CP 201_: a thread for college program hopefuls who have to wait a few years.

[ipodluvr287]

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. One thing I just realized is that fall 2012 would be my sophomore year in college not 2013 Are you a junior in hs wdwislife? If you are I think our math was a little off lol. But with that being said, I wouldn't be able to go to London in 2012 to be at the olympics, which is something that I really, really, want to do... how cool would it be to see michael phelps become the greatest olympic champion EVER? (I'm just as much as an olympic fanatic as I am disney) I don't know if I could still do fall 2012 and just not do advantage or what. Plus going to london would be super expensive but I feel like that's a once in a lifetime thing... ugh I can't believe I'm stressing about this when it's two years away lol.

Wow. Going to the olympics would be cool. I would love to see Michael Phelps. Haha Yesterday he did announce that London will be his last olympics and he's only going to be in about 5 or 6 events, so it won't be as good as last time. Oh well. I hope you get to go. You could just do Fall 2013 if you want to do fall. Haha, fall 2013 will be my first semester of college. It might be considered my "sophomore" year though because I plan on racking up on AP credits before I finish high school.

 

[ipodluvr287]

here is the thread about the roles for those interested:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2237950

Thanks

 

[::Snow_White::]

Hey, all. Haven't posted in awhile.

I was checking the CP website and was looking to see if the housing had a gym. We have a treadmill at home and it would really be great if they had a gym open to CPers. I read they have swimming pools, weight rooms, tennis, basketball, and racquetball courts. Do any of you know if they have things such as treadmills, elipticals or anything like that? I could always run outdoors and bring along exercise videos, but it'd be nice if they had something like that so I could switch it up.

Figured out if I was to work, you have to complete a year of college I believe?
It'll be Fall of 2012 I'll be working, very excited!

 

[ipodluvr287]

Hey, all. Haven't posted in awhile.

I was checking the CP website and was looking to see if the housing had a gym. We have a treadmill at home and it would really be great if they had a gym open to CPers. I read they have swimming pools, weight rooms, tennis, basketball, and racquetball courts. Do any of you know if they have things such as treadmills, elipticals or anything like that? I could always run outdoors and bring along exercise videos, but it'd be nice if they had something like that so I could switch it up.

Figured out if I was to work, you have to complete a year of college I believe?
It'll be Fall of 2012 I'll be working, very excited!

They have a gym I believe. I'm not sure what you're trying to say, but if you mean doing the college program, you only have to complete one semster of college and be enrolled either full time or part time to apply.

 

[::Snow_White::]

They have a gym I believe. I'm not sure what you're trying to say, but if you mean doing the college program, you only have to complete one semster of college and be enrolled either full time or part time to apply.

I read that you have to complete one year of college before you can apply for the CP.
But one semester would be even better.

 

[bellaDisneydncr]

I read that you have to complete one year of college before you can apply for the CP.
But one semester would be even better.

No, it's only one semester. Most people just recommend completing one year.

 

[r1009t]

Kay so this isn't really disney related, but I just got a job at a cedar's point theme park doing merchindise But one thing I just realized is that I'll probably be pigeonholed doing merchandise for my cp which is not my top role... But anyway I'm still really happy I got the job!

 

[ipodluvr287]

Kay so this isn't really disney related, but I just got a job at a cedar's point theme park doing merchindise But one thing I just realized is that I'll probably be pigeonholed doing merchandise for my cp which is not my top role... But anyway I'm still really happy I got the job!

Congrats!

 

[bellaDisneydncr]

Kay so this isn't really disney related, but I just got a job at a cedar's point theme park doing merchindise But one thing I just realized is that I'll probably be pigeonholed doing merchandise for my cp which is not my top role... But anyway I'm still really happy I got the job!

That's awesome! Is this for the summer? Congrats!

 

[wdwislife]

Kay so this isn't really disney related, but I just got a job at a cedar's point theme park doing merchindise But one thing I just realized is that I'll probably be pigeonholed doing merchandise for my cp which is not my top role... But anyway I'm still really happy I got the job!

cool! good to show some theme park experience haha.
an i'm a sophomore in high school right now so i guess my math was right


I just got back from the world on saturday! it was amazing! (but cold also...brrr)
I was so jealous of the CM's by the time my trip was over! I just want to be able to work at the happiest place on earth already! I saw lots of CP's too. They all looked so happy!
NOW I'M JUST MORE ANXIOUS FOR MY CP!

 

[r1009t]

Thanks! And it's March through November. The theme park experience will look great on my resume lol.

