clubhouse to building 26 to have a class on filling out the tax form and we signed our life away in the form of confidentiality agreements and release of idea forms, which basically means that any ideas, suggestions or thoughts we say at work belong to the disney company :P.

So then we went back to the apartment, and waited for angelica to come home so we could go to Walmart. And waited. And started the Distionary of Differences, for all the words and phrases we say that are different from each other. And waited. And thought, this isnt like her, but we didnt have a way to contact her, so eventually we just left, leaving her a note to call us when she got in.

We took the bus to Walmart, chatting with this guy from Haiti, which was cool, and right after we got inside the supercentre, we got a call from angie- poor girl had gotten lost on the way back from visiting her parents and ended up on the turnpike to tampa bay, then the security people at our complex wouldnt let her park the car they had previous said she could park for the week. Needless to say she was upset. eventually she got through, but the 10 minute trip home had taken almost 2 hours. So she didnt come to walmart, and we bought cookie dough to make her feel better, and the blouse she needed for traditions.

We somehow managed to spend 3 hours in walmart, i got shoes for my audition, a mattress cover, some food, an alarm clock... and we decided to make a big dinner, the girls from the uk wanted us to try curry so we had curry chicken and rice. They were shocked that we had never had indian food before, and even more surprised at how small the oriental foods section of walmart was. They were so cute when they got to the english food section, i thought they would buy everything they liked the taste of home.

By the time we got home (in a taxi, we just missed the bus which is probably a good thing, getting all our junk onto the bus would have been hard...) it was 9 o clock, by the time we had dinner and made cookies it was even later. So we went for a swim and chatted a lot, and then I started this blog entry and apparently, at about 3 in the morning, we all fell asleep in the living room-- cuz we all woke up there the next morning. Me on the couch, cam on the floor, giuli on the armchair-- Ang and Gemma were smart enough to actually go to their beds...



Summary:
Orientation: Visa Info, Forms, Banking, work locations, tax forms, main gate passes, class thing in building 26

angelica gets lost, trip to walmart for three hours (!!) Chatting with ppl on the bus, missed bus, taxi, curry dinner, burnt cookies, chatting, swim, chatting, attempt at blogging, sleep.

Cockroaches and Elevators

Ok, so i've missed some stuff out of my last couple of entries, so this is an add in:

Elevators: On the way out of my nana's apt on sunday, we got stuck between floors because they shut down the elevators when an alarm went off. Needless to say, I kinda freaked and was sure I was gunna miss my flight :)

Cockroaches: So I saw a cockroach for the first time last night, not in my apartment thank goodness but we all kinda freaked and stood on chairs spraying it with lysol... were real girly girls apparently...

Vista Way: I never gave a real description of where I am living. Vista Way is an apartment complex that houses approx 2500 student workers- international and american. It's one of 4 similar complexes that altogether house some 9000 students. There are little buildings in a village sort of thing, with 6 apts in each building. I live on the third floor of my building, which is nice because our cieling goes up into a point, much higher than the other floors, and we have an extra semi-circle window on top of our picture window in the living room. I still haven't posted the video i made of our apt, but it'll be up here soon. We have three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a big kitchen, living room, and it is all really spacious. My apt is right beside the pool and volleyball court, beside the clubhouse and not far from the bus stop. The busses run constantly and are coach busses exclusively for the use of cast members living in the complexes. The pool and hot tub are really nice, and weve already gone swimming 3 or 4 times.

Disney Delirium

First full day and it was great. I'm exhausted, but i don't wanna forget anything so this'll be a bit of a quick and dirty post with just the facts-- unless i get distracted and start putting more detail in it, which i probably will...

I woke up pretty early this morning, especially considering the time I went to bed at last night. When I opened my eyes I was instantly fully awake, which is so wierd for me. Anyways, I got up just about right away and chatted with people on facebook and msn for a bit, and ate breakfast with my roomies and finally really met and got to know them all a little better. There is Fanny, my roomie from Hong Kong who will be a quick service food and beverage server, Alexandra the lifeguard from Quebec City, Patricia from Mexico, who I think is doing housekeeping, and Sara from England and i cant think what her role is... I've met so many people it is hard to keep it straight. So after breakfast and a shower I went over to Angelica's apartment, which right now I'm still way more bonded with than my own, which I think is fine. My apartment is really organized with our cleaning schedule and good talks about what we need for the common areas in terms of shared stuff and responsibilities, and we all chat with each other, but all of us kinda split up during the day because we all have other people we know and are hanging out with. It actually is a good dynamic because you are way likely to fight with someone that you are not best friends with. Apt 2402, on the other hand, I've clicked with most of them completely and pretty instantly. There is Angelica from Canada who will be a custodian, Giuliana from Canada who is a quick service food and beverage server, Gemma from Wales who is merchandise (i think... I might be wrong there...) Samantha from Liverpool, England who is a Lifeguard, and then two Jennifers from hong kong who haven't really spoken much to the rest of us, but seem nice. It is mostly the five of us-- Gemma, Angie, Sam, Giuli and myself-- who have really spent a lot of time chatting and joking, I feel like I've known all of them for ages.
I think one of the things happening is language barrier divisions. Though everyone speaks a little english, it is way easier to find similar humour when the language is the same-- although with the accents and slang sam and gemma use, sometimes we might as well be speaking different languages. I've learnt lots of new words, some fun curse words and helped clear confusion about crisps and chips and how they are different :)
The way the five of us get along hasnt taken anything away from the dynamic atmosphere of living with people from all over. It really struck me in the shower this morning as i looked at everyones toiletries on their little shelves-- spanish, chinese, french and english were all there. It was really neat. Right now, Fanny is showing Patty places in Asia on google and patty just finished showing mexico. English is neither of their first languages, but both are speaking it. I admire people who emmerse themselves completely into a different culture the way people on these international programs have. Even the europeans like gemma and sam are faced with big differences, it would be crazy to be in a foreign country with only a basic knowledge of the language.
Anyways, tangent over, back to this morning. for orientation we have been divided into groups and we have different timeslots for different things. It's really well organized, with 300 people getting loads of paper work done really quickly and without ever really standing in line. So Angelica's was early, like 8:45 am, so around 9:30 i headed over to her place, she was done the first part of her orientation, which was just a bunch of forms and such, but the people at the border hadnt given back one form that she had to have, so that was a bit of an issue but its all solved now. So then gemma and I headed over to the welcome pavillion for our allotted time of 10:15. There was music playing outside, and a guy asking trivia questions periodically (really easy movie trivia, I got a photo album with the international programs logo on it for answering the question "where does Mufasa's family live in the Lion King" (Pride Rock). ) we gradually snaked around the room filling out various forms and getting our id photo taken for access to the apt complexes and going through the disney look book procedures and having our medical insurance checked and our visa status confirmed by immigration people. There were enough people helping at each station that once you finished one station you could go directly to the next with no wait. All the Cast Members helping us with the costume read addressed us by name (we were wearing nametags, but still) and asked us how we were doing and everything right away, it was nice.

