Anything Can Happen If You Let It

I mentioned in my first post that I had known that if I got the job at Disney I wanted to write a blog about it. I was always thinking about what I wanted to call it but when I was driving to Winnipeg to visit Hannah I decided on "Anything Can Happen If You Let It." I had an 8 hour drive and lots of time to think (which of course meant thinking of Disney) and listen to music. About halfway to Winnipeg I was listening to Mary Poppins the Musical. Near the end of the cd is the song "Anything Can Happen." I have always loved this song and I felt that it is perfect, since working at Disney has always been my dream and I have never given up on it. My favourite lines are
"If you reach for the stars
All you get are the stars
But we've found a whole new spin
If you reach for the heavens
You get the stars thrown in"

I think Walt Disney would love those lines and the message to the entire song.

Here is the song on youtube. There is some dialogue in the middle but the song continues at 7:30. Or for just the song, this one is the original London Cast and follws closer to the lyrics.

Yay me!!!

I GOT THE JOB!!!!

I have a snow day today so I will catch up to the best day ever!!!

I was told after the interview that I would hear something in 2 to 3 weeks which meant November 11 was the two week mark. I had nearly a week off before starting placement so I decided to drive to Winnipeg to visit Hannah, James and their adorable baby Liam. Since I would be driving and out of phone range on the 11th I e-mailed Kristen to tell her that I would be out of town for a few days and gave her my cell phone number if she needed to call me. I told her I would be driving on the 11th but would get any messages. Since I had told her that, I was really nervous when I was about halfway to Winnipeg and my phone beeped at me saying that I had a new message. I didn't know I had any service but I checked my machine and was really disappointed when it was someone else calling me. I got to Winnipeg a few hours later and had no new messages on my phone. A little while later I checked my e-mail, which was terrifying! I didn't have any new e-mails so I went onto the wdwip website to see if other people had heard anything. My stomach dropped when I read about other people having gotten called that day, but I kept my hopes up because there were some people who had gotten an e-mail saying they were waitlisted or had a full out no. I figured that Kristen wouldn't have waited to send a bad e-mail, but I was still nervous.

The next day Hannah and I spent the morning catching up and then went out after lunch. I was so nervous I had my phone on me at all times. When we went out I was paranoid I wouldn't hear if it rang so I had it to ring loud and vibrate and put it in my pocket. We went to Costco (which I wish Thunder Bay had) and then we went to the Great Canadian Superstore to get groceries for dinner. The Superstore in Winnipeg is fancy and has an underground parking lot. We were getting Liam into his stroller when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. At first I was confused what it was, since I never have my phone in my pocket, but I quickly came to my senses and answered it. It was Kristen!!!! She said that she was offering me a position in merchandise from July 28, 2009 to July 23, 2010. While she was telling me this I was dancing around in circles and trying not to cry. She asked if I wanted to accept her offer, which of course I said yes to, then asked if I had a few minutes so she could give me some details. I said yes and started digging through my purse to find the pen and paper I had made sure I had before leaving the house. Luckily, Hannah was level headed and got some for me and suggested I sit in the car since we were still in the parking garage and it was really loud. So I did that and Kristen told me all of the details. She said that she would be sending out information the next week going over everything. She then asked if I had any questions. Since I had my heart set on attractions I asked if people are ever switched between jobs. She said not usually but I was ok with that because I really didn't want food and beverage and merchandise is still really good.

Right after I got off the phone with Kristen I got out of the car and gave Hannah a huge hug. Then we started into the store. While walking into the store I called home. Nana picked up the phone and as soon as she said hello I burst into tears. All I could say was "I got the job" I really don't know how she understood me and I wonder what people around me must have thought. Mum was home but her hands were dirty from cooking so she said she'd call me back in a few minutes. We were then in the store and moved to the side where there weren't any people and I pulled myself together. A few minutes later Mum called me back and I told her. I didn't end up crying again, but it must have seemed weird to other people because I had Liam and was just in one place while Hannah went and got everything. We then went home and after dinner I called a few other people to tell them and posted it on facebook. I have never gotten so many messages in such a short time! I felt so popular. Since I was no longer so nervous about getting the call I relaxed and had a really good time with Hannah and James.

On November 25th, almost two weeks after I heard from Kristen, I got my package in the mail. It was really exciting because it made the job real! It is really pretty and has lots of information in it. My favourite part is that it was sealed with a Mickey Mouse sticker!!! I am so excited for this and can't believe that I have to wait almost 7 months until I start! Especially since I applied for the job on July 9, 2008 and will start July 28, 2009.Over a year!! That is crazy. One thing that I don't like about my start date is that every year at Christmas Disney has a Candelight Processional with a celebrity narrating and cast members singing. I really want to do it, but the sign up is usually the end of July. I am worried that I

will just miss it. But that is one tiny thing that I can deal with, because I can still go and see it and any other Disney show whenever I want!!!

