Disney College Program for Parents Thread...

[gardenergirl]

DisneyFansinNYC,Thanks so much for sharing this experience! This is very helpful information and makes me feel better about the situation.

 

[goofy4tink]

DD met her roommates online and was very excited. They all checked in together (DD had car and drove to pick each up at their hotels) and settled in. The other three girls worked day shifts, DD worked nightshift and then the divide began. Nothing negative at all, she just wasn't included in any of their plans since the schedules were so different. Even on days where they were all off they didn't think to invite her. She ended up with a great group she worked with and they became her constants.

Four of them stayed the next program and she moved in with one of them. They did everything together even though they now worked at all different locations. They made the effort. Years later still in touch with all of them, roomie she even talks to on phone often even though on opposite sides of country. The roomies .... no contact with them. At her second location she became friends with a couple fulltimers and is still in touch with all of them and only one DCP from there.

My point for @disneymagicgirl is to tell your DD to not get caught up in hoping for the perfect roommates and they will be your "tribe" ... Try to find some who have the same "living values" ... cleaning, cooking, loud/quiet, partying etc so that home life can be comfortable and if they end up hanging out great but be open to making friends at work too as they may have more synced schedules etc.

No kidding!!! I don't think my dd is still in touch with any of her roommates from Sept 16-Jan 17!!! But she just returned from a week long trip to DisneyLand with two of the friends she met while on her program....they have become very best friends. She was there when they got engaged, she's in their wedding! Her friends have come from the workplace, not roommates. Because of social media, we hear all about the life long relationships found as roommates. Well, my dd had several in college, only one has remained a close friend and she was from senior year!!!! Best to go in with reasonable expectations.

 

[Jules76126]

@goofy4tink totally agree. I would say most peoples close friends come from their workplace. That is where you spend the majority of your time. Most of the time, you are not in your apartment and even if you are, your roommates may work different shifts than you. I have great friends from my program who I still see - we have gone to visit each other and gone to each others weddings and I lived with none of them.

 

[Dizneydaz]

I haven’t posted here is such a long time but I have exciting news......

My DD19 got accepted to DCP and is so excited! She actually got the news in a message while we were on our way to WDW in September. It was fate! She starts January 22nd. She’s already connected with a few girls, from our area, who are going at the same time.

Danielle is attending a UC school currently, and is a sophomore. She made the Dean’s and Chancelor’s list last year. (So Proud)

She has auditioned for entertainment and made it to the second round. They even measured her at the end. While she is just over 5’ they measured her as 4-11 3/4”. I’m thinking that she may get a character. Now after reading the last few pages of this post, I kind of hoping she doesn’t get it. 60+ hours a week! That’s crazy!

I’m going to go back and read more of the posts but I wanted to post her the good news about her getting in. She’s a sophomore this year.

I just booked her flight down. Love Southwest! I have her arriving the day before so I booked her a room at All Stars. (Transportation...check!)

Regarding her car....I’ve been reading blogs and many have said they wished they had their cars. Sometimes they have to leave 2 hours before their shift to make it on time (traffic, etc.) Being from Southern California she really relies on having her own car so I’ve been thinking, and investigating, the best way to get it there.

First there’s the 2 of us driving and me flying back. It will take at least 4 days to drive down. 3 nights in a motel/hotel. The cost for gas and rooms would run us about $600 (or more). Plus we will be in a rush so we won’t get to do much except drive. My sister recently drove her son from WDW to Vegas and it wasn’t a fun trip.

Second thought is shipping her car there. My other sister shipped her daugher’s Car to Kansas about 7 years ago and it worked out well. She paid $700 from S. Cal to Kansas. I have already gotten a few quotes and the best price, right now is $850. That’s not much more than the cost of driving AND we save 4 days. I am leaning towards shipping the car down. When my niece shipped her car to Kansas she was able to put a lot of her stuff in it. So that’s an added bonus.

I figure if I ship the car down, we’ll drive it back in May (or later if she extends)

I am on the fence about flying with her.

Here’s my question to parents who live in the West.

Did you child have their car with them in WDW? If so how did you get it there?
If you were there when they checked in, did you have a car for errands or did you rely on transportation?

