Disney College Program Challenge: Day 5

Best place to talk to Cast Members.
Since I'm not there yet...I'd say Facebook or Tumblr! I love everyone I've met there!

Disney College Program Challenge: Day 4

Favorite Park to go backstage.
Since I don't work there yet, I don't know if I could really have one. Probably wherever I work.

Disney College Program Challenge: Day 3

Advice for future applicants.
Don't give up. I know that may sound weird since this was my first time applying, but don't give up. It doesn't matter if it's your first time applying or your fourth time - just keep trying. This was my first try at the DCP and I actually gave up many time during my pending process. I gave up again almost every day from the halfway point on. The process was making me miserable, but I never *really* gave up. I always held on to a glimmer of hope that it could happen.

BUT. I do warn that you shouldn't throw everything aside for the Program either. Be prepared to spend another semester at school.

Disney College Program Challenge: Day 2!

Which park would you like to work at?
This question is a little bit easier than yesterday's. Overall, perfection would be working at Hollywood Studios, but I'd also be REALLY happy at Animal Kingdom. Both of those parks have the best hours and Hollywood actually happens to be my favorite park. My perfect ride to work would be Great Movie Ride, so that adds in too. I'd probably least like to work at EPCOT, because even though it has less hours than Magic Kingdom, I like the least stuff there.

Disney College Program Challenge: Day 1

Thing you're looking forward to most about working at Disney.

Wow. This is tough. I'd have to say that I can't wait to create magic for every guest I possibly can. That's been my goal from Day 1 and I can't imagine doing anything else. Getting to be with the guests was a #1 priority during my phone interview and I know that a single Cast Member can make or break a vacation - and I wanna be able to make everyone's vacation to Disney World as magical as possible, even if that means something as simple as calling a little girl "Princess" or showing someone the way to where they need to be. Doing anything at all to make my guests' day better is what I want to do and look forward to.

30 Day Disney College Program Challenge!

This one I swear I'm going to do in 30 days and not one post!

So while browsing Tumblr for the gifs in my last challenge, I discovered a Disney College Program 30 Day Challenge! I knew I had to bring it here...so here it is!

This is going to be my base post...and I'll have another post where I start!

30 Day Disney Animated Feature Challenge...in one post!

I'm back!...even though it's only a day later.

I figured I'd post some of my favorite Disney things, and what better way than to do a 30 day Disney challenge...in one post?! So here goes nothing...


This is the challenge I'm posting:

Day 1: Favorite Character

Stitch! Since it's an "animated feature" challenge, technically I couldn't use Perry the Platypus...which is my default answer. But all around, I love Stitch. One of my best friends is from Hawaii (ALOHA TBEAR!) and she is the Lilo to my Stitch. I'm a lot like him cause I'm mischievous, awkward, and you can't understand me sometimes. And I like to make up works.

Day 2: Favorite Official Princess

Belle, by far. I've always adored Belle. I'm a book worm and she is beautiful, but different from everyone else. I don't know about beautiful, but I know what it's like to be in Belle's position a lot of the time. Besides, I absolutely adore Adam.

Day 3: Favorite Official Prince

I bet you thought I'd say Adam, right? Nope! I absolutely love Eric, even if his head is full of seaweed (see what I did there?) Eric is strong and charismatic and attractive and...he's just the perfect prince. (My runner up was totally Adam, just so you know.)

Day 4: Favorite Heroine

I wanted to say that this was a runaway for Megara, but I absolutely adore Eilonwy too. I have an utter love and fascination with Greek mythology, so I absolutely love Hercules, but I've also always loved The Black Cauldron and how different and strong Eilonwy is. Meg let herself die for the man she loved because it was the right thing, while Eilonwy saved the world. It's hard to argue with how truly amazing either of these girls is.

Day 5: Favorite Hero

Who didn't see this one coming? Hercules went from Zero to Hero, JUST LIKE THAT! Hercules did have to work for everything he had - which is what everyone should want. Hercules also sacrificed immortality for the woman he loved. I would totally date Herc. Even when he looked like that gif.

Day 6: Favorite Cast of Characters

I love everyone in The Black Cauldron. I recently got a trio of plush from the movie from the 80's, when the movie originally came out that included Gurgi, Hen Wen, and one of the Fairfolk (the orange one if you know what I'm talking about.) This whole movie is fantastic - including the villain, The Horned King.

Day 7: Favorite Friendship

This was definitely no contest. Lilo & Stitch are the best friends ever. This pair will do anything for each other and it doesn't hurt that I've got a Lilo. I mean, Lilo is going to get taken to space because she didn't want to leave Stitch. And then Stitch rescues her. It's just...too perfect.

