While it's difficult to squeeze three months of the best summer of my life into four articles, I'm going to try. Although my story is one of hundreds, I don't think anyone has had an experience quite like it. So close your eyes as we go back in time to the year of The New Tomorrowland: The Summer of 1998. — Shoshana
I didn't realize it at the time, but being accepted into the Disneyland College Program (DLCP) (see College With the Mouse Part One) was only part of the process.
I was very excited when I received an immensely helpful information packet about the college program. This became my bible in the days leading up to my orientation. So before I continue with my story, I'll give you the breakdown on the components of the DLCP.
The Earning
We would be considered seasonal employees and were guaranteed a minimum of 30 hours per week. Our base pay was $5.75 an hour, and our rent would be deducted from our salary (although you did have the option to find your own housing, which I beleive is the only option for DLCP participants today.) In addition, several positions are tied into a union, so our dues would also be deducted. We would be taking home $40-$60 each week.
Plus, scheduling would be determined by seniority — which means different things in different departments (for example, cast members at the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor with seniority want to work evenings when it is cooler and less people tend to come in).
As an attractions hostess, I learned that some of my responsibilities would include: greeting guests, giving lengthy narrations to large groups, loading and unloading guests, operating sophisticated ride systems, and guest control. Also, providing for the safety of guests and light cleaning. Most of these tasks I was used to as they were a part of my job at The Disney Store. But I still had no idea which attraction I would be working. Sophisticated ride systems could be anything from pushing a button to driving a train.
We would be eligible to discounts on tickets and merchandise, including going to Company D-the employee store; could get into the park (except July 4th); participate in Cast Activities; and have access to Partners Federal Credit Union.
The Living
Disney selected Oakwood apartments in Newport Beach as our housing for the summer. It wasn't too far from the 55, and was within walking distance of a Blockbuster, a Ralphs grocery store, a Starbucks and—best of all—a nail salon (which came in very handy when I needed to fix French manicure to maintain that Disney look). I would be living with as many as three other people in a two-bedroom furnished apartment. We would be required to take care of our own transportation (a car was highly recommended), but there was carpooling available and the bus had a stop across the street from our apartment complex.
The Learning
DLCP members would be able to participate in the Road to Leadership Program. Those interested would need to apply and would have the opportunity to learn more about the managerial positions through the resort. I had thought this program was only for those who were not in their first year of the DLCP — apparently that wasn't totally correct. Those who had been in the DLCP before were required to participate; others had the option.
Because I thought it would be too much to juggle with my work responsibilities, I opted not to do it. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. I wish I could go back in time and change my mind, but, Hakuna Matata! I did end up being able to shadow a manager (more on that in Part Three). There were also several Career Development Workshops we could attend, which included Job Search Strategies, Resume Preparation, the Professional Image and Interviewing Techniques.
The Ears
This part requires jumping ahead a little. After-hours and during our days off, the people behind the DLCP arranged a lot of activities for us to enjoy and we had our own newsletter called The Mouse's Ear. Among the adventures: tickets to The Price Is Right (two of our members were asked to “come on down”) and The Tonight ShowWhose Line Is It Anyway? (which is so much fun, if you ever have the opportunity); and had a BBQ beach party.
All of the theme park and game tickets were purchased at a discount through the Disney Team Center. The one I went to was located backstage at Disneyland on top of the Bank of Main Street. We also all had a chance to see Mulan at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood.
OK, back to our story. After finishing my sophomore year at the University of Missouri, I packed up two very large suitcases, a carry-on that would have easily concealed a small child, a phone, and my TV (because at the time I was addicted to All My Children and couldn't bear to miss a day).
I flew 1,750 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles and stayed with my grandparents in Agoura Hills, about 60 miles from Anaheim, for a few days before the program began. If you do plan to be in a college program, having family nearby is a huge benefit. Not only was I able to do my laundry for free, but they were nice enough to loan me my grandfather's car a week into the program when I realized the bus just wasn't going to work out.
My grandparents drove me down to Newport Beach for my orientation at Oakwood. We had breakfast first at the Coco's next door. Well, they had breakfast. I was so nervous I couldn't eat anything and was barely able to take a few sips of orange juice.
