16 Days!! Zomg!! And Australian Flag Tattoos!!

Ahh I can't sleep and I'm excited so it's resulting in a blog post!!  I figure I should try and get into the habit of posting so that there is still a chance that I will post when I'm over there.  I make no promises.

So for a Fortune 500 company Disney sure like the element of surprise.  I guess it keeps us on our toes. Anyway, last week we got this lovely long email from Disney going through all the important last minute bits of info we need before checking in, when bam out of nowhere, slotted in the middle of the last paragraph of dot points, was a dot point along the lines of

• and your monthly insurance will be deducted from your pay monthly at a rate of $65-$75 depending on the cover you have chosen.

WTF?!  This was the first we had heard about it.  We had paid a $100 insurance fee and figured that covered us, but then they sprang this on us.   Long story short, and a few frantic phone calls later turns out this doesn't apply to us and we don't need to fork out an extra $70 a month.  Which is fantastic because a) the cover was hardly worth the money, basically just the essentials and b) I am getting my own insurance so the Disney insurance would have been redundant.   

But the good news is, it is all sorted!  

To add to all the excitement, last night some lovely Australians who are already doing the program started looking up all the locations for our roles!  So most of us (apparently they gradually release people into the system) know where we are working.  I wasn't sure if I wanted it to be a surprise or not but everyone else was finding out and I got caught up in the excitement.   So.. Drum Roll... I'm working at the TTC which is the Ticket and Transport Centre or something like that.  Exciting!  It's the biggest Vacation Planner spot so hopefully it will be fun, the only thing I'm not sure about is apparently TTC people get a few parade control shifts which I don't think I really want.  But we will see!

Umm, what else, well its 16 days till I leave, which is crazy.  I feel like everything's under control but I'm sure one week out I'll  be freaking out like crazy.

I've sort of, kind of started packing,  I'm aiming for only one suitcase, but I struggle with one suitcase for two weeks, so this will be interesting.

I'm having a Princess Tea Party as a goodbye kind of thing for my school friends for a bit of fun.  Hopefully I'll actually take some photos and upload.  

OHHH and the biggest news ever.  I bought my first ever Australia Flag Tattoos!!    The Olympics are going to be on while we are over there so I figured to show some Australian spirit they may come in handy.  And on that note it is going to be so weird watching the Olympics in another country!  But it will be half the fun.

So I am pretty sure I am rambling, so I'm going to leave this here.  Feel free to comment, ask questions etc etc!  

Resignation and Visa Interview!

Soooo world,

Things are starting to happen.   I officially handed in my resignation - last day 18 June!!  Three more rosters to come out and about 14 more shifts to do!  I've already been sent my exit survey and a list of things I need to do before I get my last pay check.  Mostly washing the ridiculous amount of uniform I've accumulated over the last 3 years.  Thanks Mum!

And in other BIG Disney related news, I've booked my VISA appointment!!!  Yayyyy - although it's still forever away - 20 June.  Kind of wish I had booked it for earlier, so I could get everything else organised, but I have so much stuff going on that it's just going to have to wait until then.  Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly.  So far no one in the Disney group has had any issues so I think I'll be fine!

The Starlight Five Chefs Dinner is next Thursday!!  So finally all the months of (unpaid)work will have paid off and we can see it all come together.  That will be a HUGEE day!  But I'm looking forward to it!

Following that, on the Friday we are all having a Sydney catch up (it was meant to be Saturday originally but a few people including myself can't make it, so there will be one on both Friday and Saturday).  It will be nice to put some faces to facebook.

I guess that is the next week in a nutshell!  Then we are into June and only 2 months to go!!!  Just waiting on my Telstra contract - then we are all set for the next 2.5 years.  Scary!!

T Minus Less Than One Hundred Days!!!