Day 8: Favorite Sidekick

I had to think about this one a little bit. Ultimately, Gurgi sacrifices himself for the greater good and I don't know of many sidekicks that are that brave and loyal. Hats...on to you Gurgi!

Day 9: Favorite Couple

Rapunzel & Eugene are the most honest and loving couple in the Disney canon. Yes, Meg dies for Hercules and Hercules sacrifices immortality for Meg, but Eugene dies for Rapunzel and makes her sacrifice the one thing that could save him...all so she wouldn't be kept hostage by Mother Gothel. That is true love.

Day 10: Favorite Animal Couple

I had to think about this one for a minute, but it was totally obvious once I remembered that Max is not human. Haha. Max & Roxanne are so perfect and wonderful and I just love this whole movie. Gwarsh.

Day 11: The Pet(s) You Wish You Had

Do I really need to explain why I would want Stitch as a pet?

Day 12: Favorite Villain

Maleficent is the greatest villain ever. Why do I say such a thing? She wasn't invited to a party so she cursed a baby and then came back 16 years later to kill her. If I cursed a kid for every time I wasn't invited to a party, there would be no more children left on Earth.

Day 13: Favorite Villain Song

This was the first thing that came to mind...so I guess "Be Prepared" is it? I thought some about "Mother Knows Best," but I couldn't stop thinking about Scar strutting around singing & this line:

I'm aware it's not in the song...but it applies to the scene

Day 14: Most Chilling Villain Demise

I couldn't find a gif of her demise, but Ursula is pretty terrifying throughout the whole ending of this movie. I can't imagine actually having experienced it (I think of these things because of the fact that my first dark ride design was for The Little Mermaid and actually featured Ursula's *real* demise.)

Day 15: A Moment That Makes You Laugh Until You Hurt

This one was really difficult, because there isn't a movie moment that just always makes me crack up...but the closest is definitely the song "Gaston" from Beauty & the Beast. Gaston is such a man.

Day 16: A Moment That Makes You Cry Your Eyes Out

I didn't want to use the same gif...so I had to find another. This was the best I could do size wise.

So, this made me sob in the movie theater. I couldn't handle Flynn's death. It was just too much. And, for the record, Bambi's mother's death nor Mufasa's death has ever made me cry.

Day 17: A Moment That Scares You

It's definitely a split between this and the entirety of the donkey stuff in Pinocchio. This has no doubt terrified me for my entire life, while the donkey scenes only more recently began to frighten me, but for different reasons. Overall, this movie is pretty terrifying.

Day 18: A Moment That Makes You Mad

It's not exactly a moment, but I am always pissed when I see Merida and Brave, in general, get hate. This movie is phenomenal, so shut up.

Day 19: A Moment That Makes You Happy

I knew I wouldn't find an image of this, but I always smile at the end of Beauty & the Beast when the house is being turned back to humans - particularly Chip and the dog! It's so much cute and precious!

Day 20: Favorite Musical Number

"I've Got A Dream" has to be one of my favorite songs from Tangled. I love everything about this number. Hands down. No questions at all.

Day 21: Favorite Romantic Moment

And at last I see the light...and it's like the fog has lifted.
This song and this moment are just perfect. It's really the moment that Rapunzel & Eugene know they're meant to be together.

Day 22: Favorite Ending

The reuniting of Rapunzel's family is just perfect. It's possibly one of the best endings Disney has ever made.

Day 23: A Line That Inspires You

Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind...or forgotten.

Day 24: First Movie You Remember Seeing
I can't honestly answer this one, because I've seen so many Disney movies and I watched so many from birth...there isn't a single one I can actually remember having seen above the others.

Day 25: A Movie You Think Is Underappreciated

I wanted to go with something that I hadn't already mentioned...because The Black Cauldron is severely underrated, but I feel like almost nobody cares about Oliver & Company. It's just fantastic. And Billy Joel as a dog. Billy Joel people!!

Day 26: Favorite Movie of the Golden Age

I really couldn't choose. Peter Pan is undeniable. It's my favorite Fantasyland ride (though Little Mermaid easily could take his place the more I ride it) and the whole story is absolutely phenomenal. But then there's Sleeping Beauty. I love Aurora and Maleficent. There's just no topping the absolute beauty of this movie.

Day 27: Favorite Movie of the Dark Age

This one was too easy. The Black Cauldron is undeniably the best from this age. Don't even argue with me on it. IT IS FINAL.

