PlanDisney Panelist Search 2025 Applications Open July 8

[erinkristen04]

Hi, friends! Happy to have stumbled upon this thread and discovered others who can relate to the building anticipation while hanging in the waiting room.

I typed (and saved) my answers in Word but I’ve found myself obsessing over whether I transcribed everything accurately when entering my responses on the app site. It was late and I was tired—what if I missed a typo there even though I had it correct in my Word doc?! My most recent freak-out is whether I forgot an entire part of a sentence because now I can’t remember typing or re-reading it haha! I know I need to “let it go, let it gooooo” but the inability to verify is driving me crazy. Next time I’ll probably take screen shots of my responses so that I can at least fixate on the actual responses themselves opposed to the various scenarios I’m creating in my head.

Last year I had so much fun applying (even without making it past R1) and joining the applicants’ camaraderie. Last time I think I tried too hard to comport to what I assumed the admin team was looking for. I used way more Disney “puns” to than I normally would, and I don’t think my responses accurately reflected my voice at all. This year I was much more authentic (which also made answering everything WAY more enjoyable haha!). As Rocket says, “Ain’t no thing like me, except me!” (Side note: we finally watched Guardians Vol. 3 a few nights ago and I was unprepared for the amount of Kleenex I needed… good heavens… I think I’m still recovering! )

Good luck to everybody!! Would love to see someone from the disboards make it all the way this year!

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Yea. The last two year, R1 always fell over my anniversary, which we have spent at the parks, and I ended up writing my response there. R3 I only know about because I kept up with the Facebook group for a hot second and realized that if I had made it through by some miracle, that I would have been at WDW for race weekend. As far as announcements for R3, I recently wanted a vlog for a current panelist and she had talked about how they surprised her at the finish line.

I was calmer last year just because the timeline was expected. Now we are back to being "into the unknown"

Sorry, it was only about 10 weeks all in last year. I just went back and edited my last post. But they'll still need to shave off 2 weeks somewhere. So last year it was a little over 4 weeks between the closing of R1 and when the notifications when out. R2, it was only a week between the closing of R2 and when notifications went out. And then there was only about a week and a half from R2 notifications to the end of the whole thing. I can't imagine there's a ton of time to shave off of the R2 or R3 review period. I could see them taking away the time between the notifications and the opening of the rounds, which could potentially account for a week or so if they do away with that interim period. But even then there'd still be a week to shave off. I am anticipating getting R1 results a little earlier this time around.

 

[Panikim]

Hi, friends! Happy to have stumbled upon this thread and discovered others who can relate to the building anticipation while hanging in the waiting room.

I typed (and saved) my answers in Word but I’ve found myself obsessing over whether I transcribed everything accurately when entering my responses on the app site. It was late and I was tired—what if I missed a typo there even though I had it correct in my Word doc?! My most recent freak-out is whether I forgot an entire part of a sentence because now I can’t remember typing or re-reading it haha! I know I need to “let it go, let it gooooo” but the inability to verify is driving me crazy. Next time I’ll probably take screen shots of my responses so that I can at least fixate on the actual responses themselves opposed to the various scenarios I’m creating in my head.

Last year I had so much fun applying (even without making it past R1) and joining the applicants’ camaraderie. Last time I think I tried too hard to comport to what I assumed the admin team was looking for. I used way more Disney “puns” to than I normally would, and I don’t think my responses accurately reflected my voice at all. This year I was much more authentic (which also made answering everything WAY more enjoyable haha!). As Rocket says, “Ain’t no thing like me, except me!” (Side note: we finally watched Guardians Vol. 3 a few nights ago and I was unprepared for the amount of Kleenex I needed… good heavens… I think I’m still recovering! )

Good luck to everybody!! Would love to see someone from the disboards make it all the way this year!

The screenshot idea is a great one. Just for piece of mind. I would also love to see someone from the ******* family make it through.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Hi, friends! Happy to have stumbled upon this thread and discovered others who can relate to the building anticipation while hanging in the waiting room.

I typed (and saved) my answers in Word but I’ve found myself obsessing over whether I transcribed everything accurately when entering my responses on the app site. It was late and I was tired—what if I missed a typo there even though I had it correct in my Word doc?! My most recent freak-out is whether I forgot an entire part of a sentence because now I can’t remember typing or re-reading it haha! I know I need to “let it go, let it gooooo” but the inability to verify is driving me crazy. Next time I’ll probably take screen shots of my responses so that I can at least fixate on the actual responses themselves opposed to the various scenarios I’m creating in my head.

