All About DORMS

Hello friends!

I have exciting news! Today, my roommates and I all received our housing email to pre-register with DORMS! We weren't expecting it for a few more days, so it really threw us for a loop! One of our roommates is actually currently in Israel, so we were worried we wouldn't be able to get in touch with her, but all is well! Basically, one of our roommates sent out the message "HOUSING EMAIL" and we all started freaking out at once.

I tweeted this and it basically sums up how we were all feeling at the time. 

We officially got through the process (though with some minor kinks and meltdowns) and now we are all pre-registered and ready for check-in on January 13th!!!

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For those of you who are interested, I'll talk about the DORMS experience.  Keep in mind that it's still relatively new!

DORMS stands for Disney Onsite Resident Management System.  Basically, it's a new online system where College Program participants can log on and request roommates, housing preferences, etc.  Not too long ago, in order to get the apartment you wanted, you had to get in the check-in line MAJORLY early (I'm talking CRAZY early - people I know got their around 2 a.m.) and you had to be with all of the people you wanted to live in. Essentially, Disney realized that this was an insane process and created DORMS!  With DORMS, you can now indicate preference for apartment complex, unit size, and roommates!

To start off the process, I got an email that looked like this:

This email tells you your user name to log in to DORMS, as well as your roommate #, which you'll need to give to whatever roommate is inputting everyones information so you can all be linked! Something important to note is that while you might be eager to log-in, wait until all your roommates can be communicating at one time, because only one of you can log-in first, otherwise you might not be able to choose each other.  That sounds kind of confusing, so here's the excerpt from the actual email:

If you are choosing to select roommates, please select one person in your group to login and register for housing first. This person will need to know each person(s) roommate # (yours is listed above) as well as the complex and unit size preferences.

Please note that if multiple persons wishing to link to each other log in at the same time you may not be eligible to link with each other once you progress to the roommate matching page. The leader must complete registration prior to any other potential links logging in.  Once the leader has established the links, all other links in the match may proceed with pre-registration.

 In the mean time, in order to log in to DORMS, you'll need a password! You'll get a second email from Disney that looks something like this:

The "temporary access" is your password.  I had a bit of trouble at this part, oddly enough.  I was not the leader of the group, so I had to wait for the email that said "You've Been Linked!" in the subject line.  From there, I was finally allowed to log in! However, I had received two different emails with two different passwords and neither were working.  Eventually, I tried so many times that I was locked out and I had a message pop up that told me I could no longer access my account.  I went into minor panic mode, but I waited a half hour and after receiving a THIRD email (geez Disney, get more organized, will ya?!) I was able to log in!

Now for the steps of DORMS! (I know this post is crazy long, and I'M SORRY)

First, you'll come to the participant profile page!

Clearly this is really basic.  The only thing I have no clue about is what happens when you check "yes" next to "bringing a vehicle?" because I don't have a car to bring! So you fill out all this information, and move on to ROOMMATE PREFERENCES!!

This is the fun part! You only need to fill this out if you are the designated "leader" of your roommate group.  Basically everyone you want to room with gives you their roommate number, and you fill them all in! For each arrival date, there might be a different number of slots you can fill with roommates.  For example, for our arrival date we could only pick up to 5 other roommates (which is good, because we wanted a 6-man apartment!) You also have the option here to tell Disney to choose your roommates for you! If you aren't the designated leader, then you'll be able to skip this step! (Instead, you'll get that "You've Been Linked!" email I mentioned before. Otherwise the process is the same).

If you're the group leader who filled out everyone's roommate #s, you'll then move on to housing preferences!!

Here, you get to rank your preferences for apartment complex and for apartment unit size (aka number of people in your apartment, i.e. a 3 bedroom = 6 person apartment). Again, if you aren't the group leader, you'll be able to bypass this step!

Next come more forms.  Disney loves forms.  The forms you'll be dealing with are the Community Codes Form, the Payroll Form, and the Alcohol Policy Form.  The screen at this point will look something like this:

All you have to do on these is check a box saying you agree and put in your birth date! Super easy!
After that, you review all your info, and SUBMIT! Hurray! You've successfully completed the DORMS process and are now officially registered for Disney housing! Upon completion, you'll receive your onboarding pass for check-in day!  That will look something like this:

YOU NEED TO BRING THIS, AS WELL AS THE OTHER FORMS WITH YOU ON THE DAY OF YOUR CHECK-IN.  If you don't have access to a printer right away, click on the printer symbol (the one in the bottom right hand corner) and there'll be an option to view as a PDF, from where you can save all the documents together! The forms will also be sent to you via email, but I think saving them is smart, just in case.


