Disney College Program for Parents Thread...

[joybeth]

And so it begins! My DD applied today when the apps came out. She did her web test and received a follow up interview saying she was a strong candidate and she would receive an email shortly to set up a phone interview. She is over the moon! This has been her dream FOREVER! She is currently a junior and applied for Spring Advantage. I will be holding my breath until this process is done. Her dream is to work for Disney after college. Good luck to all our kids as they start this exciting process!

jb

 

[DISshopkeeper]

CP parents, just want to toss this out there, but I'm currently a manager at WDW, came through the CP myself as did my oldest 2 DDs, did a professional internship, and was statused a year and a day after my Traditions class. If you have a student participating who needs a little extra dose of pixie dust, some wise counsel, a mentor, lunch to chat, career planning, resume review, etc. I'm VERY happy to do that (I used to teach high school English, too). Please feel free to PM me for my info and I would be thrilled to help in any way I can. Nothing I love more than seeing my "CPeeps" set up for success!

How nice! Thanks for the offer! I hope my daughter follows your path!

 

[DeeCee735]

CP parents, just want to toss this out there, but I'm currently a manager at WDW, came through the CP myself as did my oldest 2 DDs, did a professional internship, and was statused a year and a day after my Traditions class. If you have a student participating who needs a little extra dose of pixie dust, some wise counsel, a mentor, lunch to chat, career planning, resume review, etc. I'm VERY happy to do that (I used to teach high school English, too). Please feel free to PM me for my info and I would be thrilled to help in any way I can. Nothing I love more than seeing my "CPeeps" set up for success!

Hi there. Thanks for your offer. I have some questions on behalf of my son, who finished the CP in good standing this past May. He'll graduate in May 12 with a Bachelor's in Hotel & Resort management. I tried to PM you, but got a message that your PM box is full and cannot accept anymore PM's. Could you PM me, or clear some space so my message will go through?

Thank you and have a great day.

 

[graygables]

Color me

PM box is cleared ! (Sorry!)

 

[wisblue]

OK. I am really ticked off and have to vent.

We helped our daughter check in on August 22 and so far her experience has been excellent. She is lukewarm about her job in QSFB but otherwise she is having a great time. She prearranged roommates over the summer, met one of them in person over the summer as she was in town, and met the others at 6:30 AM on check in day. They have all gotten along great and have been doing a lot of things together.

This morning our daughter calls and tells us that she and her roommates may have to move out of their apartment. They are doing some exterior work on their building in Chatham, and one of the girls in an apartment below them told her they got a call telling them they may have to move out. My daughter and her roommates got no such call.

So my daughter and one of her roommates went to ask about it and they were told that they might have to move, but they didn't know for sure yet. They were also told that if they did have to move, they would get an official notice and they would have to be out IN TWENTY FOUR HOURS.

They were not able to tell them where they would have to move (possibly to another complex) or whether they would have to be split up. They also told them that they would get no assistance with the move. The person pointed out that their lease allows them to force moves like this. Apparently they feel that a legal right also gives them the right to treat people without any sense of respect, decency, or courtesy.

Hopefully, this will turn out to be a false alarm but, in the meantime, all four of the girls have this hanging over their heads. Frankly, I am outraged that this couldn't have been planned better. If they were going to do work on the building that was going to force them to evict people within a few weeks, why did they assign those apartments in the first place? A move like this would be really difficult for our daughter because she does not have a car down there and would have no easy way to get her stuff somewhere else. Presumably one of her roommmates that has a car would help her, but they are going to be busy dealing with their own evictions and fitting those around their varied work schedules.

I am also feeling like, if they make our daughter move, they have made a complete waste out of the time and effort we spent going down there with her and renting a car to get her moved in. They would also be undoing all of the careful planning our daughter and her roommates did to arrange to live with people they would be comfortable with.

Our daughter said that somebody on a Facebook page or somewhere said something like this happened to them and they received one free week of rent. In my opinion that is an almost insultingly insufficient compensation for the time, effort, and aggravation they are putting these girls through.