Last year I had so much fun applying (even without making it past R1) and joining the applicants’ camaraderie. Last time I think I tried too hard to comport to what I assumed the admin team was looking for. I used way more Disney “puns” to than I normally would, and I don’t think my responses accurately reflected my voice at all. This year I was much more authentic (which also made answering everything WAY more enjoyable haha!). As Rocket says, “Ain’t no thing like me, except me!” (Side note: we finally watched Guardians Vol. 3 a few nights ago and I was unprepared for the amount of Kleenex I needed… good heavens… I think I’m still recovering! )

Good luck to everybody!! Would love to see someone from the disboards make it all the way this year!

I HATE not being able to go back and verify exactly what was submitted! I did exactly what you did - typed it into Word and then transcribed it into the application because I've seen that copy+paste is risky. I went back and proofread a bunch of times, and I remember changing the spelling of Kringla Bakeri og Cafe to Kafe. I KNOW I did it! At some point I copied and pasted my responses from the application back into the Word doc, so I could re-read my responses later. Of course when I go back to look.... it still says "cafe" instead of "kafe." I know 100% I made the change before I submitted, so I guess I copied & pasted before I made that change. But I can't remember how it all happened and it's been eating me up ever since!

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

The screenshot idea is a great one. Just for piece of mind. I would also love to see someone from the ******* family make it through.

So, I'm in the facebook groups and last year I absolutely LOVED seeing members of the group actually go on to become panelists. I was genuinely so happy for these people I've never actually met. Plus, it really gives you a sense of possibility that, it has to be SOMEONE, right? Maybe someday it's you! I'd love to see someone from the disboards make the panel. Rooting for you all!

 

[Panikim]

So, I'm in the facebook groups and last year I absolutely LOVED seeing members of the group actually go on to become panelists. It really gives you a sense of possibility that, it has to be SOMEONE, right? Maybe someday it's you! I'd love to see someone from the disboards make the panel. Rooting for you all!

I have been a little hurt the last two years and even though my husband can't grasp the importance that I feel about this, he has been super supportive when I make little comments later on about "not being the one" or whatever. He always touts me as his resident Disney unofficial tour guide and volunteers me to his friends when they are planning trips. It just takes a making it to January to get past the sad and start thinking about the next application season.

 

[erinkristen04]

I HATE not being able to go back and verify exactly what was submitted! I did exactly what you did - typed it into Word and then transcribed it into the application because I've seen that copy+paste is risky. I went back and proofread a bunch of times, and I remember changing the spelling of Kringla Bakeri og Cafe to Kafe. I KNOW I did it! At some point I copied and pasted my responses from the application back into the Word doc, so I could re-read my responses later. Of course when I go back to look.... it still says "cafe" instead of "kafe." I know 100% I made the change before I submitted, so I guess I copied & pasted before I made that change. But I can't remember how it all happened and it's been eating me up ever since!

Right?! I hate how it all becomes such a blur! The amount of adrenaline I had just re-typing answers was borderline comical. At least you definitely recall making that correction! I bet you’re right, you probably copy/pasted before you did that and then just didn’t copy/paste again afterwards. You’ve got it!! You also now have me craving school bread haha!

 

[erinkristen04]

I have been a little hurt the last two years and even though my husband can't grasp the importance that I feel about this, he has been super supportive when I make little comments later on about "not being the one" or whatever. He always touts me as his resident Disney unofficial tour guide and volunteers me to his friends when they are planning trips. It just takes a making it to January to get past the sad and start thinking about the next application season.

I can totally relate to this. The “not the year” email stung and I definitely let myself wallow for a little bit. It’s so hard to not get wrapped up in the dream of making the Panel, even knowing there’s few spots and thousands upon thousands of qualified applicants. But seeing people I was interacting with online make it gave me hope it could someday happen… a reminder that despite the odds, it’s still attainable. This year we have a trip planned for December so I think that’ll help cheer me up if/when I learn I’m not moving forward (and qualify me to apply again next year lol).

 

[iheartglaciers]

Hi, friends! Happy to have stumbled upon this thread and discovered others who can relate to the building anticipation while hanging in the waiting room.

I typed (and saved) my answers in Word but I’ve found myself obsessing over whether I transcribed everything accurately when entering my responses on the app site. It was late and I was tired—what if I missed a typo there even though I had it correct in my Word doc?! My most recent freak-out is whether I forgot an entire part of a sentence because now I can’t remember typing or re-reading it haha! I know I need to “let it go, let it gooooo” but the inability to verify is driving me crazy. Next time I’ll probably take screen shots of my responses so that I can at least fixate on the actual responses themselves opposed to the various scenarios I’m creating in my head.

