Random Roommates

A lot of people are getting ready to fill out their D.O.R.M.S applications for the upcoming Fall/Fall Advantage sessions and a big question floating around is to have random roommates or not?

In my 4 years of college and 2 internships, I have lived with 23 different roommates, that's quite a lot! In those 23, I have lived with random roommates and I went into living arrangements with friends. I have started off living with friends and learned some true colors and am no longer friends with them. I have lived with random roommates that I still keep in touch with.

For my 2 Disney Internships, I selected random each time. And I got a long with every single one of them. Our first night of my first internship we all went and saw the Lorax in DTD and blasted the Spice Girls on the way home. I spent my April Fools with my roommate Becky in Adventureland watching every single Pirates show because we thought Johnny Depp was going to be there. I've spent days off in the parks with them and gone to housing events with them. We've had many a laugh within the apartment walls. I would gladly live with any of them again.

Not to say that living with people you know is going to be a horrible experience. I ended up living with my college best friend twice and thank goodness because she was what got me through a lot these last two years. Some people just, click!

It's always important to talk it out with your roommates regardless of if they're random or not. I've known my 2 best friends for 10 years and even if we moved in together, we'd still have to talk some things out. This internship is very important and can be taken away in the blink of an eye if you don't follow the rules. Let your roommates know your stances on alcohol/partying or guests/significant others coming over. Communication is key to living with roommates smoothly. All my roommates that used to leave notes on the fridge to avoid confrontation? Yeah, we're not friends anymore. Just be open and honest and you'll be in for some nice friendships!

 I actually got my roommate Becky to meet the Princesses!

 A day at Animal Kingdom with the roommates

 We actually all went to the same school together but didn't know each other until the program

 Even got to spend my last night with Becky!

My 2 JWU roommates and I all had the same departure day so we were losing half the apartment. I had to be locked in my room until everyone was home from work. They had made us a Mickey cake and got us cards (my Aussie roommate even through in an Australian postcard!) and we spent the whole night laughing, reminiscing and having a big dance party in the living room!

And I actually got to keep in touch with Nicole since we both became Campus Reps and did another program!

Seize the Day!

Fun fact about me, I love musicals and I LOVE Newsies. Unfortunately though, their last show on Broadway is August 24.

But, I just graduated from college and had some graduation money and since I'm still a CM I had my discount on Disney Broadway and...

That happened! For $82 I got to sit so close to the stage thanks to my handy dandy discount (and of course I got a shirt too!) and it was SO amazing. To be honest, I had never heard of Newsies until I saw them dance at the Macy's Parade a few years ago and watched the film for the first time my sophomore year. I instantly became enthralled in both the movie and the musical production.

I spent my day in NYC seeing my most favorite actor ever James Franco in Of Mice and Men

and then spent my night with the Newsies! Such a magical experience and will definitely try with all my might to see it again when it comes on tour in Orlando in January! Thanks Disney!

Hi Disney, it's me Meg, are you there?

Hello Everyone!

So, it's back to more postings! I know I've said that before but I really need to get back into writing and since there's still so much information left to cover, what better time than now! Don't forget that you can help shape my blog by telling me what topics you want written about or questions you want answered in the comments! It can even still be on an old post since I get a notification linking me to the comments!

The topic of this small post is the email process. We all spent those days constantly checking our emails awaiting that decision. Now that you're in, there's more emails to come! But they might not be as frequent as you might think and that might make you nervous if you don't know the process!

Once you pay your deposit and accept your position, there's really not much else to do. You will be getting a lot of your information 10-14 days before your check-in date, this includes you D.O.R.M paperwork (roommate and housing preference paperwork) and new hire paperwork. But in between then,it's pretty quiet!

To give you an example of what to expect, here's how my email schedule went for this upcoming program:
-Congratulations! Email: 3/17
     *This email contains the links to accept your offer and pay the $300 deposit
-Payment Email: 3/19
     *Accepting your offer triggers this email to come out, it is just another reminder to pay your dues 
      if you have not already. Remember, BOTH must be completed within the 10 day window
-Payment Confirmation: 3/19
      *A digital and detailed receipt of your payment is emailed. You may choose to print this for your
       records but it isn't required..
-Welcome to the Team!: 3/19
     *This contains your program dates and check in time and your official welcome to the team. It
     links you to the Onboarding Website which contains information regarding: a pre-arrival checklist,
     the Disney look, housing, driving directions, medical and religious accommodation forms, and tips

And this is the big stretch! You may wonder, did they forget about me? Am I really going? Will this waiting game end!

