Hell in Immigration...

19^th June 11.00pm (ish) UK Time... 18.00 (ish) US Time...

So remind me never to lose the DS-2019 ever again. Not to scare anyone else that has, but it created a major inconvenience in immigration which I really wish I’d avoided... So what’s the story?

Well, following an excellent ‘Disney Cast Member Shout-Out’ from the lovely air stewardess, to which rapturous applause and cheering ensued upon landing, we all left the plane. Immediately upon leaving I spotted a delicious specimen of a man with dark hair, a smouldering expression and a federal government uniform on. However, since I was ‘laying low’ due to the loss of my vital US document I let him pass and joined the queue for immigration. Probably for the best. Anyways, after waiting for what seemed like an eternity but probably only lasted about half an hour, I made it to the front of the queue. I got an old-man immigration officer. I gave him my documents, did my fingerprints etc, but when he asked for the fatal document and I said I couldn’t provide it, he looked at me like I’d told his three-year-old the ‘truth’ about Santa Claus. I told him about the nice American guy at Gatwick, but neither of us had any idea who he was. Damn, I should have taken that guy’s name and job role or something. A complete case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. He said, ‘This is a VERY important document. You now have to enter a room where they will decide whether to let you into the country or not.’ Then he pulled a face like he didn’t hold out much hope, sarcastically muttered, ‘Welcome to America’, tutted and sighed as if exasperated for a little while, took my picture, then escorted me to this little room.

Now, he was obviously a complete douchebag because at this stage I was thinking, ‘Oh my God. I’m being treated like a common criminal, like on Nothing to Declare or Border Patrol (yes, I watch too much LivingTV...) I’m going to be led to this dark room alone and have to answer questions and all my friends will be gone L’ He failed to mention the fact that all of us were going to be led to this ‘Doctors-Waiting-Room’ style place. Fool. He could have put my mind at ease. He obviously wasn’t interested in that. So when I got there, I saw Jasper and Robert (two lovely Dutch guys I’d met on the plane who were also coming to work for Disney) and the others began filing in after me.

The immigration guys had kept our passports and after about twenty minutes they began coming out and announcing names, handing people their passports and sending them on their merry way. Jasper and Robert wished me luck and left. Then Louise and Emma did the same even though they were after me, and that’s when I realised I’d probably be there for a long time. I told them to leave me behind and I’d find my own way to Vista Way, which was very grown-up of me if I say so myself.

This old-black-man meanie immigration officer came out, read my name, so I was like, ‘YESSS I CAN LEAVE!’ Unfortunately, all he said was, ‘Your DS-2019 isn’t here.’ Well, duh, old man. Get with the program. We’ve already been through this. ‘Yes, I lost it... I told your colleague...’ I replied. ‘Lost?’ Seriously, this guy was even more of a moron than I am for losing it in the first place. ‘Yes. Lost.’ ‘Well. That’s interesting.’ Then he walked off. Thanks dude. Thanks a lot.

More names were read out and the people from the Virgin flights that left Gatwick and Manchester at a similar time came and went. Luckily there was still a bunch of them like Craig, Vikki, Emily and her friend Heather who were still around when this hot young immigration office called me out. I couldn’t decide whether to take my bags or not, and in the panic I nearly broke my neck. Well, that’s an exaggeration, but I stumbled a bit in my heels.

Thankfully, this guy was pretty sound. Very professional, but he didn’t seem to be there just to scare me like the others. I explained everything to him and he told me that I was about the 6^th person for Disney today who had the same problem and that I wouldn’t be the last. When he took my fingerprints, I’m not even joking, Emma who was miles away at the luggage carousel says she could see my hand shaking. I was so nervous! These nerves were eased a little by this mixed-race-hottie-pants immigration officer walking by and very UNprofessionally looking me up and down before going, ‘DAMN! Dude, are you handpicking them???’ to the guy who was helping me. Taking my tights off on the plane was evidently a good shout. ‘No, man, she’s got a 419 (don’t remember the number but it was something like that) you wanna take it?’ That’s when I realised how much of an inconvenience I was to them, because Sexy Immigration Officer was like, ‘No way... it’s not worth it’ before winking at me and walking off. Great. Now Sexy Immigration Officer thinks I’m an idiot too. Boo.