Last year I had so much fun applying (even without making it past R1) and joining the applicants’ camaraderie. Last time I think I tried too hard to comport to what I assumed the admin team was looking for. I used way more Disney “puns” to than I normally would, and I don’t think my responses accurately reflected my voice at all. This year I was much more authentic (which also made answering everything WAY more enjoyable haha!). As Rocket says, “Ain’t no thing like me, except me!” (Side note: we finally watched Guardians Vol. 3 a few nights ago and I was unprepared for the amount of Kleenex I needed… good heavens… I think I’m still recovering! )

Good luck to everybody!! Would love to see someone from the disboards make it all the way this year!

Typing the answers into the application is my least favorite part of the process! I get so paranoid that I’m going to introduce a typo. One of my new strategies is to copy paste what I typed in the form into Grammarly before submitting. It won’t catch everything (like Disney specific words/spellings), but it’s a one thing you can do as a double check.

I have been a little hurt the last two years and even though my husband can't grasp the importance that I feel about this, he has been super supportive when I make little comments later on about "not being the one" or whatever. He always touts me as his resident Disney unofficial tour guide and volunteers me to his friends when they are planning trips. It just takes a making it to January to get past the sad and start thinking about the next application season.

I feel like most people outside of the process don’t understand! That’s why it’s so important to have outlets like these threads and the FB groups .

It’s pretty amazing how they get us so emotionally invested for an unpaid gig! Obviously I know it has so many benefits, but the whole thing is really fascinating!

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

I have been a little hurt the last two years and even though my husband can't grasp the importance that I feel about this, he has been super supportive when I make little comments later on about "not being the one" or whatever. He always touts me as his resident Disney unofficial tour guide and volunteers me to his friends when they are planning trips. It just takes a making it to January to get past the sad and start thinking about the next application season.

I think it's normal to feel a sting - nobody likes "rejection," which is what the "no thank you" feels like. But it helped me a lot last year to REALLY understand the odds. If they're actually getting 30,000 applications and only choose 300 to go to R2, it's literally a 1% chance of even getting to Round 2. So first of all, if you're among the 99% (27,000 applicants!) who don't make it through, you're in good company. But here's the thing - you DID make it to R2, TWICE. So really, you have got to see that as a win! I'd say you're doing something right.

Honestly, I think getting the no after R2 felt like more of rejection to me because the odds were slightly better of getting through, and I think it FELT more personal after putting myself out there to make the video.

I also think I have to remind myself of these odds. I got LUCKY last year and made it to Round 2, so it's easy to think oh yeah, that could happen again. But really, I feel like lightning struck and I got lucky on my try. But it's still more likely this year that I don't make it to Round 2 again. It's just statistics.

So I'm just enjoying the ride for what it is. I have so much fun in the facebook groups, I love chatting with you all here, I love to write in general, and obviously I love Disney, so crafting my responses is a ton of fun for me. The sense of hope and possibility is something I feel really grateful I get to even participate in. Even being ELIGIBLE to apply is a privilege, because it means I've been to my favorite place at least once in the past year. I know so many people who would love to visit WDW/DL but can't, because they can't afford it, can't take the time away from work, whatever. Those people don't get to experience the fun of this search, and I do. So I am trying to stay focused on just being in the moment instead of on the outcome.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

I can totally relate to this. The “not the year” email stung and I definitely let myself wallow for a little bit. It’s so hard to not get wrapped up in the dream of making the Panel, even knowing there’s few spots and thousands upon thousands of qualified applicants. But seeing people I was interacting with online make it gave me hope it could someday happen… a reminder that despite the odds, it’s still attainable. This year we have a trip planned for December so I think that’ll help cheer me up if/when I learn I’m not moving forward (and qualify me to apply again next year lol).

Same! We'll be there in December as well, and I'd actually have to rework some of it if I somehow made the panel. Definitely will take the sting out of the "not this year."

 

[Panikim]

I can totally relate to this. The “not the year” email stung and I definitely let myself wallow for a little bit. It’s so hard to not get wrapped up in the dream of making the Panel, even knowing there’s few spots and thousands upon thousands of qualified applicants. But seeing people I was interacting with online make it gave me hope it could someday happen… a reminder that despite the odds, it’s still attainable. This year we have a trip planned for December so I think that’ll help cheer me up if/when I learn I’m not moving forward (and qualify me to apply again next year lol).

See......that is where I am stuck right now. Before they announced the training dates, we were planning a trip to WDW that weekend for Dapper Day and the Christmas Party.

 

[Panikim]

I think it's normal to feel a sting - nobody likes "rejection," which is what the "no thank you" feels like. But it helped me a lot last year to REALLY understand the odds. If they're actually getting 30,000 applications and only choose 300 to go to R2, it's literally a 1% chance of even getting to Round 2. So first of all, if you're among the 99% (27,000 applicants!) who don't make it through, you're in good company. But here's the thing - you DID make it to R2, TWICE. So really, you have got to see that as a win! I'd say you're doing something right.