Face to Face Interview

Ok, so I will continue. On September 28 I got an e-mail from Yummy Jobs saying that the interview would be on Tuesday October 28 in Toronto or Thursday October 30 in Montreal and to e-mail them my preference. Of course I said Toronto and booked my flight the next day. I was really happy for that day, because if it was Monday I don't know if I could have missed class and I had tickets to see Hairspray on the Wednesday (which I would have missed, but didn't want to). So after lots of waiting and looking up what I should have prepared for my interview I flew home on October 27. It was a really long day because I had to sit in class and then get to the airport right after school. I was so nervous and couldn't focus all day. It was nice to be home for a couple of days, especially since Mum cooked manicotti and gnocci for dinner. I tried to go to bed early but it was really hard since I was so nervous.

The next morning I got up really early. The interview started at 9, though I wanted to be there early. Since it was on the other side of Toronto we left the house just after 7. It would have taken forever if I had taken the train and subway, I really don't know why the interviews weren't right downtown Toronto. We got to the hotel around 8:30 and after Mum left I went and talked with some other people who were waiting. A bunch of people had gone out for dinner the night before and I wish that I could have gone. I think it would have made the day less stressful. At 8:50 we all went to wait outside the doors to the room we would be going in.

At 9 they let us into the room where we had to fill out an application form. Roger (the main guy from Disney) put on some music and I was very happy that it was Mary Poppins. Though it was a little weird hearing the movie versions of songs when I am so used to the musical. After everyone was done he started his presentation. He just talked about the program, positions, wages, all of that kind of stuff. During it he showed clips of a video with a girl named Valerie who shows different parts of the program; mainly the housing and different pavilions. I had already watched the video on the internet but it is kind of funny to watch. At some point during his presentation Roger asked a few trivia questions: when WDW opened (1971), how many water parks there are (2) and how many pavilions there are (11). I knew all of them but I wasn't picked :( After Roger was all done Kristen from Yummy Jobs gave us the times for our actual interviews. Mine was at 3:40! Considering Roger was done around 10:30-11 I had a lot of time to wait.

Waiting wasn't too bad, there were lots of people so we sat and talked for awhile. It was also good because then we could talk to people who had already done their interview. We all went to the pub that was in the hotel for lunch and then sat around some more. Since they told us to go back around half an hour before I went in at 3:20, which is when the nerves really kicked in! Hannah (an english girl from Yummy Jobs) checked over my paper work to see that I had everything that was needed and then I waited a little more. It was neat to chat with Hannah for a little bit, ask her where she is from and how she enjoyed the program (because she did it). Then had to wait a little bit longer.

Finally it was my turn to go meet Jennifer who actually works in Epcot. The interview was done in pairs so I found it a little calming to have someone else there. Also because it was kind of like having a conversation where Jennifer wanted to find out a little more about us. She asked why we want to work in Disney World, and why in the position I chose. Obviously I said how much I love Disney and have been so many times and seen what cast members can do. Also how I have wanted to make that difference on people. Then she asked how we felt living with people from all over the world. I told her how I have had an amazing experience (Markus!!) as well as a bad one. I then said how I don't expect things do be perfect and that I am the type of person to try to ignore the problem so that things don't get worse. She asked what we would tell people about where we are from. I mentioned how Oakville is central to so many different things, from the city of Toronto (with everything fun that it has) to how close it is to get to nature like the Niagara Escarpment. I can't remember if there was anything else she asked, but it was very short and I was so happy it was over.

Mum was already back at the hotel when I was done and we went home. David had gotten home just before us so I had him show me his motorcycle. Then being the dork I am, I had him get his camera and take a picture of me on it:

I had a nice relaxing evening at home and then flew back to Thunder Bay the next morning.

I will write more soon.

Jumping on the Blog Bandwagon

I have been thinking about starting a blog of awhile, but I didn't want to count my chickens before they hatched. Last week I got the most amazing phone call of my life offering me a position to work at Walt Disney World and I can now start this. I am going to recap the whole application process because I know when I was applying I was reading blogs like crazy trying to get as much information as possible (and also as a way to procrastinate).

I have wanted for years to work at Disney, and tried a couple of times for the summer college program. But when I e-mailed asking for information about it I was told that Canada didn't participate in the program any more (not true!). Then when I went to apply again it was already too late. So I knew that I had to apply really far in advance for the cultural representative program (I'll explain it more in another blog). I sent Yummy Jobs an e-mail on July 7 asking them it would be best to apply. I got their response and officially applied the next day. On July 25 I got an e-mail saying that I would be getting a phone call for a phone interview sometime in the next three weeks. I looked everywhere on the internet for things that they may ask and I made a cheat sheet (actually 2 sheets of paper) and kept it near the phone to have near me when they called me. On August 6 there was a message from Kristen at Yummy Jobs. I immediately got butterflies and called her back, only to leave her a message! She called me back a few minutes later for my phone interview.

I can't remember a whole lot of my interview. It was over in 5 minutes. I'm pretty sure she asked if I had any tattoo's or piercings, how I'd feel about room mates, maybe something else. Then she asked what I would tell people about Canada's traditions. I won't go into my answer because I thought I bombed it and as soon as our conversation was over I could think of tons of different things I could have said. That is really the only part of the phone call that I can remember, just because I was so upset with my answer and I figured that I wasn't going to hear from them.

Luckily! On August 27 I got an e-mail saying that I was invited to attend the face-to-face interviews sometime late October. I cried when I read the e-mail, I was so excited and surprised.

I will do a post about the face-to-face another time since that is pretty fresh in my mind.