I've just taken a look at what I wrote... Gawd, that was boring... Sorry! I'll try to make this one a bit more interesting!
So, anyhoo...
I had thought that there was no option for a poor lowly foreigner like me to work at WDW... In July (or August... not sure) of 2005, after getting back from Paris, the Disney bug was really itching. I had been bitten baaaaaaaaaad. To feed the addiction, I started to listen to a podcast called
Inside the Magic (some of you may know it...) hosted by Ricky Brigante, a resident of Winter Garden, FL - near WDW. He has a co-host... Skipper Ben. The Skipper, for those of you who don't know, is an alumni of the Walt Disney World College Program (the US one, that is). Around September, and getting into October, he began to talk about his experiences on the college program-in the hopes of perhaps giving advice to applicants to the program who were coming up to their interviews at school.
Let me tell you all right now... He had a BLAST. He was so enthusiastic about the program and so enjoyed his time, that, well, I was a very jealous listener, put it that way
. When a listener emailed him saying that his info had helped her-and that she now had a place on the program, he took that as a sign that the interviews must now be over and started talking about his training stories and experiences working on attractions. By then, I had no choice, I HAD to do more research... I desperately wanted to be a CM and well, what did I find?
THERE WAS A PROGRAM FOR ME!!! 
The International College Program takes students from around the world for a summer of work at WDW. But there was one problem... There was a note at the bottom of the page saying that the program was limited and "may not be available in your country at this time". Well, crappage. That put a downer on it. I might not have been able to get it... There was instructions on where to apply to on the site-the casting centre in Orlando, basically, as I wasn't from a country represented at Epcot or AK.
It was around that time that I stumbled across
WDWIP.com and started posting on their message boards. I realised that there was a procurement ally in the UK and thought, heck, I can email them and see if they'll take me... If not, I'll just send my CV to the International Casting Office and see what happens from there.
At that time, I didn't think for a moment that I'd get in. WDWIP.com people had all applied in August and September-it was now mid October. I was a bit disappointed but thought, hey... cant hurt to try.
What now follows is a timeline from then to here...
25 October 2005: I email Yummy Jobs, the UK recruitment agency for Disney. I check my email on an hourly basis over the next few days dieing for a response.
28 October 2005: When they finally get back to be 3 days later, the email is nothing but a "Thank you for your interest in the Walt Disney World International College Program" letter. But wait! It had info about the program... and instructions on how to apply!
Yummy Jobs had apparently decided they'd take my application!
That evening, I send off my application to Alexis, a Yummy Jobs recruiter, with a CV and cover letter that positively oozed dreams of working for Disney.
29 October 2005: Around 2pm, I get a call from Jason, another Yummy Jobs recruiter. He wants to have an informal chat with me. It turns out to be my phone interview. Every International applicant must do two interviews-usually, one phone interview and one face to face. Using all the tips I had found online (such as smiling-because it changes the tone of your voice), I powered my way through the interview. I can still hear Jason's words now at the end of the conversation... "Well, obviously we'd like to invite you to a face-to-face interview with a Disney Recruiter in November". I was on my way!
The next few days: That day, I got my invite from Alexis to the November 14th interviews in Cardiff (Wales). Because of some logistical problems getting to and from Cardiff, I eventually got my interview date moved to November 9th in Birmingham (England). Over those few days, I researched flights and eventually booked up!
9th November 2005: I took an Aer Arann flight directly from Cork on the south coast of Ireland (where I live) to Birmingham in England. To get back, I had another Aer Arann flight-this time to Dublin. And later, an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Cork. I left the house at 5am. Wasn't home till 11pm. But boy, was it worth it. I should point out here that that day, I wore new shoes and new socks... The insoles on the new shoes creased up (as did the socks which were slightly too big) while I was walking and then glued down again... I had some seeeerious blisters from those shoes. I looked gooooood though!
When I landed in Birmingham, I had to take a train into the city. Then, a 15 minute walk from the train station to Birmingham College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies. When I went in, there was a reception desk where I got a premade ID badge (one of those ones in the plastic pocket things that clip to shirt pockets). Just beyond that and around a corner, near a bar/restaurant, I joined a pile of other interviewees! Being a smidge late, I ended up standing. The two girls who entered before me just chatted to themselves and ignored me... which I didn't quite like...
When it came time to fill in forms, Jason from Yummy Jobs came in and distributed them all. To fill them out, I swallowed my pride and found an empty seat with two girls. They asked me a few questions while we were doing that-things about Ireland and what time I had got up and my exams the previous year (GCSE type exams called "The Leaving Cert").
Jason came back about 10 minutes later and led us up 7 or 8 floors (by stairs... the lift was out of order...) to a lecture room in the college. At the door, standing in suits with pin trading lanyards, name tags and BIG grins were Julie (a Disney recruiter) and Anne (the assistant manager of World Showcase, no less!).
Once we were all seated, the trivia part began! Julie asked some questions and those who answered correctly got a prize. We went through a set of "What was the first park to open, what was the second park to open, what was the third park to open"... The answers that the first two questions got were "Disneyland" and "Magic Kingdom". I answered the third park with "Epcot"... The answer that she was looking for, though, was Tokyo Disneyland.
Once the girl who answered with Tokyo Disneyland had got her pin or whatnot, Anne stepped up to Julie and whispered in her ear. Anne grabbed a College & International Programs pen from the desk of prizes and said "Of course, our friend up here is right too! Epcot was in fact the third PARK to open, while Tokyo was the third resort. Well done!" That pen, which is SO cool now occupies pride of place clipped over my Birmingham college ID badge thingy-which in turn, is clipped to my pin trading lanyard!
Over the next 2 hours (Felt like 30 minutes), Julie took us through all sections of the program. I had SO much fun and loved every minute of it.
At the end, Jason stood up and read out a list of names who were in the first interview group. The second group would have to come back after lunch. I was in the first group.
...
On reflection, it may be best to break this into two posts...