Honestly, I think getting the no after R2 felt like more of rejection to me because the odds were slightly better of getting through, and I think it FELT more personal after putting myself out there to make the video.

I also think I have to remind myself of these odds. I got LUCKY last year and made it to Round 2, so it's easy to think oh yeah, that could happen again. But really, I feel like lightning struck and I got lucky on my try. But it's still more likely this year that I don't make it to Round 2 again. It's just statistics.

So I'm just enjoying the ride for what it is. I have so much fun in the facebook groups, I love chatting with you all here, I love to write in general, and obviously I love Disney, so crafting my responses is a ton of fun for me. The sense of hope and possibility is something I feel really grateful I get to even participate in. Even being ELIGIBLE to apply is a privilege, because it means I've been to my favorite place at least once in the past year. I know so many people who would love to visit WDW/DL but can't, because they can't afford it, can't take the time away from work, whatever. Those people don't get to experience the fun of this search, and I do. So I am trying to stay focused on just being in the moment instead of on the outcome.

Thank you for that. I really had never looked at it from that perspective. Last year was odd because I got the "no thank you" email after performing CPR on an 8 month old, we we saved. It was just a rough, emotional day. I would have been a little better if I would have found out a day before or day after.

But these places are the best outlet for me.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Thank you for that. I really had never looked at it from that perspective. Last year was odd because I got the "no thank you" email after performing CPR on an 8 month old, we we saved. It was just a rough, emotional day. I would have been a little better if I would have found out a day before or day after.

But these places are the best outlet for me.

I felt like I got hit by a truck after the "not this year" email came. It took a few days for me to wrap my head around it and gain some perspective. I can't even imagine combining that with the intensity of the day you had already had. Again, though, you are INCREDIBLE. You saved that child. That baby's parents must thank God every day that you were there to help them on what must have been the scariest moment of their lives.

 

[RedHead0186]

So happy I stumbled upon this! I applied this year for the first time. I went for Disney Cruise Line. Nice to connect with other panelist hopefuls, we can all play the waiting game together!

 

[Panikim]

I felt like I got hit by a truck after the "not this year" email came. It took a few days for me to wrap my head around it and gain some perspective. I can't even imagine combining that with the intensity of the day you had already had. Again, though, you are INCREDIBLE. You saved that child. That baby's parents must thank God every day that you were there to help them on what must have been the scariest moment of their lives.

Oh GIRL!! Opposite. It was at my childcare center and they ended up pulling him because "they didn't trust us."

They are convinced he was just holding this breath and that we could have hurt him. Ummmmmm yea, I'm a CPR trainer as well and I think I know what I was looking for.

It was a MESS of a day. I was a MESS!!

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Oh GIRL!! Opposite. It was at my childcare center and they ended up pulling him because "they didn't trust us."

They are convinced he was just holding this breath and that we could have hurt him. Ummmmmm yea, I'm a CPR trainer as well and I think I know what I was looking for.

It was a MESS of a day. I was a MESS!!

OMG! I'm so sorry that happened to you! That's just awful. I'm so glad the little guy is okay but what a terrible experience for you.

 

[CmdrThor]

This is why I think that there has be an automated approach. You can't tell me 20,000 applications are read by humans. Even HR for large companies with systems and AI to screen first rounds. Unless somebody here is on the inside and can 100% confirm, disney has a HUGE team of people reading for a week or so. even with short answers. I am guessing you need 5 minutes MIN to skim. I am sure there are some red flags.. or Knock outs. Ex.. Disney Cruise they only want people who sailed all ships etc.. but dont formally say that.

The Panel has existed long before AI. Let's say it takes 5 minutes to read each 600 word answer. That is still just 70 "man" hours which is completely doable in the time required.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Anyone want to share which specialty they chose or which questions you answered?

I am WDW specialty, and I went with the adults-only trip question. I have little kids and haven't been on an adults-only trip in quite some time () but I love the adult side of Disney. My husband and I did a couple of adults-only trips before the kids were born, and we do usually get at least a taste of it, since the grandparents often travel with us and offer a night of babysitting. Right now I'm planning an anniversary trip for some friends whose kids are grown, so my head has been in that space a lot recently.

 

[iheartglaciers]

I applied for WDW the last three searches, so I switched it up this year and went with DVC! I answered the banking and borrowing question.

Last year I did the adults-only question for WDW. I don't have kids, although I go a lot with family members who do, so I was excited to see this question start becoming part of the mix a couple of years ago!