Disney ICP Welcome Pack and Visa Update!

So the welcome pack finally arrived! It was sent out on Friday 22nd March and I received it on Tuesday 26th March. To be honest I was pretty disappointed. After all the hype and Yummy Jobs saying it contained a few surprises, all’s it contained was:

• A letter from YJ
• Official Disney Job Offer (okay that was pretty exciting)
• DS-2019 Visa Petition
• I-94 Arrival/Departure Record
• USA and Canada Sim Card
• Visa Application Instructions

No Disney Look Book. I am beyond gutted we didn’t get one this year. Instead we got directed to a website where all the information was. I guess it’s more up to date and practical but I was really looking forward to having it as my first souvenir.

Of course this has set off the all important Visa process. My $35 SEVIS Fee and $160 Visa Appointment Fee have now been paid via the website I was directed too! My appointment is 24th April at 11:30am in London. Let me tell you, the pre-appointment stuff is a little bit of a pain but I’m going to create another post about that when I’ve had my appointment. All worth it!

xox

ICP 2013 Pre-Departure Costs!

Heya! I thought I would do a quick video today on costs you can expect before the program starts. They seem higher than ever looking back at previous people’s programs so be aware before you apply that it can get a little pricey. Worth it though right? In this post I will go over my own personal budget and in the video go through the costs form Yummy Jobs gave us.

Interview Travel Costs	£40 approx (underground & coach fare)
Return Flights	£583.37
Criminal Background Check	£60
US Embassy Appointment Fee	$160
Cost of Calling the Embassy	£1.23 approx per minute
SEVIS Fee	$35
Courier Fee	£14 approx
US Embassy Travel Costs	£20 approx
Medical Insurance	$70 approx per Month
Program Assessment Fee	$100
	£910.92 Excluding Medical Insurance and Cost of Calling the Embassy

 

I haven’t included the cost of calling the embassy as my parents will do that from their house phone, nor insurance. I’m not sure if we will have to pay insurance in a bulk sum or monthly, if all together expect to pay another £100 totalling the cost to £1010.92.

The biggest chunk by far are the flights, taking up half the budget. This is without my added travel costs though, which all together will cost me around £500 more on top of this. Plus I am taking around $1000 with me in cash and travellers checks so my total cost for my summer is going to equate to around £2100!

Luckily I should be able to save up quite abit of my wages for my LA and NY spend as I’m taking quite abit beforehand. We’ll see!

 

 

Overall it has cost me quite abit but will be 100% worth it!

xox

100 Days to Go: Updates & Clothing Haul!

It seems like only yesterday I was chanting ‘200 days to go’ and already that's halved. Not too much has happened since I booked my internal flights. I got my CRB check back and did some shopping, not really that interesting. We are expected to get our welcome packs anytime in the next month so I'm mega excited for that and will 100% do a video as soon as I get it.

Alot more will start happening once we get them as we can then book our visa appointment, sort fee’s and apparently do a new housing quiz online which has been implemented this year (according to my sources). Exciting times!

I think I have pretty much all the clothing items I need now excluding swimwear which I still need to pick up. Other than that it’s just toiletries and bedding really. I’m going to get the rest around Easter so if you would like to see a haul video or packing list let me know. For now I shall leave you with my clothing purchases (which I uploaded on my beauty channel)!

xox

The Plan: Orlando > Los Angeles > New York City!

So it’s 131 days to go and everything is in motion! Hotels in LA are booked, 5 nights in central LA and 3 nights near Disneyland Cali. New York apartment is getting booked tomorrow and flights are all paid for!

So the overall plan for the most amazing summer ever is:

Orlando Florida working for the mouse: June 3rd – August 9th.
Staying in Disney World Hotel: August 9th – August 12th.
Central LA: August 12th – August 17th.
Disneyland Cali: August 17th – August 20th.
New York City: August 20th – August 26th.
Flying Home to England: August 26th.