So that is basically the whole DORMS process! I know this was really long, but I wanted to be as informative as possible, since this is still new! Overall, I think this process is a lot smoother than the way check-in and housing used to be, but clearly there are still some kinks.  My biggest tips for completing DORMS are:

1. Make sure you and all your roommates can sit down and either text/Facebook message/ do SOMETHING that will allow you all to go through the process at the same time.
2. Choose ONE person to log-in. DON'T ALL LOG IN AT ONCE. This is why you should all be talking while you do it.
3. Make sure you've discussed with your roommates your apartment preferences beforehand!
4. If for some reason you're having trouble logging in, DON'T FREAK OUT.  I couldn't log in and I thought for sure I had done something wrong and that all was lost, which was clearly an overreaction.  Just wait a half hour or so before trying again.  Like I said, Disney is still working things out on their end, too.

If you want any more information about DORMS, you can check out Disney's blog post about it here. And that's it! I hope this helps any of you who are going through this process right now! Best of luck to all of you!! We're almost in Disney!

xo Sarah

Restaurant Reviews - Plan for my Disney College Program

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to write a quick update about an idea I had for my Spring program! Since I love food and I want to try as many of the restaurants on property as I can (both quick service and full service), I thought I'd do a restaurant-review series! Every time I eat somewhere, I'll do a quick post reviewing the atmosphere, quality of service, and quality of food! It'll be something fun for me to do beyond general DCP posts!
You'll be able to find these posts under the tab "Restaurant Reviews"!


While I'm at it, if you have any suggestions of restaurants I should eat at, please let me know! :)

ONE MORE MONTH!!

Hello friends!

If you can believe it, I have less than a month until I pack up my life and move myself down to Florida!

It's crazy to me just how fast the time has flown by since I applied for the program (and even since before apps!).  It still feels like I was just counting down the months until applications were released!
However, the time has come! There are 25 days until my check-in date (January 13th!) and only 23 days until I leave for Florida with my boyfriend!

I'm officially moving out of my dorm in Boston today (sad face) but I'm extremely excited about the journey ahead!  The next few weeks are going to be spent with family and friends, and before I know it, the day will be here!  I'm still somewhat in disbelief that I actually get to live out my biggest dream of working in Walt Disney World, and honestly, it's probably not going to start sinking in until I start packing (late, probably).

I can't wait to share all of my experience with you all!
Have a magical day everyone!!

So I've Been Accepted...!

Hey friends!  As you probably all saw in my first post, I'VE BEEN ACCEPTED!! WAHOOO!!  I'm very excited because everything is super official now! I've paid my program fees and I will officially be starting my program on January 13th! Yay! I'm SOOO excited to finally get down there, and right now everything is still surreal to me.  I've already got a few girls I'm rooming with, so I cannot wait to move down to Florida!

Keeping this post short because of the intensity of my last one, but thanks for sticking around guys!

The Application Process

A lot of you might be wondering, how does one go about applying for the Disney College Program? Well, I'll tell you!

The application process starts by filling out an online application.  If you follow Disney College Program on Facebook, they'll post a link the day it comes out.  It can also be found right on their website here.  If applications for the program are open, when you click on "apply now" it will take you right to the application!  This application will ask you to fill out your basic information, work and education history, program preference (spring or spring advantage/fall or fall advantage), and role preferences.

When it comes to role preferences, take your time thinking about each role! It might be something you should do before hand, so you have an idea of which roles you're interested in.  You'll be asked to rate each one with 'high interest,' 'moderate interest,' 'low interest,' or 'no interest.'  BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF.  If there's a role you really don't want or cannot see yourself doing, mark it as no interest! I marked a good 5 or 6 roles as no interest simply because I knew I wouldn't enjoy doing them.  Other than that, I marked 4 roles with 'high interest,' about 5 with 'low interest' and the rest with moderate.  I made sure that my high interest roles were the ones I would want the most!! For these, I choose Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique/Pirate's League Hostess, Character Attendant, PhotoPass Photographer and Attractions!