So all that took a little under an hour, but I think if it was any other company attempting to get that much stuff accomplished for that many people we would have been there for hours and hours standing in long lines. So then I went back to my apartment and ate lunch and visited again with myapartment mates, then went against my schedule (gasp!) and went to an earlier housing welcome session at the commons than I was supposed to. Since we wanted time for a swim and to go to Downtown Disney, it didnt make sense to wait around doing nothing while waiting for our session to start-- the 5 of us were all scheduled to take a 1:15 bus to the commons for a 3:00 presentation, but instead we took a 12:15 bus for a 12:30 presentation and were out of there by 3 with way less waiting around. The housing welcome session was a presentation from Price Management, the people that oversee our housing, and disney about rules and protocols and special events and such. It was long but sometimes slightly amusing.unfortunately, they had it set up that we needed to pick up some documents organized by name after the presentation, and since we werent technically in the group, ours werent ready yet, so we went home for a swim for an hour or so then caught a 4 oclock bus back to the commons, and picked up those papers. Part of my paperwork was the notice that my audition will be thursday afternoon at 3:00 :) I'm excited! Most people will be finding out their work locations tomorrow and meeting with their trainers-- not sure how that works for me but i'm sure they have something planned, since it is on my itinerary to do that as well. After getting that stuff, we went straight from there to downtown disney.

Sam has never been to america before, or to disney anything before (she was a disney virgin!) so she was entranced by downtown disney (cant wait for her to see magic kingdom or any of the parks, she was so impressed!).

I definately finally felt like I was in Disney World when I got off the bus and saw all the kids with ears on :) In one of the stores we all put on ears and took a pic of ourselves (its not on my camera or it would be on here) we figure when we "graduate" at the end of our program, and they give us the graduation ears well take the same picture, which will be cute.

So ya, we did the marketplace section of downton disney and decided that we're gunna go to Planet Hollywood and to see cirque de soliel on my birthday, which is a month today (well, now we're past midnight so I gues yesterday), because a special discount for cast members to see cirque for $40 which is 50% off, ends two days later, plus its my birthday and I want it to be a fun night.

Then we were hungry, and since we were all a little dressed up we didnt want fast food, so we decided to check out the Rainforest Cafe. The wait was over an hour, but as were discussing whether wed wait or not a guy came out and asked rather quietly to the back of the line if any of us were parties of 6. We said, no were a party of 5 and he said wanna sit now in the bar area or wait an hour, and then he seated us right away! (now thats disney magic) so we waited literally less than 30 seconds!

I'd never been to a rainforest cafe before, and it is def my new fave restaurant! It's all setup with animals and toadstools and such-- I have a video of it that i'll put here in the next couple of days, i just havent had time to put them on here yet. The bar is under a mushroom thing with water dripping off the edges-- it's hard to describe but really cool, and periodically the sky gets darks and it storms a bit, then there is a rainbow... too cool! The food was good too.

So we shopped a bit more, bought mystery bags at the mickey mart and were way to excited about opening them (we got binoculars, playingcards, a ratatouille watch, and some other stuff) and pressed some souvenir pennies, which i've kinda decided to collect while i'm here. An then we headed home, (we were directed to the bus stop by a security guard named mickey. We decided that maybe people named after characters should get paid more, because it is entertaining to guests) and had another swim in the pool and the hot tub. Then we chatted a bit and seperated for the night.

So that was pretty detailed, it's taken me an hour and a half to write, and I am going to sleep like a rock tonight, i'm falling asleep in this very uncomfy chair. g'nite!

p.s

p.s-- have photos and video, will post tommorrow

Here at last!

Wow, today was awesome. I love it here, so far. Obviously nothing has really started, but it was a really good day.

