I have returned!

So I am officially (as of 2 days ago) finished with this semester.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! HAPPY DANCE!!!

That is not only exciting because this semester has been hellacious but also because that means I have more time to update this thing! woot woot! If I am totally honest even though I don't update this thing like I should, I love it. I love going back and reading what I wrote when I was on my CP. I wish I had written more. I guess that is just the promise I will have to make to myself next time around, to write more frequently.

I'm not going to lie, I see CP blogs with a ridiculous ammount of followers and I am jealous. I want people to find this stuff interesting and helpful and decided to follow it. But I don't want to go out and solicit for that. Not to say I'm not happy with my 42 followers! I am! I LOVE YOU ALL! I love to look at the stats for this blog and see that even if people don't follow it, they visit. It just makes me incredibly happy.

Nerdy Marion is looking forward to starting the process of applying not just to get started (which is a huge reason) but to document it. I want to be helpful to others. :D

So! In other news... Holiday season means possible Disney gifts. I got myself a super adorable sweater from the Forever 21 Minnie Mouse inspired Minnie Muse line. I will take a picture of me in my super cute sweater soon. :) I asked for a few Disney books for Christmas so we shall see if I get them. The Blockbuster near my aunts house was closing so she called and asked me what movies I might want. She got me 14 movies, most of which are Disney. So I will be getting some of those for Christmas although some will be saved for my birthday in March.

In other really freaking exciting news... I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!! for a 10 day vacation. :D And that vacation starts in exactly 25 days, 2 hours, and 26 mins (the time my flight leaves Houston). I bought my tickets at the end of October for $150.60. That is for a round-trip non stop flight. 8O (read that as a shocked face) Southwest had a deal going on at the time I bought them. The next day the same tickets on the same flights cost around 120 dollars more. To say the least I am quite happy with the deal I got. :) 

I am so beyond excited to go back home. Many of my friends will be there at the same time including some of the all important training group.  I will be staying those 10 days with my twin/bff. Which is super awesome because I miss him like crazy but also because that means I don't have to spend money on a hotel room. I will get to play for 10 days in the happiest place on earth and the place I call home. I may try to pick up a shift not because i need to (thank you seasonal june/july) but because I miss my job. I want to experience that magic again. The one thing I am not looking forward to is having to come back home. I know it is going to just suck. It will make me experience PDD all over again.On the bright side when I come back from my vacation there will only be about 2 weeks (ish) till applications come out.

EEEEEKKK ACK! JOY!

On a side note I think I am going to start that Disney 30 day challenge. It may end up taking more than 30 days since my vacation will fall in the middle of the challenge. And lets be honest here, I'm not sure how dedicated I will be to posting the 30 day challenge while on vacation. However it would probably be good practice for making myself post even when busy with other Disney things. Hummm.. I accept this challenge. I'm going to rock it!

That is all for now. Love you all!
-M

PDD Attack

I'm not sure why, but I have been missing Disney all day. I always miss it but today has been particularly bad.

I saw a status today from a girl who I was on the CP with that said something along the lines of "today is my first day as full time and tomorrow is my one year anniversary with Disney." I'm not even going to try and lie. I am incredibly jealous of this person. She went to the extension auditions, got pulled for face, and now works in Entertainment. If that isn't a reason for me to be jealous then the fact that she is now FT in entertainment is. I know of another CP that I had chatted with before arriving in Orlando that is now part-time and a GT (I'm not entirely sure what that is but it is some sort of sub-management role, perhaps like a Entertainment Captain...). I am jealous of her too.

I am jealous of everyone that stayed in Orlando. I don't regret coming back to Austin and SEU. I know I am better off for coming back to finish my degree. I can't tell you how many people, including multiple managers, who told me to go back and finish my degree. Don't stay and get sucked in. I know that happens so much too. One manager in particular, Jeremy (my NSYNC connection lol), said that CPs stay, they get sucked in, and never finish their degrees. They end up as a Disney cog. I have far bigger ambitions than being a cog in the Disney machine. Maybe I am vain and full of myself but I think I am far better than that. So while I am jealous of those two, and really all of the people that I know that stayed in Orlando, I know that I did what was best for me.

