Heyya... Firstly, good luck to everyone who have F2F interviews and secondly I'm just inquiring about applying for a year in disney in a few years time as I'm not yet old enough! I need to start thinking about whether its worth going for it because I will need to start raising the money for flights, insurance etc... because I plan to go before I start University and when I'm eighteen.. I obviously will think up back up plans as pinning all hopes on Disney is very optimistic for the amount of people who apply. I'm just looking for the answers to the following questions: 1. How much money did you think I need to think about saving? 2. What experience will I have needed? I plan to get jobs before I go what jobs do you suggest? I also plan on learning sign language will this help my application? 3. I don't plan to be driving, will transport be an issue when I'm there? 4. What's your experience of it all? Worth it? Pros and Cons? Would appreciate both negative and positive views although as I can imagine the positive makes the negative seems so unimportant but will still appreciate balanced views and things you found difficult! Thanks a lot.
Although I've not been accepted onto the CRP yet (F2F interview a week today! ), I can try and answer a couple of your questions from my own research and experience so far: 1) I don't know, but as much as possible, basically! You'll need money for, as you say, your flight, for insurance, for the visa, for spending money once you get there before you've been paid. I don't think that you can overestimate the amount you'd need to save - it's never a bad thing to have more than less money! I'm aiming to have around £1500 saved. 2) In terms of experience, a job in a shop or a restaurant would be perfect for the application (since they're the areas you'd work in over there). Experience isn't necessarily the most important element in an application, though - it's also about presentation of your CV and cover letter. Learning sign language will show your commitment to learning new skills, which would be considered a good thing! I'm not sure the skill itself would help the application, if you see what I mean (certainly wouldn't hinder it though!). 3) Transport won't be an issue at all - there's buses to take you from your accommodation to work, as well as to wherever you want to go on property (and some places off-property, I believe, like Wal-Mart). Most people don't have cars, so you'll be fine! Obviously I can't answer number 4, so hopefully some lovely person on here can
The application process can be expensive, but it can be totally worth it. The face to face interviews are held in London, and you have to be there in the morning, which means finding a way of transport, and possibly a hotel for the night before. You attend a presentation in the morning and then are given an interview time, so you may have some time to kill, so prepare to have some money for lunch or a drink. Also, for the interviews they ask you to wear smart clothes, so if you don't have any, you'll have to buy some - but don't worry, it can be done on a budget! There's many websites that allow you to find the cheapest hotel deal, and there's places where you can buy low budget clothes - my trousers, jacket and shirt came to £20! Your flight and insurance money will all depend on you and the date you get. If you get a date in the school holidays, the flight is likely to be more expensive. You need a minimum of 4 months insurance, and mine only cost me £75 (£77 with my details to be posted to me, but you can print them off!), but like I say it all depends on you, and how much cover you want, and if you have a pre-existing medical condition. Sign language may work to your advantage - as for experience, it varies. I had 2 months in Food and Beverage and 2 months in Retail experience and that worked for me, but I think a lot of it is on personality basis, too. Transport will be provided to take you to Walmart and the parks, and other places I think but I can't remember where. I don't start until August, but like the medical insurance, the pros and cons depend on you as an individual. There's things that some people may enjoy and see as a pro, but you may see as a con.
Hiya! You're planning early!! I've done two summer programs so I can help you to an extent with your questions as quite a few things are the same as with the CRP! 1) Money. Basically, as it stands at the moment you're going to need at least £400-500 for your flight (right now Disney pay your return flight but this may change), about £100 for your visa, £100 for your insurance (as doddi said, to start with you need the first 4 months), £100-ish for the program fee (this pays for housing costs such as transportation, internet, housing activities and admin fees for the year). These are your basic costs that pretty much everyone has to pay - so you're looking at about £800. On top of that you need £200-300 to get you through your first couple of weeks because you won't get a decent paycheck until your third week of working. Soooo... judging on my previous experience, you need about £1000-1200 before you go (scary, huh!). Then you can take spending money and obviously this is up to each individual... for my ICPs I only took about £300-400 spending money for the whole summer and lived on my wages as well but for the CRP I am hoping to be able to save up quite a bit to take with me so I can travel and stuff without worrying about money! 