I spent last night at my nana's house, en route to Buffalo where I caught my flight. We left at around 11:00 am on our way to the border (this is wierd-- it is 3 am-ish the next morning but it kinda feels like its been weeks since then!) and then crossed the border at about noon. It was a long hot drive and I felt a bit nauseous the whole way through, though whether it was car sickness or nerves I don't know. The border wait was long, though we chatted between the cars with a family originally from St. Lucia, which was kinda cool, and then I had to go inside the customs office to get my paperwork done up and that was a bit time consuming as well. Once that was all done, we weren't far at all from the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. I checked in there at about 1:20, (and as I left the check in counter ran into ellen, a girl who was at my interview in toronto months ago. I recognized her and also noticed she was carrying the disney congratulations package, which I had just finished putting back into my packsack) and went though security really quickly, no lines at all. I said good bye to my momma and Jordie and went to wait in gate 14. There was a plug in for my lap top, so I watched some episodes of the Office and Heroes and ate a salad. My plane was about 15 minutes delayed, which wasn't really a big deal, but it made the wait that little bit longer. The plane was smallish, or smaller than I remember my last planeride to be, but that was four years ago so maybe the plane was normal sized, i dunno. I was seated in row 28, which was just behind the wing and just in front of the engine/propeller/big round thing that makes a lot of noise. It wasn't too bad, but it bugged me a bit. Nobody sat beside me, which was nice because the armrests can go up so I put my feet on that seat. The take off was kinda funny-- a little girl in front of me screamed as the plane went up and her mother quickly shushed her and the girl, who was only about three said "that was fun. Was that a rollercoaster?" it was too cute. No movie on this plane, but the trip went quickly, mostly because I was a bit of a nervous flyer so I just stared blankly out the window making sure we weren't dropping out of the sky-- as if my peering out the window could stop us if we were... There was radio in our armrests, so I listened to Radio Disney the whole way there to get me in the spirit of things. We spant a good portion of the flight along the coast, and being on the left side of the plane that meant I could see no land at all. It was a pretty sunny and clear day, with almost no clouds at all the whole trip. Finally we landed in Orlando.

I got off the plane and walked through the gate to a monorail/train type thing to the main terminal (very cool) and then made my way down to shuttle to my apartment. My shuttle also had a lady on it from Georgia and her two sons who were going to stay at a hotel closeby, and we got chatting, they were very excited that I was a Disney Cast Member. Also in my bus was a guy from Glasgow, Scotland who was also on ICP, which was kinda neat.

We arrived a Vista Way, one of the disney apartment complexes and the central welcoming spot for the 300 arriving international college program participants. I had thought it was amuch smaller program than it is-- I was thinking like 40 people would be arriving today... I was WAY off. The door of our shuttle was opened by a cast member who welcomed us and told us, "you're home now". I was very excited. They had quite the system for dealing with arrivals, they were well prepared for the influx of people, with places to put our luggage before we headed into what was essentially a three stage presentation which kept us rotating and kept the amount of standing around to a minimum. We picked the name to appear on our nametags, then moved into the pavillion to see a short 3 minute video talking about the security in the complex, then recieved welcome packages and some freebie things, and a book with all the merchants in the orlando area that give discounts to CMs. We also recieved our housing location and key. The ICPs are spread through the 4 apt complexes, but I'm in the Vista Way complex (i was so happy I didn't have to travel to another spot, the welcome center is at Vista.) I met up with Angelica, whi had already checked in hours earlier, and she helped my walk my stuff to my complex. I liveon the third (top) floor of my building, and it is very cute. I haven't really gotten to know my roommates yet, and don't actually remember all there names. I dumped my suitcases on my bed and asked my room mates (there are 5 plus me in my apartment, I share a room with a girl named Fanny (i'm not sure if that is spelt right) from Hong Kong. if they had already been to Walmart. They head, so I immediatly went with Angelica, who, lucky girl, has a car this week whil her parents are in town. Lucky me, too, cuz I didn't have to take a bus with all the stuff I needed. (including tinkerbell sheets :) )

We didn't get back from walmart til almost 10:30, and because of the time changes most of my apartment mates were asleep or headed to bed. I unpacked and set up all my stuff, ate some KD and then, since my apartment was asleep, headed to angelica's, which is a 2 second walk from mine (just across a volleyball court). Turns out Giuliana, who I danced with in Ottawa, is also in Angelica's apt, and we hung out and chatted along with Sam from Nottingham, England and Gemma from Wales for a couple of hours-- as in til about 3 am. It was awesome, I feel like we really clicked-- which is good and bad- I know I'll click with my apartment mates too, but I haven't even met them all and I've really bonded with this other apt. Maybe our 2 apts can just kinda totally connect, I guess we'll see.

So now I am sitting in my very quiet apartment's living room typing this up. I'm exhausted, but not sleepy...

Tommorow I have to attend an orientation at 10:15 am, which will be a housing check in, then I have a break at 11, then at 1:15 I have a welcome session at Chatham Square.

Tuesday we have a presentation from the Disney bank and some other stuff in the morning, then it looks like, from the schedule, we'll recieve the info on our actual job training.

Wednesday is our traditions class!!!! which will be cool.


Anyways, I'm gunna go try to sleep. I still can't believe I'm here :)

Next Stop: Orlando, Florida!

Only 1 day, 16 hours and 12 minutes til my plane hits the runway... and this is officially my last post before I leave.

I've been a little lacking in the whole blogging thing-- I haven't been putting up all of the very cute little emails I've been getting from the Disney team, nor did I make an entry when I received a very cute congratulations package with my work visa form and the disney look book. If you're my family or friends, you probably don't care about the ommission, if you are applying for this job and looking for info on this stage, other blogs go in depth into it-- there really not much to it, some paperwork, some fees and some photocopies and you're set to go.

