Any thoughts on my dd's app for Spring 2020?

[jeneric997]

I hope she was able to get a jacket- it's been a little chilly in the mornings- well that's according to DD who thinks anything below 70 degrees is cold! DD's jacket is her favorite part of her costume and I have to admit, it's very pretty. I love all the costumes in the BOG area- the one's back in the store by Gaston's are some of the prettiest I have seen. She looks so happy in the picture! I hope that helps you to feel better when she is so far away!

 

[JBurke]

I know I have plenty of time to think about this, but those of you who have dropped your kids off for DCP, did you stay at a Disney resort for those days that you stayed in town or did you stay off property to be closer to the DCP housing? I assumed we'd stay on property (we're snobs like that. ) but then a friend of ours whose DD did DCP last year (and who also always stays on property) said we would want to stay off property to be closer to the DCP complexes. We will be driving there if that makes any difference. Thoughts? Experience?

We stayed onsite at Coronado Springs. We drove down from Chicago suburbs. Her check-in was January 13, 2020 and we arrived January 10th. That way we could spend a couple days in the park before she started. I helped her move-in on Monday the 13th and I flew out the next day. That was plenty of time as she had things to attend and stuff to do. No need to stay much past after they move-in. Some of roommates parents stayed like 4-6 more days and I think that was too much and kept the kids from getting to know each other better and explore together.

I dont think it matters whether you stay close to complexes or not, especially if you will have your car. She is at Patterson, and it was less than 15 minutes away from Coronado. I would rather stay on-site if I am going to go all the way to Disney. Luckily found a good price. If you want to stay on-site, I would look sooner rather than later. I waited a little to long as we were still deciding on whether she was bringing a car and I didnt have many affordable onsite options.

While she was at Casting, we parked at Disney Springs Grapefruit garage. There are 2 bridges there-one takes you to Casting and one to Disney Springs (World of Disney area to be exact). I just hung out at World of Disney until she was done at Casting (30-40 minutes). Traditions is usually the Friday or Saturday after check-in, and after that they get their pass to get into parks for free. So, if you stay after check-in, your child will still have to buy a ticket to go to any parks.

 

[wendow]

I hope she was able to get a jacket- it's been a little chilly in the mornings- well that's according to DD who thinks anything below 70 degrees is cold! DD's jacket is her favorite part of her costume and I have to admit, it's very pretty. I love all the costumes in the BOG area- the one's back in the store by Gaston's are some of the prettiest I have seen. She looks so happy in the picture! I hope that helps you to feel better when she is so far away!

She did get a jacket! It's gray and not terribly pretty but I hope warm. My dd has been cold a lot too! Despite being from CO, the FL cold is chillier since it's more damp.

My dd is happy but I know she is struggling too. I think it's normal at about the 2-3 week mark for some of the newness to wear off and maybe some questions and regrets to creep up. She says that, and this is specific to BOG, she doesn't ever see out into MK. So, she feels very removed from the park. Also, she says none of the other CP's really talk to her. I'm not sure if they are just an unfriendly group or not many CP's or what. She has a lot of friends down there so I don't think she was expecting to have her BOG coworkers as her entire social network but she was hopeful for some relationships there. Again, she has many friends down there so I'm not worried about her social life at all but it seems weird since it always seems many CP's say their coworkers ended up being their best friends.

 

[jeneric997]

I think some of this is specific to BOG- and morning shifts. They are filled with regular CMs who don't love seeing their shifts given away. DD says the CPs at her location only work nights, so they are all together. She went in on an earlier shift one day and no one talked to her, then she realized they were all the daytime people, who were at the end of their shift.

Did she have other CPs she trained with? They have to be working the days. When DD was training, she was by herself, because the person she was supposed to train with, quit the DCP after the first day at the location. There were other CPs training, but they were in a group together at other "shops". Once they got through training it was much better.

DD is in the middle of 8 days in a row of work and she is dragging. I joked she should fly home since she has 2 days off in a row and she said might take me up on the offer. That's unusual, so I can tell she is just tired.

 

[bluezy]

My daughter got a message from a "friend of a friend" last week asking her some questions about the DCP Phone Interview because she had just gotten to that point in the process. DD didn't even know this girl was applying (she's a friend of DD's BF as well as another friend). DD has met this girl on several occasions and said she's a nice girl. This girl caught the wave yesterday and got her offer. So now they're considering rooming together. Neither one of them has come right out and asked the other one about it but they've both kind of asked questions and hinted at possibly doing it. DD is talking to her BF and the mutual friend about whether they think rooming together is a good idea. If that doesn't work out, DD is very happy that at least she'll know someone else who is there.

 

[jeneric997]

DD's best friend got accepted yesterday- there was a lot of all caps screaming of joy in texts!