I am also outraged at the lack of communication and information these girls are getting. My daughter said that when they asked the person at Chatham about this they did their best to stay calm and that they didn't even let on how upset they were. But she said that the person was very rude to them and just told them to calm down, even though he was unwilling or unable to give them any useful information. They have a meeting set up with someone for tomorrow but, in the meantime, they are all pretty upset.

Thanks for letting me get this out of my system. I suppose I should be treating this as one of those things that I shouldn't worry about because it is really my daughter's problem and not mine, especially now that she's 21. But, I'm still at the stage that it does bother me when my daughter calls me with something that she is upset about, especially when it is something that could easily have been avoided.

 

[BadDad]

I've written about my S bad roommates.
For weeks, he had wanted to move from a 9 person apt (8 guys + 1 live-in GF of 1 room-mate) where the temp was constantly set to 62 degree and Fan-ON. to a non-wellness 1 bedroom

On our summer visit, I went with him to the counter at Chatham. He explained his situtation and again - nothing open.

When I explained the situtation (the temperture, GF and smells) and explained it was a health issue, suddenly a room became available.

He learned a 40+ YO dad carries a lot of weight.

24 hours is not enough notice, but remain calm and persistent.

 

[wisblue]

I've written about my S bad roommates.
For weeks, he had wanted to move from a 9 person apt (8 guys + 1 live-in GF of 1 room-mate) where the temp was constantly set to 62 degree and Fan-ON. to a non-wellness 1 bedroom

On our summer visit, I went with him to the counter at Chatham. He explained his situtation and again - nothing open.

When I explained the situtation (the temperture, GF and smells) and explained it was a health issue, suddenly a room became available.

He learned a 40+ YO dad carries a lot of weight.

24 hours is not enough notice, but remain calm and persistent.

Since my daughter is at work today until 9 PM I decided to call the housing office myself to see if I could get any more useful information than she and her roommates were able to get.

Persistence is one of my strong suits, and I am also good at remaining calm as long as people are reasonable with me.

 

[Traveliz]

OK. I am really ticked off and have to vent.

We helped our daughter check in on August 22 and so far her experience has been excellent. She is lukewarm about her job in QSFB but otherwise she is having a great time. She prearranged roommates over the summer, met one of them in person over the summer as she was in town, and met the others at 6:30 AM on check in day. They have all gotten along great and have been doing a lot of things together.

This morning our daughter calls and tells us that she and her roommates may have to move out of their apartment. They are doing some exterior work on their building in Chatham, and one of the girls in an apartment below them told her they got a call telling them they may have to move out. My daughter and her roommates got no such call.

So my daughter and one of her roommates went to ask about it and they were told that they might have to move, but they didn't know for sure yet. They were also told that if they did have to move, they would get an official notice and they would have to be out IN TWENTY FOUR HOURS.

They were not able to tell them where they would have to move (possibly to another complex) or whether they would have to be split up. They also told them that they would get no assistance with the move. The person pointed out that their lease allows them to force moves like this. Apparently they feel that a legal right also gives them the right to treat people without any sense of respect, decency, or courtesy.

Hopefully, this will turn out to be a false alarm but, in the meantime, all four of the girls have this hanging over their heads. Frankly, I am outraged that this couldn't have been planned better. If they were going to do work on the building that was going to force them to evict people within a few weeks, why did they assign those apartments in the first place? A move like this would be really difficult for our daughter because she does not have a car down there and would have no easy way to get her stuff somewhere else. Presumably one of her roommmates that has a car would help her, but they are going to be busy dealing with their own evictions and fitting those around their varied work schedules.

I am also feeling like, if they make our daughter move, they have made a complete waste out of the time and effort we spent going down there with her and renting a car to get her moved in. They would also be undoing all of the careful planning our daughter and her roommates did to arrange to live with people they would be comfortable with.

Our daughter said that somebody on a Facebook page or somewhere said something like this happened to them and they received one free week of rent. In my opinion that is an almost insultingly insufficient compensation for the time, effort, and aggravation they are putting these girls through.

I am also outraged at the lack of communication and information these girls are getting. My daughter said that when they asked the person at Chatham about this they did their best to stay calm and that they didn't even let on how upset they were. But she said that the person was very rude to them and just told them to calm down, even though he was unwilling or unable to give them any useful information. They have a meeting set up with someone for tomorrow but, in the meantime, they are all pretty upset.