2) Firstly, the sign language - this would be an unusual and interesting skill to have. You may know that if people can speak a second language fluently then they can have this listed on their name badge and it makes them definitely more employable. So, if you can learn sign language to a fluent level then you can also have sign language put on your badge and I am sure this would go down well with your application. Secondly, experience: it would be good to have experience in a retail or food environment for the CRP. I have worked part time in retail for about 6 years which helped my first ICP application because I worked in merchandise but for my second ICP I worked in attractions which was totally random! However, for the CRP it is definitely a good idea to have experience of at least one of these things - the main advantage to F&B is that you can eventually get into a tipped role and earn more money however there are great advantages to merchandise as well, and both roles on the CRP will look amazing on your CV. So my advice there is to try and get a job in one of those areas or even both! 3) Transport is not an issue, no. You will have the delight of using the American Coaches transportation provided for cast members. These buses take you to all the Disney parks and resorts, plus there are extra buses to Walmart, Premium Outlets, Publix and the Florida Mall. It is advantageous to have a car (or know someone that does!!) because it just makes life easier but it's not a necessity so don't worry about that one. 4) Ok, so I haven't done the CRP yet so I can't answer that question exactly. However, I have done my ICPs so I can answer the question from those - YES it's absolutely worth it!! But on three conditions! 1. Be prepared to come back as broke as you went - you don't do the program for the money, 2. Be prepared to work horrendus hours - late into the night, early in the morning and up to 40-50 (some people even do 60+) hours in a week and 3. Be prepared to make the most of every single minute out there!!! It is an exhausting, life-changing experience but I loved it (hense my application to go back!) and yes, you will have low moments such as missing your family or friends back home or maybe having a bad day at work... but the highs way outdo the lows. My advice is go for it and if you hate it; you can always come home! (but you won't!!) Hope this helps!! ;D
Heyya.. Thanks for your replies! Yes, its defiantly very early to start thinking about it but its one of my life-long dreams that I can no longer contain ! It is a lot of money, but personally I did think I would need more to get through my time there etc... very glad that its only around 15 hundred. I am definitely going to start sending out a CV to my local shops etc.. and a few restaurants to see what I get offered. I'm glad that learning sign language will help me become more employable it gives me the intuition to learn sign language as its something that I've had the intention to do for a while. What a huge relief transport it... I am glad there are buses and easy ways around without a car that was the main thing that was worrying me! Finally, can I ask about going when your 18 and clubbing and drinking etc.. I know its illegal to drink under 21 and I was reading about the accommodation they put all the under 18s in! Can anyone tell me more about this?
Okay well there are two types of apartments at the housing complexes - apartments for under-21s (called Wellness apartments) and apartments for over-21 (non-wellness apartments). If you're under 21 then you HAVE to go into a wellness apartment... the bottom line is that if you are caught drinking under the age of 21, have alcohol in your possession (this can even be holding someone else's drink) or keep alcohol in your wellness apartment then you will be 'terminated' (disney speak for fired) and sent back to Britain on the next plane home - no joke! They take underage drinking very seriously on the disney programs and there's no second chances. Under 21s can still go to certain bars and clubs but again, if you're caught drinking (and I've seen it happen when someone sipped from someone else's drink) you'll be chucked out and potentially reported to disney and therefore terminated.... so yeah, that's the drinking laws!
Small question, if you are terminated do disney pay your flight home? I was just thinking what if you had no money.
Disney only plays for your return flight if you have successfully completed the program so if you get termed you have to pay for your own flight back.
I know, I don't even want to think about what the price would be. Or having to make that phone call home. As long as we follow the rules we will be fine though. During the ICP, it seemed most people got termed for underage drinking or attendance.
Right.. Wel if it's that easy! Glad I can stil go clubbing though cos I didn't want my underage to affect my social life ! Haha.. I couldnt imagine breaking the rules and being termed because I drank that is why I plan not to! Thanks however for the help.. Can I just ask another question : How would I get to beaches or is it a case of finding a friend that drives? Sorry, I know I am asking lots of questions for a person who hasn't even applied yet.. You can't fault my enthusiasm!
Yup... you'd probably have to find someone that drives - the beaches are quite a drive away in either direction! (Orlando is kinda right in the middle of Florida as you probably know!) The best thing to do is just don't break the rules! Then you'll never have to make that call home!
if, like myself, you are not going to have a massive stash of money on you when you go to disney and dont have family who can help you out with money etc i would strongly suggest that you apply for a credit card to take with you to america. there is no need to use it at all unless you find yourself in an emergency situation (for example if you have any medical issues that you need to pay for at any point if your insurance doesn't cover it or if the worst happens and you get fired) but it will take away the worry of not knowing how you would get yourself back to the UK if you needed to in a hurry. I got one when i was 21 for this exact reason as i knew that my parents wouldn't be able to help me financially if anything did happen while i was in the USA. I got mine from capital one and they gave me £900 credit limit which was enough to pay for a flight home had i needed it. Thankfully i never needed to use it but it took a weight of worry of my shoulders knowing that i always had the means to get home at any point. something to think about maybe for some of you in the same situation.....
This is a brilliant idea, I second it completely!! I upped my limit on mine for this reason before I went. And you won't be able (or if you can it'll be insanely hard) to get a credit card in the States because you won't have any pre-established credit there.