I've spent this last month at home, for the most part, and visiting with various family and friends. A trip to Toronto, another to Rochester, and a surprise Birthday/Going Away party complete with a tinkerbell balloon and a Minnie Mouse-esque purse topped off the month. It was good to see people, but honestly, this last 20 days has been impossibly slow! I'm so excited to get there, I have this strange feeling that the last 5 months have been spent in anticipation, like I kinda glossed through them to get to this point where I'm off to Orlando.

These next weeks I plan to update this blog a lot, keeping track of everything. There arent really any character blogs out there, so there are a lot of exciting unknowns for me going into this. All of it will be made clear to me in the next weeks, and to you through this blog.

I have to be up in less than 5 hours to do my little sisters hair and make-up for dance competition, so i'm gunna wrap it up here-- tomorrow I'll be leaving Ottawa at 2 oclock ish and heading for Stoney Creek, Ontario, to spent the night at my Nana's apartment. Sunday morning I'll cross the border into Buffalo, NY and Sunday afternoon I'll get on a plane. Sunday by 6 oclock I should be in Orlando. I can't wait!

Talk to you then!

Disney Steffie :)

29 days of waiting........

Only 29 days left til I get on a plane, destination: Disney World. Since my last post I've finished all my exams, and officially finished my first year of University. The last couple of weeks have been busy, between the studying, tanning, shopping, and saying goodbye to residence the weeks have gone fast. In Disney news, it was announced the the Disney International Representatives will no longer be meeting us at the airport-- instead we are to make our own way to Vista Way, one of the buildings in the complex where we will be living. At first I was a little worried, even though it is only about $15 for the bus to shuttle us to the complex. It wasn't the cost that bothers me, and obvi we're all grown ups able to handle public transport, its arriving in a foreign country by myself. I don't know about anyone else, but this is my first time taking a plane by myself-- it's a little nerve wracking to begin with! I know it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but it was a comfort thing for me, knowing I was expected. I'm fine with it now though, I'm hoping to meet up with a couple of other icp'ers who are arriving at the same time as me and even if that falls through, it's just a bus ride to the complex, not a big deal.
After that news, I got a phone call from Passport canada, and there was an issue with my passport application-- the signature on my drivers licence and the one I signed on my application form are slightly different. It was super stressful at the time, cause I had to travel to a passport canada office and sign my old signature. Since I can't get my work visa until I get my passport, I had to go home in the middle of my exams to go to the passport offices. It was really anoying, but less than a week later I got my passport, so everything has worked out.

Now all that I have left to do is make sure I am covered under my Dad's medical insurance, pay my program assessment fee and my sevis fee, and pack. The next 29 days are gunna be pretty calm I think-- A couple of dance competitions, trips to toronto and rochester, and some hanging out with friends I haven't seen in a while. Oh, and I have to move my stuff that I brought home from res back to kingston and put it into the house I am renting for next year.

anyways, that's all thats really new with me. I'll probably be up dating this next right before I leave-- the days are going by very quickly!

47 days to go...

Ok, a month since I last wrote and not a whole heck of a lot has changed. In fact, the time is flying by much quicker than I thought it would. There is so much other stuff to keep me busy, and just enjoying my first year of university has been a big part of that. With exams starting this coming week, I'm positive April is going to be gone before I know it.

In terms of Disney stuff that has happened this past month, there isn't much. I applied for my passport, got my background check done, bought my plane tickets, and tomorrow I have to fax in my acknowledgement form. In terms of life in general, March was both busy and relaxing at the same time. I wrote seven papers, there was a couple of snowstorms, three birthdays, a lot of East Side Marios and a momentous haircut for a friend. Then there was easter with my family, a dance competition for my youngest sister in Peterborough, and a dance recital for me here in Kingston. Oh, and then on top of that, listening to Inside The Magic podcasts, which are awesome, and watching old tv shows, (Like Buffy and Full House) and newer tv shows (Like the Office and Heroes) and tv shows that are actually on tv (like ANTM, Biggest Loser, and The Apprentice). Shopping, nail polish and smoothies were also key. Not a lot of that sounds relaxing, but in some strange way life in Kingston has become very familiar. Though I love my family, I adore being here because I'm a grown-up here, I have my own space, I make my own plans, I decide what I'm gunna do and when. Also, my bed is much more comfortable...

This month will be exams-- a stressful time but also an empty one. My days have no classes, just studying, and my exams are pretty spaced out from one another. Then the busy-ness will start up again, with moving out of res and into my house for next year being a huge event. I'm soooo excited for this, to have a room of my own for the next three years is amazing. Mostly I'm just dumping my stuff there for the summer and heading back home, though.

The beginning of the month of May will see me living at home for a short time, and it is going to be a bit wierd for me. Though I have visited numerous times, I haven't really lived there since june of last year-- I was at camp all summer, and then here at university. When I'm there I'm surrounded by my younger siblingsand my mom's daycare kids-- which is fine, I like kids-- but it's where I was my whole childhood, and I feel like I'm past that. It's a wierd feeling, and I don't know if I am properly putting it on paper, but what I mean is I am independent here in a way that I am not at home.

It is really only a short time that I am there, hardly more than a visit anyway, and it'll be a busy time. First comes exams, then going to another dance competition, then moving into my kingston house, then I'm visiting my toronto grandparents for a couple of days, coming home for mothers day, then packing for disney, and then I'm gone! Off to neverland!

Anyways, this post got whiny fast, I think I am just worried about having nothing to do during that home time, but thats silly anyways, I'm busy pretty much the whole time! Also the idea of taking apart my room here in res, my little place of my own, is really disheartening. I don't like the idea of carrying all my stuff down all those stairs!