So I remember reading somewhere that their are a lot more opportunities to find jobs with disney if you do the DLR cp... anyone have any thoughts on this? Even though I live nowhere near California I think if I did a cp there after I graduated college it'd be a good opportunity to start a career with disney. Although you can't have a character performer role doing the cp there?

 

[bellaDisneydncr]

Thanks! And it's March through November. The theme park experience will look great on my resume lol.

So I remember reading somewhere that their are a lot more opportunities to find jobs with disney if you do the DLR cp... anyone have any thoughts on this? Even though I live nowhere near California I think if I did a cp there after I graduated college it'd be a good opportunity to start a career with disney. Although you can't have a character performer role doing the cp there?

I've heard this, because it's a smaller program and not as many people apply for it. I actually applied for the DLR program a year or so ago (so long ago that i almost forgot about it lol) and at that point they were still having character performers for CP. But, recently they haven't even been posting auditions for FT/PT on the website. I think they just have as many people as they want and aren't looking to add anymore to entertainment.

 

[r1009t]

I've heard this, because it's a smaller program and not as many people apply for it. I actually applied for the DLR program a year or so ago (so long ago that i almost forgot about it lol) and at that point they were still having character performers for CP. But, recently they haven't even been posting auditions for FT/PT on the website. I think they just have as many people as they want and aren't looking to add anymore to entertainment.

Intresting... hopefully it will change in 5 years

 

[allicat1214]

So glad I found this thread! I apologize in advance for the length, but I feel like I have finally found people who can relate!!!

I've been looking at the CP for my two kids for 6 years now! My son is a freshman in college and daughter a freshman in HS.

He would do transportation; he's studying to be an engineer...But now he's not so sure he wants to take time away from school.

However, my D wants to work at Disney FT after college as a performer! Our last several trips there, we watched the Lion King and Beauty & the Beast show and the parades, with a critical eye on the dancing to see how difficult the choreography is!

She plans to major in musical theatre in college and we are already checking out which schools will allow her to do the CP and award credit. You need to work with the career services dept. (For people in LA, you don't lose your TOPS money either, even though you are not in school full-time for a semester. But you need to coordinate it with your advisor and career services.)

Anyway, my D went with her HS theatre class to Disney in January. They met with two FT CMs in Ent. One was a dancer and she has managed to work at WDW for 10 years! My D came home on cloud 9 and says she's going to do the same thing! She wanted to do the CP toward the end of her college time b/c she's afraid she won't want to leave! However, after reading thru this thread, I'm thinking that maybe she should do one mid-way (say 2014?) and then another after she graduates college (2017?) that she could extend and then make contacts to transition to FT CM?? I saw that someone said Disney prefers CPs to FT because it's cheaper for them?

A few more questions:
- I read that height is very important for characters. But what about for dancers? My D is 5'6" and would LOVE to be a princess, but she has been dancing since she was 3 and that is her strength. I know the openings in CP for entertainers is small, and face smaller, but what about for dancers?

--Is the general open call auditions on the 1st & 3rd Thursdays of the month (listed as parade performers, characters, etc.) similar to the CP auditions? The Disney performer that my D met in Jan said to audition, audition, audition! She said it's so important to get used to them so that when you go to the important ones you are comfortable with it....as much as you possibly can. I was wondering if it is worth it for her to go to one of these (which you can do at 16), a few times before she applies for the CP. Any ideas?

Anyway, good luck to all of you in your future Disney careers! And thanks to those who have been there and have shared your insights!

BTW: while my D LOVED her last trip, she was one of only two WDW fanatics in her group. Some of her best friends were making fun of her for being so excited. It was her first trip without me and several kids were being obnoxious and teasing her about the WDW Magic. She said she honestly couldn't believe there were people in the world who didn't LOVE WDW! Same thing happened to my son last year on his grad night trip....he had a so-so time because his friends weren't Disney nuts. So what's a mom to do? I booked a family vacation for all of us and we'll be there May 31-June 3! Woo hoo!!!

 

[bellaDisneydncr]

A few more questions:
- I read that height is very important for characters. But what about for dancers? My D is 5'6" and would LOVE to be a princess, but she has been dancing since she was 3 and that is her strength. I know the openings in CP for entertainers is small, and face smaller, but what about for dancers?

--Is the general open call auditions on the 1st & 3rd Thursdays of the month (listed as parade performers, characters, etc.) similar to the CP auditions? The Disney performer that my D met in Jan said to audition, audition, audition! She said it's so important to get used to them so that when you go to the important ones you are comfortable with it....as much as you possibly can. I was wondering if it is worth it for her to go to one of these (which you can do at 16), a few times before she applies for the CP. Any ideas?

