Mike's Adventures with Mickey!

I will not be participating in the college program this fall anymore....because I received an offer for a Professional Internship and I accepted the position! I am so excited and I was not expecting it at all!!!!! 

This post is not going to be as long as the others because each attraction operates differently and is not as general as the Concierge or Merchandise roles. For attractions there is usually no additional classes at Disney University and you go straight to on the job training. I worked at Space Mountain so I’ll just go through a few of the things we did there for training. We track walked the attraction to pick up an lost and found that may have been missed from the night before and powered up the attraction at each zone of the track, I think there were 15 zones in total for each side of the attraction since there are two roller coasters inside Walt Disney World’s Space Mountain. We would also learn how to properly store a train (rocket) into storage and how to bring a new rocket out on to the track. We learned how to operate the attraction from tower and monitor inside the mountain as well as shut down and power up the attraction during a downtime. We learned the other positions including merge which is a bit challenging but doable. Attractions have to keep a 4:1 ratio which means, for every 1 person you take from the standby line you have to take 4 from the fastpass line, at Space Mountain we had a merge assist who would check to see if fastpasses are valid. Since Space Mountain does have a height restriction we were taught how to handle those kinds of situations if a child is too short (under 44 inches). You would offer the family the option of what is called the Rider Switch Pass. It works by having one or two family members wait with the child outside while the rest of the party goes in and enjoys the attraction. When they come back out they will use the rider switch pass (for up to 3 people) to go through the fast pass line and ride the ride again with the people who couldn’t ride. You can also make suggestions such as the Barnstormer (35 inches), Seven Dwarves Mine Train (38 inches), or Big Thunder Mountain (40 inches)  if the child barely makes it. Also you will learn how to check for valid fast passes and how to assist guests with disabilities for your attraction, including the use of the Disability Access Services (DAS) card. You will learn the proper evacuation and downtime procedures as well. If your land has more than one attraction such as Tomorrowland and you are in Fall Advantage or thinking of extending, you can put in to be cross trained at another attraction. For Tomorrowland it is split 4 ways, Speedway, Space Mountain, Buzz Complex (Carousel of Progress, Buzz Lightyear, and Monsters Inc Laugh Floor), and Stitch Complex (Stitch’s Great Escape, Astro Orbiter, and Peoplemover). I think I covered everything in a general sense, if you have any questions about this role, feel free to ask!

For myself, I worked West Side Merchandise Floater which meant I worked at D-Street and the Outdoor Merchandise Cart, Candy Cauldron, DisneyQuest Emporium and Guest Gallery, and West Side and Pleasure Island (R.I.P.) Glow Cart. I learned all those locations and the responsibilities that came with it. Not every merchandise location will learn this, but if your merchandise location handles food, then you go through basic foods training (which means you can pick up QSFB filler sifts). For my location, Candy Cauldron was our food handling location and my favorite store to work in because it was always fast paced, and on top of that I had the opportunity to learn how to work in the Candy Cauldron kitchen. In the Candy Cauldron kitchen I learned how to make cake pops, Mickey krispy treats, Mickey and minnie apples, caramel apples, candy apples, dipped candies, and other season items. My favorite part of working in the kitchen was the magical moments. Usually we select a child or two to come into the kitchen and we given them an apron and a paper hat. Once in the kitchen, we have them put two or three marshmallows on a dipping stick, then we have the children dip the mallows in to the melted chocolate and then placed into a topping of their own choosing, while the rest of the family watched from the other side of the window. Once the chocolate hardened and the toppings stayed on, we let the children take their candy treats home with them. At DisneyQuest Emporium, that store handles stroller and wheelchair rentals, so I was trained in  how to handle stroller and wheelchair rentals. I loved working merchandise. I found the role to be rewarding and a lot of fun, and you have a lot of freedom to just walk around the store and play with toys as you interact with Guests, young and old. If you have any questions in regards to this role, feel free to ask!