AHHHHHHHH  It is officially less than one hundred days till I embark on my Disney adventure*!  95 Days till I leave!!  Now when people ask when do I leave I give them the day by day countdown.  I'm sure they don't really care but they asked so they should be prepared to endure my Disney chit chat for the few minutes proceeding.


So anyway for all my millions of readers,  actually fun fact I've almost hit 1000 views.  It's probs my mum.  Actually it's not, I don't think she knows about my ramblings, she gets to live the build up 24/7.  Lucky her. 


Anyway there is really nothing to report other than I still haven't recieved my disney pack which means I cant book a visa interview, which means I don't want to book my accommodation  or pay my housing fees incase something goes wrong.  So I'm stuck.  Ughh.   Here's hoping it will be on my door step next week.  


However, it is less than 100 days which is definitely a mile stone.   I have 8 rosters left (at the most) to get from work, so thats also quite exciting!  A part from that whole lot of nothing, nothing else has happened so I'm going to stop right here.






*provided I ever get my Disney pack and visa approval!

Stilllll Waitingg

Ahhh.

Still, still waiting.   I now needed to send in a copy of my diploma.  I sent my official transcripty thing from the uni which hopefully should cover it but ahhh.

Anyway, aside from the waiting, in a few days it will 100 days till I leave!  I can't believe we are finally down to double digits, in some ways it seems only yesterday like we were in the 200's but then that also feels like ages ago, and another 100 days seems so incredibly far away.

Apart from waiting, and waiting, and refreshing my emails, I've still been interning at the Starlight Foundation.  It's cool, a lot of work but I've brought in a fair bit of money for the organisation and have got to do some very cool things.  The event is called Five Chefs, and they bring 5 top chefs from each state to put on a five course dinner at the very accessible price of $500 per person to raise money for Starlights programs.  It's Starlight's biggest annual fundraiser and there is still so much to do with only about 6 weeks to go!  Ahh.  So at least that is keeping me occupied.

I've also been working a fair bit which is tiring me out like crazy but at least I will have plenty of funds to splurge at Disney!

I guess the only other thing that is keeping me distracted from Disney would be my grad job applications. I've had a few rejects but overall things are progressing nicely.  Fingers crossed!  And if I don't get one, I guess I'll just spend another 6 months at Disney!  Tough life.

Anyway, I thought it was time to update you all - it wasn't very Disney related but it may have given you a bit more of an idea of who I am.  Ooh  that was corny.  Annywayyyy.  I will update as soon as anything Disney-esque comes through.

Over and out.
x

Waaiiiiitttinnngggg

& Waaiiitttinngggg for my Disney Welcome Pack :(

Everyone's got theres but I don't :(

So sad :(

Cameron hates me, he probably did it on purpose :(

Wahhh

T minus 140 Days!

So it's exactly 140 days until D Day!  It's getting super, super close and I have so much to do.


I'm still waiting for my Police check to come back from the feds, it's over two weeks now so hopefully it will come this week, otherwise I don't know what has happened to it.  They've taken the money out of the account though so hopefully soon!


Once everyone has sent their background checks to disney we will be sent our welcome/Visa packs, exciting!!  So hopefully mid April I will get this, because once I get this, I can book my visa interview which is the last thing I need to clear before it will be official that ill be working at Disney!  Yay!


Anyway the other thing I need to think about is booking flights.  I haven't booked yet, I may wait till after my Visa has been approved because I still have no idea when I want to come home or when I need to come home.


I've been applying for graduate jobs which is exhausting but would be ideal to get, as I would start in Jan/Feb 2013, so I would basically come back from Disney with a job lined up.  But if I did get one I need to know when I'm needing to come home.  So the flights are taking a back seat.


So apart from applying for grad jobs and thinking about Disney I've just been working.  One 10 hour shift on a Sat is like a week at Disney, so I shouldn't complaint too much.  Oh and I'm now fairly sure I'll quit work at the end of June so I get a chance to relax and get organised which means I've only got 3.5 months of work left!!  or 14 weeks!  I got this.


