This is the FRIST of many Disney posts to come:
I have received so many questions about the Disney College Program since I applied in April, got in in May, and started my (fall advantage) program in June. So hopefully this will reach some of the right people and put their minds at ease for hopeful CP’s. I, as well as many of my fellow CP’s are major planners and the unknown doesn’t really work for us so I am attempting to share my knowledge to avoid the blind sightedness of learning it on your own! 🙂
First, Fall Advantage, is the extended program they can be as much as 6-8 months long depending on when you decide to move in. I moved in on June 5th and will leave January 4th.
Second, Is it hard to get in?
I struggle with how to answer this because this was the first and only time I have applied for the DCP and I got in but I know it is VERY competitive. A friend has done it 3 times and another applied 4 times and got it 2. Additionally, the application process itself is quite simple.
Keep in mind, I decided a little late in the game that i was going to apply for DCP and that was a huge factor in how my process went. But basically, as follows:
I typed into google “Disney College Program” and it brought me straight to the correct link vs trying to find it on my own on Disney’s website, I found this preferable. once you have filled out the initial questionnaire of “what jobs are you interested in” you will receive an email telling you if you go to the next step or not. In the next step you fill out a more in depth questionnaire full of questions that they hope will tell them if you are disney material or not— unfortunately the questions can somewhat be answered “how you think they want you to answer” and that is what the next step is for. After completing the questions I was immediately informed I was a “strong candidate” and was sent another email to set up my phone interview. (I have recently learned this varies with international cp’s—as they will probably have an in person interview instead of phone—if you have an in person interview, make sure you smile as much as possible and boldly offer your hand for a handshake and your name upon meeting the disney representative). If you have a phone interview, as I did, earlier in the day the better. If you have all day to stress over it you may be more nervous than is necessary, mine was around 11AM and I was up at 8 stressing away. They were only a couple min late on my phone call and it came from a blocked number just as they warned. BE WAITING AT THE PHONE. When you answer the phone, you don’t have to worry about answering with a “professional” greeting a “hello?” will suffice. Also there is a “difficult question” with each interview, they want to see how you process things. Mine was in a hotel setting because I had written it as an interest on my sheet… wanting to know how I would prioritize the people around me—I still don’t know what the best answer was, BUT i guess it was good enough since i am here!
I was informed on the phone that I would find out in 2 weeks time if I got the DCP or not and it was on the FINAL day of the 2 weeks that I found out.
(I have 2 roommates, one received a question about if she were a character attendant, and a child ran up to Pooh how would you tell them they have to wait for the character to get to their spot?) FYI, she works in food in Magic Kingdom, so no, not a character attendant.
TIPS:
-I have been told that when you apply earlier you find out if you’re in or not much quicker, I personally was later so they told me in 2 weeks time I would get an email telling me yes or no. it was the last day of the 2 weeks when i found out, and let me tell you I was a nervous wreck the entire time. So basically, APPLY EARLY
=Set up phone interviews early in the day
-smile during phone interviews, even though you will feel silly, a smile makes your voice sound cheerier which as you can imagine is what Disney is looking for!
-Have a couple questions prepared, google some questions that pertain to the department you’re most interested in.
-Get on the Facebook page! Once you get in, join the program Facebook page… no it is not “official” or affiliated with Disney in any way but it is a great resource especially when trying to learn about the DCP. You can usually find pictures of the costumes you’ll be wearing and maybe make some friends. But most importantly you can find some roommates this way. I got really lucky that my roommate and I are basically the same person… really, it’s creepy! But our 3rd feels really left out sometimes because we JUST CLICKED. Not that I would trade either of my roommates, they are both SUPER sweet ladies that I am so blessed to have with me in this program but it still would have been nice to have known and been in contact with the people I was going to be living with before I moved in. If you find your roommates on the Facebook page, when you go to request housing it is really quite simple. One of the roommates just needs to go in and link all of the accounts (with the Disney supplied numbers) and then they can put in your top requests.
The Wordy Over Thinker 