Day 28: Favorite Movie of the Renaissance Age

This was pretty much a runaway too. The Little Mermaid is undeniable in everything that it achieved. Ariel is an amazing character, as well as every member of the supporting cast. I can't find a single flaw with this movie. And The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea is my undeniable favorite sequel.

Day 29: Favorite Movie of the Millennium Age

Oh...Meet the Robinsons. This whole movie was structured around a Walt Disney quote which makes it impossible to ignore. This is another underappreciated movie and I love it to death. We're the kids...we're the kids...we're the kids of the future...

Day 30: Favorite Movie

I don't know who I would be if I could claim a clear favorite. I love different movies for different reasons. The Little Mermaid helped to inspire me to be an Imagineer at the age of 11 and I didn't even know it. The Black Cauldron both frightened and enveloped me in the land of Prydain. Hercules reminds me that just because you gave everything to a person and they broke you, that doesn't mean that everyone will. And Peter Pan created a world  that I have fallen in love with, my whole life. I've always wanted to be Wendy Darling.



So there you have it. I found another challenge that is all about the DCP. But I think I will take that one on in actual "days" instead of all at once...this was exhausting!



Credit for all images/gifs to Tumblr

My Disney College Program Journey: Application Process

Two posts in a day! (Well, I wanted to get this blog started!)

This post is going to be all about my DCP application process. I will tell you immediately: It was amazing. It was awful. It was stressful. It taught me so, so much.
As a beginning, I will go ahead and let you know, the brunt of the story has been put in boldface, so you don't have to read all the extra junk I wrote.

I can't remember when I first heard about the program, but I do know that I've known about Disney's various internships for a long time. I hadn't expected to do anything until after I was done with school, but my last trip to Disney World changed all of that.

I'll preface the story with a small bit of back story on this last trip:
My last trip was in January of 2013 and my mom and I decided we wanted to take someone with us, so we asked the son of a family that we're really close to. He's my age (a few months younger) and we're pretty close. We both love movies, especially horror movies, and make-up effects.

Talmadge (that's him) and I were at Hollywood Studios with my mom and headed down to Rockin' Roller Coaster for another ride. Mom had stayed over at the shops while Tal and I went to the ride. While waiting in the queue for the ride, my mom called me and said that, when we were off, to come up to one of the shops on the street because she had met a girl who was on the College Program currently. I said okay and Talmadge and I headed back up the street after the ride. That was when I met Kendyl.

Kendyl was on the program during my trip - Spring 2013, Merchandise. She's adorable and I love her. I got to talk to her for a while that day and added her on Facebook. She told me all sorts of things about the Program and different little tricks. She is truly the one that convinced me to apply to the Program in the first place. Kendyl had said she wasn't sure, but she thought that applications were already open for the Fall, so when we headed back to our resort, I checked on my laptop and, alas, they were not. I got to see Kendyl a few more times during the trip, but other than that, there wasn't a whole lot going on with me and the Program.

While in Florida, I did, however, sign up for e-mail updates for the DCP and began doing a ton of research everywhere I could get my hands on. We returned home on February 2nd, and I was sick...which was no fun. But excitement came back 6 days later when, on February 8th, the applications for Fall 2013 opened up! I freaked out and immediately applied. I was so nervous because I had never had a job before and had to keep asking my mom questions. The application was pretty easy and, afterwards, I was told that in a few days I would hear back if I made it through the application process and was moving onto the step: The Web-Based Interview (or WBI for short.) To my surprise, an hour or so later, I received the e-mail to complete the WBI. I was freaking out and way excited. For a while, that was probably the most stressful part because each question is timed and I was so worried I was going to run out of time to answer the questions.

Before I had started the WBI, I knew that at the end of the Interview, I would find out if I had passed and needed to schedule a phone interview, or if I had not and was done with the application process and automatically rejected. Tears poured from my eyes when I passed the WBI and scheduled my phone interview for February 13th at 11:30 AM. That was a total nightmare.

I woke up early on the 13th and readied myself, having been preparing for half a week and just ready to get this part over with! I checked my phone and my mom's phone to make sure both were receiving calls. I sat in my room, listening to Disney Pandora, when my phone buzzes...with a voicemail. The call had never even rung! I was screaming and upset and my mom and I were both freaking out when her phone started ringing in the other room. We both froze before RUNNING at top speed to the phone. During my interview I had a wonderful woman named Kim. We talked for around 20 minutes and I got to tell her all about alllllll the things I had missed putting on my application - namely, all my acting experience from Cartoon Network and Turner Broadcasting I had racked up in elementary and middle school! (Note: This was extremely important as I know this is what helped to get me my dream role in Attractions, since there are a lot of scripts!) The interview went as perfectly as I could have hoped for, past the fiasco with the phones, so I will admit it - I was cocky and expected to be accepted almost instantly.