I think this could be my most disjointed blog post thus far,  so hope it makes sense.

Goal # 6

Go on EVERY single ride...

Here's one...

T minus 160 Days!

So it is exactly one hundred and sixty days till I leave!! Yayyy!!


Not much is really happening on the Disney front, although we now have the go ahead with out police checks.  Once everyone has sent their paperwork away it will soon be time for Visa stuff!  Wooo!


I figure because I don't really have much to say I'll give you a run down on the accommodation situation.


Basically there are four housing complexes for Disney international college program,  Vista Way, Chatham Square, Patterson Court and the Commons, although no one in the Australian program gets placed in the Commons.


Vista Way is the biggest, the oldest and has a reputation for being party central, Patterson Court is the newest/nicest but has the reputation of being a retirement village, and Chatham is a mix of the two.  I'm hoping for Chatham, though we don't really get a choice, so will just have to wait and see.


Anyway the apartments are mostly 2 and 3 bedroom with two people to a room, although there are a few four bedrooms and apparently very, very few one bedroom apartments.  So I'll mostly likely be sharing an apartment with 4 to 8 people.  Should be interesting.  


This is the list we get that tells us EXACTLY what we will be getting.  No surprises.  Definitely gonna need that ladle and I'm gonna make heaps good use of the weight room.  I'm gonna come back massive.


Anyway this is it for this week!

• All utilities, including water, electricity, waste disposal
• High-speed Internet access in all apartments (additional information below)
• Local phone service and one central phone
• Centrally located laundry facilities
• Maintenance of the apartments, including pest control
• Onsite security
• Cable television hook-up
• Computer labs
• Wireless Internet Lounge, Clubroom Thirteen501
• Swimming pools
• Weight rooms
• Tennis, basketball and racquetball courts
• Fully furnished apartment
• Bedroom
  • Dresser with mirror
  • Nightstand
  • (2) Twin beds
  • Dining Room
  • Table with 4 chairs
• Living Room
  • Couch
  • Chair
  • 2 End tables
• Additional Items Provided
  • Shower Curtain
  • 2 Vanity wastebaskets
• Kitchen Appliances
  • Refrigerator with ice maker
  • Stove, Oven, & Microwave
  • Dishwasher
• Kitchen Utensils and Dishes
  • Assortment of Pots & Pans w/ lids
  • Mixing Bowl Set
  • Measuring Cups
  • Cutting Board
  • Spatula
  • Can Opener
  • Cutting Knife
  • Ladle
  • Tea Kettle
  • Serving Spoons
  • Cookie Sheets
  • Dinner plates
  • Salad Plates
  • Cereal Bowls
  • Drinking Glasses
  • Coffee Cups
  • Set of knives, spoons and forks

Goal # 5

Go on a date at Magic Kingdom*.

Stolen from an American but the idea seems cute

T Minus 167 Days

5.5 months to go!  So I decided to post a pic because I was too lazy to fill you in on whats been happening on the Disney front.  Then I decided, why not it's been a while since I wrote anything decent, so here goes.

I finally found out my pay rate for doing casual work at Intellectual Disability Council - I was expecting it to be around the $15 mark being non profit and what not.  Turns out its basically four times as much as I will make an hour at Disney!  Woohoo!  So the savings going well, I was worried for a while there but it seems like it will all go to schedule.


Then this week I started my internship at the Starlight Foundation, basically working on getting sponsorship and donations for their biggest national event which is actually really cool.  I was worried it was totally out of my depth but I think I might do alright at it.  Only time will tell.  Everyone there is really nice and on my first day I had a welcome sign with glitter stars sprinkled everywhere, was super cute and everyone was really welcoming.


Oh and Spanish is going OK.  It's hard and I really haven't had time to practice but I'm learning a lot which is good.




OK now onto the Disney stuff!






I got an e-mail, I got an e-mail!  Yayy, only four days after everyone else when I emailed them asking why it hadn't arrived yet, but still I got it.  


