Have you done the ICP before?

Custodial never really did fantasyland queues except for emptying the trash bins. That was down to the greeters or people who signed in and got a "task"

Disney Jess I knew people who did merch at Contemporary Resort and Polynesian, the girl who was at contemporary was a bit disappointed she was expecting to be in a park, but yeah you could really get put anywhere, inlcuding Downtown Disney and the Transportation Centre

 

Thanks, yeah I knew Downtown Disney was deffinately on the list, but was checking as no-one had mentioned hotels.
To be honest, As long as i'm there I don't mind where I am...but I can see how being in a hotel wouldn't have been the best as i'd probably prefer a park, or downtown if not.
I guess we'll soon find out.

Also, do we find out which complex we're living on before we get there?

 

Nope, not untill you arrive. ICP's tend to be in Vista Way or Chatham Square housing though Its a mixture of arrival date and random luck that choose the size and location of your housing and who you're housed with.

 

Oh it's all so exciting! yeh I heard most ICP people live there, my sister did the CRP and lived in the Commons and they were nice,so I know what to expect.
Sorry for all the questions, i'm just getting very excited! When do we find out where we will be located work wise, on the day we get there or when we do training etc...

 

Its likely to be the day after you arrive - arrival day with initial welcome, find out appartement location, settle in, possibly go to wal mart or somewhere else in the evening getting to know people.

2nd Day, initial registration (unpaid) - fill in forms about conduct and find out how things work. You'll likely be told your work location at this point at the start of the day. For us this summer it was by a sticker with your name and role on it, though for me it was a bit vague - Magic Kingdom Custodial. We got our maingate passes that day as well (for family & friend entry but not ID for entry ourselves, though some managed to persuade people at the gate to let them in without it). The next couple of days we had more talks then Traditions (1st paid day & get ID used for park entry). These days were quite short allowing 1/2 the day to do something else.
After the tour of the park the morning after traditions I found out my more refined role of custodial in Adventureland and Frontierland and picked up my costume - so roughly 4 days to find my exact role location. Other stickers may be more exact, so you'd find out the day after you arrive.
Training then follows for a few days then you're sorted. Amongst this you may have your 2 days off delaying training compared to some others who've started at the same time.

 

Cool thanks. I thought you got a maingate pass after 3 months(so obviously thats different for our programme) so we get a maingate pass that signs in our families? If I remember correctly we can sign in 3 people for 6 days or something, is that correct?

 

Yep pretty much. And it goes year by year so If you arrive in 2009, you get one for 2009 and another for 2010, so if your family were to visit once a year you can get them in for 6 days each.
Aj is pretty much right about everything there, I found out I was Magic Kingdom attractions on the 2nd day, vague, but meant I was looking over all the rides in MK working out which would be my favourite! Then I think it might have been the 3rd after my MK induction that I found out exactly where Id be.

Also the housing thing, you find out as you arrive in Orlando at the airport, this was a pretty bad time for me as the 8 people I travelled with were all at Vista and I was the only one who was in Treehouses! Ruined the day at first but then turned out to be amazing. But as Treehouses are closed now there are only the major complexes available so itd be unlikely youd be completely cut off from anybody you know beforehand.

 

Cool thanks! Ah yes I was going to say I haven't heard of Treehouses.
So on our first day there(well 2nd I guess) when we do training etc, we're not able to go to the parks in the night or anything as we won't have our own ID to get us in?

 

I didnt get my ID until traditions, which was on the wednesday and I arrived on the Sunday. Before then I couldnt go to the parks, though I guess you could try and get people on the gate to let you in as aj says, but probably just best to wait!

 

I would have LOVED to be in Treehouses why did they have to close it boooo...
Last I heard it's being turned into a guest area?

 

Aw cool, Thank you
Bit of a bummer, I'll be gagging to get into the parks as soon as I arrive!

 

Yep, they've been refurbished and they're now for sale as Disney Vacation Club timeshare properities called: Treehouse Villas at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa.

Also noting that you now don't get picked up from the airport anymore - make your own way there, Disney provides a discount voucher for the Mears shuttle if you want to use it. You go to the pavillion at Vista Way to start with, and find out where you'll be staying there and given the keys rather than at the airport, and are given transport from Vista if you're housed at one of the other complexes, or escorted to your building if you're going to be staying at Vista.

 

If you're planning visits to other area attractions anyway this could be a thing to consider.
The first few days, because the formalities tend to only last the morning, the afternoons can be used to visit other area attractions such as Universal or Sea World with others - and unlike when you're working you'll all have the same time off so can cooridinate it easily. If you choose annual passes (often not much more expensive than multi day tickets e.g. Sea World are offering the rest of the calendar year free (up to 31st Dec) when you purchase a full price day ticket) you won't feel you're wasting your money by not going there for the full day. But it'll likely be no Disney parks and other attractions for the first few days - you'll have plenty of time to visit them over the course of your stay.

 

yeh thats true
I'll deffinately be hitting Downtown Disney to get the Disney feel until I can get into the parks
Yes the annual passes are a good idea. I can't wait to get there now. Are you doing the programme this year?

 

No, unfortunately I won't be there this summer, but am in the process of applying for the year long Cultural Representative Program in Epcot's UK pavillion leaving Oct-Dec - I'd still be there next summer if you happened to go again though. I would have gone again had it not been for graduation in July, and the requirement to only apply for one program at a time.

 

Oh cool have you done the CRP prog before?my sister did it a few years back and she had the best time ever. I'll hopefully do it in a couple of years time once I finish uni

 

I haven't done the CRP before - went straight from school to Uni so haven't had a year free to do it. I've been planning on going for quite a while so am really hoping I get to go. Along with other UK applicants at the moment I'm waiting to hear the outcome of the phone interview as to whether I'll get a face to face interview. Phone interviews finished on Friday 13th so they should be making decisions soon. Good to hear your sister had a great time on her program, I certainly found the Summer ICP a fantastic experience and can't wait to do it again!

 

You'll have a blast
and the ICP is going to be amazingg. I cannot wait for June!

 

There was but the trash there didn't really need doing that often at all, only every couple of hours. You could sometimes go through a whole task/zoning without having to do the trash in the attraction itself. We had the other attractions as well but again, they usually just needed checking as those on attractions were also good at letting us know if they were getting a bit full. But I will let you guess to whom often let them get full ....


I was also able to apply for more than one programme as well ... the crp and the graduate before it told me that I couldn't apply again. Don't really know what that means in comparison to others on this forum, though I know there is someone else on here that has done the same as me.

 

In the west we obviously had the easy life! No bussing areas - left it to the Pecos Bill restaurant people, air conditioning in places, queue zones where you patrol up and down the queue e.g. Pirates, Splash, BTM. I'd often just stand in line and sweep as the queue moved along, though emptying trash in the BTM load area is a pain to do, and the best thing of all - parade - don't know the situation for the north, but for us it involved quite a lot of waiting and talking to others, and you could often volunteer yourself for it if your zone was clean.

On the application front as it would mean missing university graduation, plus the awkwardness of having two applications I decided against it - going to California including Disneyland in June instead.
Hopefully they'll get the ball rolling for your program soon, and good luck with the university work.