I was taken into a little office where me and my guy sat in silence for about 40 minutes while he filled out a form. Eventually, he told me I’d have to talk to my program co-ordinator and get them to sort me a new DS-2019 (which he said was a ‘very expensive document to lose’... naturally I nearly had a seizure as I’m tighter with money then an Oriental's... well, let’s just say I’m pretty tight.) Then he grinned, said ‘Welcome to America Gabriella, have a magical day!’ to which I laughed, gushed some thanks then left with my passport. A mere three hours after my plane had landed. BAH. It was all my own fault for losing the document, I know that. But still. BOO.

Now it was time for my next drama of the day. So I come out of this office and was chuffed to see that Vikki and Craig had only just gotten out too. We collected our cases together (I have two massive ones remember) and began to leave with a couple of others. To get from the immigration side of the airport to the area where we needed to catch our shuttle you have to take a monorail, and to get to the monorail, you have to go up an escalator. Well, I was never going to manage that with two suitcases so who was I to turn down the opportunity to meet my bags at the other side? There was some airport people who were like, ‘Ahhh just put your bags on this conveyor belt, then they will arrive at belt B27 when you get off the monorail.’ Like an idiot I believed them. Epic Fail. At least I wasn’t the only one, Vikki and her friend Charlotte did it too, but because they were on a different flight, their suitcases were going to be in Zone A.

Standard. When I got to B27 the carousel was closed. Of course it was. I asked a guy and he was like, ‘Uhhh no, this carousel stopped moving like an hour ago because everyone off the BA flight has gone.’ HELLOOO??? Apparently not! I am living proof of that. So he sent me to a BA office. Which was of course closed. Then I wandered around panicking for a little while with everyone sending me in the wrong directions. By this time I’d lost Vikki, Craig and the others so I was feeling pretty depressed when finally a man from Air Lingus went and found me a BA staff member named Mary Wilson. She was so nice. She took me into the back office and let me use the phone to call Vikki (who didn’t answer... pfttt) and then Disney Arrivals to find where to get the Mears Shuttle from. In the meantime she found my cases for me, then walked me all the way to the shuttle stop, which is where I am now. I bought my ticket ($16 from $31 because I’m a Disney Cast Member eeep!) and I’m now waiting with a little buzzer thing on a bench in the Florida heat! Sucks that I have to get it alone and that I couldn’t get in touch with Vikki, but hopefully I should be there in an hour or so.

What a day from hell. Managed to call dad just now and tell him that everything went swimmingly... I hate to worry him and to be fair what didn’t kill me made me stronger I guess J Hope he didn’t mind a phone call in the middle of the night...

Anyways, I’ll keep you posted guys! Au revior!

gabriellasofia

Registering With Yummy Jobs . . .

9^th August 2010-12-13

***WARNING any information given in this blog MUST NOT be used in an individual’s own application, these are the original responses given by gabriellasofia, and those who plagiarise WILL BE PUNISHED by Yummy Jobs***

I wanted to take some time to talk you guys through the process of registering with Yummy Jobs. It is all pretty simple and fuss-free but there are a few titbits of wisdom which I have learnt from some older blogs which I wanted to hand over! So let’s get started . . .

You’ve decided that you want to spend your summer doing the experience of a life-time in Walt Disney World Florida, but you just don’t know where to start with your application . . . never fear! gabriellasofia is here! First off, I want you to mosey on down to www.yummyjobs.com and firstly scroll down the page. Along with a ton of other tabs on the left hand side, one should read ‘Disney’s Summer Work Experience’. Click on it, and read the page about how lovely the program is. This step is very important, as it will psych you up and give you little bits of info which might be useful to your application. Now I want you to go back to the home tab, now you are all Disneyed-up and click on the tab on the right hand side of the screen, saying ‘New to Yummy Jobs Click Here to Create Your Profile’. Now we’re rolling.