I finally got around to actually post something more than just a few sentences. Today’s post, I will talk about the Concierge Role. I have had previous experience in the position and absolutely enjoyed it. You start off by attending a series of classes at Disney University for the Front Desk Cashier role, depending on your resort you may have to attend an additional class for Disney Vacation Club. Once your classes are complete you go to your resort and do on the job training. Each resort is different, but you pretty much learn your resort’s check-in process and how to call for a ready room. After about 2 to 3 weeks of Front Desk shifts, you head back to Disney University for 3 days of Concierge classes where you learn LILO Ticketing, Guest Service Recovery, al a carte, and cast applications. Once your class is complete, you go back to your location and do additional on the job training for Concierge. Once everything is complete, you are an official concierge Cast Member. Shifts for the concierge desk varies from the front desk. The Concierge desk is only opened until 10pm and reopens at 7am the following morning, while the front desk remains open 24 hours. A typical CP shift for concierge will most likely be the closing shift from 15:00-22:30 or something similar to that. A typical day at the concierge desk will include selling tickets for the park, arranging transportation to and from Universal or Sea World, assisting guests with their dining plans, making dining reservations, providing information about the Disney Theme Parks, and assisting the front desk with check and check outs. You are also responsible for your own bank of money which you need to count at the start and end of your shifts. Breaks are assigned to you by the Frontline Service Advisor (Coordinator) and they are also there to help you with escalated guest situations, as well as Managers. The concierge role is a lot of fun, and I found it to be very rewarding. If you have any other questions about this role, feel free to contact me and I’ll be more than happy to help!

For those who got accepted, congratulations, I look forward to meeting some of you and possible working with you. For those who are still waiting, please please please do not give up, I waited almost 5 weeks for my accepted email to come, applications close next week, so hopefully once they close they will speed up the acceptance process a lot faster. Those in submission, do not give up either, your time will hopefully come soon! Those who were NLIC, if this isn’t your last chance applying, then don’t give up either! This is a wonderful opportunity and I encourage you to apply again until you cannot apply no more!

Sorry, I have been really busy with school! But I got accepted into the Disney College Program today, Fall Advantage Concierge Role at WDW! I arrive May 18th!!!!

On to the Professional Internships! A lot of applications closed and movement is slowly happening. I am still in submission for three, but in progress for the other three. I already completed my phone screen, so it's literally wait and see if another department needs additional information from me/interview me again, or get my acceptance or NLIC notice. Landing a Professional Internship is my ultimate goal, but hoping to get a CP, I can use that to fall back on just incase a PI doesn't work out!

Let's hope there is another wave of acceptances this week for everyone who hasn't heard back yet after the phone interview. Let's also hope there is wave of people who get out of submission and are able to move on and prove their awesomeness to Disney!!! 

So I am sitting over here worried about not getting into the College Program, and I am totally neglecting my Professional Internships. Hopefully I hear something back soon from someone!

Congrats to all the acceptances that went out today and yesterday! And to those, like myself, be patient, our time will come soon! Don't get discouraged! Put yourself in the recruiters' shoes, they are only so many people and they have thousands upon thousands of applications to review! Stay positive! Also don't let negative people get you down! This has only been the 2nd day that acceptances have gone out! We were told mid March to end of March that we would find out, with all decisions being made by April 20th! Keep your chin up! There are 4 Disney Theme Parks, 2 Water Parks, Downtown Disney, and 20+ Disney Resorts they need to staff with CPs! Don't get discouraged! Stay optimistic! 

Acceptances went out today. Do not be discouraged if you have not heard back yet. Do not be discouraged if someone who has heard back interviewed after you. This is no indication that you did not get in. This is the first day of acceptances. We are all in this together, and we are all stressed. Negative thoughts do not make this easier. Stay positive and your time will come soon enough!

But I got my application approved to move into an apartment in Florida starting on the 17th of May! I am so EXCITED!!!! I am going to be a Florida resident again!!

I waited 17 days last program to find out that I got accepted into the college program after my phone interview. The 17th day is on Tuesday the 17th. It would be pretty cool if it were to happen again. If not, I am not worried about it. I can't sit here and take every little hiccup as a sign that something will or will not happen. It'll just drive me crazy. No news is good news. But then again I did manage to get all my homework done, so now I have to find other things to keep me occupied in the mean time.

The fact that only NLIC and Pendings have gone out sparingly is kind of scary. Don't compare previous seasons to this one. As long as your dashboard sits in "In Progress" or "Submission" you are still in a good place! Stay positive. This silence is unnerving and it's scary to think that not a single person has been accepted yet, however you may be that person who gets accepted first. I mean come on, how cool would that be to be accepted first into the Disney College Program??