1. Height isn't as hugely important for dancers as it is for characters, but they still take it into consideration. Shows like Beauty and the Beast and Dream Along with Mickey are a separate audition. The dancers in these shows are covered under Actor's Equity, a union for performers. The audition that is on disneyauditions.com now says that females for these shows should be 5'6"-5'9". So she just makes the height, but CP's are not considered for these roles.
Festival of the Lion King dancers (except for the two birds) and parade dancers can be from the CP. However, it is very rare that they take CP's. It has happened, but not that much. I don't know what the height range for these is- someone who is actually in entertainment may be able to tell you.

2. I have done both a CP audition and the regular auditions and they are almost identical. I think it's worth it to do it ahead of time. The more times you do it, the easier it gets. But the only thing with that is there is a rule about how many times you audition. Once you audition, you cannot audition again for 6 months. So if you wanted to audition more than one time before the CP, she could audition ahead of time, but she couldn't audition again for 6 months. But you said 2014, right? So she has time to audition a few times even with the 6 month rule.

 

[r1009t]

However, after reading thru this thread, I'm thinking that maybe she should do one mid-way (say 2014?) and then another after she graduates college (2017?) that she could extend and then make contacts to transition to FT CM?? I saw that someone said Disney prefers CPs to FT because it's cheaper for them?

Anyway, good luck to all of you in your future Disney careers! And thanks to those who have been there and have shared your insights!

BTW: while my D LOVED her last trip, she was one of only two WDW fanatics in her group. Some of her best friends were making fun of her for being so excited. It was her first trip without me and several kids were being obnoxious and teasing her about the WDW Magic. She said she honestly couldn't believe there were people in the world who didn't LOVE WDW! Same thing happened to my son last year on his grad night trip....he had a so-so time because his friends weren't Disney nuts. So what's a mom to do? I booked a family vacation for all of us and we'll be there May 31-June 3! Woo hoo!!!

I'm planning on doing a cp my sophomore year, and doing another one after I graduate college. I'm also hoping I could go seasonal after my first cp, which is something your d may want to think about. Yes, they do prefer cp's to ft... many people on these boards who are entertainment cm's having been waiting years to go ft.

I understand how she feels Your d is sooo lucky to have parents that support her in her disney career goals... mine are a little more skeptical. (I've been trying to talk them into taking me to an audition for months lol)

 

[allicat1214]

I'm planning on doing a cp my sophomore year, and doing another one after I graduate college. I'm also hoping I could go seasonal after my first cp, which is something your d may want to think about. Yes, they do prefer cp's to ft... many people on these boards who are entertainment cm's having been waiting years to go ft.

I understand how she feels Your d is sooo lucky to have parents that support her in her disney career goals... mine are a little more skeptical. (I've been trying to talk them into taking me to an audition for months lol)

1. Ok...I'm still learning the lingo -- seasonal vs FT: I'm assuming the difference is length of contract? Do you go into a pool for seasonal and hope to get called???

2. As far as taking her to audition, it helps that we have family in Tampa and can stay with them and just drive there and back. We live near New Orleans so we can do the drive in one LONG day, but it's doable.

(Also, her "fall back, put money on the table" job is to teach theatre. I've already checked the Florida Education Dept's website about what is required for a theatre teaching certificate to make sure she can do that in the meantime! So she knows that she HAS to graduate from college....can't go to CP and quit to follow Disney dreams....)

Her theatre teacher also encouraged her to audition for everything she can even locally. So this weekend she's auditioning for a summer lyric MT program and later in March she'll be auditioning for a conservatory arts summer program. We have NO idea if her schedule will allow her to be in the productions, but he said the experience of the audition is very valuable in itself.



And Thanks Bella for the height info on dancers. We did see those auditions as well, but it said 18 was the requirement. I didn't realize they had to be equity members. Will need to check that more thoroughly!


Thanks to all of you!!

 

[ipodluvr287]

Anyway, my D went with her HS theatre class to Disney in January. They met with two FT CMs in Ent. One was a dancer and she has managed to work at WDW for 10 years! My D came home on cloud 9 and says she's going to do the same thing! She wanted to do the CP toward the end of her college time b/c she's afraid she won't want to leave! However, after reading thru this thread, I'm thinking that maybe she should do one mid-way (say 2014?) and then another after she graduates college (2017?) that she could extend and then make contacts to transition to FT CM?? I saw that someone said Disney prefers CPs to FT because it's cheaper for them?

A few more questions:
- I read that height is very important for characters. But what about for dancers? My D is 5'6" and would LOVE to be a princess, but she has been dancing since she was 3 and that is her strength. I know the openings in CP for entertainers is small, and face smaller, but what about for dancers?

