Tips and Tricks on getting into the Disney College Program

Hello friends!
I’ve been wanting to give some tips and tricks on getting into the Disney College Program ever since I was accepted into my program. I wanted to give my advice because I searched and scoured the internet for tips myself. Today is 25 days until my program starts (yay!) and about 45 days until Spring applications come out, so I figured there isn’t a better time than now to give some advice!

So I talked about my own experience on getting into the Disney College Program in my previous blogs, but in this post I wanted to be more direct on things you should and shouldn’t do. Here we go!

(Scroll down to the bottom if you’d rather watch my video than read all of this haha 🙂 )

Applying:

• If you’re like me, and you want a future with Disney, then when applying, you’ll probably want to be VERY open to anything and everything, that way you have a better chance at getting accepted.
• What I’m talking about is role preference and park preference (DLR or WDW).
• If you want to work for the company no matter what (to get your foot in the door and stuff), then apply to both Disneyland and Disney World, and don’t list ‘no interest’ on any of the roles. (You have to decide if you’d rather have a role at Disney that’s not as glamorous as all the other roles, or have the possibility of not getting into the program at all.) What i did was listed about 7 roles for high interest, 7 for moderate interest, and 4 for low interest.
• If you want to do this program, but are not interested in a career with Disney for the long run, then by all means, feel free to put ‘no interest’ on the roles you have absolutely no interest in.
• Research (read and watch you tube videos) every role before you submit your application to know for sure what each one entails and think about if you can envision yourself in that role or not.
• I suggest applying within the first 7 days. Phone interviews fill up fast! To increase your chances of getting in you want to get your phone interview done with in 3 weeks because the first wave of acceptances are usually 21-25(ish) days after applications come out. (From my experience DLR Fall tends to only have 1 wave of acceptance and DLR spring tends to only have 2 waves).

Web Based Interview:

• When getting your WBI in your email, don’t start taking it until you have the time to finish it all at once (it’s timed).
• What I did, and what I suggest you do, is have someone who knows you REALLY well take it with you. I’m a bad test taker and I have ADD so it’s really hard for me to concentrate, especially on time tests! I sat down with my mom and I read the questions out loud and choices out loud and I would tell her what I thought best described me and she would tell me if she agreed or not. Doing this helped because she knows be so well so she could tell which answer was better if I was stuck between two or something.
• This also helped me because you have to be consistent! They will ask you the same question twice but worded differently to see if you’re lying.
• Be honest. At the same time, keep in the back of your mind what Disney is looking for. If you’re late to work sometimes or lazy when it comes to work, you probably don’t want to admit that in this interview. Obviously they are looking for punctual, reliable, responsible people. If that doesn’t sound like you, or doesn’t sound like someone you’d be willing to be, then don’t even bother applying. (Surprisingly some people don’t pass this part, but don’t be too worried because honestly it’s the easiest part of this whole process.)

Scheduling the Phone Interview:

• Schedule your phone interview in a few days. Give your self enough time to prepare for it. Don’t feel like you have to do it the next day (if that’s even one of the options).
• You might not want to apply the first or second day because I’ve seen people do that and for some reason their application was over looked (like there was a problem with the system) and they didn’t even get a WBI or PI. (…then again some people did apply the first day and got accepted).
• One more reason to wait and apply the 2nd or 3rd day is so that your PI doesn’t have to be scheduled for 1 or 2 days later. Waiting to apply gives you the chance to have a week of PI preparation 🙂

Preparing for the Phone Interview:

