Why are introductions are always so long?

I believe that an introduction is in order. For my friends and family who might be reading this, you can probably skip most of this first part it will just be the basics, which you hopefully already know. My name is Marion and I am born and raised southern girl. I currently reside in the great state of Texas but my place of birth (and the city I am really proud to call home) is New Orleans. I have grown to realize that I am a bit of a southern belle, but I am quite proud of that fact. I love my southern foods, love Saints football, have a bit of a twang sometimes, and have an extreme dislike of the cold. I also really love makeup, but that really doesn’t have much to do with being from the south. I am currently a junior at St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX. I absolutely love my school and my current city. I am a Communication major with a focus/specialization in Advertising and Public Relations.

I am a bit of a Disney fan, obviously. :) I believe that as children our generation was either a Disney kid or a Nickelodeon kid. By that I mean we either predominantly watched Nickelodeon and got the Nick magazine or watched Disney and got the Disney Adventures magazine. I was a Disney kid. I actually continued to receive Disney Adventures until I was in like 8^th grade. I found out about the Disney College Program when I went on a bit of a research binge after a vacation at WDW in 2006. I thought it sounded really cool but had to tuck the information away for later since I was just going into my senior year in High School. That information stayed tucked away until Christmas break of 2008. I decided to apply for the fall 2009 program but didn’t actually get around to applying until mid March.

Sometime before I applied I discovered that Disney had discovered a way to shrink their guests so that they could meet Tinkerbell. This discovery prompted my decision to attempt to pass an Entertainment audition so that I could become close friends with Tink. I watched the online presentation, applied, interviewed and was cleared to audition in Austin on April 18^th.

This has changed since I first auditioned but at the time a potential college program participant could audition and if they passed be placed in an entertainment role. However if they did not pass they were not guaranteed another role, the recruiters would try to place you in a role you chose, but the later your audition was the less likely there would be other roles left. That is the gamble an applicant took in order to audition to be in entertainment. April 18^th was about two weeks from the final recruitment deadline of May 1^st so I was risking a lot by choosing to audition but I knew that if I did try I would always regret it. While I thought I did pretty well at my audition, I did not pass. I found out that I had not been accepted the program as a whole before I ever received my email about my audition.

To say the least I was very upset that I was not accepted the program at all. From what I have heard since I applied, Disney received an unprecedented number of applications and I imagine by the time that a decision was made about my audition, there were simply no positions left in the roles I chose. I quickly joined the facebook group for the Spring 2010 WDW College Program and was not alone in being rejected from the Fall 2009 program. I was not positive that I would apply again but as I started to chat with other members of the group I slowly began to get excited about the program again.

When August rolled around and the online presentation went up I knew that I wanted to apply again. I was not sure I would be accepted but I knew I wanted to try again. So I watched the presentation for the second time and applied on August 21st. This season they had changed things up a bit, perhaps to prevent the over abundance of applications like last season, and put a web interview in place. I took the web interview, passed, and then scheduled my interview for the 28^th. Another change put in place this season is that people who choose to audition can be pre-placed into a role (if they check off more than just entertainment on their role checklist) and be accepted into the program before they audition. They can then audition and if they pass their role will change to an entertainment role, however if they do not pass, they will still be in the program. I played the waiting game for 2 weeks and then on September 11^th I found out via email (another new addition) that I had been accepted into the Spring 2010 WDW college program as a Character Attendant.

I had again been cleared to audition and decided to audition in Austin again. Yet another change this season is that all of the auditions were held over a 2 week time period. I auditioned on November 4^th and to be honest did not do as well as I did the first time I auditioned however, I still thought I had a chance. We were told at the audition that we would know via email in 2-3 weeks if we had passed or not. I waited almost 4 weeks before I emailed to ask what my status was. I received a response, which said that I was not being considered for entertainment.

That was earlier this week and brings this blog up to date on my Disney College Program experience. I am a very happy Character Attendant anxiously anticipating the start of my first season with the Big Mouse. My season will last from January 11^th, when I check in till (hopefully) May 14^th when I check out. I shall start my journey from my home in Houston to Orlando in 34 days and have exactly 38 days, 8 hours, and 22 minutes until I can check in at 9 am.So far my road to Orlando and the CP (College Program) has been a long and winding road. They best part is that I have hardly even started!

That is all for this post. I shall be back real soon to talk about the bittersweet feelings that leaving brings.

-M