--Is the general open call auditions on the 1st & 3rd Thursdays of the month (listed as parade performers, characters, etc.) similar to the CP auditions? The Disney performer that my D met in Jan said to audition, audition, audition! She said it's so important to get used to them so that when you go to the important ones you are comfortable with it....as much as you possibly can. I was wondering if it is worth it for her to go to one of these (which you can do at 16), a few times before she applies for the CP. Any ideas?

Anyway, good luck to all of you in your future Disney careers! And thanks to those who have been there and have shared your insights!

BTW: while my D LOVED her last trip, she was one of only two WDW fanatics in her group. Some of her best friends were making fun of her for being so excited. It was her first trip without me and several kids were being obnoxious and teasing her about the WDW Magic. She said she honestly couldn't believe there were people in the world who didn't LOVE WDW! Same thing happened to my son last year on his grad night trip....he had a so-so time because his friends weren't Disney nuts. So what's a mom to do? I booked a family vacation for all of us and we'll be there May 31-June 3! Woo hoo!!!

First of all, I have to warn you that CPs can't be show performers b/c that is for equity memebers which are FT or PTs and go through a whole different auditon for those roles.

Also, I'm a HS freshman and I'm thinking about doing the same thing as your daughter. I want to do Fall Advantage 2014 and Fall of whatever year the semester after I graduate. I would also like to do a PI after my last CP. That year I do the second CP and PI depends on if I decide to go to get my master's degree. I would also like to work in entertainment FT after I graduate. I would like to start out as a character performer (hopefully face) and work my way up to a management position. I would like to do character performer during my CPs too.

Now, for your questions:
1. Height is VERY important for characters. Disney will measure you at auditions and if you pass the audition, you will be given a certain amount of characters that you can be and they all fall into your height range. I've heard for dancers it is important too. 5' 6" is a pretty common height range, so I don't think it will be a problem for dancers. For characters though, being in a common height range puts you in serious competition with the other people auditioning. She will have to be better than the others at auditions and do well at the dancing/animation portions. She is in a good height for princesses. She could possibly be one of the taller princesses (Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, and Ariel). They will look for face at the same auditons as fur, so when you go to the audition you will be going in for everything. She can't be a show dancer as that is equity (like I said earlier), but if she gets a character performer role, she has the possibility of being a parade performer/dancer. This is rare though. You can only do this though if you make it in entertainment as a character first. Also, getting into entertainment is hard like you said. Here's the numbers from past years: about 1000 CPs try out and only about 200-300 get in. But, you said your daughter has dance experience, so hopefully she will do good.

2. Yes they are similar, but for CPs, you go to one audition for everything. The ones you mentioned that are every Thursday are only people auditioning for FT/PT. CPs have one audition you go to. They go all across the country and you can go to the city nearest to you. They happen after applications for the next semester CP goes up and you audition after your interview. It would probably be a good idea for her to go to an audition at least once before she auditions for real.

Also, have fun on your vacation! I'll get to go to WDW in September!

 

[ipodluvr287]

1. Ok...I'm still learning the lingo -- seasonal vs FT: I'm assuming the difference is length of contract? Do you go into a pool for seasonal and hope to get called???

2. As far as taking her to audition, it helps that we have family in Tampa and can stay with them and just drive there and back. We live near New Orleans so we can do the drive in one LONG day, but it's doable.

(Also, her "fall back, put money on the table" job is to teach theatre. I've already checked the Florida Education Dept's website about what is required for a theatre teaching certificate to make sure she can do that in the meantime! So she knows that she HAS to graduate from college....can't go to CP and quit to follow Disney dreams....)

Her theatre teacher also encouraged her to audition for everything she can even locally. So this weekend she's auditioning for a summer lyric MT program and later in March she'll be auditioning for a conservatory arts summer program. We have NO idea if her schedule will allow her to be in the productions, but he said the experience of the audition is very valuable in itself.



And Thanks Bella for the height info on dancers. We did see those auditions as well, but it said 18 was the requirement. I didn't realize they had to be equity members. Will need to check that more thoroughly!


Thanks to all of you!!

Seasonal means you can come back every summer or holiday season and work for just that time priod. FT is full time, which means you work there pretty much everyday. Its a full time job. Haha

Haha. I think my fallback job will probably be teaching or something too. Though I have thought about being a travel agent/vacation planner also. I just can't decide what I want to be yet.

 

[wdwislife]

hi everyone!
i just started a blog about my love of disney today, and i figured you'd be the first, and best, people to share it with! If anyone else wants to start one and join me on my quest that would be so fun! haha

I'd love it if you checked it out!
http://thedisneydiaries.tumblr.com/

Thanks guys!