• When you apply, take a screen shot on your computer of your role preferences and the order that they’re in (label your top 4 choices because they most likely will ask you what those are- have your reasons why you want it & why you’d be good at it ready too).
• Do plenty of research on your top roles, print the description out of each one, and highlight the words and characteristics that the role requires that also describes you. This way you can use these words and phrases when describing your previous work (ex: cash handling, stocking inventory, multitasking, solving problems, answering questions, cleaning… ect.)
• Prepare an extraordinary answer for when they ask you why you want to do the Disney College Program. This is one they’ll FOR SURE ask you.
• You’ll probably be nervous when they ask you this question, so instead of reading off the paragraph you prepared, break it down into bullet-pointed words and phrases to give you a cheat sheet (if you just remember those words and phrases in the right order, then you’ll be GOLDEN when it comes time to answer).
• Use words like: dream, passion, opportunities, resume, networking, magic, happiness, family, and guests.
• Talk about the internship aspect of it and the classes provided rather then just working at Disney. If they think you’re applying just to work at Disney, then they’ll probably deny you because you can just apply for a job at Disney instead of just doing the program.
• Look up common DCP phone interview questions, copy and paste them into Word, and read and answer each one. Just by being able to think about it and brain storm your answers before hand will really help you prepare for what it’s going to be like. DO NOT READ YOUR ANSWERS WORD BY WORD IN THE INTERVIEW. That’s what I did last time and I sounded like a rehearsed robot- I defiantly didn’t sound genuine.
• There is a REALLY good chance (like 99%) that your interviewer will ask these 6 questions so have these prepared:
  1. How would you handle an emergency?
  2. Do you prefer fast vs. slow pace?
  3. Do you prefer to work as a team or by your self?
  4. Do you prefer to work indoors or outdoors?
  5. How do you deal with repetitive tasks?
  6. How would you get a task done while being interrupted by guests?
• Prepare 4 situations that you have dealt with in your previous job (like if they ask how you’ve made someone happy or dealt with an upset customer ect.) Use your past experience, it helps to relate your answers back to your jobs (or if you’ve never had a job then volunteer work, school, or just life). They want you to be specific when they ask you questions so go ahead and take your time answering their question in detail and with examples.
• It also wouldn’t hurt to think of three positive qualities and three negative (but in a positive way) qualities about yourself.
• Have 1-3 questions ready for the end when they ask if you have any. Even if you’ve done your research, it shows that your really interested and you want to know more.
• Do a ‘mock interview’ a couple times with a family member or friend to practice what you’re going to say and practice your improv skills. It’ll help you feel more confident and relaxed. Just don’t do it too much or when it comes to your real interview you’ll sound rehearsed. I had my brother call me and pretended to have a real phone interview. He stayed in character and if something didn’t go right, we just went with it like a real interview would.
• Lastly, write uplifting, encouraging notes for yourself!! I took some flash cards and colorful sharpies and wrote words on them like: Be positive, Smile, Passion, Confident, Slow (take your time), Relax, Speak clearly, Friendly. And I hung them up where I was going to have my phone interview:)

The actual Phone Interview:

• Disney says they can call anywhere between 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after your scheduled time, so just pretend like they’re suppose to call 15 minutes early and you’ll be good to go (they are pretty good about being right on time though).
• Have your cheat sheet already in front of you. I suggest having like 2 pages of organized typed out bullet points to help keep you calm and not so nervous during the process.
• So about 20-25 minutes before your scheduled PI be ready: go to the bathroom, get water for when your mouth gets dry in between questions, get a pen, put some chap stick on, grab some tissues… yeah I was really prepared lol.
• Have your interview in a quite place (like your bedroom when no one is home, or ask your family to be silent during your interview).
• Don’t spend a lot of time sitting in one area before they call or you’ll psych your self out. You’ll get antsy and nervous and that’s the complete opposite of how you want to be! (I watched Americas Funniest Home Video before they called so I can laugh a little and relax.)
• Make sure your phone is charged and has service. I used my home phone and my phone died right before my interview was over. Yeah, true story.
• The 3 C’s: Cool, Calm, and Collected. I know this sound cheesy, but it’s true!! They need to hear these 3 things in your voice.
• What do you do for the 15 minutes while you’re waiting? I know this might sound a little stupid, but literally smile, be happy and tell your self you’re gonna do great. Try to calm down and mediate a little so your voice doesn’t shake as you answer the phone. As your smiling and waiting, glance over your notes (don’t feel rushed to read through it all before they call).
• I really loved this piece of advice I got from someone: pretend like the interviewer is a distant relative or a friend you haven’t talked to in a long time. If you do this, I promise you you’ll feel more relaxed. I pretended that the interviewer was my one of my moms friends that I’ve never meet before so I tried being sweet, nice, funny, positive, outgoing, appreciative, and just acted like I was that daughter that all my moms friends would love to meet haha (i know it sounds silly but it helps).
• Talk slow! Pretend that the interviewer is hard of hearing so you have to talk slower so she could hear and understand you. You can take your time! Don’t rush, yes they have to keep on a schedule, but your interview can be 30 minutes if you and your interviewer have a lot to discuss.
• On that note, try to treat it more like a conversation rather than an interview. If you want to make the interviewer laugh a little, go for it!! I made my interviewer giggle and I giggled a little myself:) I think it shows them that you can interact with guests well.
• When they call you, take a deep breath and smile before you answer the phone.
• They’ll say their name so go ahead and write it down so you can use it at least once during the interview to make it more personal. (If you didn’t hear it, ask them to repeat it- that’s what I did).
• Use different tones of voice to show your excitement and passion when answering questions and when saying words that really mean alot to you.
• Be YOU, ok yes, this is extremely cheesy but honestly I wasn’t being “me” my first 2 phone interviews. They want unique people in this college program that are different and want it really bad. So show them why they should choose you!!