Anyways, here are my lastest correspondence with yummy jobs, if you're curious:

Greetings,

I hope you are excited for Disney in less than 2 months! To assist you in the process a bit more I have included Step by Step instructions to give you a better understanding of what you will need to do before you go. One thing to note is that it is essential you have Medical Insurance for the length of your program, and the insurance must meet the minimums listed in the Step by Step Guide.

Also, attached is the Acknowledgment form that you must sign, date, and send back to Disney at the number provided at the bottom of the form. Things to note on this document is the Program Assessment fee of $85.50 US, which will reserve your room for you. The website to pay this is located on your acknowledgement form.

Lastly, once your have your DS2019 form in hand, please do pay your Student Exchange Visitor (SEVIS) fee of $35 US. To pay this you will need to go to www.fmjfee.com and pay directly online. Please take the SEVIS receipt with you when you go to Florida.

If you have any questions between now and May 25th, please do not hesitate to ask!

Have a Great Day,


Kristen
Yummy Jobs






Step by Step Guide to ensure you get to Orlando!

PLEASE follow our Handy guide and your
arrival in Florida will be as easy as pie!

POLICE CLEARANCE

You must have a Police Clearance (Background Check) before you are able to arrive in Florida and start at Walt Disney World. To obtain this form, please go to your local or provincial Police Department along with a form of identification and request a Police Clearance Form. Once you have this form, you will need to scan and email the document to Kristen@yummyjobs.com or fax it to 1-416-628-1604.

Please note your Police Clearance must be in at least 30 days before your program arrival date. Failure to do so could cause a delay or cancellation in your program arrival.

INFORMATION PACK

Your Disney Information Pack is included in this package, it includes:
Acknowledgement Form – PLEASE INITIAL + FAX IMMEDIATELY to Disney
Information about your program
Sample Housing Agreement form and Code of Policies and Procedures that you will need to fill out after you arrive in the USA. You do not need to sign these, they are for you to read only.


MEDICAL INSURANCE

1. You are required to have medical insurance for the length of your program. This starts from the date of your departure from Canada.
2. You need to take proof of your insurance when you arrive in the USA.
3. You are free to arrange your medical insurance through any company you wish.
4. It is essential that any policy you have meets the minimum requirements of the visa:

1. Medical benefits of at least $50,000 per accident or illness
2. Repatriation of remains in the amount of $7,500
3. Expenses associated with the medical evacuation of the exchange visitor to his or her home country in the amount of $10,000
4. A deductible not to exceed $500 per accident or illness.

5. Yummy Jobs has negotiated a reduced rate with Seven Corners Insurance, an American medical insurance company underwritten by Lloyd’s of London. You can apply for a policy online. There is a direct link from the Yummy Jobs website (www.yummyjobs.com).
6. Please note that Yummy Jobs is providing this information as an option for you, but Yummy Jobs are not able to make recommendations for your insurance, as this is a choice only you can make.


VISA APPLICATION


You will be working on a J1 Summer Work Travel Visa.

You will receive the DS-2019 Form and instructions approximately one month before your departure.

Once you receive this document, you will need to pay the Student Exchange Visitor (SEVIS) Fee of $35. To pay this, please go to www.FMJfee.com. You will need to bring the SEVIS receipt with you to the immigrations at the boarders or airport.

If you are flying to Orlando you must take the Visa Petition (DS-2019) with you to show at Immigrations at the airport.

If you are driving to Orlando, you must ensure upon reaching the borders that you explain that you will be working in the United States and provide them with your DS-2019. The borders agent will provide you with a white I-94 card which will be needed for you to work in the US. Please note, that if the borders agent tries to wave you through, kindly inform them that you will be working. Failure to receive the I-94 card could delay your start at Walt Disney World.

Non Canadian/American Passport Holders:
Please note, that if you do not hold a Canadian or American passport, you must attend a visa appointment at your nearest US Embassy or Consulate. Please refer to the visa instructions for more information.

ARRIVING IN FLORIDA

When making your travel arrangements please remember that you must arrive on the program arrival date as per your offer letter. If you arrive early, you will be responsible for providing your own transportation to the Housing Complexes and cover any accommodation expenses as your housing will not be available until your scheduled arrival date.

If you are arriving By Plane:

You are responsible for the booking and payment of your round trip flight to Orlando.

It is recommended that you book a fully flexible flight, to protect against any unforeseen circumstances.

Once you book your flights, please email Kristen@Yummyjobs.com as well as wdwinternationalarrivalitineraries@disney.com. Please include your flight company, number, as well as your arrival time in Orlando.

If you are driving to Orlando:

Please email wdwinternationalarrivalitineraries@disney.com and copy Kristen@Yummyjobs.com to confirm the appropriate time to meet the Disney Arrivals Team at the housing complexes. Also, ensure you receive your I-94 card at the border into the USA.


Please note that on the date of completion of your Program you are required to leave your accommodation by 11am. Therefore, if you wish to take advantage of the 30 days you have on your visa after you complete your Program you will need to make alternative arrangements for accommodation from this day onwards.


THINGS TO TAKE WITH YOU

In order to get a social security number & card you need to take the following with you;

A photocopy of the Cover of your Passport
A photocopy of the page with your name, photo, passport number etc
A photocopy of any pages with stamps or writing on them
Additional photocopy of your original birth certificate


If you already have a social security card & number, please bring this with you as well as
the above items.


ON THE DAY OF YOUR DEPARTURE

Please remember to pack your Welcome Book in your hand luggage as it contains important contact numbers you will need if you are delayed.

Please read these instructions again and carefully to make sure you cross all the T’s and dot the I’s.