 

[wendow]

I think some of this is specific to BOG- and morning shifts. They are filled with regular CMs who don't love seeing their shifts given away. DD says the CPs at her location only work nights, so they are all together. She went in on an earlier shift one day and no one talked to her, then she realized they were all the daytime people, who were at the end of their shift.

Did she have other CPs she trained with? They have to be working the days. When DD was training, she was by herself, because the person she was supposed to train with, quit the DCP after the first day at the location. There were other CPs training, but they were in a group together at other "shops". Once they got through training it was much better.

DD is in the middle of 8 days in a row of work and she is dragging. I joked she should fly home since she has 2 days off in a row and she said might take me up on the offer. That's unusual, so I can tell she is just tired.

I'm not sure if she trained with others or not. I guess I assumed she did. There are definitely other CP's there but I just don't think there are very many at all. They may have had different arrival dates. She just said nobody really talks to her.

Overall she still seems happy! And yes, tired...She is only working 40 hours a week but when she isn't working, she's at the parks. Her day has started at 6:30-8 everyday and when she is off, she goes home for a short nap and then hits parks or resorts with her friends who get off later and she is staying out super late. I checked on her last night and she was still at BC at 1am (when she had to work at 7am). I've gently tried to encourage her to make sure she is getting plenty of rest but what can you do...these are adults who having the time of their life lol!?!

 

[Firepath]

I'm not sure if she trained with others or not. I guess I assumed she did. There are definitely other CP's there but I just don't think there are very many at all. They may have had different arrival dates. She just said nobody really talks to her.

Overall she still seems happy! And yes, tired...She is only working 40 hours a week but when she isn't working, she's at the parks. Her day has started at 6:30-8 everyday and when she is off, she goes home for a short nap and then hits parks or resorts with her friends who get off later and she is staying out super late. I checked on her last night and she was still at BC at 1am (when she had to work at 7am). I've gently tried to encourage her to make sure she is getting plenty of rest but what can you do...these are adults who having the time of their life lol!?!

Wendow, my daughter was at BOG and said she would grab the small sizes whenever she saw them, as they go fast. She used to say she was glad to be stuck in a castle. It made her free time at MK that much more special. Your daughter sounds just like mine, late nights at a park and early to work. Oh, to be young!

 

[Monykalyn]

I’ve been off the boards awhile so sorry for late replies!

It's great she has choices! What role did your DD have that she made a good chunk of money?

she was custodial at a resort (CBR) and managed to save quite a bit. She managed to wait until her 40% discount kicked in before she did most of her shopping. She also had her car, so she went grocery shopping and took her lunch with her most days. Irma hit while she was there and they got paid for the days they were closed (if they had shifts scheduled) plus she was able to pick OT that week helping with cleanup. But I was also down ther at checking in August, October (her bday) Thanksgiving and New Years at end of program so there were times mom paid for stuff lol! The summer she worked at Studios she made money too but didn’t always get as many hours.

According to my DD, nobody helps them & there's really not much info on which pieces each role needs. She said someone else was getting their costume at the time & she helped her.

yeah it’s hit or miss. My DD is 6’2” and the summer she was attractions she had a tough time finding pants long enough until a FT cm told her who to ask for at costuming. Apparently there’s a “secret” person back there who does alterations- DD ended up with a couple new pants that were altered to fit her and she kept them until turn in day!

I'm still thinking about upgrading to an AP but I'm not sure it will make sense. Even with an 8-day ticket for our trip in June, it will still cost $600+ to upgrade. Our tickets for August are $300. While I'd love to get down to Disney World to visit her while she's there, I'm just not sure how many times that's going to happen. Need to keep running numbers and figure out if I can definitely get down there to visit her.

It’s nice for the Memory maker. And the inevitable “I miss Disney” blues: mine did that after first program almost 60 days exactly from when she came home - we decided on a last minute spring break trip as I found a good rate at all stars, cheap last minute flight (frontier- we crammed our stuff into backpacks) I had the AP and she had lots of friends to get her into parks. And when she found out she was accepted into summer alumni during that trip...well the AP was nice.
Her friend got QSFB and he’s already paid his deposit. He’s never even been to Disney before so that’s pretty exciting. DD got custodial and she’s pretty sure it is in DAK- her top pick for parks. But the acceptance came too fast as she needs to find out about grad school first: Disney needs the deposit by Monday (tomorrow) and she doesn’t cost the grad school til feb 27. She asked for extension on deposit but didn’t get it. But hubs and I have APs, she has tons of friends there so if we want to do a quick trip she can still visit. I know she’s disappointed she can’t defer grad school and do dcp but life is full of choices!

congrats on all the new DCP’ers!

