Thursday, January 28, 2010

Long time no entry

I feel bad that I sort of abandoned this blog, but I'm back and have lots of news about Disney College Program stuff!!

For awhile I was going through a rough patch with all this stuff, trying to figure out what classes I could take through e-learning with my college so I could be a full time student and stay on my parents health insurance, but now all of that is figured out! I am going to take math, survey 2 (art history) and an english elective. It will kind of suck to be taking classes while at Disney World, but if it's the only way I can do the program than I will do it. I will only be taking classes from mid september until mid november so it really isn't even that long.

On January 20th I filled out the online application and passed! Which I was getting kind of freaked out about because there were people who didn't pass it! :-/
When I did the survey I just went with my gut instinct on the questions and tried to be honest with myself.
and I passed! after 4 hours of trying to fill it out and having to fill it out multiple times (because I accidentally clicked out of it) I completed it!

The next day I called right after my 8 am drawing class to schedule the phone interview. My time was 11:00 am on Monday the 25th.

It didn't hit me until Monday morning that I was doing an interview. I took an hour and tried to prepare the best I could for it mainly by writing down an answer to the question they always ask: Why do you want to work for Disney?

About 20 or so minutes before my interview I went to my car so I could do the interview there because I wanted a quiet space to myself. A few minutes after 11 my phone started ringing with a Blocked number. I answered it knowing it was someone calling to interview me.

I thought my interview went pretty well! One of the first questions she asked me (I don't remember her name) was why I wanted to do this program with Disney as opposed to another internship. I said how I have always loved Disney and that it is my dream to be a Disney animator. This made my interview go "awww" and she said "yea, I see on your application that your major is animation"

Then she pointed out how I had only checked 3 roles (QSFB, Attractions, and merchandise) and asked if these were the only 3 roles I was willing to do or just my top picks. I told her they were just my top picks and that I would be willing to do other roles if it was the only way I could participate in the program. She then went through all the other roles and asked which ones I would be willing to do. I added main gate operations, transportation, and concierge to my list.

She asked me about my prior work experience and I told her that I have never had a job per say, but that I have done a lot of volunteer work. I then went into specifics about the work I have done and she seemed impressed with it. All of the work I have done has been with children which I think is a good thing because at Disney you interact with a lot of kids and families.

Another question she asked me was about dealing with roommates. I said how I was fine living with roommates and how we would most likely get along because we all will share a love for Disney. She asked if I had roommates and I told her how I have two roommates and how we get along great and do everything together.

Then we talked about my top roles. I told her how my top role was attractions and then merchandise and QSFB were tied for second. She asked me if I had ever handled money before and I said not really, but that I was good with math.

I really pushed for attractions though. She asked if I would rather work indoors or outdoors and I said indoors (it is still hot in August) but that I would work outdoors if I could do attractions. I suggested maybe that I could work at Space Mountain or Pirates of the Caribbean. She then asked if I worked at Pirates if I was comfortable with public speaking and I told her I had taken a public speaking course last quarter at school, but that although I COULD act and talk in a piratey voice while working at Pirates of the Caribbean, maybe I would be better working somewhere like Splash Mountain (where you just load people onto the ride)

She then was like "you must be familiar with Disney World and all it has to offer because you are naming specific attractions" and I told her that I go to Disney World at least once a year.

After this the interview was over. It lasted 18 minutes and I think it went pretty well....
now I must wait and see if I get in. I keep playing the phone interview over and over in my head and thinking of how I could have done it differently etc. etc.

It has only been 3 days since the interview and I'm so anxious to know whether I'm in or out!

I'm really hoping this works out!!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

E-mail fail


A couple of days ago I tried to e-mail the person at my school to ask all the questions I needed to ask about doing the Disney College program, such as:

how would rooming work when I get back to college?
would it be better to do it in the fall or spring? (I really don't care about the answer to this question because I want to do it in the fall really badly, lol)
would I be back at college in time for when winter quarter starts?

etc. etc.

So I typed out this looooong email, sent it, only for it to be sent back to me :-(

Basically I'm back at square 1 not knowing how any of this is going to work out...

but it will work out! I have a good feeling about it :-)

Yesterday I was thinking and realized that if the Jonas Brothers were in the Disney Christmas Parade next year (like they have been for 2 years in a row) I will be in Disney World when it is filmed! However... I will probably be working... but maybe not! this is just wishful thinking on my part, but you never know!