In other anxious Marion because of Disney news...

I know absolutely no one wants or cares to hear  about this topic but oh well. Its my blog.  Any time I think about auditioning to be a performer I get all anxious. I want to pass and be a performer so bad. The first time I auditioned I honestly was just so confident and excited and didn't have any idea what I was getting myself into. It was a impulse decision to audition and I went into thinking, I'm for sure going to pass. The second time I had a better idea of what I was getting myself into. I knew it was competitive, but I still thought I can do this. I went in so hopeful due to an email I got after  I auditioned the first time, which looking back at now, I'm not sure it means what I thought it did. And I was so excited because I knew even if I didn't pass I would be going on a CP and that was just so amazing.

This time around I am so very aware of how few people pass the audition and are accepted as CP performers. I know exactly what I am going up against and what I am getting myself into. And since I have done a CP already that consolation prize isn't quite as sweet. Each time I have auditioned it has become that much more important to me to pass. After working with performers for 7.5 months I want it so bad it makes me anxious to think about auditioning. I want to be confident and sure that I will pass. I want to allow myself to day dream about finding out I am a performer and then getting to tell everyone. But I just can't let myself. I'm still to anxious and unsure. And that just sucks.

I think having so many performer friends is a bit of a curse at this point. I know I can do what they do. I am as confident in that as I am in my academic abilities (which is a whole lotta confidence. I'm a bit smug in my school abilities). On days like today I see their facebook statuses, pictures, and videos and it just makes me sad/jealous/hopeful/ack!

Its obviously just been one of those days. Can it just be 2011 already so I can get this process started again?


-M

Still fighting

It feels like the fight to get my school to recognize the college program is a never ending fight. I have finally managed to get the transcript for the CP class I took (Disney Corporate Analysis) to my registrar. The first time I ordered it, it never made it to my school. I think it must have gotten lost in the mail. But ACE was super awesome and called my registrars office and then mailed another copy (with no charge to me) when it was confirmed the registrar never got it.

So now that it has finally made it to school I am having to fight to get it to count for the correct credit. As it currently stands it counts as just an elective. The problem with this is that a year ago (maybe longer since I may have originally talked to Kim when I applied for the Fall 09 program) I was told by an Assistant to the Dean of the school of humanities that it would count as an Organizational Communication elective. So based on that I have registered for classes thinking I only need regular electives, not communication electives. And now Kim, the assistant, is telling me that she needs more information about the course in order to give me credit. Now this is all fine, dandy, and understandable but it would have been much nicer if she had mentioned this way back when I asked her about credit last fall. I have been under the impression that it is definitely going to get credit. And now I find out that is not necessarily true.

Super frustrating. I would have gotten her all of my course materials earlier in the semester had I known this. I'm not really worried about getting the communication credit. Looking at the course materials it is easy to see that it relates to communication classes at SEU. In fact I even left sticky notes all over the packet of course materials pointing out all of the similarities. And if it doesn't count as a communication elective, I will just drop the general electives I will be taking next semester and overload into a communication class. I'm a graduating senior so its not like they are going to deny me.

I guess the moral of this story for any future CPers is to stay on top of your school. If they say they are going to give you credit, keep in contact with them about that. And get started on getting that credit as soon as you get back from your program. DON'T WAIT! Because if your school doesn't have a stream lined process for doing the College Program, your likely to encounter difficulties.

-M

A Year (ish) Ago Today...

A year (ish) ago today I was auditioning to be a character performer for the Spring 2010 program. I believe the exact ate was actually Nov 4th, but who really cares about the minor details. :D

I can't believe that it has been a year. It feels like both yesterday and a really long time ago. I met both Lauren and Geoffery, people I call friends, at the audition. I also met some other CPs that I still occasionally chat with.

The audition was a great experience. I am looking forward to doing it one more time and hopefully passing this time. I think the one thing that I maybe didn't do the last two times I auditioned was really just relax. I want to be a performer so bad that its hard to just relax and be myself. I am a goof ball and if I can just chill out enough to truly be myself I think I will do better. :)

-M

Why do you love the Disney College Program?