 Yes, yes it will:
-Disney Look: 6/24
     *Information regarding the Disney look

And after that, you won't really get much until 2 weeks prior to your arrival date. So fear not, Disney has not forgotten about you! They are just busy getting everything ready for your arrival!

The Disney Look Part 1: When You Get There

We are often told that we only have one chance to make a first impression. When you arrive to your DCP Check-In, it is important to make sure you are presentable and meeting Disney Look guidelines.

Do they expect you to go through all of the lines in professional dress? No. But, they do expect you to already meet some basic guidelines. A lot of interns are sent back to the airport for not following basic Disney Look guidelines, please make sure you are not one of them! Read on after the jump!

Let's Go Bring Back Summer!

Hello everyone!

Clearly, it's been a while since I've made a post! I was in the middle of my last trimester so things were getting a bit hectic. But...I graduated from college!

I decorated my cap with Disney of course. For my non-Whovians, the 2 things in the middle are Sonic Screwdrivers. They help the Doctor do what he needs to do and get where he needs to go so what better way to illustrate my college journey! When I was in my seat I was texting my mom and dad to see where they were sitting and I knew I was in trouble when my mom texted me to look for Mickey. She said it was either a graduating Mickey balloon or flowers. Of course, they made the right choice!

So I'm home for the summer. I'm back baking for my bakery up here til the end of August and then fly down to Disney in September! I will be posting a lot more on here now that my days are mostly 7-3:30 and blogging will be easier.

I already have some topics picked but what do YOU guys want to read about? You can respond to the comments in this post or any post with your questions and I will try and answer them as best as I can!

Hallo!

HACCP and Why You Need to Know It

Any culinary school student has heard those letters before. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, what we call HACCP for short, are the safety guidelines that we must follow in the kitchen. It regulates everything for us including our sanitizer numbers, to how long we have to cool pastry cream or how we stock a fridge. Hint, never store your dairy or meats on top.

When you step foot in a kitchen, sure it's important to know your knife cuts or how to make a mousse, but what is just as important is to know you HACCP. This is true for not only Disney, but any kitchen that you work in.

Part of the reason why the Disney Culinary Program recruits from culinary schools is because they know that we learn these things. Before you even apply, you have to be ServSafe certified. They know they can teach you how to cook, but you should already know your food safety and sanitation.

So, why do I feel this is so important to make a post about? I work as a Campus Rep for the DCP and get to help with proctoring the HACCP tests before you take your interviews. I also get to hear direct feedback from the recruiters on what are people's strengths and weaknesses. And the major weakness is not knowing HACCP.

The tests only have one answer for each question, there's no other answers but the right one. Sure we have seen a lot of good tests get handed in, but we've also seen some pretty scary ones. We've seen tests where people think that milk is held at 0F or that you cook beef to 185F. We've een conversion factor questions left blank and a bunch of other scary answers that you can only imagine.

I know what it's like to get into lab and want to jump right into baking. Who cares about sanitation when there's cakes to be made right? But the sanitation is part of that recipe, it is just as important as picking cake flour rather than hi gluten flour. You may think that your chefs/teachers are saying this stuff just because they have to, but I cannot stress enough how much you need to know this stuff. You will walk into a bakery and need to scale a recipe down, you will need to convert something from pounds to grams, you will need to know your conversions. You will walk into a kitchen and you will need to know to put raw beef on the bottom shelf, you will need to know what temperatures to cook a certain cut of meat and you will most definitely need to know proper sanitation procedures to prevent cross contamination.

I'm a senior in my last trimester of culinary school. I've gone through 20 baking and pastry labs and a full course in ServSafe. I know my HACCP information because I've taken the time to study it. I do the Disney HACCP test just for fun to see if I've still got it and I do. Yet a fellow senior baking and pastry person had to ask me this past week how to scale down a recipe and how many pounds are in a quart. You almost have to ask yourself if you are going to the same school.

