ACCEPTANCE PROCESS | DISNEY ACADEMIC EXCHANGE PROGRAM ADVICE SERIES

*ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN AND NOT OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY OR YUMMY JOBS*

Hey there, pals!

Alright, it seems a longgggg way off but let's imagine you've just received an email from Disney informing you that you've been successful at the final interview... what's next? We don't often think about the next stages before jetting off to Disney. If you're reading this post right now with that same question running through your head, don't worry I had exactly the same thought process!

Since I received my offer, there were a number of stages that I had to complete before I arrived at the Walt Disney World Resort, Florida. I know that sounds incredibly daunting, but that's what this post and advice series is for. Whether you're preparing for jetting off on a Disney program or are just generally interested in the acceptance process, I have mapped out everything that I did, month by month.

November 2018

On November 27th, 2018, I officially found out that I had been selected to participate in the Disney Academic Exchange Program (DAEP)! I was in total disbelief; I couldn't believe it! However, the acceptance process for my program began pretty much imminently...

After receiving my offer letter from Disney through the Disney Portal Candidate Zone - Application Documents & Forms, the very first requirement was to decide whether I wanted to accept or decline the offer, which I obviously accepted. In addition to accepting my offer, I had to pay an acceptance fee of $375.00* (non-refundable) via the Disney Onsite Resident Management System (DORMS), which I needed to create an account to process the payment. The last requirement I had to complete was to upload a valid passport (and proof of student status form, if required) to Disney Onboarding Central (DOC), which I already had an account from the final interview preparation. I had to apply for a new passport, as the existing passport I presented at my final interview was due to expire during my program, making it not valid. Disney do give you plenty of time to make the decision to accept or decline the offer and fulfil the remaining requirements, so do not feel that you have to rush this decision, as I certainly took my time!

December 2018

Once Disney had sent out all their offerings to the successful candidates, Yummy Jobs contacted in mid-December congratulating all of us for being selected for the program, as well as restating the requirements required from Disney. I had to inform Yummy Jobs that I would like to move on with the acceptance process, so the coordinators at Yummy Jobs can contact via email about the next stages of arriving at Disney.

January 2019

Around January, Yummy Jobs sent out an invoice to pay $400* towards my tuition with Central Michigan University (CMU). This commitment fee was to secure my place on CMU's program that they have in partnership with Disney.

Additionally, Yummy Jobs began to process the Criminal Background Check**, which included a hyperlink for paying a £90.00* background check fee and sending my most up-to-date address to Yummy Jobs. This enabled Yummy Jobs to post the DBS application form to my address. For this, I had the application form sent to my home address and took photocopies of the form just in case anything happened to the application forms in transit to my university address.

During this period, I began to consider flights options for travelling to Orlando. Yummy Jobs and Disney stated that I have to be in Orlando at least 24 hours before my move into housing date. Yummy Jobs are partnered with STA Travel to assist participants on Disney programs about booking their flights to Florida. I know that several participants have successfully booked their flights with STA Travel, but I used a local travel agent in my hometown. The choice is completely up to you on how you book your flights.

My advice: book your flights early, so you can access the cheapest prices.

February 2019

So, the time had come where I was notified by Disney of the job roles I'll be working in during my placement year. I was over the moon when I found out that I had been allocated the roles of a Merchandise and Attraction Operations Cast Member - more information on these roles will be published in a future post! Once again, I had to secure my position by re-accepting my offer on the DAEP.

Next was looking at accommodation options for the first night. Just like the flight options, accommodation options are very wide open too! Some choose to stay at one of the Walt Disney World Resort hotels and others stay in a local hotel near to the resort. On my program, the successful candidates together made a group chat on Facebook, so we could all be excited about our Disney adventure! From this group chat, a few people were staying at Disney's All-Stars Music hotel and it made sense to stay here with other program participants. Some of the benefits from this include taking advantage of the Disney's Magical Express service from Orlando International Airport to the hotel directly, reduce taxi costs from the hotel to the housing complexes and being able to meet fellow participants on the same program as me!

Disney's All Star Music Hotel

March 2019

A few weeks into March, I was contacted by Yummy Jobs about processing my J-1 visa**. I was required to fill out some financial support documents to show that I could fully pay the outstanding tuition fee for CMU ($4010.00*). In turn, CMU could print out and send the supporting documents needed to obtain my visa. Once these visa documents had arrived, I was then able to go to the US Embassy in London to get my J-1 visa ready for the start of my program!

April 2019

In April, I was waiting to receive my supporting documents from Central Michigan University (CMU) for my J-1 visa. This part did take quite some time, probably because all of the selected participants were eager to head to the US Embassy to obtain our J-1 visas! But, Yummy Jobs did update us at the end of April with an update of our visa documents being printed by CMU, and that we would receive them very soon.