Avoid problems with your arrival and pay close attention to what you need to do!

Update

Ok, so almost a month since I heard the news and only 78 days left til D-day, and have I done any of the things I was in such a rush to do? Have I got my passport, applied for my police check or bought my plane ticket?? In short-- no. Hopefully once this last crazy weekend of assignments is over, I'll finally be able to get all these things accomplished. In other news, apparently Cast-a-Way is no longer in charge of hiring in Canada-- all my concerns from now until my departure are in Yummy Jobs' hands. Apparently this company is a strong one, on the message boards at wdwip.com/smf they are always positively mentioned by the UK program participants. I can't help hoping that this change doesn't cause chaos or miscommunications leading up to D-day, but I'm sure it will all go well. Here are the emails I received:


Greetings from Walt Disney World,

As you prepare to depart for your experience here at Walt Disney World, we have some very important information to share with you. Here at Walt Disney World, we are always seeking out the most efficient ways to make our candidates have the most seamless experience possible.

With that said, it is with much excitement that I introduce you to your new Procurement Allies, Yummy Jobs. How does this affect you as candidate in Canada? Yummy Jobs will now be your main point of contact re: all pre-trip planning information for your experience here at Walt Disney World. In the past you have notified Cast-a-way of all the pertinent information re: your travel, Visas and Embassy appointments. However, moving forward, you must contact Yummy Jobs (see contact information below) with this information.

We are very excited to grow our partnership with Yummy Jobs into Canada. We have worked very closely with them over the years with our Western Europe Region. They have provided excellent service for our candidates in UK, The Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland and we can assure you that you will receive that same service.

At this time, I need for each and every one of you to touch base with Yummy Jobs at the email address provided below. Please provide all of the following bulleted information by Wed March 12, 2008. Your email will verify your participation on our program. Rest assured, Yummy Jobs is a reputable employment sourcing agency and your private information will be completely confidential.

· Your Full Name
· Phone Number: Best Number to reach you at
· Your Arrival Date and the Role You Were Offered
· Your Embassy Appointment Date (If applicable)
· If you have already had your appointment, please state if you have your Visa
Any questions: Enquiries@yummyjobs.com

Website: yummyjobs.com

In addition to handling pre-trip work, Yummy Jobs will also be pre-screening and hosting all future Disney International Program presentations. If you have friends or acquaintances that are interested in our programs, please refer them to Yummy Jobs as they are now the main point of contact for Canada.

Thank you in advance for responding immediately to Yummy Jobs! We look forward to your arrival here at Walt Disney World!

Sincerely,

Walt Disney World International Recruitment


******************************************

Dear Stephanie,

Many thanks for your confirmation email and Congratulations on being offered a position at Walt Disney World®! You are about to embark on an exciting adventure that you will remember the rest of your life and we here at Yummy Jobs are here to assist you through your journey from now until you arrive in Florida.

As the new recruiter for Canada, we wanted to formally introduce ourselves to you. Yummy Jobs is based in two locations, the United Kingdom and Michigan, USA (right on the border of Ontario, Canada!). While we may be in a different country than you, we here at Yummy Jobs are 100% committed to assisting you in anything you may need. Our Yummy Jobs team members will aim to response to all enquiries within 2 business days, however receiving an answer within a few hours of your enquiry is not out of the ordinary for us! To give you a better idea on who you may have correspondence with throughout your journey, we would like to give you a brief background on the Yummy Jobs team:

Kristen Thornton: Based in Michigan, USA, Kristen will be your contact person from today to the day you arrive in Orlando, Florida – every step of the way!

Jason Smith: Founder of Yummy Jobs, Jason assists with the overall process of all the different programs offered at Walt Disney World in the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia & now Canada! Formally a WDW program participant and WDW International Guest Service Manager

Michele Harris, Alexis Smith, and Hannah London are the other Yummy Jobs UK team members and work with those currently in Europe. However they are all there for your journey as well!

Walt Disney World will be sharing all of your information with us about your role and position, and we would like to continue the work to ensure you have a smooth process to America. I will be contacting you in more detail within the next 2 weeks to confirm the information we currently have and what we still may need. If at any time you have any questions or concerns about this process please do not hesitate to contact me.

We look forward to working with you, and assisting in making your time at Walt Disney World the best! If you ever have any questions or concerns, please do hesitate to email me at Kristen@yummyjobs.com

In regards to the embassy appointments, if you have a Canadian passport an embassy appointment will not be necessary.

All the Best,
The Yummy Jobs Team


**********************

So that's my update. Nothing too exciting lately beyond the typical... anxious to get to Orlando!

CHARACTER PERFORMER!

I spoke with Eric for more details this morning, and I am definately a character performer, which was my first choice of roles. I'm so thrilled!

I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!

Congratulations!

You have been selected to take part in Disney's International College program!

Your departure date will be May 25,2008 and your program will finish August 8,2008.
I need to go over some details with you. Please contact me ASAP to let me know weather or not you accept this job offer.

Our phone # is 514-694-1194, we look forward to speaking with you soon!

Thanks,

Eric Theriault

Yahoooooooo for Tuesday!!!! So after 11 days of nervously anticipating news, I finally heard today that I have a position at Disney World this summer!! So tuesday is officially my favourite day of the week. Today is also my sister's birthday though, and it seems every important day for her something significant happens in my life-- She gets honour roll for the first time, I win a poetry contest, she wins a backetball tournament, I get accepted to university. Now I find out I'm accepted to work at Disney World on her 17th birthday.

