Travel and Pre-DCP Disney Day

My dad and I left Houston bright and early yesterday morning for a very long day of traveling! We were expecting a lot of traffic since it was Memorial Day weekend, but the roads were empty! We made great time the entire day and it was a very easy drive. We stopped in Gainesville for the night and we were only 2 hours away from Orlando.

We stopped at the Florida Welcome Center!

This morning, we drove from Gainesville to WALT DISNEY WORLD!! It was so exciting to drive under the welcome gate and know that I didn't have to leave for 7 months! After checking in at the Pop Century, we headed to Magic Kingdom. 

I had to get an "I'm Celebrating" button!

Just Days Away

I still can't fully comprehend everything that's about to happen. I woke up this morning and my countdown notification on my phone said 3 days until I move to Florida! THREE DAYS! Something that I have been waiting for forever is happening so soon and I am beyond excited.

"How do you pack for 7 months?" is a question that I've been getting a lot recently. And I wish I knew the answer! Packing is never my favorite thing to do, but packing for the DCP makes the task way more fun!

For the past two weeks, I have been cleaning my room, packing my suitcases, and running errands non-stop, along with eating at my favorite Houston restaurants and spending time with my family! It has been crazy trying to get everything done and packed. The most I've ever moved is 3 hours away for school in 2 cars, so trying to figure out how to move halfway across the country for 7 months in 1 car is definitely an adventure. 

Getting Closer

Well, in less than 2 weeks, I will be checking in to the Disney College Program! It still seems incredibly surreal. I have been imagining and dreaming about this program for so long that in some ways, it just doesn't feel real yet. I'm not sure when it will hit me that this is actually happening!  It's a wonderful thing.

I'm officially done with school, and now I get to turn my focus to packing! It will definitely be quite a process, but an exciting one! My dad and I will be driving down in my car, so luckily I won't be too tight on space. Disney apartments are also fully furnished and they provide lots of essential items in the apartment, so that makes it really easy!

My roommates and I registered on DORMS (Disney Onsite Resident Management System) yesterday. This is Disney's online system to register for our apartment complex ahead of time. There are four complexes for program participants, and they're located near Disney property. We'll find out which complex we're in when we arrive, but we got to indicate our preferences and link together in the system. I am super excited to meet my roommates! We found each other through the DCP Facebook groups, and we all get along really well! I'm excited to share this experience with them!

Registering for Classes

In my opinion, one of the most exciting components of the Disney College Program is the educational opportunities that Disney offers! 

I was recently able to register for my first two classes in the summer, which will be from late June - mid August. Later on, I will be able to sign up for two more classes for the fall semester!

Disney offers both the Exploration Series seminars and Collegiate-level courses. Because UT doesn't offer me any credit for these classes, I've decided to take the seminars. The seminars are much more interactive, have frequent guest speakers, and even some field trips to see how what we discuss in class is being utilized in the parks! And the great part is, there's no homework, tests, or projects!

Accepted!

I'll be honest, the waiting process is rough. I tried to stay occupied with schoolwork and sorority events, but all I wanted to know was if I was accepted. It's hard knowing that everything is now out of your hands, but I also felt that I couldn't have done anything differently. The waiting period is quite stressful, but I was hoping it would all be worth it!

Disney gives you a 2-3 week window frame in which you will hear an update on your status. This update could be an acceptance, a pending status (meaning that you will still be waiting), or the dreaded NLIC - No Longer In Consideration. I was accepted to the Disney College Program exactly 2 1/2 weeks after my Phone Interview, which was right in between the time frame.

I was working with a group for a school project, and we were finishing up our meeting. I quickly switched over to the tab with my Dashboard and pressed refresh one more time. Little did I know what had magically appeared on my notifications...

The Application Process || Phone Interview

The often-dreaded Phone Interview was actually what I was looking forward to the most! I felt that if I could make it through the first two stages, I could manage a solid interview. I can talk about my passion for Disney to anyone who will listen, so I was definitely most excited for the Phone Interview!

In preparation for the Phone Interview, I found lists online of frequently asked questions. I went over them and had an idea of what I was going to say, but it's important to not sound rehearsed. Disney wants to hear you speak from your heart, not from a script that you wrote!  I did make a few notecards of things I definitely wanted to say, and of questions that I wanted to ask, just in case I needed to reference them during the interview.

I was luckily able to schedule my Phone Interview for when I was going to be in Houston, which was the best decision. Anyone that's ever been to my house knows that every possible inch is covered in Disney merchandise, artwork, decor, pin trading boards, stuffed animals, kitchen supplies -- you name it, it's in our house. The morning of my interview, I moved as much of our Disney memorabilia into my room as I could. This really helped me to get in the Disney spirit as I was interviewing!

The Application Process || Web-Based Interview

Out of the three stages of the application process, the Web-Based Interview was definitely the one that I was the most worried about. It's a little scary to leave your fate with the program up to what is essentially a computer-based personality test.

I received my Web-Based Interview invitation about 2 1/2 hours after submitting my initial application. This interview is timed and the email says that it will take you about 40 minutes to complete, but I finished mine in about half the time. One section of the Web-Based Interview entails multiple choice questions, that are usually situational. The other section asks you to rate your answers on a scale of 1-5, from strongly disagree to strongly agree.