 

[wendow]

I’ve been off the boards awhile so sorry for late replies!
she was custodial at a resort (CBR) and managed to save quite a bit. She managed to wait until her 40% discount kicked in before she did most of her shopping. She also had her car, so she went grocery shopping and took her lunch with her most days. Irma hit while she was there and they got paid for the days they were closed (if they had shifts scheduled) plus she was able to pick OT that week helping with cleanup. But I was also down ther at checking in August, October (her bday) Thanksgiving and New Years at end of program so there were times mom paid for stuff lol! The summer she worked at Studios she made money too but didn’t always get as many hours.
yeah it’s hit or miss. My DD is 6’2” and the summer she was attractions she had a tough time finding pants long enough until a FT cm told her who to ask for at costuming. Apparently there’s a “secret” person back there who does alterations- DD ended up with a couple new pants that were altered to fit her and she kept them until turn in day!

It’s nice for the Memory maker. And the inevitable “I miss Disney” blues: mine did that after first program almost 60 days exactly from when she came home - we decided on a last minute spring break trip as I found a good rate at all stars, cheap last minute flight (frontier- we crammed our stuff into backpacks) I had the AP and she had lots of friends to get her into parks. And when she found out she was accepted into summer alumni during that trip...well the AP was nice.
Her friend got QSFB and he’s already paid his deposit. He’s never even been to Disney before so that’s pretty exciting. DD got custodial and she’s pretty sure it is in DAK- her top pick for parks. But the acceptance came too fast as she needs to find out about grad school first: Disney needs the deposit by Monday (tomorrow) and she doesn’t cost the grad school til feb 27. She asked for extension on deposit but didn’t get it. But hubs and I have APs, she has tons of friends there so if we want to do a quick trip she can still visit. I know she’s disappointed she can’t defer grad school and do dcp but life is full of choices!

congrats on all the new DCP’ers!

Congrats to your dd! I hope she is somehow able to do both! YOLO and I'll add to that, you are only young once! I wish I could rewind to when I saw these Disney internship posters up at my college and completely ignored them thinking they were only for hotel management and hospitality majors!

My dd has barely spent any money so far. I expected a lot more spending but she buys groceries and cooks at home and hasn't bought much merch. She checked in when the 40% was almost over (6 days from Tradtions til it ended) so she didn't get much time with that at all. And while 20% is nice, it's the same as we get since we have DVC and AP's so she's used to that discount.

 

[bluezy]

I feel so bad for all of the DCP kids at Disney right now. How are all of our current DCPs from this thread holding up?

 

[720L]

She's very upset. I feel so bad for her. I do feel better she's coming home though. Things are getting a little crazy.

 

[wendow]

Thanks for asking, @bluezy. My dd is pretty devastated. She just checked in a little over a month ago so she feels like she really just got going. It's been far from perfect for her and she's had some very rough patches but she was trying to work through those and optimistic things would improve. Now she doesn't even get the chance.

I'm very upset with Disney right now in the way this has been handled. I feel the current kids should be given the option to return when they reopen. My dd's program was supposed to run through Aug 6. That is still a lot of time for things to improve and her be able to get back down there. I feel like Disney should have given them more time to figure out how to get home instead of basically here is a 3-day notice to pack up and figure out how to get all your belongings home and btw, you still have to work through Sunday so really you only get like 1 full day to pack. Such poor show from Disney here

 

[720L]

Thanks for asking, @bluezy. My dd is pretty devastated. She just checked in a little over a month ago so she feels like she really just got going. It's been far from perfect for her and she's had some very rough patches but she was trying to work through those and optimistic things would improve. Now she doesn't even get the chance.

I'm very upset with Disney right now in the way this has been handled. I feel the current kids should be given the option to return when they reopen. My dd's program was supposed to run through Aug 6. That is still a lot of time for things to improve and her be able to get back down there. I feel like Disney should have given them more time to figure out how to get home instead of basically here is a 3-day notice to pack up and figure out how to get all your belongings home and btw, you still have to work through Sunday so really you only get like 1 full day to pack. Such poor show from Disney here

I heard a rumor that the DCP kids can get on a list to be called back when disney re-opens. Apparently if they go to the service center of their apartment complex they can sign up there.

 

[bluezy]

Thanks for asking, @bluezy. My dd is pretty devastated. She just checked in a little over a month ago so she feels like she really just got going. It's been far from perfect for her and she's had some very rough patches but she was trying to work through those and optimistic things would improve. Now she doesn't even get the chance.