Thanks for letting me get this out of my system. I suppose I should be treating this as one of those things that I shouldn't worry about because it is really my daughter's problem and not mine, especially now that she's 21. But, I'm still at the stage that it does bother me when my daughter calls me with something that she is upset about, especially when it is something that could easily have been avoided.

This happened to my daughter with just a month or so left in her program. They had terminated all but two in her apartment and they said her apartment wasn't full enough so they had to move to another one. And it was one of these things where they were told last minute that you are moving and its today.

If you extend they also make you move...so she and another girl ended up being the last two in their apartment and totally cleaned it (as required). I was there to help her move (this was over Christmas) and we opened the door (along with 5 other girls moving in) to an absolutely disgustingly filthy apartment. There was food on the tables, one room was filled with shredded paper, all appliances were in dirty disgusting shape. It was bad. And the new group was rewarded by being told they could not clean it themselves and that a cleaning crew would have to be called in so in the meantime they had to place everything they brought on the dresser and on the bed...which basically meant they could not sleep there either. We were there all ready so our daughter just stayed with us but it was a mess.

Also get used to the numerous times your daughter will get new roommates. In the two semesters my daughter was there I think she went through 40 different people in her three different apartmens. Each time someone leaves for whatever reason the whole apartment gets new keys...I get that but if you are at work until 1-2 am then you have to track down security to get you a new key.

That said she loved the rest of the experience and may be things have changed. It was four years ago she was a CP.

Liz

 

[goofy4tink]

My dd, a senior in high school this year, has been looking forward to doing the CP for many years now. So....looking for some advice from parents who have 'been there, done that', so to speak.
She is looking at colleges...and one of her 'must haves' is participation in the CP. Well, it would seem that not all her schools do this. I know of one that does for sure..her tour guide actually worked Jungle Cruise last year. He said how great is it that he can work at WDW and get college credits for it. Well, that school is her 'safety school'.
My question is this...If she chooses another school (and they choose her), but they don't participat in the CP, she would then have to actually take time off from school, right? That could impact her aid pkg I would think. So, is doing the CP after college graduation an option??
Just trying to figure out the best way to approach this whole issue.
Thanks for any insights or thoughts.

 

[wisblue]

This happened to my daughter with just a month or so left in her program. They had terminated all but two in her apartment and they said her apartment wasn't full enough so they had to move to another one. And it was one of these things where they were told last minute that you are moving and its today.

If you extend they also make you move...so she and another girl ended up being the last two in their apartment and totally cleaned it (as required). I was there to help her move (this was over Christmas) and we opened the door (along with 5 other girls moving in) to an absolutely disgustingly filthy apartment. There was food on the tables, one room was filled with shredded paper, all appliances were in dirty disgusting shape. It was bad. And the new group was rewarded by being told they could not clean it themselves and that a cleaning crew would have to be called in so in the meantime they had to place everything they brought on the dresser and on the bed...which basically meant they could not sleep there either. We were there all ready so our daughter just stayed with us but it was a mess.

Also get used to the numerous times your daughter will get new roommates. In the two semesters my daughter was there I think she went through 40 different people in her three different apartmens. Each time someone leaves for whatever reason the whole apartment gets new keys...I get that but if you are at work until 1-2 am then you have to track down security to get you a new key.

That said she loved the rest of the experience and may be things have changed. It was four years ago she was a CP.

Liz

I guess I see a big difference between changes that are brought about by terminations or departures by the residents, and something like this where all of the affected people (and their roommates) are totally innocent. It's hard for me to believe that building repairs can't be planned enough in advance that affected apartments wouldn't be assigned. To me, this action completely disregards the feelings of the program participants who are still in the early stages of adjusting to a new environment.

My daughter prearranged her roommates over the summer and will only be at WDW for 4 and a half months. She did her best to identify people that she thought she would be comfortable living with and, so far, that seems to be working. I don't think we or she expected her to have numerous roommate changes. If one of her selected roommates is terminated or leaves the program, so be it. But this situation, occurring just 3 weeks after they moved in, is completely Disney's responsibility and, in my opinion, was totally avoidable and, frankly, is inexcusable.