Ok, so time for a review. Prepare and practice, but don’t rehearse and sound like a robot. Be genuine and show it in your voice (and your smile) that you really want it! Don’t say you want to do the DCP because you want to work at Disneyland/Disney World. Be open to anything. Convince them that they should choose you! YOU GOT THIS!

I also decided to make a vlog on my tips on how to get in, you can watch it here:

Good luck and have a magical interview!

Meeting my Roomies

After getting to know 4 lovely girls over Facebook for a month, I actually got the opportunity to meet them in person. On Saturday, April 26th I flew to Orange County to spend a little bonding time with Kayla, Katie, Christine, and Silvina. They were so sweet and all offered to pick me up from the airport since they all live in SoCal. Kayla (my actual bedroom mate) ended up getting me since it was right next to her school. We immediately clicked as I hopped into her cute little green bug and gave her a side hug- this quickly changed as I learned she was a very aggressive driver. Just kidding, but never let anyone with a cute little hippie car fool you 😉

We headed to breakfast and meet the rest of the girls at Monkey Business Cafe, this home-style kind of restaurant that is adorable just as much as it is delicious. We all agreed that this would be our favorite go-to spot for meals; and it’s only 10 mins from our apartment! We all connected very easily and laughed so loud that I’m sure we were disruptive to the tables around us, haha. Katie and Christine were so thoughtful that they got Kayla, Silvina, and I a mug with our favorite Disney characters on them. They mostly got them for their birthdays since they were just shortly before the meet up, but they didn’t want to leave me out so they got me one with Rapunzel on it. Obviously I loved it; they already knew me so well.

After breakfast, my friend Marc let us come tour the Carnegie apartment building where we’ll be staying! We know that each apartment is different in the building, but at least it gave us an idea of where we’ll be living. Marc answered our millions of questions and told us a little bit about his program. The apartments were so beautiful! Even the courtyard and shops outside the building were nice! It was a little busy and crowded though since they were having a ‘recycle art sale’ outside the apartments for Earth day, but it was still really cool! We got a few pictures outside in front of the building before we headed off to Downtown Disney.

Christine, Me, Kayla, Katie, and Silvina

Me and Marc

We headed to Downtown Disney and got our Movie tickets right away to see Bears and we even got a free Bears button! We then went down all the shops and looked around. When we went into World of Disney we asked a Cast Member if we could have an “I’m Celebrating” button which he gladly gave to us and we wrote “DCP ’14 Roomies” on it. He told us how they were going to remodel the room were in since it didn’t match the rest of the store, so he asked if we’d like a picture with Ursula since she’ll be no longer in Downtown Disney after this weekend.

Here’s our picture with the not-so-lovely Ursula

After we looked in the shops and with a tear in our eyes agreed not to buy anything until we got our discount, we headed to the gates of Disneyland. No, we didn’t enter the gates, unfortunately. Katie wanted to buy a car sticker at the shop at the entrance and I wanted to meet my friend who’s in the program right now. We then ran back over to the theater just in time to watch Bears, which was so good! It was my first Disney Earth movie and I definitely want to see all of them now!

When that was over we decided to get some food at Earl of Sandwich since some of us have never been there before, or at least I know I haven’t. I now know why they’re called what they’re called, and not called Earl of Soup. I got the Chicken Tortilla soup and although it looked and smelled delicious, it was incredibly spicy. Like my eyes and nose were running. I mean if you like really spicy things- that’s the soup for you… but thank goodness I had some crackers for it.

