NOW I'm Psyched...

So yesterday was the day of the Disney job offer information call thingies over the net. And now I’m SUPER excited again! Everytime I talk about the ICP, I realise again (as if for the first time) that I’m going to be spending 10 magical weeks at WDW!! Amazing!

The calls were held over something called “Webex”, which was a type of web conferencing/skypey thing – and all in all, it turned out really well. The meeting was held by Kristen from Yummy Jobs (was nice to put a voice to a name) and I think there must have been around 15 of us altogether. It was good to hold the calls in this way, as it probably works out cheaper for them this way (always a bonus), and you get to hear the answers to other people’s questions that you not have necessarily thought to ask.

So here’s the low down of the call:

· Start date – we are advised to arrive on this day. We are not actually starting work on this day, and will be given a couple of days to settle in and start orientation.

· Your passport – needs to be valid for at least one month after you return from the US.

· CRB check – Form and payment needs to be completed by December 20^th. Even if we’ve had a CRB check carried out before, we still need to do a new one.

· The Disney welcome packs – these will be sent out to us around February, as Yummyjobs have to wait to receive our job offer letters from Disney. However, if they receive our letters sooner, then we will get sent our packs sooner!

· Medical insurance – be careful, as this is not the same as “travel” insurance. This needs to meet the minimum requirements of the visa. Yummy have given us two options on the Yummy travel website, but we can book with whoever we like.

· Professional dress – we will need a professional outfit with “dress shoes” for our Disney training and orientation.

· Visa – this will be needed to be sorted around 4-5 weeks before our departure. We must make an appointment at the embassy once we receive our visa packs. We will need to pay the appointment fee ($140), and a SEVIS fee ($35). Ouch! Disney will take care of the price of our visas.

· Flights – we are advised to book a flexible ticket. Ideally we should wait until we have received the visa decision before booking our flights, but this is pushing it in my opinion... If we book through Yummy, then they’ll try and seat us together on the flight.

· Housing and program fee – this is $100 that will be paid closer to the start of the ICP. Our weekly rent for the actual housing will automatically be taken from our pay checks when working at WDW.

· Transportation from Orlando International Airport – there is a mears shuttle that goes between the airport and Vista Way (Disney housing). This costs $20, and we will be emailed a $5 discount voucher closer to the time.

Apologies for another mammoth post, but thought I’d get everything down in case anybody missed their call. However, Kristen mentioned that all the important info discussed in the these calls will also be emailed to us! Kristen also told us that this year was one of the most competitive years they’ve seen with people applying for the ICP 2011. So guys, we really have done well getting into the program...

Well done everyone :)