Where Am I?

Where in the world is Meg?

Still New Jersey, but not for long! 3 weeks from right now I will be sprawled out in a big king size bed all to myself probably eating vending machine crap for dinner watching whatever is on the TV in the Holiday Inn across from Vista.

I hope these 3 weeks go by fast but I hope they drag on so slow all at the same time. I want to go back to my Epcot job but I don't want to punch out of my job up here for the last time. I want to go back to seeing the cast of characters but not leave the cast of characters I call my friends and family. I feel a little bit more torn up this time knowing that this is it, I'm buying a one way ticket not knowing when I'm coming back. I know I'm going to try and take a week off to come home in the beginning of next year but still, you just don't know.

Hercules was sad to leave his family, Rapunzel was reluctant to leave her tower, but man oh man, look at what they went on to.

Hopefully I end up like Rapunzel and find myself my own Flynn Rider...a girl can dream right?

Genie, I'm Gonna Miss You

As you all know, we lost a very profound star in not just the Disney family, but entertainment community as a whole. I have grown up watching Aladdin so many times over my life and laughed and was happy and tonight was the first time it actually made me sad.

Robin struggled with a disease the touches so many, including myself. I've been struggling the past 2 years and know what it is like to feel low and then to have a good streak and think you're getting better only to get crushed again. I know what it's like so stay in bed and not want to move, to be curled up in the corner of your room on the floor having a complete panic attack, to completely see yourself change. and it sucks.

I guess the point of this post is to show all of you that you are not alone in no matter what you face, that there is always someone you can reach out and talk to and if depression is what you're going through, you can talk to me. I know it seems weird to be happy and in Disney and still feel down but depression is just a part of your life, it's not the only thing. One of the greatest things I read in light of Robin's passing was a post saying that he was funny, he was caring, he was generous, and he was sad. You're never just sad.

So to Robin, someone who played such an important part of my childhood whether it was as Peter Pan, a charming nanny, a risk taker playing Jumanji, a mad scientist and his Flubber, a teacher, Teddy Roosevelt, thank you for granting so many wishes to smile and be happy.

Q&A: Pastry Interview

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!