My interview was on a Wednesday, so Thursday came and nothing. Then Friday: nothing. Saturday & Sunday: same thing. Monday, I received an e-mail. The day was President's Day, the 18th. I went into an immediate bad mood, despite trying so hard not to be in one, because I was Pended. I will tell you right now: Pending Purgatory was the worst experience ever, but it also taught me so much. I won't go into detail on how stressed I was, or how many tears I shed, or how many times I cursed everything about the Program and Recruiting...because I did. Being pended was the best thing that ever happened to me.

By the time my wonderful 8 week "pendiversary" rolled around on April 15th, I was fed up with everything to do with the Program and just ready for school to be over so I could think about what classes I was going to take next semester. That Friday was the deadline for Disney to send out answers to all of us that had been pended, so I wasn't exactly hopeful. During the Spring semester, I had classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00-5:15, so my mind was pretty distracted all day on that Tuesday, the 16th. My last class of the day was Theatre Appreciation and I got out a little early, around 4:45 I suppose. I checked my phone and...nothing. Not a big surprise as I wasn't expecting anything, so I walked down the hallway with my friend Kevin and we were standing in one of the side lofts of E building. I didn't remember if I had put my ringer back on, so I checked my phone and there was the little e-mail icon on the top bar. "Oh. Probably just another junk email about a sale at some store that I'm too broke to buy from." When I pulled down the notification bar I saw it: "wdw.college.recruit..." just sitting there. I gasped and told Kevin "this could be something." (Sidebar to Kevin: I apologize for the billionth time for what you went through that day. I'm sorry I'm a freak.) When I opened my e-mail app I saw it...right there, in the subject line, "Congratulations!"...and all hell broke lose. I screamed. Kevin was confused. I grabbed him and said "I'M GOING TO FLORIDA!" (In hindsight, I regret that word choice.) He asked "What!?" I began sobbing. Ugly. Horrible. SOBBING. I was so excited. He had to pee so I left him...and began the calls. Mom cried. Dad just said "I knew you would." My best friend/brother, Sean, was trying to do something at work when I called and said I only had 5 seconds...but as soon as those magic words came out of my mouth nothing else mattered. Tara was excited. So were Maggie and Jason. Everything was going amazing. When I got home, I finally opened my offer letter and discovered the next thing to make me cry that day: I was accepted for Attractions - my top choice of role. My family went out to dinner that night to celebrate. Nothing could upset me...until...

The next day, a part of me died. My best friend and roommate, Carley, was rejected. Now, more than then, I am upset beyond belief that someone who deserved to be in the Program so much was rejected in lieu of people who discuss how to cheat the drug test in Florida (this is an actual conversation on one of the DCP Facebook groups. I still don't believe it.) But I have to give Carley credit: She has handled this situation better than I ever would have or could have. To Carley: I love you so much Gus Gus, and I will always be your Jacques.


Since all of that has happened, a lot has been added: After a huge snafu in Disney's planning, I finally got to select my Arrival Date - August 26th - and went on to find a fabulous roommate & two more suitemates to fill our 2-bedroom apartment in Patterson Court. So, Kristen, Isabel, or Nicole...HI! I love you guys already...and can't wait to eat everything Isabel and Kristen cooks.

It's only the beginning of May, so there hasn't been a whole lot done for the Program on my end yet, but I will be cleaning out my room this summer and trying to figure out what will go with me to Florida...as well as some long overdue cleaning in general.

Well, that's about all I have for now. I think I may actually stop here for the day. I'll try to post more things soon!

Official Introduction

Hey ya'll!
Welcome to my DCP blog, home to my adventure in the Disney College Program for the Fall 2013 semester. I'm Patsy-Jane, but most people just call me Patsy. I'm 17 years old, but will be turning 18 in July (the first!) so I will be of age by the time the program starts. I currently attend Georgia Perimeter College, completing my core courses, and plan on transferring to Georgia State University to complete my degree in Film Studies. My check-in date is August 26th, 2013, but I will be leaving my home in Atlanta, GA on August 24th for the 8 hour car trip to Florida with my mom!
Since almost everyone does an overview of the DCP on their blog, I'll skip that and just direct you here, so you can look at everything for yourself. To answer a couple questions that personally apply to me:

• I am not receiving college credit for the program - BY MY OWN CHOICE. I could take classes from GPC while there, but I am choosing not to.
• I was selected to participate in the Program as an Attractions cast member - my first choice! (More about Attractions later!)
• I do plan on trying to take one of the Disney offered classes, Disney Heritage, once registration for those opens up.