Our roomie Christine got the role of Life Guard at the Disneyland Resort, but has never seen the pool, so we headed on over there to see what the hotel had to offer. The pool was very cool and this was my first time seeing what the pool looked like too with all the renovating they did a couple years ago. I saw that Trader Sams, an unorthodox Tiki bar, was right there next to the pool so obviously I wanted to check it out really quick. We went in and it was just as awesome as I thought it was going to be. They had a jar that said Paradise Falls on it that was so cute! I can’t wait to go in there with my roommates one evening, sit back, relax and feel like I’m in Hawaii.

We walked around the pool and passed Goofy’s Kitchen! It’s a different kind of restaurant with character dinning that I recently found out about. It definitely went on my bucket list as soon as I got home. The hotel lobby was right there so we decided to go on in and check it out. There were these adorable little Tea Cup chairs that we took pictures in even though I’m pretty sure the front desk CMs were staring at us the whole time.

Silvina had to go to work so we started leaving the hotel but Kayla and I were stopped on the way out and were asked a special question by Mickey!

To which our obvious reply was, “YES!” Sorry Minnie #sorrynotsorry

Anyways, we walked to the parking lot and said our sorrowful good byes to Silvina with lots of hugs. Katie, Christine, Kayla, and I had one more thing on our list though. Kayla had told us about this store that sold cheap, legit Disney merchandise, although not owned by Disney. To which we shouted, “LET’S GO!” We drove to the store which was about 10 minutes away, but it had unfortunately closed 😦 I would have loved to spend even more time with my girls, but my last flight was taking off in an hour so I said my good byes to Katie and Christine and Kayla and I headed back to the airport.

Even though this trip was 9 1/2 hours long, it was way too short. The only thing keeping me smile while waiting for this program to start is knowing that I’ll have some pretty amazing friends and roomies to share it with in just a few short months. I can’t wait to share my experiences, adventures, good times and hard times with these awesome girls! Hopefully I’ll be able to see them again this summer if we can make it work with Kayla coming down from her home in Nor Cal, but if not, atleast we had this incredible day!

My view from the plane on my way back home

My Phone Interview

Right after applying to the Disney College Program, on February 9th, I got a ‘Thank You for Applying’ email. I was thrilled and was awaiting to receive an invitation for a Phone Interview (PI) soon after that. Normally after the ‘Thank you’ email, Disney invites you to complete a Web Based Interview (WBI) first, but since I passed mine last Fall I was not asked to do it again because it is only required once a year. (A WBI is pretty much a timed quiz that asks you as series of personality and work related questions to see if you’d be a good fit for Disney.) I went ahead and scheduled my PI for February 19th, 10 days later! Ah!:( I was hopping to take it sooner then that, but there were only 2 dates available at the time. I scheduled it for the evening so I would be able to take it when I got home from work, but luckily I was fortunate enough to have that day off being that work was so slow.

The good thing about having 10 days before your interview is having time to prepare and practice! I had already rehearsed and rehearsed so much last time that I had pretty much still remembered all my answers to the questions. This was actually a blessing because now that I knew what I wanted to say, I could focus on coming off as genuine and more myself. I didn’t really practice the first couple of days because I knew that if I did, I’d be a nerves wreck. When my interview was inching closer and closer, I went back to my Word Document where I had typed up all my Q&A’s from last time and read over them. I found that some of my answers didn’t really flow off the tongue or maybe weren’t quite what Disney was looking for. I decided to copy and paste the questions and answer them again so I could make this interview newer, fresher, more personal- especially since I had worked 5 months at a new job since my last interview.

Last time I had focused so much of my time on the ‘maybe’ Q&A’s but this time I decided to focus my preparation on the definite questions I knew they were going to ask. As you can assume, “Why do you want to do the Disney College Program” was the question I had spend the most time on. This might sound easy to most people but, “because I love the company” or “because I love going to Disneyland,” are definitely not the answers they are looking for. Millions of people love the company and visiting the parks, needless to say, you need a much more thorough, thought out answer. Something that really shows your dedication and passion. Something you can get your finger prints all over and really make it your own.

