Disney CEP Update.... - Disney December

It has been a crazy couple of months - 6 months since I first filled out the application form to apply for the Disney Cultural Exchange Program - but I have finally heard back from Disney and Yummy Jobs about a desicion....

I am very excited to announce that I have been hired by Disney to work there in the Summer 2020 season! I will be working in the costume department, so I will be dressing the characters and fellow cast members, as well as cleaning and repairing costume!

Costume was my top role, so I am very pleased that I was given this and that I will have a chance to work backstage at Disney. Already the interview process has allowed me to meet so mayn fantastic people, and I am very excited to meet more new people and to share this process with all of my readers!

This does mean that June - August could be very quiet on my blog next year, I will try as much as possible to keep posting updates, but you will be better off following my Instagram account to see what I am up to! I do try to work ahead as much as possible with my blog so I will definitely try to write all my June - August posts in advance so that you will not miss out on anything!

Disney CEP Roles - Disney December

As you may know by now, I have applied to be a part of the Disney Cultural Exchange Program for Summer 2020 (for those of you unfamiliar with that, it is basically the UK version of the Disney College Program!).  I have attended two interviews for this job and answered many emails, but one of the most common questions I have received is what role am I applying for. Being perfectly honest, I was very open to any role, I just wanted to be able to work the next summer in a place I love! But before I applied, I had no idea what roles were on offer. So if you are looking to apply for the Disney CEP or if you are curious about what they have on offer, look no further! Here is a break down of each role! Please be aware that this information is all my own research and from what Yummy Jobs advised us at our Pre-Screen Interview.

LifeGuard

Lifeguarding at Walt Disney World means you get the Disney Experience whilst spending your time around the pool! This is such a good way to stay fit, as you are constantly walking, standing and swimming. You do not need to worry about previous experience, you will receive all of your training on your first week! Although do be aware that if you do not pass the lifeguard test you will be put into another role on the program!

In this role, you are most likely to be put into a WDW resort - such as the Polynesian or the Art of Animation.

This role involves:

• Monitoring guest safety in the water
• Providing first aid ans basic life support in the event of a guest injury/illness
• Strong Swimming Skills 

Character Performer

Everyone's childhood dream - being a character performer! Character Performers are "friends with" specific costumed characters (although Disney do not offer "face" characters to participants on the CEP due to the time it takes to train these characters - so this means no princesses or princes!). This is a fun role that requires you to spend your days dressing up in costumes and interacting with guests. There is also an opportunity to perform in parades, shows and at character dining events!

This role isn't placement pacific, instead, it is character pacific, so unfortunately if you are 4'10'' you won't be able to play Goofy! This role can be impossible to get if you do not fit into one of the height ranges they are looking for, but here are some examples to give you an idea:

3’11”-4’6″- Ewok, Huey, Dewey and Louie

4’6”- 4’10” - Donald, Daisy and Stitch

4’8”-5’2” - Mickey, Minnie

5’2″- 5’4″- Pooh, Gus Gus, Chip and Dale

5’6″-5’8″ - Pluto, Rafiki, Flick and Buzz Lightyear

5’7″- 5’9″ - Eeyore

5’10”-6’0″ - Tigger

At 6’0″ - Goofy, Beast, Captain Hook, Genie and Jafar

If you’re keeping track your easiest way to get a character performer role is if you are under 5’4” or over 6’0” but don't be put off if you are in-between those heights! If it is something you have always wanted to do, put it as one of you're top roles! The worst thing they can say is no! Just keep in mind you will need to be able to handle the heat - you will be outside in what is essentially a onesie in the middle of summer for up to 30 minuets!

This role involves:

• Portraying specific costumed character roles
• Working in hot, confining heavy costumes with limited vision
• Communicating non-verbally to guests
• Signing autographs and posing for photographs
• Interacting with guests outdoors and in dining establishments

Merchandise

The CEP is targeted at students and young adults; many of whom have experience working at a supermarket, clothing shop, any other type of shop before they apply! This is essentially what the Merchandise role is at WDW, but with the added Disney magic!You get to create magical moments, work in some fantastic places and wear costumes that are really cute! You could find yourself working in Disney Springs, Mainstreet USA or even Disney's Character Warehouse in the Orlando Premium Outlets!