For any parents:
What did your child NOT bring that they wished they had? (and needed to be purchased in Florida)
What did they bring that they should have left at home.
How well was the kitchen provided for? Did they need any more utensils, pans, etc. I’ve read a few blogs that they were short on things. If they are short will Disney provide missing items?
What did you do for them when they hit the wall and got homesick (my DD had a small spell about 2 weeks after starting at her UC even though she was only 30 minutes from home. She was still homesick)

Any tips? Any blogs or websites we should read?

I think I’m going to go ahead and book my outgoing flight just in case I go with her. I’ll use points so I can cancel with no penalty.

I’m a planner (which is why I love these boards) so any info you can give me will be appreciated!

TIA!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Update.

My DD just found out she will be a character/entertainment. She is over the moon! We’ll have to wait to see who she’s going to be. She is just under 5 feet. I am very excited for her!

 

[goofy4tink]

Update.

My DD just found out she will be a character/entertainment. She is over the moon! We’ll have to wait to see who she’s going to be. She is just under 5 feet. I am very excited for her!

Congratulations! I think Sisney measures everyone about 1/4" shorter. The dr measures my dd at 5'10", Disney measures her at 5'9 3/4". She s done character work at other theme parks. She hopes to get into entertainment at some point, but is currently quite happy at PotC. She is now f/t.
Most girls being way too much clothing with them. My dd brought a ton but she knew she wasn't coming home after her program (graduated college just prior to going down to WDW).
Best of luck to your dd! Enjoy the time with Disney.

 

[HopperFan]

Congratulations! I think Sisney measures everyone about 1/4" shorter. The dr measures my dd at 5'10", Disney measures her at 5'9 3/4". She s done character work at other theme parks. She hopes to get into entertainment at some point, but is currently quite happy at PotC. She is now f/t.
Most girls being way too much clothing with them. My dd brought a ton but she knew she wasn't coming home after her program (graduated college just prior to going down to WDW).
Best of luck to your dd! Enjoy the time with Disney.

My DD took too many clothes, there just isn't the space for them and was no fun to try to store them.

 

[The LK 4]

Congratulations! I think Sisney measures everyone about 1/4" shorter. The dr measures my dd at 5'10", Disney measures her at 5'9 3/4". She s done character work at other theme parks. She hopes to get into entertainment at some point, but is currently quite happy at PotC. She is now f/t.
Most girls being way too much clothing with them. My dd brought a ton but she knew she wasn't coming home after her program (graduated college just prior to going down to WDW).
Best of luck to your dd! Enjoy the time with Disney.

My DD, Leah, is PT at POTC, and is friends with your DD! She said she is very sweet and funny!

 

[The LK 4]

double post - oops!

 

[Chavaleh]

My daughter got accepted for the program starting in January. She's 19 and a sophomore in college and is going to be working in food services. I'm not sure why it hadn't occurred to me to check disboards for a CP section before now. Her dad and I are going to be driving her down from GA, we'd planned on a short visit for the Arts Festival anyway so it worked out well. We're all very excited for her. She's a bit on the shy side and we think it will be a good experience and hopefully give her a little more confidence.

 

[tinkerjo]

So my DS has a phone interview on Friday. He is so excited and will be devastated if he doesn’t get it. He’s a junior this year and an RA so he would be giving that up to do The program. I’m sure it would put hi. Behind on graduation but you know what, you have one chance ever to do this and he has grown up going every other year since he was a baby. I think he would have a blast. Anyone know what chance you have after getting to the phone interview part???

 

[BuzzyWOL]

Anyone know what chance you have after getting to the phone interview part???

Well the general acceptance rate is somewhere around 15% (based on estimations). The good news is that the initial application and web based intereview knock off around half of those applicants which helps significantly and even then there are a percentage of those who make it to phone interviews who won't end up accepting an offer anyway, I'd guess this is probably 5-10% of applicants.

So to put the chances at a percentage, I think 40% would be a decent bet.

 

[goofy4tink]

My DD, Leah, is PT at POTC, and is friends with your DD! She said she is very sweet and funny!

Awww, thanks. That's nice to hear.

 

[flipflopmom]

My dd was accepted yesterday for custodial! She was given the choice of Jan-May or April-Aug. She chose April 1- Aug 1. She knows it will be crazy hot, but it will be better for us (and her friends ) to visit and take her, pick her up. Excited for what lies ahead. Let the planning begin!

 

[tinkerjo]

My dd was accepted yesterday for custodial! She was given the choice of Jan-May or April-Aug. She chose April 1- Aug 1. She knows it will be crazy hot, but it will be better for us (and her friends ) to visit and take her, pick her up. Excited for what lies ahead. Let the planning begin!

