[ICP Kev]

Hi everyone!

Well, as you may have heard, I'm neeeeeeeeeeew here (and loving the welcome, I must say!) and am soon to be a Walt Disney World Cast Member.

People were asking over on Tessa's thread to hear all about my story, so, being desperate to talk about anything and everything WDW (and having since exhausted the patience of just about everyone else...), I'm jumping at the chance!

So... firstly, methinks, a little about me!

My name's Kevin... I'm 19 and I'm from Ireland. I've been a total Disney fan since I was 7 and visited Disneyland Paris for the first time. The addiction didn't kick much till I was 13 and visited WDW for the first time. I was blown away by the Disney magic and decided I'd LOVE to be a CM some day. At the time, though, it didnt seem like it'd ever happen. I mean, CMs are those magical people and they're all American right? How little I knew

At 15, I took my first trip to Disneyland... In the lead up, I practically printed off the entire content of hiddenmickeys.org's fun facts section. I LOVED learning all the backstage tricks and such of Uncle Walt's original park. Of course, I had more or less learned the whole thing after reading and re-reading!

At 17, we returned to WDW. A lot had changed (some not necessarily for the better), but I LOVED it! On an e-ride ticket night, standing in Tomorrowland waiting for my parents to finish on Space Mountain, while watching Wishes (the "now let's all put our hearts together and make a wish come true" bit... what did I wish for? Can't say or it won't come true!), I decided I WAS going to be a Cast Member. From that moment on, I knew that becoming a CM was something I had to do, one way or another. In the summer after that trip, something happened. My thoughts nigh-on consistently turned to WDW. A friend and his family were off on a week-long break during the school term. To live vicariously, I ended up writing 5 pages of tips on what to see, do and where to stay. I also asked that the family bring me back a copy of Wishes' soundtrack on CD (And I'd pay them back of course!). They did, (though they refused payment after using my tips!)... And the rest, they say, is history. The Disney bug had come alive in me... I had become a Disney dork and nothing would stop me becoming a CM now!

Last year, we took a trip around Europe (Munich, Salzburg, Paris) and took in 3 nights, 2 days at Disneyland Resort Paris. While DLRP is nowhere near as incredible as WDW, it certainly tided me over. After that, there was no way back, I'm afraid!

During the hiddenmickeys.com phase, I had looked around for CM opportunities. All I could find at the time, though, was the US college program's site. I looked with extreeeeeeeeeeeeme devastation at that site for a few nights running-devastation caused by finding a line saying that non-US citizens were inelegible for participation. It seemed like the dream was over.


....

And that's where we'll leave that for a bit. (Don't worry, the next installment of my ramblings is coming soon...)

As for me, getting back to things... I'm in first year at the National University of Ireland - University College Cork studying for a BSc(Business Information Systems). I love the course, but it is SO hard!

I love Music, Theatre, Technology, Film (comedies, mainly... I don't go in for being scared witless or depressed... chickflicks tend to be right up my alley ), TV (same again... comedies are #1 again... though added to that can be things like Desperate Housewives, LOST [which I just cant understand unfortunately], and Star Trek [I like the optimism... it's along the lines of what draws me to Disney, I think]) and Scouting. I'm a Programme Scouter (Beavers) with Scouting Ireland. What that means, is that I'm a leader with the Beaver section (6-8 yr olds) of my local Scout group. There's something really cool about giving back to the community through the scouts. Looking at pictures of old camps and such, it seems like everyone I know was in that Scout Group at one time or another!


Aaaaaaaaaaaaand now I've rambled on for a while... So we'll take a break... When we come back... the ICP journey so far!

Yay!

Kev

P.S. *points* ^ How like a US TV announcer was that? Yay!

[Cavey]

Welcome to DC! And congrats on being accepted as a CM!

[Amelia's Man]

Welcome to DC kev! Congratulations on your becoming a CM! I hope you make the best of your experience!!

[ICP Kev]

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...

[ICP Kev]

We all left the room and Jason led us up another 3 flights of stairs to what I'm guessing was a large bright office area of their career's service. Julie and Anne were ushered into rooms off this area while we took seats around. Jason came over to us one by one and checked over our forms and documentation. He asked some questions (like if we had visible tatoos or any piercings-I dont) and noted this in the "office use only" section of our application form. He also asked what we wanted to be put on our name tags (i.e. what name and what town etc.). I was totally running on a high at that stage!

So, it turned out that I was the 4th in line-the second applicant to be interviewed by Julie. She ushered me into her room and we basically chatted for 10 minutes (felt like 2!). She asked me about Ireland, my home town, why I wanted to work at WDW, where I wanted to work at WDW etc. I answered with my best enthusiastic answers and I thought she seemed to like me. But then, she works for Disney, so I couldn't tell.

Afterwards, I returned to the other applicants outside and said "Anyone who's nervous about that... don't be! It's grand, it's just like a chat!".