1) Personal Details – as you can imagine, the majority of this section is pretty self-explanatory. But a few areas where people slip up can affect the success of your application! For example, in the prompt entitled ‘*Full name on passport’ be sure to type your name exactly as it appears in your passport. Also, for the box named ‘*Nickname or preferred name’ please understand that this only really applies to name abbreviations or substitutes. So if I wanted myself to be known on my Disney badge as ‘Gabbi’ or ‘Sofia’ rather than ‘Gabriella’, it would be fine for me to put these alternatives in this box. However, if I had always been known to my nearest and dearest as ‘Sugar Tits’ this would not be acceptable. The same goes for most names with the letters ‘z’ or ‘x’ in them (such as ‘Bex’, or ‘Hazza’) although there are of course exceptions to that rule.

2) Account Details – again, really very simple. Attempt to use a professional-sounding email address such as your university one, or one with just your name in it, rather than something along the lines of ‘badboyhizzi@gobshite.com’ or ‘applebottombabe@bumfun.net’. If you don’t have a professional address, create one; it will only take five minutes and will be so worth it when you are telling kiddies to ‘Have a magical day’.

3) Education and Skills – having confirmed with Hannah London at Yummy Jobs, they want to know which education level you are working towards, so if you are at university studying a degree which you have not yet finished, then put ‘Degree’ anyway. If you are still at A-Level, then just set it as ‘Other’ then change it once you’ve started at Uni. For ‘Current Status’ beware of America-Mode. What I mean by this, is that with all the research you should recently have done on the USA, Florida and of course, Walt Disney World, you may see the original response setting for this heading set as ‘College’ and think, well yes, I’m applying for an International College Program. However, you are still on English ground, and when you click the drop down box, there is actually an option for ‘University’. Upload your CV (I will do another blog on what sort of CV to upload at a later date!)

4) Work and Experience – this is where the Yummy Jobs team can really get to know you, and you can show off a bit! The first heading ‘Key Positions Held’ means just that. Your KEY roles, not just any old role you’ve ever had. I listed mine with numbers because I thought it was more clear and concise;

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1) June 2010 – Present day - Call Centre Customer Services Assistant at Fedex UK Central Hub.

2) June 2010 - Sales Assistant at Next during the Summer Sale period.

3) May 2010 – Present day (term-time) - Student Mentor and Guild Receptionist at the University of Birmingham.

4) October 2009 – Present day (term-time) - Waitress at various locations including the NIA in Birmingham with MJ Catering Recruitment.

5) June 2008 - September 2009 - Milkshake Artist, Occasional Supervisor and Junior Business Advisor at my parents’ business The Hippy Hippy Shake Company LTD.

6) November 2008 to January 2009 - temporary Christmas Sales Assistant at the Disney Store in Hanley.

7) September 2007 - June 2008 - Waitress at Trentham Gardens Garden Centre’s Six Arches Restaurant in the field of Food and Hospitality.

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As you can see, I put the dates that these key positions were held, followed by the actual role that I played, then the company that I worked for, ending with the ‘sector’ or which this made me experienced in. If I wanted to put all and every position I’d ever held, I would have mentioned Year 10 work experience, my radio show last year and my teacher training placement. However, this is where it is very important to be selective; you can mention those other things in your CV if you really want to!

For ‘Spoken Languages’ I didn’t really know what to put, because I did want to mention that I know a fair amount of Spanish and French, but I didn’t want them to think I was fluent. The way I got around this was by simply stating . . .

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I speak English, French and Spanish at ‘A’ grade A-Level standard.

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Happy days!

The heading entitled ‘Motivation for Taking Part’ is the biggie. If you can’t list at least ten responses to this question then you wouldn’t be applying. This is just a case of embracing your motivation, and harnessing it into a couple of sentences. A difficult job, but really rewarding if you get it right! I would advise making a written list of responses and then cutting this down for the actual form. This way, you have a well-thought out answer and some preparation for the interview stage if you get lucky enough! My response was as follows;

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Having holidayed in Walt Disney World Florida seven times in the past seven years, I have benefited from the fantastic service and hospitality which the Disney Cast Members provide at all times; in restaurants, in stores and everywhere else in the World. Since completing Traditions Training for my temporary Christmas position at the Disney Store in 2008 - 2009, I thoroughly believe that my high standards match those of the International Summer Work Experience Program (especially in relation to the Disney Look and the 'Audience Experience') and I would love to work with other individuals with similar values. Furthermore, my interest and enjoyment in all things Disney makes this opportunity one from which I can learn invaluable lessons, in terms of team-work, customer service and making dreams come true! I thoroughly believe that my commitment, dedication and loyalty to Walt Disney World will make a positive contribution to each Guest's experience and intensify their trust in the idea that Walt Disney World is the place where happiness lives.