Disney can mold you into the cook they want you to be, but they expect you to already know your sanitation. We hear directly from the recruiters that one of the things they look for is basic stuff like conversions, temperatures, and sanitation. Not only does Disney look for it, but I guarantee you that every kitchen you will ever work in looks for it too. Working in a kitchen is more than just whipping things up or doing cuts with your french knife, it's having the skills to work in that kitchen and the knowledge of how to work in the kitchen safe and clean.

Start studying!

Congratulations? Now what?

You've sent in your application, gone through a nerve wracking interview and now think every *ding* on your phone is the arrival of that all too important you've been waiting for. It can be junk mail or....it can be an acceptance email from the DCP!

And yes, this is what you will do. You will scream and jump up and down. And then you'll start crying. You'll compose yourself and then start calling your family and all of a sudden, you're crying again. And you keep rereading the email making sure it does say your name and that is is in fact followed by a congratulations. At least that's how it went for me anyway....

So, what do you do next?

You will continue reading in that email that you have 10 days to accept your offer. Keep in mind it is not 10 days since YOU read the email, it's 10 days from the time ticker on the email, this is why it is important to check your email everyday.

At the bottom of the email there will be a link directing you to a page where you can review your offer letter. It will contain your role and your pay rate. It will also go over again information about housing and its fees (which I talk about next) and the Disney Look guidelines. When you accept your offer, you accept those guidelines so make sure you read everything through. Don't show up to your check in with gauges in your ears, a crazy haircut or hair color because they will send you back home immediately.

After you accept your offer, you will receive another email with a link directing you to pay your deposit. BOTH the acceptance of your offer and payment of your housing fees need to be done within the 10 days to completely accept you offer.

You will notice that the fee is $300. This fee gets broken up into 2 divisions as follows:

Rent: $200 will be going towards your first few weeks of rent. When you get down for your program you will notice your first week or two isn't loaded with a lot of hours. But you are in Disney housing for those first few weeks and still have to pay rent. This $200 goes towards you first rent payments so depending on your weekly rent fee, it can cover the first 2 weeks an some of the third. This is REALLY helpful. In your first few weeks you will be doing a big initial grocery shop, possibly buying bedding and bath linens, and any odds and ends you find that you need as you get settled in. Knowing that the money you will be earning in those first few week directly comes to you and not rent gives you enough of a start.

Events: $100 will go toward DCP Housing. Housing is always throwing great housing events and trips, check out the Housing Events tag right here on my blog for a quick preview of what you can expect! Movie nights include free popcorn and drinks, grocery bingo gives out free groceries as a prize, and housing events always include the DJ, free food, and really awesome character meet and greets. One of the housing events is your DCP graduation where you get your certificate and free Mickey ears. There's also a chance your program will fall in the time frame of Starlit Splash where they rent out Typhoon Lagoon just for CPs, or the CP formal. These are all FREE. I don't know about you, but I like free. I can't tell you how many things I have accumulated over my programs. I have my Mickey ears, 2 memory boxes, a DCP poster, DCP speakers, a free t-shirt, a lot of free food, and great memories with friends! You definitely get your moneys worth and then some!

After that, you will get another email with a link directing you the onboarding website. This is where you can review all you need to know about Disney Look, what to pack, I9 document information, and anything else you can think of as you start getting ready for your program.

After this, you are pretty much on your own. It's up to you to figure out how you are going to get down for your program which can include getting a hotel and purchasing train or plane tickets, that is all up to you and on your budget. Approximately 10 days-2 weeks before your arrival date you will get an email regarding selecting your apartment and filling out the last bit of paperwork.

Know that when you accept your offer to be a member of the Disney College Program, you are an accepting a great life experience. You get the magic and entertainment of Disney at your fingertips, the chance to work in a worldwide cherished company with a team filled with wonderful talent and leaders, and the chance to make new friends who you will make memories with to remember well long after your program is over. Yes it does come with a price but believe me, the experience itself is priceless!

Have you gotten your acceptance email? Congratulations! Leave your role and program dates in the comments!