But anyways... Today was the one day I wasn't checking my email multiple times an hour, as I was busy with other things. A good day all around, dance class, group project meeting, class, a meeting with one of my TAs, more class, and coming home-- and then strangely checking my facebook before my email. People had asked whether or not I got an email and I was actually confused for a second-- and then I started freaking out. When I saw the email in my inbox, I freaked out more, then opened the email, and had a heart attack. So then I did my happy dance and read the rest of the email (spotting the typo) and ran to tell my floor. I attempted to call my mother, but I couldn't reach her for a couple of hours, so I texted my sis, my dad, and of course, changed my status on facebook to tell the rest of my friends. Tomorrow, once I have more info, I'll call my grandparents and let them know as well.

So much to think about now-- background check, visas, passport, flight-- I'm so thrilled!

The Interview

Ok, so the interview has officially happened and the waiting (the ten times more stressful than before waiting) has officially started. So here's how it all happened...

My mom arrived on Thursday night, January 31st 2008 at about 9:30, and spent a night in res. We were super concerned about the weather reports coming in predicting the worst storm of the winter the following day, and we wanted to make an early start of it. So after a slightly eventful evening involving chocolate chip surprise cookies (there were no chocolate chips in them. Surprise. Instead there were skor toffee bits) and me trying unsucessfully to put a sheet on an air mattress (it was funny. You maybe had to be there) we went to sleep. Or, rather, my mom fell asleep (and snored) and I stayed awake for what felt like ever stressing about the interview. I woke up early the next morning to my alarm clock, and we set off, after a bit (i'm slow moving in the mornings, and even Disney Interview day didn't speed me up.) After one false start (i forgot my cell phone, so we turned around) we set off into the storm. At first, there were flurries. Then there was a blizzard. Then we got on highway 401 and had no visibility at all. It was terrific. A trip that usually takes 3 hours took 5, and felt more like off-roading than highway driving. We couldn't see the pavement at all, the snow was completely covering the highway, and for the longest time, we couldn't see a single other car, even on the other side of the highway! Anybody from Ontario will tell you that on the 401, empty lanes are a rarity. At times we felt very isolated, and the rock build up along the sides of the road with their icicles on them felt very otherworldly-- almost as though we were on the moon. For a while, we thought we were going to turn back. Even at our tim hortons break at a truck stop, we saw more trucks stopped (during the day!) than I have ever seen before. The roads were terrifying, mostly because you couldn't see them. There was just snow.

Eventually, we made it to Toronto (although at our exit there was a church with a sign that said "prepare to meet thine god" We were a little scared about the implications of such a sign in snow storm driving...) and checked into the Holiday Inn Express at about 1:00, which gave me a chance to settle in and breathe before the interview (in other words I fixed my hair, makeup and changed into my 'professional business attire') then we set back out, through the snow to find the Grand Hotel, where the interview was being held. The hotel lobby said it was about two blocks away, and even in the blizzard we decided to walk it, though we budgeted about a half hour to get there, just to be safe. This was lucky, because somehow we misunderstood the directions and turned the wrong way onto Jarvis ave, and ended up walking for about 15 minutes, in slushy puddles and massive snowflakes.

When we at last arrived at the Grand Hotel, I realized the top button of my coat was not done up and my blouse was soaked, plus my hair and makeup were not the way they had been when we had set out into the snow. After a frantic few minutes in the bathroom of the hotel, I was looking slightly less like a drowned rat, a hotel employee came into the very fancy washrooms and mentioned that the disney recruiters had not yet arrived due to a fight delay. This calmed me down a bit, and I went on into the presentation room. The question put to me the second I entered the room was 'how many times have you been to walt disney world?' It seemed that all the people waiting for the presentation were chit chatting and having a sort of competition, not for who had been the most amount of times, but who had been the least. One guy had only been once, and at the time he was four. I guess the experience stuck with him to be going back years later to work. One other guy told a story about how when he was about 4 he really liked Cinderella, and when his parents took him to wdw, he wanted to see if she was wearing her glass slippers. Somehow, he slipped through the crowd and his parents saw two little sneakers poking out from under Cinderella's dress. Apparently she was missing her slippers-- instead she had on white cowboy boots.

After a few laughs and almost an hour, Eric, the rep from Cast-a-Way Cruise and Resort Hiring Agency arrived with the two Disney recruiters, Sue and Roger Their flight from Halifax had been delayed, and they apologized profusely. They were also impressed with how many of us had braved the weather, (as if SNOW would stop canadians) but apparently it did as only 15 of the 25 of us who had registered were present. We were given forms to fill out while they set up their presentation. My fav part of the forms was where you got to write your name and hometown as you'd like them to appear on your nametag-- as though we were for sure getting nametags. Ranking the roles I was interested in was def the hardest thing-- I knew character performer was my first choice, but after that I was a bit stuck- everything sounded fun!!

The presentation was good, funny but informative, with a cute little video complete with a fashion show of some of the various 'costumes' (uniforms) of the cast members. Some (easy) trivia questions were asked, I won a magnet for knowing the names of the two water parks at wdw. [As I had been frantically memorizing stuff like how many steps apart the garbage cans are (the same number it took Walt to eat a hotdog) and dates parks opened and movies came out, I felt a little over prepared. I had driven my mom nuts in the car reciting stuff like the names of the seven dwarves and cinderella's two stepsisters and mice. ] After the presentation, we were give an interview time. I was in the second group of 4 (4 at a time, 2 per recruiter) which was only 20 minutes after the presentation ended. We all left the room and milled in the lobby, filling out the rest of our forms and chatting while we waited for our turns.