Also, for the past couple of days I have been watching Disney animated films I have never seen before. So far I have watched:

The Black Cauldron
Home on the Range
Treasure Planet

and right now I'm in the process of watching "The Great Mouse Detective"

strange I have never seen any of these films before... but better late than never!
and hopefully someday I will be animating Disney films :-)

oh! and this morning I watched this special that was on abc called "Dreams Come True: A Celebration of Disney Animation"
Basically it was celebrities talking about their favorite moments from Disney animated movies and then also talking about the newest Disney 2D animated film: The Princess and the Frog

is it lame that it made me cry? I just want to work for Disney so badly! especially as an animator. Whenever I watch something like this, or like when I watched the extras on my Lion King DVD about how they made the movie it inspires me because I hope that it is me someday talking about how I animated some classic Disney film.


Friday, December 4, 2009

Miley Cyrus Concert and Disney Store trip!

This past Sunday I went to go see Miley Cyrus in Atlanta, GA. :-D

but before I get to that, I want to talk about going to the Disney store!

Basically, when you put me in a Disney store I am mesmerized by everything in it and want everything in it.

The store had a big Princess and the Frog section which made me happy :-) *crosses fingers that the movie does really well so I can be a 2D Disney animator*

It also had a pretty big toy story section (the double feature in 3D was AMAZING!, I saw it for my birthday)

and of course, my favorite: a stuffed animal section!

Also the store (being a Disney store) had statues (not the best word, but work with me) of a bunch of different Disney characters around the perimeter of the store (these statues are part of the store)
and they had one of Simba in the Mad Hatter's hat! and one of Timon and Pumba wearing Aladin's prince hat! This made me extremely happy because the Lion King is my favorite movie!

I ended up buying (all this stuff I have to wait until Christmas to get, but it will be well worth it):

The Princess and the Frog Soundtrack
mini plush of Prince Naveen and Princess Tiana (as frogs)
Simba plush
Ham (from Toy Story) piggy bank
Mickey Plush (it was 5 dollars because we bought a bunch of other stuff)

After going to the Disney Store my mom and I drove to the Philips arena to see Miley! I seriously was the oldest person there, but I didn't care, I had just as much fun (probably more fun) than any of the younger kids there.
I was 16th row on the floor I think and had a great view! Metro Station opened (Trace Cyrus the lead singer is the brother of Miley) and I enjoyed them even though I only know one of their songs.
Miley was great! She sang all of her well known songs (no Hannah Montana songs though, so no Best of Both Worlds or Nobody's Perfect) and there were a lot of cool things that happened during the show. I mean, she flew right over my head on a motorcycle, kind of cool :-)

She ended the show by singing "The Climb" from the Hannah Montana Movie which is one of my favorite songs so it couldn't have ended better.
After the show my mom and I had to drive back to Savannah and we got home around 2am (I was exhausted by this point)

Not much news on the Disney College Program front...

I really really need to email this person from my college and ask her how rooming and classes and all this other stuff would work if I'm doing the program this fall.
I'm getting worried that it's not going to work out. I mean, I'm definitely going to do the program at some point, but I'm starting to worry that it isn't going to work out for me to do it this fall. :-/
I think it will! I'm going to apply and if I get in then it will put things in motion and I will end up doing it!

and on other random Disney side notes:

I finished Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days yesterday! It is so good! I am eagerly awaiting to play the next game in the series!!

AND

The Princess and the Frog will be out in theaters in exactly one week!!! It is going to be amazing! I haven't been this excited for a movie in a long time!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Not really any new news


I don't have much news...

I just kind of wanted to update anyway :-)

As days go by I'm getting more and more excited about maybe being able to do the Disney College Program this Fall.

This excitement is coming from MAYBE being able to do the program. I can only imagine how excited I will be if and when I work this out with my school and my parents and if I get accepted.

On another Disney note though:

Tomorrow I'm going to see Miley Cyrus in Atlanta!!

Even though I'm 19 I still love her. Her music is just upbeat and catchy and I love singing along and trying to make my voice sound like hers.

Also! and I may be even more excited about this than the actual concert...

I might be going to a Disney store tomorrow! It is 28 minutes away from the Philips Arena and since my mom and I aren't staying in a hotel tomorrow we need something to do between the time we get to Atlanta and the time the concert starts!

