One Step Closer...

Hello All!!!

Well, my background check finally came through yesterday... I was getting a little worried since it was taking so long.  I thought it would be fast since I've already had two background checks by Disney in the last eight months... (One when I was rehired in August and another in October to become an authorized driver for the holiday season) But I digress, it finally came through! So what do I get to do now? Wait some more!  The medical exam is the next step so I  currently waiting for them to contact me - then I'll schedule the exam and get 'er done.  Short post today - talk to you soon.

Steph :)

New Friends

Hello All!

So - it's been just over a week and I am still super excited!  I gave DCL (Disney Cruise Line) permission to run my background check so I am just waiting on it now.  I thought it would have been quicker than this since The Walt Disney Company has already run two background checks in the last 12 months on me, but oh well, I wait.  After that I'll be able to schedule my doctor's appointment and really get going!

But this post isn't about that.  It's about the new friends I've made in the course of this last week.  I have been following a forum for DCL crew, but I had never posted or done anything like that.  But, when I was hired I decided to introduce myself to my fellow DCL crew.  Almost as soon as I hit send I had a few responses.  Now I have two new friends from the UK who are also going to be working in merch (merchandise).  And last week, one, Rob, got his start date!  End of the month on the Disney Magic in Barcelona.  It was relatively quick for him, 3 months, so I hope it's just as fast or faster for me!

I also emailed one of the other people who was hired at the same time as me, she lives in Southern California and we've chatted over facebook a few times.  She seems really nice and I really glad that I have someone who is going through this process at the same time as me.  That way we can hopefully keep each other sane when the waiting becomes almost too much...

There are a few DCL facebook groups, and through one I also met a guy named Tim from Germany who currently works in merch on the Disney Fantasy.  He's given me some great insight into DCL and he will be a wonderful resource for small details like packing and the like!  He's the one who told me that merch is the best if travel is your thing.  And for those of you who know me, you can guess how I reacted to that.  YAYYYYYY!!!  I am a travel bug.  That was one of the big reasons DCL seemed like such a great opportunity, and to hear that merch is great for travel was really awesome.

I am really glad that I got to touch base with these other fellow DCL crew.  Because this way, when I finally get on the ship, and am completely overwhelmed, I will have some people close to help me through.

Hopefully I'll get some new news this week - TTFN!

-Steph :)

The Interviews...

Hello All!

So - the dreaded interviews, dun dun dun...

Actually, both of my formal interviews were fairly pain free.  Since I'd been communicating with my recruiter monthly for over a year the chance to actually speak with her was nice.  Although a little early.  Since I'm on the west coast and she's on the east coast, it was 11am her time, and 8am my time.  So I had to be up early to make sure I looked my interview best.  Although, I have to say, the best thing about a skype interview is that you only have to look fabulous from the waist up.  I had my hair, my makeup, a nice blouse, my jacket, and sweatpants...

This first interview with my recruiter was more about if I would be able to handle life at sea.  She told me some of the ins and outs of ship life, what pay was like, and so on.  We chatted for about 45 minutes and it was a very informal chat.  After that, she sent me a ton of paperwork that I had to fill out, a formal application, a something else I can't remember.  I had to get her copies of my passport.  Of course, she said whenever, and I did it in about 2 hours.  I was so super excited just to get the process going at this point...

We scheduled my interview with the lady from Disney about 3 weeks later.  During this time pretty much all I was doing was getting more and more nervous.  Luckily I had my Disney Store friends to keep me occupied!

My interview with the lady from DCL was on Monday morning at 10am EST, or 7am for me...  So, my alarm went off at 5, I got out of bed, went to Starbucks in my pj's, got a huge cup of coffee, then came home, took a shower, and got ready.

That interview lasted about 30 minutes.  It was different from the first, in that she asked me more questions about merchandise and retail than my recrutier did.  Almost as if you got this far, they figured you'd make it on the boat...  I thought my answers were all pretty good.  It was mostly "What would you do if..." scnearios, and almost all of them had happened to me before working at the store.  She was a very nice lady, but difficult to read.  I thought I did well, but didn't know for sure.  She said it would be at least the middle of next week before they'd get back to me.  Boo, 10 days of waiting...