We ended up driving around several times because for some reason we kept missing the entrance to Oakwood. For those of you who have never been to an Oakwood complex, it is very gated and there is usually only one public entrance — somewhere.
We eventually found it, parked, went in and followed the signs to the downstairs clubhouse, which was connected to the pools and Jacuzzi, which was right next to the tennis courts. I noticed a female about my age who also had what looked to be her grandparents with her. The puzzled expression on her face and pile of papers in her hand tipped me off that she was probably going to be in the college program, too. Her name was Haley, and she told me would be staying with her grandparents in Fullerton — although she ended up staying in our apartment a couple of times because she became really good friends with one of my roommates.
Over the next 30 minutes, the rest of those in Group One—and a great deal of relatives—arrived. We would meet Group Two at a BBQ a month later. All together their were nearly 50 participants in Group One.
We met Jayna (College Relations Coordinator), Wendy (College Relations Representative) and Robin (Wendy's assistant), who would be in charge of the program that summer. They ran through some of the information from the packet and answered questions from parents — you could match each participant to each parent when the child would start scrunching down in his or her seat or covering his or her face. We received our housing assignments and were told that once we moved in, all parents would need to leave by 5 p.m., when we would be meeting again in the clubhouse.
I met my roommates Katie, who had been assigned to a position in outdoor vending, and Suzanne, who would be working in food service. Since Suzanne and I were in the apartment first, we ended up sharing a room, while Katie got the single bedroom.
After we settled in, made a list of things we would have to buy that night at the grocery store, realized that we had a phone without a phone line, and said goodbye to our families, we headed back to the clubhouse. We were told that the next day we would be having our Disneyland orientation, which would include what it is to be a cast member, information on the company, a safety talk, lunch and a visit to an attraction. I kept coughing “Space Mountain” under my breath (hey, it had been a while since I'd been on it). We would need to be at the Team Disney building — the big yellow and green one off the 5 by 8 a.m. in professional dress with our driver's licenses or other documentation.
I won't get into too much detail about the Orientation, because other Cast Place articles have covered that, but I will tell you what happened that might have been unique to the DLCP.
Our session was just for the 50 of us, so we had the entire auditorium to ourselves. Once we received our official Cast Member name tags (I was very excited that they were able to fit my entire name on a tag) and watched some introductory videos (one of which looked like an edited-down version of a Disneyland special hosted by Harry Anderson for the park's 35th anniversary), we were told we would be going into the park, and when we returned we would be given our work assignments. They divided us into two groups and once we left the building, we immediately had a very Disney experience.
Our hostess asked one of our group members who was his favorite character. He said he always liked the chipmunks – so of course, in true Disney fashion, who should come around the corner from behind the door leading to Toontown but Chip and Dale. It was so cute I felt like crying. We had a short tour of a few areas of the park, ate lunch at the Village Haus in Fantasyland and took a ride on Star Tours (so no, didn't get my trip on Space Mountain).
We returned to the auditorium and the room was full of “adults” from around the park and administration building. As we came into the room they saw our tags, pulled us over and gave us our assignments. One of the women called me over, introduced herself and asked, “How tall are you?” I told her I was 5-foot-2 (on a good day). She said, “Oh, then we might have to switch you and Shannon.” It turns out I had been assigned to drive the Submarines, but because of my height, they were afraid I wouldn't be able to see out of the porthole.
They asked Shannon, who was standing next to me, if she would be OK with driving the subs (she was at least three inches taller than I was). She said that was great, and how she always wanted to do that. So they took Shannon's schedule and crossed her name off and handed it to me. I picked it up and read the top line: Fantasyland Classics.
I would be working in one of my favorite places in the park!
For the second time that day I felt like crying — it was the first time in my life I was glad to be short.
We all ended the day at the park, through a special arrangement courtesy of College Relations and I enjoyed a ride on Indiana Jones with my new friends.
The next day I would begin my attractions training, I'd always wanted to work in the park, but could I hack it in Fantasyland? You'll have to read Part Three and Part Four.