We used to have a Disney store where I live (Savannah), but sadly it closed years ago. As a kid I would go there every time I went to the mall and look at all the Disney stuffed animals in the pit and try and convince my parents to buy me something (which sometimes I succeeded at). ;-) Purchases I remember making (some of the stuff I still have) include:

A Cinderella flip book
A Flubber plastic figurine with green goo inside him
Stuffed animals of the mice from Cinderella
A pluto glass figurine
Glass figurines of Mrs. Potts and Chip
Stuffed Timon

and I'm sure a bunch of other stuff too that I no longer have :-(

I love going to Disney stores now because they all pretty much look the same as the one that used to be in Savannah and it brings back so many good memories from when I used to go there as a kid.

so hopefully I will get to make a visit to the Disney store tomorrow :-)

and hopefully I will get to do the college program in Fall of 2010!

it will be like being at the Disney Store everyday! except better because it's Disney World!

Friday, November 27, 2009

Intro


I am no stranger to blogging/vlogging/twittering/etc.

for all these things you must start out with some sort of intro, so here I go :-)

My name is Kate and I live in Savannah, GA

Home to a lot of historic buildings...

and also the place where they shot "The Last Song" with Miley Cyrus last summer!

There is an insight into how my mind works right there...
the most interesting thing about Savannah to me is that they shot a Disney movie here
with Miley Cyrus who I'm going to see in concert in Atlanta this Sunday!

basically I am THAT Disney kid

I have been to Disney World at least once a year since I was 3 (for a total of about 22 times, I have kind of lost count)
My favorite movie of ALL time is the Lion King
My movie collection is 99% Disney movies
I have quite a large collection of Disney stuff in my room (mainly just junky stuff like old McDonalds toys and other small objects)
I just realized that I'm watched Disney Channel right now (in other words, it's always on my tv)
My favorite band is the Jonas Brothers (who have their own show on Disney Channel and are signed to Hollywood Records, owned by Disney) who I have seen 10 times in concert and met last summer in Atlanta because I won a contest through my local radio for having the best Jonas room (my room is kind of scary, I don't deny it!)
One of the highlights of my day today was when my mom found some old Disney park maps and a packet of stuff from when we stayed at the Grand Floridian back in 97

I could go on and on about my level of Disney obsessedness

but I will stop there...

for now ;-)

I am a freshman at the Savannah College of Art and Design aka SCAD
so I didn't go very far to go to college...
only about 20 or so minutes away from my house
so the Disney College Program is going to be my first time ever leaving my house for a significant period of time... kind of weird...
but I don't think there is a better place to do it than what I consider my second home: Walt Disney World

where I hope to meet a lot of new friends!
some of whom I hope share my Disney love :-)

I am attending SCAD as an animation major
In hopes that when I graduate I can get a job as an animator for Disney!
I would LOVE to do 2D animation (I'm beyond excited for the Princess and the Frog, December 11th!! go see it! it is going to be amazing!!)
but I also want to learn how to do CGI stuff (love love Meet the Robinsons and Bolt)
and I love Pixar as well!
I also really really want to do voice acting!
I mean, how cool would it be to be the voice of a Disney character? then it is sort of like having your own personal Disney character!
and maybe dabble in some ride design

basically I want to do it all!

and I feel like the Disney College Program is the first step in my hopeful future career with the Disney Company.
I'm not too picky when it comes to what role I want to do...
hopefully working on one of the rides or in a gift shop
food service would be good too!
I was staying at the Wilderness Lodge one summer and have this memory of a bunch of what looked like college programmers working in the kitchen, goofing off, and having a great time!

basically, as long as I'm down at Disney, I will be happy :-)

I really hope it works out for me to do this program this Fall! I have been going back and forth with my parents trying to decide whether to do it Fall 2010 or Spring 2010... they are leaning towards Fall 2010 right now, which is also what I want! because I want to do it asap!

because let's see:

I will be at Disney World
with a bunch of kids my age
earning money
eating Disney food whenever I want (that's a big plus, looooove disney food!)
and I will have free theme park admission!
meaning I'm going to be in the parks alllll the time ;-)

and when I'm not in the parks I will still be hanging out with a bunch of other cool college programmers! which is what I want, to make bunches of new friends that will last a lifetime!

I really need to start looking into this more! I mean, I have looked into it a lot, I have wanted to do this program for 2 years now? something like that
and I went to a presentation for it in Statesboro
where I won a Disney College Program pin for answering one of the trivia questions correctly
I have watched the e presentation
and decided when I want to go...
I just need to further decide what rolls I'm going to try for
and which of the places I want to live in
and how this is going to work out with my class schedule and stuff... that's the big issue

AND HOPEFULLY I GET IN!
can't forget that little piece! I haven't been accepted yet! I shouldn't get so ahead of myself

I'm going to get on this tomorrow! or rather... today because it's 12:08am

I will leave with a Walt Disney quote:

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."