You must not forget: it all started with a mouse...

I wanted this blog to be a resource guide for any future new college programmers and I haven’t been doing too well. This is the post where I try to explain a bunch of things to quench the nerves of new CPs.

For those of you from the North East who want their cars, I highly recommend taking the autotrain. It wasn’t the most comfortable sleep you’ll ever get, but I met a bunch of CPers on the train. We stayed up till midnight playing card games and then found empty seats by each other to sleep in. We all woke up, went to breakfast, and then waited for our cars together. I was the only one there by myself so of course everyone got their cars before me. LoL.
If you take the autotrain, it’s a really easy drive to Orlando. I believe it was a left out of the parking lot at the stop sign, then another left at one point. I took I-4 to Exit 68. From there I made a U-Turn in the Crossroads (you will be there A LOT) to get to the other side of 545 to get to the Holiday Inn Sunspree – where I stayed. I highly recommend staying there because you are across the street from Vista and right down the road from Chatham (ish…you’ll see when you get here…)

First day – The first day is really easy. You get to check-in (which I recommend getting in about two hours earlier). There was a DJ there playing music and asking trivia questions (FOR PRIZES! We got a purple Disney CP photo album!). You wait on line and then sign away your soul. Hahaha. We asked for two groups of roommates to stay together and they actually let us – you just need to let them know as soon as you get there. You then go, get your key, and take your picture for your Vista/Chatham/Patterson, etc. housing ID. You’ll get a bunch of papers and it will be overwhelming, but it’ll be amazing. – The rest of the day you get to move in. You’ll have a housing meeting at some point – and then everyone runs to Wal-Mart. WOO!
Second day – It’s the day you’ve all been waiting for! You get to find out your role! They split everyone according to your last name and then when you go to the table, they hype you up about what area you will be working in (Park and then what area of the park you will be in). You still don’t know your specific job.
You go through all the paper work and fingerprint stuff to get cleared to work (and you get the 6 free passes for friends/family) – and then you can sign up for classes. That’s it! We ran to the Outlets to get stuff for the Disney look. You have the rest of the day free, so use it wisely! At night we had the pool party. If it’s themed, dress up! You’ll get lots of prizes! We got t-shirts and the coveted Disney CP beach towels.
Third day – Traditioooooooooooon! Tradition! Hahaha. Yep. All rumors about Traditions being a four – or little more – hour class are true. It’s four hours of Disney trivia and workplace ethics. We had Jessica as our Traditions leader, and she rocked my socks. At Traditions you get your NAME TAG and your cast member ID – aka card that gets you in the parks for FREE! (P.S. To get there everyone gets on the A bus to Disney University. I also recommend getting there at least twenty minutes before your bus is scheduled to leave to get a spot on the first bus).
Usually everyone then rushes to a park. We came home after traditions to have dinner and then we ran to the Magic Kingdom. We had a BLAST! A bunch of other CPers were there, and we all screamed as we walked in. J It was wonderful. We stayed through Spectromagic and then headed out.
Fourth Day – The fourth day, today, is up in the air depending on what role you have. For merchandise, we have our merchentainment class today (or at least I do). I have my class as 1:30 PM at the Disney University (which is where Traditions was held – which is ALSO where one Company D store is!). After class I’m dressing up for the Disney Pirate and Princess Party! AHHHHHH! So excited!
So that’s my brief update on the first few days of the Disney College Program. If you have any questions, feel free to post them! J Talk to you soon!