Career Fair: Then & Now

Fall 2010, my first ever trimester here at Johnson & Wales. I was in academics, things were just getting started for me. I was 18, had just graduated high school a few months earlier and was still running on some leftover pixie dust from my Disney vacation from back in July where being a baker in Disney was just starting to creep into my mind.

It all seems so long ago. Even from that point, I'm a different person. But, I still get sunburn, that's never going to change!

I had seen flyers about the Disney presentation on campus. I had just started school, I didn't need to start looking for my sophomore internship yet but I wanted to go. I wanted to learn about the program, I wanted to be surrounded by something Disney.

I sat in the chairs. I watched Chef Pauli, a man I didn't know yet, give the presentation on apartments I never lived in, talk about a job I've never experienced, talk about a program I had never been a part of. I saw Campus Reps, faces that were new but would evolve into familiar faces, talk about their experience. They were just like me, students at this school who needed to do an internship. I was asking the questions, I was dreaming of wow, what and opportunity this would be. Those people up there are so lucky.

I want to do this.

Now, it's 2014. My last trimester at Johnson & Wales. I'm 22 and I'm closer to my college graduation in May than I am my high school graduation all those years ago. And I've done not one, but two Disney Culinary Programs as a Pastry Cook II.

And that's what this blog has mostly been about, my experience in Florida on the DCP. But my journey has also been continuing up here in RI since the end of my first program. For the past 2 years, I have been a Disney Campus Rep. We serve as a connection between Disney and JWU, we are here to educate others about the program, answer questions, host information sessions, and recruit applicants for when Chef Pauli and the Disney crew come to our school for our 2 career fairs every year. It's not a paid job but we are still employed by Disney, we still get the perks, we're still Cast Members. The magic follows us from Florida back to school.

My last career fair and DCP presentation was this past Thursday. Do you know where I was? I was up there, talking about my past experience. I was answering questions and representing Disney.  I was up there with people who were strangers to me at one point and now where friends. I was up there with Chef Pauli who once gave me the most intimidating job interview and now he's helping to shape my career.

I had a really tough time coming back from my first program. and I'm still having a tough time. The months of July-November were when it was easiest to make it through because I was back in Disney. There have been days where I have not wanted to get out of bed. Where I literally do sleep the day away because I don't want to face it. But I always got out of bed for rep work, I was always excited to help with interviews when one might have seen it as boring. I don't like talking in front of people but I love talking about Disney and sharing what I know about it with others.

Being a rep was a key element about my last 2 years at JWU. I encourage DCP alumni, no matter where you go to school, to look into it. It's been a fun and magical journey working for Disney and I'm glad the pixie dust has been able to follow me wherever I go.

If you have any questions on what it's like to be, or become a Campus Rep, please leave them in the comments bellow!

Hello There, Remembe Me?

Happy New Year everyone!

Yeah, that's how long it has been since I have made a post on here and I feel really bad about that. My second trimester was my last set of baking labs for school and with my work study I ended up being out from about 7-7 and that the last thing my fingers wanted to do was type.

But this past week the recruiter from the Culinary Program has been at my school so as a Rep I have been busy recruiting and giving out information and doing presentations. and I thought you know, why not give this blog a shot again? My other blog is way too cluttered with other things for anyone to find anything on it so at least with this blogger, it's just my Disney journey.

Which, is starting again! On September 8th I will be checking in to my 3rd Disney Culinary Program and will be going back to the Epcot Bakery to bake for the Food & Wine Festival!

As of right now, my dates are 9/8-1/2 but I do plan on extending and if full-time becomes available, finding my own place and permanently residing in Florida.

I'll be returning to Walt Disney World which is all too familiar to me but this will still be a major life adjustment. I have never been away from my family for Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's. I have never completely moved away from my family as far as Florida. I will be apartment hunting, car shopping (mind you I haven't driven in nearly 3 years) and going from the CP life to the CM life.

But I'm excited. This is where I'm meant to be, I know it. and I am so thankful to have a job and boss who is so understanding back home that if for some reason I have to leave and come back, I have something to return to. My family says they may even move to Florida in time.

So that's where I'm at right now. Graduating in May, working throughout the summer, starting a CP in September and after that, I have no idea!