It’s so so real right now. I can’t believe how quickly its gone from 200 days to 131 days. The plan from now on is to save save save so I can go shopping for new summer clothes over Easter and afford a few luxuries (come on Kindle HD!)

Welcome packs and stuff like that should be arriving soon and my CRB check has already been sent out to my parents house so I shall post an update when more news has come though!

xox

New YouTube Channel & a Little Update!

Hey guys! So I've messed around with my YouTube channels a little as I wanted to film beauty videos on my main one and make a separate one of Disney/Travel vlogs! I would love it if you could check me out HERE! I’m going to re-upload the 2 vids I made on the other channel and update it more when things start rolling.

I know I've not updated this blog much too, that's because nothing is really happening to be honest! We should be receiving our welcome packs soon so I’ll make sure to do a video/post on that. In the meantime you can check out all the Disney goodies I got for Christmas HERE and a few Disney Store bits I got in the sales HERE! I have a Beauty Blog where I’ve been uploading reviews of the Disney Villains makeup range if that takes your fancy. Just click on the image below and you will be taken to it =]

xox

180 Days to Go!

So it’s 180 days until I jet off to Florida to embark on, hopefully, the best summer of my life. Before that though is 6 months of winter (brr), university and working. It’s not all bad though, Christmas is just around the corner and with that I hope to share the Disney love with everybody. Needless to say most presents I buy will be of said theme. Today saw me nipping into the Disney store to buy a few cheeky gifts and a villains tumbler for myself.

From my parents this year, I hope to receive a video camera so I can document my time in the USA. Fingers crossed!

There's not too much left that I have to pay for regarding my program. Flights and CRB are done, so the only things really left are things which need to be paid sooner to departure. In the mean time I’m saving as much as I can so the option to splurge on a new wardrobe/goodies is there!

I’ll check in soon!

xox

The Application Process: Pre-Screens!

So, here's the next part of my application process, the pre screen. I got the email inviting me to one on the 28th September at 6:30pm. Needless to say I was pretty excited, nervous and prepared for it like a mad woman.

I got the 5am coach from Southampton to London, which arrived at 7:30am giving me plenty of time to make my way over to Waterloo. After chilling in Starbucks for 30 mins, people I had arranged to meet up with beforehand arrived (oh George! – inside joke) and we made our way over to the restaurant together.

At the event we had a presentation and a little quiz, then got given time slots. I was in the same group as Becky, one of the girls I had met up with that morning which was pretty cool, so we just stuck together and got some food/chatted to others with our time slot ect. Interviews were running over a little, so we got into the room at maybe 12:30ish. There was a desk at the front where the yummyjobs ladies were sitting, and chairs in a semi-circle around the desk. I actually enjoyed the pre-screen most of all about the whole process, as it really was a massive chat between us all. Firstly we went around and said our names (there was about 10 people in each interview), what course we study and an interesting fact about ourselves. Then questions were just thrown out by YJ! Remember it is a group interview so anyone can chip in at any time, luckily everyone in my group was very considerate of others talking so we all just bounced off each other.

Some of the things they asked us were:

• Why do you want to do the program?
• How would you cope with the long hours & the heat?
• How would you deal with living in shared dorms?
• What of American culture would you like to experience and what of British culture could you share?

Individually they asked us:

• An interesting fact about yourself.
• What is your future realistic and unrealistic job?
• Do you have any tattoos or piercings?
• Top 3 roles.
• What program dates are you available for?
• What Disney character are you most like?
  
  

It lasted about 45 minuets, and that time literally flew by. Abit of advice is to interact with people. They want to see that you can listen and communicate within a group. Also don't forget to smile (although it should be pretty hard not too anyway)!

Also don’t see the others as competition, see them as future friends. Two of the girls i met in Starbucks I'm actually going traveling with after the program, which is going to be amazing. Oh and remember the Disney look ladies and gents. It’s not crucial for this stage, but its recommended. Natural makeup, hair and take your piercings out.

I hope this helped a little and if you have any questions feel free to message me.

xox