It mostly talks about getting our police checks done asap as well as medical insurance which is terribly confusing and I have no idea what it covers because it seems to be only $100 which would be a huge cost saver and I think I would now be set to cover all my expenses and money for Disney!  Yay,  anything I earn now will just be a bonus!


I'll try to keep you updated.  Not a lot has really been going on though.


Lots of love..




Ohh p.s.   Follow my blog, comment, ask a question.  I get bored and want attention.

Goal # 4

Get my Ducktorate*!

I'll explain in a later post.

Goal # 3

Drink Around the World at Epcot World Showcase. 

Whose in?

T Minus 180 Days

So yesterday was officially six months until D Day!  


Although nothing really on the D front has happened.  I guess at the moment I'm just in the process of looking at flights, although I pretty much know I'm going to Fly Delta or code share V Australia to get my  frequent flyer points up.


Other stuff that needs to be done over the next few months is:

• Visa Paperwork
• Visa Interview
• Medical Insurance
• I'm sure a thousand other things that I can't remember.

Seeing as I have nothing to talk about, I figured those of you not in the Disney Know may like to know more about some of the basics.


Oh I really suck at posting this is like the tenth time I have come back to this and I can't figure out what to write.


I wish Disney would email me!  I think I gots to wait til April before we get anymore info.


I'll just treat this as a Diary.








Dear Diary,


This week I started Spanish Lessons.


This week I got an internship with Starlight Foundation.


This week I started casual work where I interned last year.


This week my work decided to give me 5 shifts.


The end.












Last weeks entry would have gone like this....


Dear Diary.


This week I had one shift.


The end.








I'm getting whiplash.  










Oh I'll catch you up to speed on the housing in my next post.  Whatevs.

Goal # 2

Goal # 2 -  Enter the Cinderella's Castle Suite.   Bonus points if I actually stay there.

22 January 2012

Hello,

I've been stalking a lot of the January 2012 Disney starters blogs and  there is one hugely apparent trend, that being, they have no time to update/write.  So I've decided I'm going to update once a week on anything thats been going on.  Lately, there hasn't been much at all, so this week I decided to post one of my favourite songs (that pretty much won me a trip to Fiji last year, but that's another story) who teamed up with Disney to do a remix of some sort.  

I think I need a theme song for my Disney adventure, if anyone has any idea's post them below :)

xx

Sneak Peak

Hey World,


Just chillin' in America.


Tomorrow I will be going to Anaheim before getting a sneak peak at Disneyland!!!


We have one day at Disney and one at California Adventure!


Photos & Details to come.


x

Goal # 1

Goal #1  - Crash an American's Thanksgiving dinner.

Hey Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind.

Hey Mickey,

I'm coming to meet you!!


I officially just got offered a position at Walt Disney World, Orlando as Vacation Planner from 4 August 2012 through to 4 January 2013!! (eek, 2013)  And I officially just accepted!

I don't really know much at this stage, but here's a snippet from the e-mail..

"Congratulations!  We are pleased that to offer you a position on the WALT DISNEY WORLD International College Program as a/an Vacation Planner Cast Member.  This is an amazing opportunity and will allow you to gain a very unique work experience-the kind that professionals in every field agree provides students with skills they need to compete effectively in today’s job market. 

Below is a description of the responsibilities involved with a/an Vacation Planner role:

Vacation Planner Cast Members help begin the magic for our Guests by performing ticket sales.  This role involves working well under pressure and dealing with a high volume of sales and transactions.  Strong awareness of the WALT DISNEY WORLD® Resort and its ticket media, as well as the ability to handle challenging Guest situations are important skills to possess as a Vacation Planner."

If you wanna find out more, from a more authentic source, this is where I originally got most of my info from.   https://www.disneyinternationalprograms.com/seasonal.html 

So yep, I'll keep you updated as I am updated!


xx
Jess