But I made it through a very long week and a half and when I woke up Wednesday (5/1) there was an email in my inbox asking me to consent for a background check.  I didn't know what this meant, since I hadn't heard anything else, so I authorized the check, and then my inbox popped up with the email saying I was provisionally hired as a merchandise hostess.  The job is dependent on my being able to pass the background check (not a problem - since I had to do the exact same one to be hired by Disney in the first place...), and passing the medical exam (I'm really not worried).  There was another form to fill out (I have a feeling this is only the beginning of a trend...) - but this form was cool since I got to put my name tag info on it!  And as any Disney cast member knows - the name tag is everything!

This was the day before my birthday also (and I'm seeing 'Iron Man 3' tonight) - so the past few days have been pretty amazing.

So now my background check is being processed, then I'll move onto my medical exam.  I don't need a C1/D visa because I'm an American (which is nice, one less thing), and I already have my passport so I'm almost good to go!

I am resisiting buying the things I'll need becasue I want to make sure I actually pass before I do, but I am certainly putting a list together...

I am so super stoked about this whole thing (as are all my friends, family and Disney Store peeps - they want to know when I can get them a discount...) and I can't wait to start meeting people (I've already met a few online) and really get going!

-Steph :)

A Little About Me :)

Hello All!

I thought I'd start with a little about myself.  As of midnight last night I am 26 years old and live in Oregon on the West Coast of the US.  I currently work at the Disney Store where I've been for 3 years. I absolutely love it there!  I've been a Disney geek for as long as I can remember, along with my whole family.  Disney trips abounded when I was younger.  And then, I went to college 10 minutes from Disneyland so I got an annual pass and was there all the time.

However, I graduated in 2009 (not the best year...) so I came home to Oregon and moved back in with the folks.  It took me a while, but eventually an opening came up at the Disney Store, so I went in, interviewed, and started my Disney journey.  I've got to do some really amazing things working at the Disney Store, including being able to go to Seattle to help open two different Imagination Park stores there.  When I found out that my store was closing (very sad), I knew that I wanted to stay with Disney.  Because as other Disney geeks know, once you go Disney, you never go back...

I started researching my options of staying with the company.  I thought about moving to California or Florida to go to the parks.  But, my goodness, moving is expensive.  As a girl with student loans I wanted a great Disney job that didn't make me go beyond broke...  That's when I found Disney Cruise Line.  This was March 2012.  I contacted a few different recruiters and finally I found one who was willing to help me out.  However, I wasn't sure I wanted to start with merch, because after 2 years I wanted to try something different.  Well, as you can imagine, any other positions weren't hirings (neither was merch for that matter...).  So I waited, and waited and waited.  Then, last summer, my old manager at the Disney Store called me because they were opening a new store close to our old store!  She wanted me to at least come help them open it.  I agreed, of course, because opening a store is an amazing experience.

After the opening, it was Christmas time, and I'm fairly certain my manager would have hurt me if I left during the holiday season...  So I stayed through Christmas, and the first week of January I contacted my awesome recruiter (who'd I'd been talking to on a monthly basis), she told me that merch was the only thing hiring anytime in the next year- and that if I just got on the boat, I could move later if I wanted.  Though she said I'd love merch so much I'd never want to leave...

That brings me to Mid-March - I've got to run but tune in tomorrow for the rest of my journey up until this point.

-Steph :)

Hello All!!!

Hello everyone!  I just received that special email today that told me that I had a job with Disney Cruise Line!!!  I am beyond excited and this has been a very long process.  I thought that there may be some people out there (one or two at least...) who might be interested in hearing about my experiences with the mouse at sea.

I will write soon to tell you all about how crazy the process has been up until now.  But I just wanted to start off with a hello!  And I hope I keep you interested and coming back for more!

-Steph :)