After editing and revising my answer numerous times, I had finally come to decision on how I wanted to portray to my interviewer why I wanted to do the Disney College Program and why it was so important to me. I practiced what I wanted to say pretty much at every free opportunity. Last Fall my mom and brother had helped me with some ‘mock interviews’ which is pretty much just pretending like you’re really interviewing on the phone. That helped me out a lot, but I didn’t want to ‘rehearse’ this time so we just casually went over my answers in person to make sure they sounded good.

The time had come. All of my months of research, practicing, and praying had led up to this. It was a Wednesday and I had school that afternoon. Thankfully I knew I didn’t need the class anymore since I was changing my major, so my excitement and anticipation wasn’t really disturbing me from my class work. (You might be wondering why I hadn’t dropped the class yet if I didn’t need it. Well, you need to be enrolled in a college class to apply to the DCP, so I remained in the class so I could be sure that that wasn’t hindering me from getting accepted.) Once class was over I rushed home and spent the day practicing for my interview.

It was that time. Disney tells you that your interviewer can call anywhere between 15 minutes before or 15 minutes after your scheduled time. This being extremely important and all, I had everything ready for me to start my interview right at 7pm (15 mins before my scheduled time). I literally had everything you could think of there: my cheat-sheet, my positive note card reminders, my questions, a pencil, water, kleenex, chapstick. Yeah- I was serious. I sat there relaxing so I wouldn’t be nervous when the phone rang and calmly glazed over my notes one last time. I wanted this interview to be totally different then my last two. From 7-7:16 I sat there smiling to get my excited and pumped up about the company and the interview.

My home phone rang! My interviewers name was Nina. She seemed kind of bored and drained from the day. No magic in her voice. Sure she was nice, but I was kind of nervous on this interview going south because what if she didn’t laugh at my jokes? What if we didn’t connect? What if she strictly asks the questions without a nice, bubbly conversation? Yes, all these questions were going through my mind in a matter of seconds. Thankfully when I said ‘Aw, Nina, that’s cute!” she gave a slight giggle. Victory! I kind of felt like I broke through. It was all smooth sailing from there. I mean, how would you feel if you had a hundred interviews in one day… on the phone. Yeah, I don’t blame her.

From my last two interviews I thought I knew the format and order it kind of goes in. Nope. Because pretty much right away she asked me why I wanted to do the DCP. It through me off guard. Wasn’t she suppose to go over my roles of interest first? It must have been because I was open to ANYTHING. Anyways, I only had a second to get myself together. “…Because… *clears throat*…I really want to do the Disney College Program because…” I had to show my confidence. NAILED IT! I got that answer out of the way and it was all down hill from there (in a good way). Nina continued to ask me questions that I had prepared for and I didn’t even get any difficult ones- HAZAH! It was seriously so relaxing and fun compared to my last two. I remained smiling the whole time (something that is a necessity since they can hear it in your voice) and maintained calm, cool, and collected.

Our interview was ending and it was just about 25 minutes long. She asked if I had any questions and I asked her the 3 that I had prepared. My last one was regarding her personal experience with the company and how she got started with Disney. She started to tell me about her first affiliations with Disney and then… silence. Yep, my phone died. I started freaking out! I ran to the living room phone to see if the line was still connected but it was too late. The call had been dropped, there was nothing I could do. It took me a second to realize- there’s still a chance! I had forgotten about my cell phone and how I silenced it. I ran back to my room and flipped it over- it was ringing! I picked up and started apologizing explaining how my phone had died. She was nice about it and said it was fine, she explained how the interview was technically over but wanted to know if I had anymore questions. I told her I didn’t but unfortunately didn’t get to hear the ending to her story. She finished it up and we got a few good laughs in!:) I thanked her for her time and that was it!

Everything was in Disney’s hands now. I did all I could do and that would have to be good enough. The only thing else I could give is my soul (which I learned from the Little Mermaid is NOT a good trade lol). My heart was already poured into the company and I think that showed during my interview. If I didn’t get in this time, I honestly don’t know what I would have to do the next time. From the wise words of Walt himself, “Why worry? If you’ve done the very best you can, worrying won’t make it any better.” So then I just had to wait.

Here are the emails I received:)

DCP Bucket List!