This role involves:

• Demonstrating and selling merchandise in indoor and outdoor areas
• Cash Handling - using Manual and Digital Registers
• Stocking and Clearing Shelves
• Receiving and putting away stock and deliveries
• Preparing packages for shipping

Quick Service Food and Beverage

QSFB is a face pace, high intensity role where you will meet and interact with many different guests. You will find yourself working at any Fast Food location on WDW property. If you have a love of food and customer service, then this is the role for you! 

This role involves:

• Selling food and beverages at outdoor carts and/or in restaurants
• Taking orders
• Multi-tasking
• Preparing food in a kitchen (using a fryer, grill and other industrial equipment)
• Cash Handling
• Heavy Lifting and pushing heavy carts
• Working with cleaning chemicals 

Full Service Food and Beverage / Seater

I have seen this role listed under both names on different websites and blogs, but I know it as the Seater role. This is a hosting role at any of the full service restaurants on the WDW property. You will seat people, handle cash, role napkins and set tables as well as other things. It is a high paces, fun work environment to be in! You could be working at any of the dine in restaurants - so Cinderella's Royal Table or Be our Guest!

This role involves:

• Greeting and seating guests in restaurants
• Managing a seating chart
• Cash Handling - using Manual and Digital Registers
• Rolling silverware, folding napkins and keeping area stocked

Costume

A backstage role which plays a crucial part in the cast member experience. You will be dressing the characters and making sure that everyone looks their best! Mickey Mouse alone has 290 different costumes! In this role you will be taking costumes from location to location, and will operate laundry equipment; you will also be given the opportunity to make sure all the costumes are up to standards and will get to work on your sewing skills!

This role involves:

• Issuing costumes to fellow Cast members 
• Operating computerized costume checkout system
• Working around performers in various stages of dress
• Operating various laundry equipment
• Repetitive overhead reaching, bending and heavy lifting
• Moving heavy costumes from location to location
• Working independently with little to no guest interaction

Custodial

From what I have read about this role, it is one of the most underrated positions on offer. Though there are the downs of cleaning bathrooms, toilets and streets, it is apparently one of the most amazing and fun roles on offer! You get to create water art on the hot streets, enjoy interacting with guests and work with a team of up beat people, and can be placed anywhere within the resort.

This role involves:

• High Guest Interaction while working independently
• Extensive cleaning 
• Working with cleaning chemicals and equipment
• Sweeping and Mopping 
• Emptying bins
• Vacuuming, dusting, cleaning pool decks

Recreation

There is much more to do in WDW than visiting the four parks. Also on offer are resort activities, water parks and water activities. With so much to do, this role gives you the opportunity to experience something different. 

This role involves:

• Assisting guests in areas such as water slide operations, towel rental, watercraft rental, arcades ect
• Prolonged exposure to outside weather elements
• Strong Swimming Skills
• Cash Handling - using Manual and Digital Registers
• Maintaining Safety Standards

Attractions / Operations

When people think about WDW, they think of the wonderfully nostalgic and exhilarating rides. The ability to put on a costume and guide people through the experience that is not only riding the attraction but from the moment they enter the line. Sometimes waiting in line is almost as good as experiencing the attraction itself! You could find yourself working on any of the fantastic attractions in the resort, from the Haunted Mansion to Expedition Everest.  You will be able to work right in the middle of the magic, watching guests go through the amazing attractions that Disney has to offer! Unless you are placed on "It's a Small World" ... if this happens to you I am so sorry...

This role involves:

• Working at one of WDW rides or shows
• Loading and Unloading guests from an attraction
• Memorizing and delivering narrations to guests
• Working with the FastPass system 
• Greeting all guests who enter the park 
• Strong Knowledge of WDW ticket media
• Monitoring guest flow and providing a safe guest experience
• Retrieving and arranging strollers
• Assisting with audience control - including during Parades and Fireworks

There are so many great roles on offer, you will have a fabulous time no matter where Disney Casting put you! The role Disney will give you will largely depend on what you are willing to do, but your chances of being accepted are much higher if you are willing to do anything to work for Disney. 