I was interviewed by Sue, who seemed really nice. The interview started with the other girl, whose first role choice was full service f & b. She was asked a couple of questions, then I was asked a couple of questions, (ie. what made you want to apply, how did you hear about it, do you think you could handle living with a bunch of other girls, have you ever lived away from home before) then it moved into role specific questions, again her first, then me (how much experience do you have, how do you think that experience would help you, how would you deal with difficult guests, how would you deal with a confining costume, heavy head, what would you do if a child was scared to approach you, what kind of dance and theatre experience do you have, etc) and then she asked if we had any questions, and finally, I was measured. I am officially 'mouse height' (under 5 foot) and that means I have an advatage in being hired for a costumed role as many of the costumes are that size.

And then it was over. A few of us chatted once again in the lobby, and then my mom and I trudged back through the slow to the Holiday Inn Express and relaxed for a bit before dinner.
At 7:30, we again waded through the slush to go to Casey's to meet with other people, mostly crp applicants (and a few of their moms) from the wdwip.com forums. It was great to finally meet the people who had been chatting with me and answering my questions for so long, and we really hit it off. Somehow the moms hit it off even better, as it turned out they were all somehow connected,and had all been to slash lived in the same little town in northern ontario (random!). So friendships were forged, and then we again walked through slush and snow and past very scary characters to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, we watched Enchanted on my laptop and went to sleep. After breakfast the next morning, it was back on the (much cleaner, safer, less snowy) road. And now, 2 am the next morning, I am once again waiting-- an procrastinating starting some essay proposals I have to submit this week....

Waiting can be fun, if you do it right!

hehe, it has been a week since I woke up to my phone call, and even though technically I am just waiting for February the first to roll around so I can head off to Toronto, the wait has been eventful and busy, and not just because I started back at my uni and had dance classes and caught up with my friends after the winter break.
So the phone call:
for those of you reading this in the future as you anxiously anticipate your own phone calls, I can tell you don't panic. Eric from Cast-a-Way in Canada is super nice- it is still very obviously an interview, but it really isn't anything to stress out about (although I know you still will, I did!!)
My interview started out with basic questions, (name, age, year long or summer program, school) then moved to typical questions (why do you want to work at Disney World, what kind of experience are you hoping for, how would you cope with living with up to 7 other girls from around the world) then slightly creative (rate your energy and enthusiasm on a scale of one to ten) after this, Eric listed off the various roles (merch, operations, food and beverage, custodial, life guard, costumed) and asked if I would be comfortable in these roles (the only ones I said maybe not were lifeguarding, as I'm not a great swimmer, and I said custodial wasn't my first choice but if I had to I would.) And then I was invited to the face to face interviews in Toronto and the wait began. Of course, as soon as I hung up the phone, I ran around my res telling everyone the good news, then called my mom. Oh and later in the afternoon I got interviewed on the street for my uni's tv station (which isn't all that exciting as almost no one ever watches it) and of course, the job came up right away.
The rest of the day I was def on an adrenaline high, and even a week later I can't believe I might actually spend a summer in Disney World.
That was tuesday. Thursday my floor in res through me a beach/summer/Disney party, complete with Disney drinking games, fruity drinks, a common room decorated with Disney beach towels, a musical chairs game to (mostly) disney music (it sounds way cheesier than it was at the time, I swear!), and a dance off that went on til early morning. Oh, and despite the less than summer-y weather outside, we were definately dressed for summer.
Saturday, me and my friends headed out to Cataraqui Mall to find 'professional attire' for my interview, among other things. In the end, it was a vastly successful trip. I came home with a black skirt, a purple blouse, and a promise from one of my friends that I could wear her blazer and shoes. We all found something we liked at American Eagle (for me, it was an underwear sale :) which is quite an amazing feat for 5 people with varying tastes in clothes, and all went home with everything we needed, including fish food for the floor fish, Neville the Third (don't ask about his predecessors, we don't like to talk about that!) And of course, the car ride was very disney-esque-- mostly mulan and lion king, with a little tarzan for good measure.

My friends are all super thrilled about this experience, and even though they say I'm driving them crazy with my disney talk, disney music, and disney movies, they still come to my room to watch Aladdin and Hercules with me....

PHONE CALL

I just got my phone call from Eric at Cast-a-Way hiring-- I'm going to Toronto for my face to face interview on februarythe first. Oh my god, I'm actually shaking!!

December 31st 2007

Tomorrow is a new year, and, I hope, the beginning of my Disney adventure. As of right now, I have only just started the application process- on the 19th of December I sent in my resume and cover letter to Cast-A-Way cruise and resort hiring- the agency that hires for Disney from Canada. On the 21st, I recieved a reply that Eric from the agency could not open my resume, and so I resent it as the email (as opposed to as an attachment). Eric's email also asked me to leave a voice mail with my phone number and a good time to reach me-- which of course I hope means that I'll receive a call in the new year for a phone interview. My first choice is working as a character. From what I can gather about this 'role' at Disney, most summer people are furry characters, as in they wear the full body costumes of the animated characters (which I am fine with!) however, upon arrival you must go through an audition which is to see if you are parade material. Since I have dance/performing experience, I am kind of hoping to be in the parades, but obviously, I would be happy with anything. So, in the meantime, I am reading everything possible about working for the mouse- The best websites seem to be www.wdwip.com and disneyinternationalprograms.com. So far, my parents seem supportive of the idea of me working at Disney, although perhaps a bit skeptical about my chances of getting the job. Though I did get a very large and bright suitcase for christmas which would be perfect for packing for a certain summer experience....