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So it sounds quite cheesy, but they want to see someone who is really enthusiastic, into the ‘Disney-thang’ and is going to be able to stand doing a job with a genuine smile on their face and passion for the company. So get your cheese on!

Under the ‘Area of Expertise’ heading I figured that they meant, what areas do you have experience in which would fit into the roles offered by Disney. For a quick recap, the roles offered by Disney for the Summer Work Experience Program include Character Attending, Character Performing, Merchandise, Quick-Service Food and Beverage, Full-Service Food and Beverage, Lifeguard, Bell Services, Housekeeping, Custodial and Attractions. I wasn’t really sure what to do, because as my CV will state, I have experience in Food and Bev and Merch also. However, I would LOVE to give attractions a go, and wanted Yummy to be aware of this from the offset. So I put . . .

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I have worked in both Merchandising and Food and Beverage, but would like very much to try Ride Operating if positions on a ride which includes heavy involvement from the 'skipper' (eg. The Great Movie Ride, Jungle Cruise or Kilimanjaro Safaris) are available.

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I think that it is best to be upfront about those things, so I basically was just saying, ‘Whilst these are the areas in which I have experience, I would really like Walt Disney World to be the place where I can try something new.’

The ‘Level of Position Held’ question had a lot of people stumped on the WDWIP discussion boards, as there are only three options, ‘Supervisor’, ‘Manager’ and ‘Assistant Manager’. I emailed Hannah at Yummy to ask about this and she said that if we haven’t held any of these positions, to just leave it set as ‘Supervisor’. Luckily, I have supervised at my parents’ milkshake bars a couple of times, so I wasn’t technically lying! The same goes for the ‘How Many Years Have You Worked in the Hospitality Industry’ drop-down box.

5) Previous Disney Employment – do not, I repeat DO NOT lie. Under any circumstances or for any reason. The only reason this question is asked, is for the Yummy Jobs team to check your record with the company and make sure you haven’t been caught doing anything you shouldn’t do. So don’t say you have worked for Disney before when you haven’t as it won’t make them any more likely to choose you, and by the same token, don’t deny working in Disney if you have, even if you did something you weren’t proud of. They will know. Also, this question does not just mean if you have worked at Walt Disney World, it means Disney in general. So maybe you’ve worked in a Disney Store like me, or at Disney Land Paris, or even done an internship with ABC who are owned by Disney, you MUST state it honestly here.

Following your registration you may receive an email from Yummy Jobs to say that your registration is complete, and you are now allowed to apply for any of the programs! Result! From this stage it is pretty easy. You go back to the ‘Disney Summer Work Experience’ tab scroll to the bottom and just click ‘Apply Now!’ You can update your profile at any time and as long as the application date is still open, any changes you make will be considered. But remember. You can only apply for one program at a time with Yummy, so make sure you choose the right one! If you make a mistake I’m sure they will be able to sort it for you, so if you have any problems send one of the team a message through the ‘Contact’ tab at the bottom of the page.

Next time I’ll run you through my CV and some tips which I think might be useful! But keep in mind that I have only just applied, and I don’t even know if the tips I’m giving you are going to work yet! I’ve just learnt them from various blogs, vlogs, podcasts, books, websites and discussion boards, so don’t take my word for it!

Good luck with faith, trust and pixie dust

gabriellasofia

General Information About Walt Disney World International College Programs . . .

8^th August 2010-12-12

Calling all Disney Lovers!

So I have started this blog to document my application process for the Walt Disney World International Summer Work Experience Program in 2011. For those of you that don’t know, Disney World in Florida (and most of the Disney theme park properties in the world) runs a number of exchange type schemes, whereby people from across the world can come and work for Disney! I know! That was my reaction too!