The most common role on the Cultural Exchange Program is Quick Service Food and Beverage, which is given to 41% of applicants. Attraction follows with 23% of applicants being given this role. Merchandise follows closely at 22%. Th remaining 14% are put into roles such as costume, character performing, seating ect.

It is best not to get your heart set on something like character performing when you are more likely to b put into a different area in the business, but it definitely doesn't hurt to let the interviewer know your preferences. 

I hope this has given you more information on the roles that are on offer! And do remember that there is no such thing as a bad role, so embrace what you are given and go out and enjoy spending your summer in the happiest place on earth! 

Favourite Merchandise - Disney December

There are so many pieces of merchandise available at the Disney parks, that so much restraint is needed to not bring home five suitcases full of goodies! Trying not to overfill my bags is always something that I am concerned about, we even had to pay a heavy baggage fee last time we visited Florida due to the amount of merchandise I came home with.

But what could the best piece of merchandise be? There are beautiful princess dresses for the children, spirit jerseys, mouse ears, even a variety of different t-shirts throughout the parks. But from all seven times that I have visited Walt Disney World there has been one piece or merchandise that I absolutely love - Loungefly Bags.

There are so many different designs scattered around the parks that it is almost impossible to decide which design to bring home with you! I know that I was stuck between three designs last time I went! The thing I love about the Loungefly bags at Disney is that they have a variety of different bags to suit people - I am such a small backpack girl so their backpacks are right up my street!

I have used my Haunted Mansion bag so much since coming home from Florida; it may look small but trust me, there are so many bits and pieces that will fit in it!

What is your favourite piece of Disney Merchandise? Let me know!

Favourite Dine-In Location - Disney December

Disney food! It is one of the icons of the Disney parks, and I am sure the first time you walked through those park gates you were curious to try a turkey leg or looking for where to get something that was not a burger or chicken tenders.

Photo Credit: @MainStreetTales

There are so many amazing restaurants on the Walt Disney World property, I have not even managed to go to them all and I have visited there 7 times now!But I have been to many restaurants there, and there is one that has always stood out to me!

Photo Credit: @DisneyAddicts

I always remember going to visit my Nanna one day, and my auntie brought her photo album to the house of her recent holiday to Disneyland Paris. At this point, Disney was just a dream to me, I thought that I would never get to go there.  She showed me photos of her and my cousins at Cinderella's Royal Table (or whatever the Paris restaurant is called, I'm sorry I'm not sure what it is!), and there was a photo of Cinderella's glass slipper, which was a white chocolate desert. From then on I knew exactly what I wanted to do - go to Cinderella's Royal Table and have a glass slipper desert!

In 2014 I was lucky enough to go there with my Mum, Dad and little sister to celebrate their 25th Wedding Anniversary, and it was one of the best days of my life. I had so many Disney goals at this point, being able to work there being at the top of the bucket list but you know, we work small first!

It felt so satisfying to be able to finally go there and to see inside the castle. It was one of the best themed restaurants I have ever been inside (I have not been inside Be Our Guest yet so it could change....one day....), not to mention we were sat right next to a window, so we had a beautiful view of fantasy land to look out on!

The food itself was not the best - it was not terrible by any means, but there is definitley better on the Disney Property. Plus, something that really disappointed my childhood self was that they didn't have the glass slipper on the desert menu, but it had been several years since my Auntie had been to Disney, plus they went to the Paris park so there could be a difference in the menu! Instead, they had a desert that was shaped like a clock, which was still really nice and looked just as fabulous!

It was an experience I will never forget, not to mention the characters we got to meet that day! It is definitely worth a visit at least once, but personally for me, it was worth the visit just to go inside Cinderella's Castle.

Favourite Fireworks - Disney December

Disney is know for their Firework Displays, from Wishes, to Happy Ever After, to Illuminations! But everyone has their favourite firework display, including me!