Congratulations to your DD!!! So exciting!!! DS is waiting but he applied so late. He just had his phone interview last week so he’s afraid he might not get anything even though he said the interview went well. Hope it is magical for her!!!!!

 

[Firepath]

My DD will be headed down for DCP in January. I'm trying to book us flights and am kind of stuck on when I should return home. She'll need me to drive her around until she gets settled in and has access to the bus. We'll have the Saturday and Sunday before for shopping. Once she's checked in will she have any time to spend with me or should I plan on flying out Tuesday morning? I'm not sure if she'll need me to drive her anywhere on Tuesday or if she'll even have time for that.

 

[goofy4tink]

My DD will be headed down for DCP in January. I'm trying to book us flights and am kind of stuck on when I should return home. She'll need me to drive her around until she gets settled in and has access to the bus. We'll have the Saturday and Sunday before for shopping. Once she's checked in will she have any time to spend with me or should I plan on flying out Tuesday morning? I'm not sure if she'll need me to drive her anywhere on Tuesday or if she'll even have time for that.

My dd’s checkin day was a Tuesday, due to Monday being Labor Day. So....we arrived on Sat, played in the parks. Had a big family dinner Monday night. Got a good nights sleep. Had breakfast Tuesday morning. She had checkin around 8:40. That took about 5 mins. Drove to her apt, started unloading the car. She had Casting at 9:20, so she walked over to the bus area around 9:10. She returned around 11:30. We continued unpacking. Drive to Target to get what she needed, as well as food and paper goods. Drive back and unloaded. She had drug testing (not everyone does) at 1:30. When she returned from that, most of her roommates had shown up. She had been the first to get there. We finished stuff and said our goodbyes around 3ish. We flew home the next morning.
The girls had house meetings to do as well as various get togethers. They drove over to Cocoa Beach on Thursday. On Sat, most had Traditions.

Once you get the apt set up (or whenever your kiddo makes it known it’s time for you to go..) you can just say goodbye (tearfully in most cases). There’s really no reason to hang around.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

My dd’s checkin day was a Tuesday, due to Monday being Labor Day. So....we arrived on Sat, played in the parks. Had a big family dinner Monday night. Got a good nights sleep. Had breakfast Tuesday morning. She had checkin around 8:40. That took about 5 mins. Drove to her apt, started unloading the car. She had Casting at 9:20, so she walked over to the bus area around 9:10. She returned around 11:30. We continued unpacking. Drive to Target to get what she needed, as well as food and paper goods. Drive back and unloaded. She had drug testing (not everyone does) at 1:30. When she returned from that, most of her roommates had shown up. She had been the first to get there. We finished stuff and said our goodbyes around 3ish. We flew home the next morning.
The girls had house meetings to do as well as various get togethers. They drove over to Cocoa Beach on Thursday. On Sat, most had Traditions.

Once you get the apt set up (or whenever your kiddo makes it known it’s time for you to go..) you can just say goodbye (tearfully in most cases). There’s really no reason to hang around.

When do they find out when they have casting and drug testing?
I am trying to plan our days. I am taking DD3 along and we are making a short vacation out of it, but I want to block off the appropriate times for move in and target runs, etc.

 

[DnA2010]

Congratulations! I think Sisney measures everyone about 1/4" shorter. The dr measures my dd at 5'10", Disney measures her at 5'9 3/4". She s done character work at other theme parks. She hopes to get into entertainment at some point, but is currently quite happy at PotC. She is now f/t.
Most girls being way too much clothing with them. My dd brought a ton but she knew she wasn't coming home after her program (graduated college just prior to going down to WDW).
Best of luck to your dd! Enjoy the time with Disney.

I hope you can share with us updates as she goes along in her role! So fun!
I'm following with interest as although DD isn't old enough yet, she's interested in the program

 

[goofy4tink]

When do they find out when they have casting and drug testing?
I am trying to plan our days. I am taking DD3 along and we are making a short vacation out of it, but I want to block off the appropriate times for move in and target runs, etc.

Casting is at some point the day of checkin. Not everyone has drug testing, but if they do it will be the same day. We moved dd in and said goodby that afternoon. I would recommend planning on time together before checkin day. Once they have checkin, the kids tend to want to hang out with their roommates.