 

[wisblue]

My dd, a senior in high school this year, has been looking forward to doing the CP for many years now. So....looking for some advice from parents who have 'been there, done that', so to speak.
She is looking at colleges...and one of her 'must haves' is participation in the CP. Well, it would seem that not all her schools do this. I know of one that does for sure..her tour guide actually worked Jungle Cruise last year. He said how great is it that he can work at WDW and get college credits for it. Well, that school is her 'safety school'.
My question is this...If she chooses another school (and they choose her), but they don't participat in the CP, she would then have to actually take time off from school, right? That could impact her aid pkg I would think. So, is doing the CP after college graduation an option??
Just trying to figure out the best way to approach this whole issue.
Thanks for any insights or thoughts.

I think the simple answer is that you would have to work with each school separately to see how they would treat someone participating in the program. My daughter did that with her school and, although they do not give credits for any of the classes she will be taking, they do set it up so that a student is still considered enrolled at the university so that she will still receive her grant money when she returns to the school in January.

I was very firm with my daughter that she make sure that she had this all straightened out before she agreed to get into the program. Her school had her enroll in some kind of zero credit course so that she would remain on their records as a full time student who is participating in an off campus program.

I also understand that participants in the program have to be college students when they APPLY. So, it is possible for a student to apply during his/her final semester with the idea of participating after graduation. Two of my daughter's three roommates graduated from their colleges in May and are doing the program now. One of them is in her second stint at WDW. I think the fact thay they are an older, more mature group has helped them to get along.

 

[goofy4tink]

I think the simple answer is that you would have to work with each school separately to see how they would treat someone participating in the program. My daughter did that with her school and, although they do not give credits for any of the classes she will be taking, they do set it up so that a student is still considered enrolled at the university so that she will still receive her grant money when she returns to the school in January.

I was very firm with my daughter that she make sure that she had this all straightened out before she agreed to get into the program. Her school had her enroll in some kind of zero credit course so that she would remain on their records as a full time student who is participating in an off campus program.

I also understand that participants in the program have to be college students when they APPLY. So, it is possible for a student to apply during his/her final semester with the idea of participating after graduation. Two of my daughter's three roommates graduated from their colleges in May and are doing the program now. One of them is in her second stint at WDW. I think the fact thay they are an older, more mature group has helped them to get along.

Thanks so much. The fact that she can apply in her senior year and then hopefully do it after graduation is a huge plus.

 

[scoopmorgan]

This happened to my daughter with just a month or so left in her program. They had terminated all but two in her apartment and they said her apartment wasn't full enough so they had to move to another one. And it was one of these things where they were told last minute that you are moving and its today.

If you extend they also make you move...so she and another girl ended up being the last two in their apartment and totally cleaned it (as required). I was there to help her move (this was over Christmas) and we opened the door (along with 5 other girls moving in) to an absolutely disgustingly filthy apartment. There was food on the tables, one room was filled with shredded paper, all appliances were in dirty disgusting shape. It was bad. And the new group was rewarded by being told they could not clean it themselves and that a cleaning crew would have to be called in so in the meantime they had to place everything they brought on the dresser and on the bed...which basically meant they could not sleep there either. We were there all ready so our daughter just stayed with us but it was a mess.

Also get used to the numerous times your daughter will get new roommates. In the two semesters my daughter was there I think she went through 40 different people in her three different apartmens. Each time someone leaves for whatever reason the whole apartment gets new keys...I get that but if you are at work until 1-2 am then you have to track down security to get you a new key.

That said she loved the rest of the experience and may be things have changed. It was four years ago she was a CP.

Liz

After reading these posts, I spoke to my DD whom is also at Chatham. She said they all (the residents) know about the potential shift in residences. She said they get a 24 hr. notice approx. 1 week before the move date. Furthermore, they can call in absent for work, if they have no other time to move, and will NOT get a penalty for the absence. She also explained that there are many empty appartments they can occupy for the week, or so, that the remodel takes place. I thought that might help puts some parents at ease. I know it did me.

