"Mousecatraz" REALLY??

I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter. - Walt Disney

So, after hearing about one of the January group being terminated I was slightly worried. He had made it seem like he had done nothing wrong and was fired for no reason. This got me wondering, WHY would Disney spend so much money and time on recruiting international students only to send them packing for the littlest of things?

I decided that I need to know more and after speaking to a few friends in the January group, I found out that he had fallen asleep during training and traditions, and had not been paying attention on the job!!! Now personally if i was to visit a park in which someone like that was incharge of my safety (especially in the water as he was a LIFEGUARD!!) i would be worried. However I still thought it a good idea to see if there was any other cases of termination and found that apart from the guy who wrote mousecatraze, who was terminated for drug possession and four men that were terminated relating to the rape of another cast member, not many had been terminated. Those others that had been however were also terminated for the use or abuse of illegal substances or alcohol and sometimes calling in to often as "sick".

Now this may just be me but why would you take a job when you are willing to call in sick every chance you get?? You can do that at home and its alot less travelling for you. If you are actually sick that often then maybe its not the place for you, it does state that you will be working under pressure and difficult conditions!! Also if you cant hide your hangover and work professionally through the pain then simply don't drink so much the night before work... These are very simple solutions to not so difficult problems.

While looking up the termination rate of WDW ICPers, I also found the original article published that lead to the writting of mousecatraz. So naturally I read it, the comments on it and parts of mousecatraz. Honestly, I feel like these people thought that because it was Disney World it wasnt like a REAL job. They complain about the long hours, the apartment complexes, roommates and managers. Now, I am in no way saying that WDW ICP is going to be MAGICAL and perfect, but I do have what I consider realistic expectations. The first being that the hours will be long, weekdays, weekend and holidays too, and also that the work will be hard. Secondly, we will not be staying at a five star hotel with a maid service. If you think its dirty, then clean it. If you can't handle dorm living then your in the wrong place and if you were born with a silver spoon it may not be to your standards. As for dealing with roommate you dont like, you will just have to get over it. Life is full of people that are going to piss you off...its inevitable, just like human stupidity so work it out and rely on Natural Selection. Finally, as a resident of KGBC (love you all) im just going to say, people what do you think is going to happen when you place a large number of Uni students in the same place to live and work????? YEH, there will be sex and drinking and the outrageously stupid and of course the gossip that comes with all of that. Some things will make you want to laugh and other will make you cry, but take it with a grain of salt, a shot of tequila and either remember it as an experience you made it through or keep shoting until you don't remember a thing.

So after all this Im thinking WDW ICP is going to be just like normal, there will be ups and downs, your will love some aspect while hating others. BUT no one but you can ruin your experience take the good with the bad and work through the horrible until you find the amazing. Now if i go and my experience is as epically bad as the stories i have heard i will eat my own words, but not before i try and make the best out of my situation.

One final thing is to my Disney Recruiter, Thankyou so much for not telling me you would pull some strings and get me a job way beyond my experience level. I probably would not have believed you if you had, but your honesty was appreciated.


TO READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://jimhillmedia.com/guest_writers1/b/cast_member_corner/archive/2004/03/15/1189.aspx

My Disney Prince!

So, as many of my amazing friends will tell you I'm really not one to believe in True love and the perfect match for each person. I like realism, the idea that people go through life and they spent periods of there lives with the people that they love in those moments. The people we love come and go, and the love we feel for others changes pretty often. There are people that you never want to let go of and for me they are my friends, as a general rule I don't date people that I want to be around in 10 years and because of this rule the people I love the most are the ones I trust, they are the ones that are there even when you don't expect them to be. One of those people for me is already at Disney, and I am missing him like crazy....we went from being in the room next door, too living in different houses and now too different countries for the next six months. The other I will leave in six months when I go, but I will do it with a smile and the hope that he's somewhere to be found when I get back. The third person will be making the trip with me, so I will have someone amazing to share it all with as we go!!