So that's enough of the basics...here's a little bit about me in some handy-dandy bullet points:

• My birthday is July 1, 1995
• I'm an only child
• I have been born and raised in Atlanta
• I was homeschooled for my 6th-12th grade years & graduated a year early, a few months before my 17th birthday
• I began college in August of 2012 & finished my first "year" (2 semesters) in May of 2013 with a 4.0 both semesters

 I think that was pretty descriptive as far as I go... Now this is when I'm going to get long winded and kinda babble-y, so...venture forward at your own risk.


Disney has been something that I have held very near and dear to my heart since before I can remember. Disney was an important aspect in my mom's relationship with her father, and is now important to her and I. My grandfather (her father) passed away when I was 10 months old, so Disney has always been that linking factor. My first visit to Disney World was when I was just 4 years old, but I only remember small aspects. My next trip was when I was 6, with just my mom. Since then, we have gone again in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, & 2013 (9 trips total.) I have only been to Disneyland & California Adventure once, in the Fall of 2006. In my opinion, Disney World in Orlando is much better. However, my view of Disneyland may be slightly tainted by the fact that the one day I had at the park was also the one day on our 2 week trip that the entirety of Orange County schools were out.

Since my Disney life has begun, I have fallen in love with the Disney way of storytelling. Anyone who has been to a Disney park has experienced it, but for those who haven't, this is a simple concept of it: The queue of a ride/attraction (the area where you wait) is called "Scene 1" and is where the story actually begins. Many of Disney's attractions' "Scene 1" extends to beyond the queue and lays strictly in the facade (an example: the facade of the Haunted Mansion on either coast.) In addition to the concept of "Scene 1," Disney also does something that many other amusement park companies could benefit from: When designing a ride, everything is laid out as if the ride were actually a movie, with storyboards and scripts - the whole nine yards. This leads me into the whole reason for going into this tangent: My dream.

I have always been a writer - dictating a story called "How the Grinch Stole Halloween," which is almost exactly "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," but with my favorite holiday - Halloween, at the age of 4 (which was then written down by my nanny on the back of an envelope.) Writing has been something that I have progressively gotten better at and have always loved (I should also add that I love books and reading, though I have regrettably not had any time to read since starting college.) Writing is in my bones, but I never wanted to make a career of it as I know that I'm not as talented as any of my favorite authors, such as Stephen Chobosky (the author of my all time favorite book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower) or Cassandra Clare (the author of a fantastic series The Mortal Instruments & the prequel to that series The Infernal Devices) so I dismissed any ideas of going after a career in which I would be writing. One of my other loves has been graphic design since I was about 8 years old and started to make photographic blends on MS Paint (they were horrid, but quite good for an 8 year old on Paint.) That progressed, but I have never been excessively talented at it, but good enough to make my own desktop wallpapers and such. I planned, for many years, to go to Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) for a degree in Graphic Design, but GD has become such a competitive program anywhere and I didn't feel too keen on it anymore. One day, my mom and I were in the car and she said something that just hit me like a ton of bricks because it was purely genius: "What about Imagineering?"

For those of you who don't know, an Imagineer is the brains and creativity behind absolutely everything you see in a Disney Park - from the script of a ride, to the way something is constructed, to the murals that decorate a wall. Upon looking into some of the Imagineering fields, there was one that popped out more than anything else: Show Writer. Before anyone jumps to conclusions, a Show Writer does not just write the shows like Beauty & the Beast or Voyage of the Little Mermaid. A Show Writer in Imagineering is the one that scripts out and designs the way a story is told within...well, most anything, but specifically the attractions. The idea of being able to tell a story that millions upon millions of people can enjoy over and over again; something that people can experience and not just watch...that idea is the pinnacle of perfection for me.

Following this epiphany, I began looking at schools with Writing programs, however, most were just for journalistic professions. Upon further research and talking to a good friend of mine, Rebecca, I decided to go into the Film Studies program at Georgia State University. GSU has one of the best programs around, and Rebecca was in the program at the time (she has just graduated - GO BECCA!) so I knew it was going to be a good fit for me.

With homeschooling, I was on track to graduate a year early, after having skipped the 8th grade to see if I was ever going to learn something new, so my parents and I made the decision to get my core work done at a local community college, Georgia Perimeter. Research was done and GPC has a program for transfer, so I'm currently enrolled in that.


I think this has been long enough for one post...my next post will cover my DCP journey from start to...now!

Just a quick picture of me!