Photo Credit: @TravelingDad

I have not been lucky enough to see the original Disneyland Fantasmic, but I have been to see Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios located in Walt Disney World, and I have to say that it is not only my favourite firework show, but my all time favourite Disney Performance. There is just something so magical about it!

Photo Credit: @DisneyWorld

The first time I visited Orlando, I remember seeing people waiting outside the Tower of Terror for ages to go into the theatre to see Fantasmic, and I never understood why they waited that long. After all, it was just a firework show right?

We never went to see it the first two times I visited Orlando, but the third time was when we finally decided to see what all the hype was about, and we were not disappointed.

It is a show that is very dear to me, I nearly always cry whenever I see it! It just makes me feel so nostalgic about Disney,  and is so geniusly put together! Even just listening to the music in this show can set me off! I would love to go behind the scenes of the show to find out how everything works! If I could have any job in the Walt Disney World Resort, I would love to play Maleficent in Fantasmic!

So next time you are in Orlando, or even in Disneyland California, make sure you stick around to watch Fantasmic, you will not be disappointed!

Making my own Disney Ears - Disney December

Something I have always wanted to try out was making my own Disney Ears, so one day I decided to try it out and make them! Here is the footage of that day, please ignore the lipstick situation I have going on!

I have a bit more experience with making these ears now, and have even opened up an Etsy shop as many people were requesting to buy a pair from me. You can check out my shop here.

Favourite Singing Voice - Disney December

I may be very biased with this one, but there has always been one voice which has really stood out to me out of all the Disney voices, a very unique voice.

Before this particular movie came out, I was a fan of this actress from hearing her voice on the Wicked and the Rent Cast Recordings, since the time when this movie came out was the time that I started to branch out and listen to musicals that weren't the ones that I grew up with like Oliver and The King and I.

If you have not guessed who I am talking about, I am of course rendering to Idina Menzel, the voice of Queen Elsa in Frozen. Before the world was obsessed with her singing Let it Go, I was obsessed with hearing her sing Defying Gravity. Her voice just suits the character of Elsa so much, with there being a particular tone to her voice that I can't really describe.

I could not believe it when I found out she auditioned to voice Rapunzel, and fully believe that the casting directors made the right decision when rejecting her for that particular role, it was all wrong for the role, and who would have voiced Elsa if she had voiced Rapunzel.

So as annoying as Let it Go can be when your children have it on repeat for the 50th time of the day, I can truly appreciate the voice behind the character and encourage you to look at the other work Idina Menzel has done. You never know, let your child listen to the Wicked cast recording and you could introduce them to the fantastic world of Musical Theatre!

Favourite Song - Disney December

An iconic thing about Disney is their music. Play "I just can't wait to be king" in a room full of people and I bet that you will struggle to count how many people don't sing along to at least the chorus.

They have amazing songs in their abated classics and their live action movies too; the entire High School Musical song collection was all I listened to as a ten year old!!

To pick a single favourite song is hard, as there's that many and I generally love them all. But there is a song I think is incredibly underrated, and that is Almost There from The Princess and the Frog.

The Princess and the Frog is just a Disney movie that is underated in general, but Almost there is a song that I think people forget about. Its such an inspirational song and I absolutely love where it is in the story. A young girl has finally bought a building to start up her own business after years and years of saving, and even though there's a hurdle in the way she's not giving up yet! She hasn't been given the money by a romantic interest, she's  saved every penny herself, with her father's support motivating her to keep working to achieve her dream.

So you can praise Disney and Pixar for giving us Elsa and Merida, wo did not have a romantic interest in their movie, but remember that before them there was Tiana who got everything she wanted herself without the help of a love interest! 

Favourite Park - Disney December

Walt Disney World is a place that I have been visiting now for about 15 years, going there seven times, meaning that I have been able to watch the evolution of these parks as time goes by. I remember Ariel's Grotto in Magic Kingdom and I also remember when the bibbidi bobbidi boutique stuck tinsle in the hair of little girls and charged $200 for it.