After you complete the online application, you'll get an email that looks similar to this:

Once you receive this email, it's time to wait for your WBI! This year, Disney decided not everyone would receive their WBIs immediately after completing the application, and some people might not even get one at all.  I was lucky enough to receive one not too long after I applied.  That email looked like this:

My advice is to NOT OPEN THE LINK RIGHT AWAY.  I cannot stress this enough.  I waited a good 10 minutes to open mine because I was too excited and nervous to be able to focus.  The key to the WBI is focus and relaxation, so if you're jittery, wait a little while and find a nice, quiet and relaxing place to take it.  You'll want to devote a good 45 minutes to taking the WBI, because it is a little long.  People are often afraid of it because the questions are timed, but honestly, most of the questions are common sense!  They ask you questions about your work habits and your personality, and how other people perceive you; it's very similar to other job applications.  People say to not answer neutral and always answer strongly, but I had a few neutrals, which was clearly ok!  Because the questions are timed, one thing I advise is to read each question aloud.  It really helped me grasp what it was asking.

At the end of the WBI, it immediately tells you right on the same screen whether or not you passed.  If you didn't pass, it's the end of your Disney journey for now, but if you did pass, CONGRATS!  You will shortly get an email that looks similar to the one below, inviting you to schedule your phone interview!

When you click on the link, it will take you to a page with lots of dates and times, and you can choose the one that works best for you!  Don't feel that you need to rush into taking your phone interview; if a time the week after is best for you, then take it!  You'll have more time to prep the longer you wait!  Make sure you block out at least an hour for your interview, I opted to block out two hours, just so I could relax before it.  When you have selected your time, you'll get a confirmation email that looks like this:

The next step is your phone interview! I promise you, it's not too difficult, especially if you research some potential questions ahead of time.  The lists that I compiled can be found here.   The interviewers are all really sweet, and make you feel really comfortable, so don't worry! They'll ask questions about your top roles, your application, and other important things.  More detailed information about my interview can be found here.  When you finish your phone interview, you'll get an email (sometime later) that looks like this:

Now comes the waiting game! Generally, within 2 to 3 weeks, you'll receive notice of whether or not you are accepted, pending (Disney needs more time to decide) or NLIC (no longer in consideration).  I received my acceptance email in just under two weeks!

My general timeline for the whole application process looked like this:

• Sep. 5th, 10:30 a.m. - Began the online application.
• Sep. 5th, 11:00 a.m. - Finished the application.
• Sep. 5th, 11:54 a.m. - Received my "thank you for applying" email.
• Sep. 5th, 1:28 p.m. - Received my email asking me to complete the WBI.
• Sep. 5th, 2:25 p.m. - Completed and passed the WBI.
• Sep. 5th, 2:37 p.m. - Received an email inviting me to schedule my phone interview.
• Sep. 5th, 2:49 p.m. - Received an email confirming my phone interview time.
• Sep. 8th, 3:21 p.m. - Started my phone interview! (It was scheduled to start at 3:15, but sometimes they call early or late)
• Sep. 8th, 3:43 p.m. - Ended my phone interview after 22 minutes.
• Sep. 8th, 10:02 p.m. - Received my "thank you for interviewing" email.
• Sep. 20th, 10:41 a.m. - Received my "congratulations!" email.

Just a reminder, that NOT EVERYONES TIMELINE WILL LOOK THE SAME.  This is just a sample so you have an idea of the process!

Now you all know my journey to get accepted, and hopefully it will help those of you who are looking to apply! See ya real soon, folks!

The Start to A Magical Journey

Hello everyone!

If you've found your way to this blog, welcome!  My name is Sarah, and I'm a 20 year old junior at Boston University studying Early Childhood Education.  Disney has always had a very special place in my heart, and I've wanted to work there as long as I can remember.  As of Friday, September 20th, I have officially been accepted to the Walt Disney World College Program, and will finally be able to live my dream of being a cast member!  I've been accepted for Spring of 2014, I'll be there from January 13th to May 16th, and I'll be working as a Fairy Godmother In-Training at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique!

I've created this blog in order to keep up with my friends and family back home, so they can hear about all that I'm doing in Disney, as a ways for future program participants to get some information and as a way for me to document my time there!  For the next few months, I'll be posting mainly about my application process, and just about my excitement for January!  I will be moving to Florida sometime at the beginning of January (date TBD) and I could not be more excited!!

I hope you all choose to stay with me on my journey, and I can't wait to share all the magic with you!