I'm very upset with Disney right now in the way this has been handled. I feel the current kids should be given the option to return when they reopen. My dd's program was supposed to run through Aug 6. That is still a lot of time for things to improve and her be able to get back down there. I feel like Disney should have given them more time to figure out how to get home instead of basically here is a 3-day notice to pack up and figure out how to get all your belongings home and btw, you still have to work through Sunday so really you only get like 1 full day to pack. Such poor show from Disney here

I hear ya. While I realize this is uncharted territory for Disney (and many other companies), I think they could have given the kids a few more days to get out of there. And I really hope they call back at least the Spring Advantage kids (assuming the parks reopen in the next month or two) and that they give preference to the DCPs there now who apply for future programs. I'm just heartbroken for all of these kids/adults who suddenly found their program finished and didn't really have time to process it and say their goodbyes. Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers...such uncertainty and confusion in the world right now.

 

[Krandor]

I hear ya. While I realize this is uncharted territory for Disney (and many other companies), I think they could have given the kids a few more days to get out of there. And I really hope they call back at least the Spring Advantage kids (assuming the parks reopen in the next month or two) and that they give preference to the DCPs there now who apply for future programs. I'm just heartbroken for all of these kids/adults who suddenly found their program finished and didn't really have time to process it and say their goodbyes. Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers...such uncertainty and confusion in the world right now.

I'm not sure they had that choice to wait with how quickly things were changing. Unfortunate situation all the way around.

I do hope they will give those that were currently there a chance to come back. It's the right thing to do but I don't think they are set at the point of deciding how the reopening is going to happen - they are still in shutdown mode right now. A statement like "we hope to allow you to return after this is over but cannot guarantee anything at this point. We will be in touch as soon as we are able" would likely help though.

 

[wendow]

From today’s developments, it does appear they are going to try to bring the kids back who still had a lot left of their programs.

 

[tjmw2727]

From today’s developments, it does appear they are going to try to bring the kids back who still had a lot left of their programs.

My dd is CP at MK, her last day was yesterday (today was a scheduled day off) so she and her castmates are spending the day together at MK today supporting those who are sill working and commiserating. I posted quite a bit yesterday on the theme parks board so I will try not to repeat too much!

She is obviously devastated as she loved her program but I must say from what she has told me so far her leads and everyone involved have been very supportive and helpful. She found out while working the MK parade yesterday they were being sent home and said everyone was truly emotional even the characters and parade performers. After her shift ended at 7 her lead gave everyone who didn't have a change of clothing a no strings voucher for a T shirt so they could stay for the fireworks and watch as a team. They cant "visit" the parks in costume and my dd wasn't planning on staying as she had the day off today so it was a really nice gesture.

She was scheduled to stay until the end of July (arrived Jan 27th ) and just got an email from the program asking if she would like to return. xx fingers this happens for her and all those that want to return.

They are also providing bus service from the housing to the airport and it seems like information / services are being implemented hour by hour.

 

[Krandor]

My dd is CP at MK, her last day was yesterday (today was a scheduled day off) so she and her castmates are spending the day together at MK today supporting those who are sill working and commiserating. I posted quite a bit yesterday on the theme parks board so I will try not to repeat too much!

She is obviously devastated as she loved her program but I must say from what she has told me so far her leads and everyone involved have been very supportive and helpful. She found out while working the MK parade yesterday they were being sent home and said everyone was truly emotional even the characters and parade performers. After her shift ended at 7 her lead gave everyone who didn't have a change of clothing a no strings voucher for a T shirt so they could stay for the fireworks and watch as a team. They cant "visit" the parks in costume and my dd wasn't planning on staying as she had the day off today so it was a really nice gesture.

She was scheduled to stay until the end of July (arrived Jan 27th ) and just got an email from the program asking if she would like to return. xx fingers this happens for her and all those that want to return.

They are also providing bus service from the housing to the airport and it seems like information / services are being implemented hour by hour.

That is good to hear. I do hope they let all the CP people who want to return to return. This is a crazy situation that is out of their control.

So sounds like initial information was pretty abrupt but as time goes on information and help working with people are improving. Is that fair?

 

[tjmw2727]

That is good to hear. I do hope they let all the CP people who want to return to return. This is a crazy situation that is out of their control.

So sounds like initial information was pretty abrupt but as time goes on information and help working with people are improving. Is that fair?

My dd would say NO - lol the situation is not Fair and its true but honestly I tell her life isn't fair it just is what it is. I feel like its a complicated situation due to it's link with colleges and the additional policies/rules.
Like the colleges they were forced to closed the "dorms/aka housing" and having just gone through the process when dd's university closed its not that much different. Lots of rumors mixed with facts and a little time to gather the official information.

There are also State of Florida limits on the amount of time the kids can "reside and work" in FL so they can't guarantee everyone who wants to can come back depending on the amount of time they were already in the program. Then there are those who won't be able to return if they want to graduate on time as well as timing issues with class semesters vs CP program dates.

So far in this process - (just over 24 hours!) My dd does feel supported despite being sent home.