May 2019

My visa documents arrived a day after I received an email from Yummy Jobs detailing that they had received our documents and had posted these out. This meant I could now go on to complete the visa paperwork and visit the US Embassy. In the email by Yummy Jobs, the international coordinator attached a hyperlink with a step-by-step guide of how to obtain the J-1 visa, so the process is all self-explanatory, although it can be quite confusing at first!

June 2019

Here I am in June, with one month to go until my DAEP, and this month has certainly been the busiest for getting those last-minute preparations in place!

The first major step was the final part of obtaining my J-1 visa, which was to attend my US Embassy appointment. Even though I completed all of the online forms in May, the earliest appointment at my closest US Embassy wasn't scheduled until this month!

My advice: get your online forms done and dusted before the US Embassy appointments fill up, and they do fill up quickly. This is to allow as much time as possible for the US Embassy to send your passport (and hopefully your visa) back to you ready for your departure to the United States. For more information about the process, check out my post all about obtaining the J-1 visa, which will be coming out soon.

My passport with my visa stamped inside came through the post incredibly quickly, and so I was then able to pay the rest of my tuition fee for CMU ($4010*) and complete the hiring portal from Disney. Basically, the Disney hiring portal had all the documents, manuals and forms that we needed to fill out and familiarise ourselves with. I completed the tasks across several days as there was too much information to absorb or familiarise myself with in just one day. Plus, there was no tight deadline attached to this stage, other than completed before my arrival date.

It was around the middle of June when CMU emailed me with my first assignment of the program. This assignment was all about the goals I wanted to achieve by the end of my program, but this could change year on year. This was perfect for me because I had been thinking about this already for Sheffield Hallam University. During my June preparations, I decided to upgrade my phone, so that I would be able to use my data roaming in the United States without any extravagant costs attached to my bill. Additionally, I began stocking up on my skincare products and buying 'business casual' and casual clothing items that would be suitable for the laundry facilities in the housing complexes, as well as purchasing my medical insurance, which was mandatory for my program and travel insurance, just in case anything was to happen to me while I was travelling to the United States. At the same time, I got an email from Disney to select my preference for housing complexes and apartment sizes, which was very very exciting! Other emails are sent from Disney and additional partners about purchasing bedding and other information to prepare for the all-important arrival. These are nothing to panic about, as they were there to obtain the best advice from Disney about my program arrival.

And so, the last major hurdle was to watch a set of pre-arrival housing videos, which tells you everything you need to know before moving into your apartment. The videos touched upon safety, bus transportation, amenities and policies that Disney housing has in place. These are only short videos that last between 2-5mins and there aren't that many of them either! Make sure you complete these before you leave for Orlando!

July 2019

So, the time had finally come for me to say my final goodbyes to my friends and immediate family before my departure, which was bittersweet because I wasn't going to see them for over a year. But, at the same time, I knew I was going to have the best year of my life! The Friday before I departed, I began packing up everything that I will be taking with me to Florida and liaised with my parents how much money they were going to give me as a foundation before my earnings started rolling.

Departure Gates at London Gatwick

So, the main question some of my readers have asked me is how did I balance my university studies alongside my preparations for Disney?

In hindsight, as soon as I was contacted about the next stages of the preparation process, I pretty much completed these straight away! Yummy Jobs and Disney do spread the steps out across the period from making the offer to the program start date, so I found that there was plenty of time to get everything ready. And, if you're stuck, Yummy Jobs are reliable when it comes to answering your queries, as they know how much you want to participate on the program and are willing to help out! Also, many of the requirements from Yummy Jobs and Disney recruitment had a very tight deadline attached to them. Therefore, I knew that it would better to get the stage over and done with before I got distracted/tied-up with my academic studies! In some cases, if the requirement wasn't completed by the deadline, you would lose your place on the DAEP, as Yummy Jobs and Disney would assume that you’re no longer interested in the program... And, this was an adventure I didn't want to miss out on!

I hope you enjoyed reading this post about the acceptance process of the Disney Academic Exchange Program and hopefully you got some insight into just how much preparations go into living abroad for an extended period of time! If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me via the homepage or leave a comment on this post. Keep your eyes (and ears!) peeled for more posts about what my program entails, and check out my previous advice posts and program update series for more of my experience on the Disney Academic Exchange Program!

Thank you so much for reading and have a magical day!

-Hannah

* Costs are accurate as of 2019

** Requirement is part of the UK acceptance process and maybe different/non-compulsory for other countries

DISCLAIMER: this blog is my personal experience on the Disney Academic Exchange Program and in no way reflects everyone's experience! Other programs and future participants on the DAEP may have slight adjustments which may not be reflected in my posts. That being said, if you do leave any questions, I will try to answer them as best I can or cover topics in blogposts :)