As expensive as it is, it is one of my favourite places to go, and I adore all four theme parks for different reasons. So to pick a favourite is incredibly difficult.

I loved Hollywood Studios when it was all about movies and behind the scenes ect, but I haven't been there since 2014 so I have no idea if what I thought of it then is anything like my opinion of it now. Being perfectly honest, the Great Movie Ride was one of my favourite rides in Orlando and I am still not over it closing in 2016, plus I am not a huge fan of Starwars so the fact that there is an entire land dedicated to it may mean that my opinion of it slips. Overall it is definitely worth a visit, but I totally understand why people say that it is a half day park.

Epcot is such an underrated park in my opinion. So many people brush it off as it is (or atleast was) incredibly outdated with lots of abandoned attractions, and I understand where they are coming from, and I am so happy that it is getting the attention that it needs from the imagineers, it's going to be such an incredible park when all the construction has finished. I've always loved how educational Epcot was as a park and I appreciate it for what it is, but since it is my family's least favourite park it's the one I have spent the least amount of time in. I would love to be able to spend more time there, maybe it would be higher up on my list, but my family - like Hollywood Studios - have refused to set foot there since 2014 so unfortunately I feel like I have not had the true Epcot experience.

Animal Kingdom is a favourite among our family as we refer to it as the "cool" park since it is the one with the most shade. It really surprised me when I went to the CEP Interview as many people said that it was the hottest park due to how humid it is, so I guess it just depends on you. I absolutely love what they have done with Pandora, Camp Minnie Mickey always felt a little out of place and it just adds a little something to the park that was missing before and Pandora was that thing. I only went on Navvi River Journey but the amount of attention to detail and the way this part of the park looks is amazing! There's also the little character dance parties that happen around the park randomly and honestly it's one of my favourite ways to interact with the characters in the resort!

But I have to say - and you may have expected this, but my favourite park definitely has to be Magic Kingdom. It is the park that I always wanted to visit when I was younger, and I will never forget the first tie I saw the castle when I went across the lake on the ferry, or the first time I walked down mainstreet and saw Cinderella's Castle in the centre of the park. There is just so much to do there and it is truly one of the most magical theme parks that I have ever visited, not to mention how fantastic the fire work shows are! I've been lucky enough to see both Wishes and Happy Ever After, and also caught a special fire works show one year when I visited, but I cannot remember what that was for. It is the most iconic Disney Park, and also the busiest one, but it holds a special place for me!

What is your favourite Disney park? It is one of the Walt Disney World Parks or is it one of the International Disney parks? I would love to know what you think! 

Favourite Attraction - Disney December

There are so many amazing attractions that are a part of Disney Parks all over the world, but unfortunately I have only visited Walt Disney World in Florida (which really isn't an unfortunately since it's an absolutely fantastic place to visit!!) so I can only speak for the rides and attractions there from experience!

I remember when I was younger I would here my cousin's talk about going on Big Thunder Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean and I remember being super jealous because all I had ever wanted in my life was to go to a Disney Park. It surprised me however that - although these attractions are fantastic - they were not my favourite attraction when coming home from Florida.

My all time favourite Disney Attraction that I have experienced is Expedition Everest at Walt Disney's Animal Kingdom. I don't know what it is about this ride, but it is just so I unique and unlike anything that I have ever been on! I will never forget the first time that I went on this ride and the shock when seeing the track all torn up in front of me!

It is a shame that I have never seen this ride in its true glory, I have only ever witnessed the disco yeti, but from seeing videos on YouTube the animatronic looks outstanding and I cannot believe that that do not operate the ride in A mode. The programmers and designers of the animatronic must be so upset with this, as the yeti is so impressive yet hardly anyone has seen it in its true form.

There are so many other Disney Attractions that I could have talked about, but for some reasons Expedition Everest tops it for me! Maybe it's because we always visit Animal Kingdom first when I visit Orlando with my family, so it is usually the first ride that I go on!

What is your favourite Disney Attraction? I would love to hear from you!