On the way back to the airport and in the weeks after, I convinced myself I had blown it. I felt like I hadn't talked about anything consequential at all! And, at one stage, I complemented Julie on the presentation - because everyone had said how they enjoyed it and now felt at ease. I was convinced by now that she'd see it is sucking up and just deny me right then and there. I prepared for the worst.

December 1st 2005: Project season! Christmas was coming and that meant only one thing! Projects! I got out of my 2pm to 3pm lecture and went straight to the computer lab to keep working on our Visual Basic project. As always, I logged into Gmail first just to see if there was anything. And there it was, sitting in my inbox, an email from Alexis.

Those of you who use Gmail will know the feature it has where it shows you the first few words of your email. Mine had no subject line. Didn't seem promising. I kept reading... My heart leapt when I saw the next bit... "Dear Kevin, Get your passport ready as CONGRATULATIONS are in order! The recruiters from..."

I was IN! I read the email, then reread it, then reread it! I was in! AND, I got my first choice of position-Attractions! The dream had come true! At the end, I was told to call Yummy Jobs on the 19th with a decision on whether I wanted to accept and to get more info. Pfft. Like that was much of a decision to make!

Within 30 minutes, by the way, I had emailed Skipper Ben telling him the good news and thanking him for the tips. My email was read out on December 4th during the show. It seemed I had really made it!

19 December 2005: I called Jason, and he told me everything I had been dieing to know. It turned out though, that what had said "Attractions" in the email should have read "Operations" as it was in the system. Attractions is part of Operations, though, so I'm still holding out hope. It's still a definate possibility!

Over the next few months, I got intermittent emails from Yummy Jobs including a to-do list in February. I booked my flights (Delta Airlines... Shannon - JFK New York - Orlando) and got my start/end dates (May 30th/Sept. 1st). I bought insurance and did what I could to stay excited.

02 April 2006: Princess Tessa introduces me to DC.

03 April 2006: I recieve my Disney Info pack! The "Congratulations" package is the most exciting thing I've got yet and includes a welcome booklet, the Disney Look Book, luggage tags, stickers so Disney can identify us in Orlando and various other pieces of info and forms for us to look over and sign.

I hope Tessa won't mind, but seeing as I can't find my digital camera, I'm gonna steal a few of her pictures to show y'all what it looks like...

The package
The Disney Look Book
(note: my luggage tags are a dark blue-much similar to the colour of Europe in the package picture).
The luggage tags and Mickey Stickers


So there you have it! You're all up to date! There's only 56 days left until I flutter off to Walt Disney World for a magical summer with Tessa and the gang! And I can not wait!!!

The suspense is quite literally killing me! On the interesting side, one day, I'm dieing with excitement-the next it's nervousness (I've never lived away from home for more than 2 weeks before and never with a gang of strangers!). I'm a bundle of emotions-mostly happy (but a few terrified)-right now but all in all I'm reeeeeeeeeeeally looking forward to it!

Sorry if I rambled on too long. Gimme a swift kick to the side of the head and that should sort me out!

Great to be here!
ICP Kev (<-- See what I did there? Kev... ICP... Geddit? I'm so original! )

[ICP Kev]

*points* Oh, and if you think all that was long, just think of the sort of posts you'll get once I'm an actual CM!

[Amelia's Man]

That's okay! We look forward to reading reports from "insiders"! However long they are !!

[chottsy]

i haven't had the chance yet to say WELCOME!! you will love this group of "disney dorks"...you are amongst your own kind here :)

[vlogilvie]

I love this site. This is the first forum I have ever gotten into. Welcome!!! I also listen to the Inside the Magic Podcast. It is great!!

[FireAngel]

Welcome to DC!!!

hint: Always double check everything that caver tells you.

JK

[twist1980]

Welcome to DC Kevin and congratulations on becoming a CM!

Thanks for sharing your story! I've enjoyed reading it so far, hopefully there will be more to come!

[KarenWDWCP]

Wow, Kev, that is a great story. It sounds like you are a perfect fit to be a Disney CM! You will have an absolute blast on your program. My time on the CP was one of the best times of my life!

Can't wait for more posts!

[DisneyWorldFan]

WELCOME to DC Kevin, and CONGRATULATIONS on becoming a WDW Cast Member! You will have a grand time at WDW. I understand your nervousness, but you shouldn't be. You already know WDW is the best place on earth. Since you've already met Tessa (at least via e-mail), you already have a friend at WDW. I'm sure she'll show you around as will many other Cast Members.

I love hearing about the CM/College Program Interns' experiences and will read every post you prepare. HAVE FUN WITH IT!

[Screever]

Welcome to DC, Kev, from a WDWCP alumnus and a fellow Disney lover!! You'll love it here...

[smee57]

Welcome to DC, Kev. I enjoyed reading about your journey to CM-hood. It sounds so cool. Good luck with the journey and have fun!! I'm looking forward to more posts. And, no, you are not rambling or boring! Keep it coming!!

*making mental note for DS (who is only 9) to set CM goals for me, I mean himself*