So I was stalking the dis boards college program thread ( a everyday occurrence for me now) and someone asked the question "Why do you love the Disney College Program?" This was my response and I liked it so much I decided to post it here.

"Where to start? B/c seriously the CP was the best 7 months of my life.

Going to see the last nighttime space shuttle launch and not getting home until 7am the next morning (it didn't even end up launching lol)

Watching Wishes with my training group friends the night of our last day of training

Watching wishes with those same training group friends on our last night as CPs.

Meeting Chip and Dale in their rescue ranger outfits and pretty much all of the welcome parties.

Regularly getting to ride on golfcarts (pargos) with world famous celebrity characters like Mickey Mouse.

Seeing the joy on children (and adults) faces when they meet their favorite character.

Getting paid to play with characters everyday

Dancing with Characters while working the Rock-N-Glow dance parties.

Learning the Hoedown Throwdown with Chip, Dale, and Pluto for the Rock-N-Glow dance party.

Watching Buzz and Woody have a dance off and then do the single ladies dance all while onstage.

Going to the parks whenever you want.

Seeing Joey Fatone, a childhood idol, while working. Really more importantly being within 5 feet of him. It was a bit of a spazz out moment.

Watching SpectroMagic with friends, screaming characters names and getting lots of character attention because of it.

Singing and dancing to High School Musical 3 and the Power Rangers music.

Meeting Chewbacca and an Ewok.

Seeing Darth Maul and Darth Vader walking around back stage. That never got old.

Going to Epcot for my 21st birthday and watching Illuminations with friends.

Dancing like a fool to Block Party Bash and getting to dance like a fool in the parade a few times

Meeting my best friend who I call my twin. I donno how I lived without him in my life.

Meeting, working with, and making friends with some of the most amazing people ever.

Honestly the people you meet and the friends you make are probably the best part of the CP. Working for Disney is amazing but the bonds you make while there are truly something special. I love my D-fam and I know I will be friends with many of them for the rest of my life."

-M

Slowly growing...

The Fall 2011 group is slowly growing which makes me very happy. I remember when I joined back in July it was a tiny group. I don't remember the exact number but it wasn't that many. For a long time we hovered just under 100 people but now we are up to 140! :) Yay D-Fam!!

For some reason I feel like this group is taking a long time to grow. And it isn't super active. We are about 3 months out from when applications will go up. (140 days till Jan 20th which is when they went up last year!) For Spring 2011 3 months out was July and at that time there were regular chats going on. I realize its different because July = summer aka no school and few responsibilities and October = school, midterms, and lots of responsibilities. So they really aren't comparable. I just hope that this group is a lively bunch that gets close like the spring 2010 group did. If not oh well... (not really oh well! I want a close D-Fam!!)

I have been really good about taking monthly (sometimes more frequently that just once a month) pictures of the CP google map. It is so cool. OOOH! I just thought up a good t-shirt idea.. lol. Perhaps a picture of the first google map and then one near when we start... :D NERDA MARION! ... Anyways I thought I would post the pictures here.

This is the first picture of the group Map. 8/7/10

9/10/10

Only a few additions from September. 10/8/10

That is pretty much all I have for this post. I do have a rather cool screen shot of me on the CP website with Patrick and Lindsey. I will post that here soon. Perhaps with a discussion of housing events.

-M

Happy Birthday Walt Disney World!

39 years ago today the most magical place on earth, Walt Disney World opened to the public. In my opinion that is definitely a reason to celebrate.
In case you are wondering that picture is indeed of Cinderella's Castle. In 1996, for the 25th anniversary of the park, the castle was painted pepto-bismol pink and decorated as a cake. Most people find this to be absolutely atrocious. I tend to agree. I will say I think it looks interesting however, if you are only able to go to Disney World once in your life and you happened to go in 1996 and that is the castle that graces your pictures, I would be a bit pissed. I actually went to Disney both in 1995 and 1996 and on one of those trips saw it being painted. Let me tell you my family flipped our shit, we had no idea why it was being painted and were afraid it might be permanent. Thank god it wasn't. :)

-M