I have literally just clicked apply and sent my application along with my hopes and dreams off into the mysterious world of cyber space, with the aspiration of receiving a shiny new email through by the end of next month. I am shaking. Like, my finger could hardly push the butted to submit my registration because I was so nervous . . . So to take my mind off all that, I’m going to talk you through everything so far.

For those of you who are interested in applying for one of the programs, you should first know that there are three;

1) The Cultural Representative Program allows people from Canada, China, France, Germany, Southeast Asia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Sub-Saharan Africa and of course, the UK to work in merchandise, food and beverage, Kidcot (activities with children) and in some cases attractions in their home country’s pavilion in EPCOT. This program lasts for 12 months, and my close friend Charlotte from high-school is currently applying for this program, so if enough interest is generated from this blog I might force her to write her own for the CRP’s.

2) The J1 Academic Program takes university students from around the world who are undergoing a relevant degree (eg. Marketing, entertainment, hospitality etc) for six months. During this program, the students will gain experience in a couple of different fields, will study within the Disney University and will eventually graduate with a Ducktorate or Mousters which will acts as college credit upon their return to their own country.

3) The Summer Work Experience (MY PROGRAM . . . If I get on it!) takes university students to Disney World for three months worth of work experience in one role at the Happiest Place on Earth. The roles available include (as they do for J1) attractions, full-service food and beverage, quick-service food and beverage, life-guard, character attendant, character performer, merchandise, bell services, costuming, housekeeping and in some cases front-desk.

Sounds exciting right?

Anyway, just a few tips . . . check out the following resources;

· https://www.disneyinternationalprograms.com/ - the official Disney website telling all about the opportunities on offer. This website goes into great detail about everything which the programs entail, including the living, learning and earning experiences. You can also learn about the requirements of the program, how to apply and what the rules and perks of the program are. Naturally, you only see one side to the program here though, so make sure you do your research before applying!

· http://www.yummyjobs.com/ - this is the company which Disney uses to recruit people for the programs in the UK and Canada. This may also be so for other countries too, but I’m not sure, this can be confirmed by checking the official DIP website. Yummy Jobs is absolutely fantastic, offering so many different opportunities around the world, so it is definitely worth a check even if you aren’t interested in Disney! There are tons of Case Studies on this website from people who have been there, done that and got the T-shirt which offers a lot of insight into what makes the programs available so great. This is the website which UK and Canadian applicants will use to apply for their Disney Program, so set aside some time to have a mooch through and then create your profile. If you have any questions, just email one of the team; they are all so nice and seem to reply to most queries in hours.

· http://wdwip.com/ - this is an unofficial website to the programs. This website is a little like a Wikipedia of the Disney Programs, which is great if you want to find out some info that isn’t available on the official websites for some reason as it is written by those who have been and is amended most days. It also has some awesome discussion boards where you can agonise about your application with all the other Disney freaks!

· Mousecatraz by Wesley Jones is quite a good and easy read. This book compiles hundreds of CPers’ anecdotes, both good and bad. You will learn the secrets that only College Cast Members learn, and even though this book is mainly telling of the experience American CPers’ had it is still very useful. However, I would personally advise taking everything said in this book with a pinch of salt, as I noticed different areas of bias.

· Dis Radio is a radio station which plays music from the Happiest Place on Earth 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is IDEAL for getting you into the Disney-mood, so have a listen to get inspired during all your research! It can be found at http://www.wdwinfo.com/disradio/.

· http://www.disboards.com/, http://www.wdwinfo.com/ and http://allears.net/index.html - these are websites for people of all ages from different walks of life to bond over what they love the most; Disney. More for finding Disney secrets, Hidden Mickeys and getting inspired.

· Never underestimate the powers of http://www.google.com and http://www.youtube.com. There are TONS of hidden resources on both, blogs, vlogs, even radio shows JUST ABOUT the programs!

So that will be all for today, I hope this has been useful and has you guys thinking about Disney! Any questions, please ask.

Ciao for now.

gabriellasofia