While I’m Disneyland Cast Member I’d love to accomplish these items and as I do, I’ll be crossing them off my list:)

-Take a picture every single day for 139 days
-Go into Club 33 (the bathroom!)
-Eat at Ariel’s Grotto
-Witness a marriage proposal (in the esplanade)
-See a couple taking wedding pictures in Disneyland
-Witness a Disney Fairy Tale Wedding
 -Attend Dapper Day
-Pull an all nighter
-Work Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
-Work on Halloween
-Work on Thanksgiving
-Work on Christmas (with my friends!)
-Spend Christmas with my family in the park (DCA)
-Count down to New Years in Disneyland (worked New Orleans with my BFFs)
-Leave Disneyland at some ungoldly hour (3am!)
-Work in the rain
-Visit Disneyland in the rain
-Make magic for someone when I’m a guest (offered the very front of the monorail seats to a birthday boy)
-Audition for something (character look-a-like)
-Get a silhouette done
-Take an amazing picture in front of the castle
-Take like a million selfies in front of the castle (with Sarena)
-Take a picture with every Mickey (except Steam Boat Willie’s costume was in the wash)
-Take a selfie on a guests phone when they ask me to take a picture for them
-Meet Frozen characters
-Meet Big Hero 6 characters
-Meet a celebrity and get a picture with them (Drake Belle)
-Explore Pirate Island
-Explore all of Toon Town
-Have a character and a character attendant fight over me (Goofy haha)
-Watch every parade
-Get a “4 keys” card (I got 4!)
-Go to an Angels Game with my roommates
-Listen to Meg Croften speak
-Get a walk through tour of Indiana Jones
-Tour Walt Disney’s apartment
-Tour the Dream Suit
-Tour the Disneyland tunnel
-Ride Space mountain with the lights on
-Ride in the very front seat of Space Mountain
-Ride in the very back seat of Space Mountain
-Get stuck on a ride and see it with the lights on (Space Mountain)
-Tour the Tower of Terror (and ride it with not lights or sound)
-Tour Soarin’ over California
-Get a (private) tour of the Haunted Mansion (with my 2 best friends)
-Take a trip to the beach (Huntington)
-Watch the Fireworks in front of the castle (best spot)
-Watch Fantasmic beginning to end (for the first time believe it or not)
-Visit Griffith Park (where Walt got his idea for Disneyland)
-Tour the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank
-Hold one of Walt’s Oscars 
-Cook a meal with my friends (breakfast for dinner)
-Do something really spontaneous (take a trip to the beach to star gaze at midnight)
-Have an awesome game night
-Go to the Mad Tea party
-Go to the House of Blues
-Be one of the first guest in Disneyland (be at the park for the “rope drop”)
-Be the last guest in Disneyland
-Be the last guest on a ride (Pirates)
-Dance around Rapunzel’s tower after the park closes
-See one of the Disneyland cats
-Ride Jingles on the Carousel
-Make a wish in Snow White’s wishing well
-Pilot the Mark Twain
-Ride a Horse drawn trolley
-Ride a double deaker bus
-Ride in the tender car of the train (with Jessica!)
-Ride in the caboose of the train
-Ride in the very front of the monorail
-Ride the red trolley in DCA
-See all the shows in DCA
-See all the shows in Disneyland (Didn’t get to sit down and watch Tangled)
-Be the first guest in DCA
-Be the last guest in DCA
-Go to Disneyland with my best friend, Mariam for her first time!
-Ride every. single. ride. (SO CLOSE!)
-Get a guest compliant (yes, but it wasn’t recorded/I never received it)
-Watch Fantasmic, the Fireworks, and World of Color all in one night
-Be the Rebel Spy on Star Tours
-Take a picture with every character
-Fill up my white canvas shoes with Character’s autographs (only got Mickey and Hiro)
-Ride all of the mountain rides all in one day
-Ride in the red fire truck
-Ride a ride multiple times without getting off
-Randomly gift fast passes to people
-Get a pressed penny from each land (only a couple)
-Eat at the Blue Bayou
-Eat at Carthay Circle
-Eat at Goofy’s Kitchen
-Get a drink at Trader Sam’s
-Get a drink at the Cove Bar (but I ate there)

I got so many things done in my DCP… wish I could have done more, but hey, I only had 139 days! haha