 

[Traveliz]

After reading these posts, I spoke to my DD whom is also at Chatham. She said they all (the residents) know about the potential shift in residences. She said they get a 24 hr. notice approx. 1 week before the move date. Furthermore, they can call in absent for work, if they have no other time to move, and will NOT get a penalty for the absence. She also explained that there are many empty appartments they can occupy for the week, or so, that the remodel takes place. I thought that might help puts some parents at ease. I know it did me.

That is a change then...my daughter did not have a week's notice, maybe three days? If there was a week I could have gotten down to help. She was scheduled for a 12 hour shift that day and if you called in you got your point...it was at the end of hers so she didn't want the point because she wanted to go seasonal. She did talk to a manager and he allowed her to come in a bit late (like 10, instead of 8) but it was a really difficult move for her to manage. On the up side, since she was so close to moving out all ready, most of her stuff stayed in boxes piled in her room and she lived like that for the month.

Liz

 

[Joanna71985]

thanks for your post, it helped me narrow it down. Her problem isn't work, she says she's good at the job and likes it (but at first she didn't think it was a "magical" attraction) and her roommates seem fine, her computer isn't working and they have been letting her use theirs, so they seem decent. The problem must be more homesick. She's been away at college for two years, so I didn't think that would be a problem, but she did go to college with friends, so she always knew somebody while she was away. Now she is in a totally new place without anybody, and I think its probably hitting her hard. She hasn't called in tears for a few days, so I'm hoping she's doing better. Thanks to everyone, your posts make me feel better about her situation.

Maybe I'll see her around. I work at GMR/MuppetVision (which is in the same area as American Idol).

 

[DISshopkeeper]

Thanks so much. The fact that she can apply in her senior year and then hopefully do it after graduation is a huge plus.

That's what my DD is doing now. A splendid buffer between graduation and for-real growing up!

 

[wisblue]

After reading these posts, I spoke to my DD whom is also at Chatham. She said they all (the residents) know about the potential shift in residences. She said they get a 24 hr. notice approx. 1 week before the move date. Furthermore, they can call in absent for work, if they have no other time to move, and will NOT get a penalty for the absence. She also explained that there are many empty appartments they can occupy for the week, or so, that the remodel takes place. I thought that might help puts some parents at ease. I know it did me.

If that is the policy they did not explain that to my daughter or any of the other affected residents when they asked about it. They just added to the anxiety by telling them that they don't know what complex they would be moved to, how long they would be out (or if they would ever move back to their original apartment), or if the roommates would have to split up permanently. In other words, they are doing what you would do if you were TRYING to make someone anxious.

 

[momimouse27]

You guys are making me a bit nervous about the rooming situation!
Like I mentioned in my post before, my dd is a freshman hoping to apply in January for the fall program. Don't know how she'd handle having to pack up her entire room full of stuff and move, especially multiple times.

 

[scoopmorgan]

If that is the policy they did not explain that to my daughter or any of the other affected residents when they asked about it. They just added to the anxiety by telling them that they don't know what complex they would be moved to, how long they would be out (or if they would ever move back to their original apartment), or if the roommates would have to split up permanently. In other words, they are doing what you would do if you were TRYING to make someone anxious.

I never had the impression changing rooms was a policy. I think they are simply trying to get the remodeling done ASAP. I suppose it all depends on how each child deals with change. Some of us enjoy it, and some loathe it. It is what it is... I think the kids learn to go with the flow. Life sometimes throws a wrench in our gears. It's how we deal with it that matters. It's a good learning experience, IF it even happens. No-one knows...

 

[wisblue]

I never had the impression changing rooms was a policy. I think they are simply trying to get the remodeling done ASAP. I suppose it all depends on how each child deals with change. Some of us enjoy it, and some loathe it. It is what it is... I think the kids learn to go with the flow. Life sometimes throws a wrench in our gears. It's how we deal with it that matters. It's a good learning experience, IF it even happens. No-one knows...

Well, my daughter was told on Saturday that she had to be out by midnight on Monday. Because she had to work Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (until 10 PM) that didn't give her a lot of time. She and one of her roommates are moving into one apartment and the other two are moving in with 4 other displaced residents. They have been told that they HOPE they will only have to be out for a week.

Hopefully, this will just turn out to be a minor annoyance and inconvenience, but I still think it was very poorly planned and communicated and was done without much regard for the convenience of the affected parties.