Having said all this I do have a Disney prince, and yes if he becomes in anyway a real man, I will eat my words and admit to Mel that love may in fact exist.... but that's a long shot. lol. Anyway my Disney Prince is Aladdin. I'll take a magic carpet ride with him any day. Now the reason I'm mentioning this is for all the lady's who want to pick their Disney princes after viewing them in a new light.

H-E-L-L-O handsome, this is for sure my Disney prince, although I will admit Mr Turner is looking sooooo Hot to. So take a look and see who your Disney prince is. 

Wild Disney Princes

So Much To Do!

OK, So there is 200 days left until I leave for DISNEY!!!! I'm so excited, the plan so far is to head to LA on the 28th of July and stay there for three days to do a bit of site seeing before I head to Orlando. I should land in Orlando on the 2nd of August which will give me plenty of time to get over the jet lag before I check in at Disney. I have so much to do before I leave though. I have to: 

• Get my background check and send it off
• Organise my Visa 
• Pay for my Visa 
• Organise to go to Sydney for visa interview
• Travel Insurance
• Book and pay for Flights to LA
• Book and pay for my flight from LA to Orlando 
• Pay my Program assessment fee 
• Organise and pay for accommodation in LA
• Book and pay for Holiday Inn accommodation in Orlando

I have made a start though, I have spoken to my travel agent and she is seeing if I can get the advertised flights to LA for $1083 on the dates I need and she is also trying to get my Insurance down to $800 for the year. The accommodation I can book and pay for online when I get my flights and the background check is $60 but can only be done 6 months prior to the start date of the program so I will get that done in March. I'm hoping that breaking up the expenses and paying bit by bit that it wont seem like I'm spending so much. All in all I am pretty organised. So I'm not stressing just yet.

Without Music my life knows no Passion.

Honestly, you have to be passionate about something that is going to make your finger tips turn purple and bleed, but you keep going anyway because it makes you feel things that nothing else does. So this is just something else to know about me, I love music, I love to play, listen and feel it.

Now to relate this piece of information to Disney in the smallest way, so Disney is in Florida and Florida is in the U.S of A and while I am in the U.S my number one thing on my GIANT list of things to do is: Go to Seattle and stand in the place Kurt Cobain was standing while I was being born. I know its odd, I still want to do it. Also only now am I realising just how much older then me he would have been. With this second bit of information about me you are all probably thinking I am weird, and your right I am. I do a lot of weird and wonderful things but they make me smile and when I'm smiling I like to make other people smile!

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not!

So I'm starting a blog to write mainly about my experience with the Walt Disney International Program. I got accepted in November 2011 for the August 2012 intake! I'm really excited to be going, mostly because I love to travel and I haven't been to the states but also because who wouldn't want to work at Disney World!! 

I have a friend who is over there at the moment and another that is heading over tomorrow (Rob good luck, have fun and don't forget my maps). I also have another friend Melissa who will be heading over when I go in August. So the application process and interview stage were pretty straight forward and kind of enjoyable. I would like to say thank-you to the International recruiter who did my interview, she made me feel so comfortable and she was so friendly. However, I do want her job so I won't be too nice just in case I steal here place. lol. 

So, first things first. As the title says I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not, so I'm going to tell you a bit about me! I am rather difficult to get to know, I get along better with guys then girls (except for a Miss Jennifer Cornethwaite and Melissa Wells), I can be very judgemental, I love my friends and family but sometimes they just drive me crazy. 

I really like Photography and travel and the two combined make me crazy happy. I take my camera everywhere. I have backpacked through Europe, shopped till I dropped in Thailand and went on the worlds best road trip with some pretty amazing people (Rob, Jenn and Jess) to Uluru and outback Australia. They are memories I wouldn't change for the world.

Other then taking photos my self I love the work of one Jennifer Cornthwaite. Check out her work its amazing. http://jennifercornthwaitephotography.com/

Now while I love Disney especially Aladdin, I don't particularly like Disney pop stars, there music sometimes makes me want to cry! I love quite a lot of music, Nirvana (I have a slight obsession with Kurt Cobain), Upon Collide and Boyce Avenue. I love acoustic guitar, which leads to the problem of me getting mine to Florida with me, but i'm sure i'll work it out. 

So there is a little bit about me, and you can take it or leave it.