The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow: Disney College Program Interview Series Part 3
Part 3 of the DCP interview series continues with Kayte Heidler.
Kayte is a down to earth girl who originally did a Spring Program for the DCP and had the opportunity to extend her program into Spring Advantage from February 2nd - July 29th.
How did you find out about the program?
I had found out about the DCP when I was a Freshman at Bowling Green State University and my mom told me that if I wanted to apply I would have to come home next semester and go to community college. She didn’t want to have to move me out of my dorm and then into another dorm in Florida so I came home and applied. I found out about the DCP itself through a girl in my Trumpet Section in the Falcon Marching Band who had done the DCP and loved it.
Have you lived in a Dorm setting before? Tell me about your experience living with new people?
I had lived in the dorm setting before but I never really had a REAL roommate till the DCP. My first semester roommate never moved in and during my second semester a girl did move in but she was never in the room and was always over at her boyfriend’s house. I got really lucky with the program though because I honestly got to live with 5 of the coolest people I had ever met. Amanda was constantly cracking jokes and lived for her chocolate milk and I still can’t look at a saltshaker without thinking of her. Her positive attitude toward life really kept me going and everyday with her was an adventure. Teresa really helped me starting off in the program since she was an alumni, and knew how to navigate the program, plus was how I got my nickname “The Last Carnotaurus Rider” and the night I spent stalking the internet with her and a few of my other roommates was insane. Jay was the mom of the group and was a mega excellent cook and artist. Since I managed to decimate a pop tart in the toaster oven and could burn basically anything it was a skill I admired. (I was also pretty much banned from cooking in our apartment after the pop tart incident) Valeria was the last of the 6 and I miss her like crazy. One of my favorite memories from the program was going to Universal with her and the rest of her co-workers from Space Mountain, and Valeria if you’re reading this I’m sorry I originally thought your boyfriend was part of a mob family! My roommate Alexandra, who I actually shared a room with was from the Midwest like me, (one state over) and we bonded over our missing of home cooked midwestern food. We often could be found at 50’s Prime Time and Crossroads at House of Blues. I think of my roommates every single day and how much I miss them.
Where did you work and what was your role?
My home park was Epcot at Future World East in Attractions. My rides were Spaceship Earth (SSE) and Test Track. I was also trained in FastPass+ and picked up shifts in the AD/LIB (Adventureland/Liberty Square) complex in Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
Tell me about some experiences, Good or Bad , in your role that are memorable for you.
I had a great experience working FastPass+ at Ad/Lib because it was actually the first time I got to watch Festival Of Fantasy! I had just gotten my lunch break bump out as the trumpets sounded. My Coordinator let me pop backstage and take my FP+ shirt off and go out in my t-shirt and khaki’s on my break and watch FoF. It made me cry, it really did. I also had a really cool experience at Spaceship Earth because I got to load Bunny Meyer (grav3yardgirl from Youtube) and her boyfriend Dogman into their “Time Machine” and I sorta squeaked out “Hi bunny!” as I did it, and she said hi back and it was really nice. A bad memory I had was a day I now refer to as “Florida Monsoon Day”. I had been out at greeter at Test Track when the “Incoming Weather” canned spiel started to play. This was basically a way to tell guests that the ride will probably go down soon because of the weather. Test Track has an element of the ride where you go 60 mph on an outside track, and it wasn’t safe to be on the ride in a storm. Not even 15 minutes had past when the rain started to pour down and lightening was cracking all around us. All the guests tried to huddle together under the giant canopy that covers the front of our attraction and this is when things started to go very bad very fast. A giant crack of lightening came down on the SSE lightening rod or very near to it and I saw the whole sky light up and it was honestly one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen. Then, because the rain was falling so hard, the storm drains began to clog and the entire pavilion started to flood. THEN the rain and wind shifted so it was raining sideways and drenching everyone under the canopy. All the guests ran for cover in the building but I wasn’t allowed to go in until a leader told us we could. So another Track worker and I were standing outside getting drenched and about three minutes went by before a manager told us we could go inside. Those three minutes were all it took and I was soaked. I spent the rest of the shift trying to stand if front of fans and AC trying to dry off. This rain continued for three days. I don’t think I ever missed the feeling of dry socks more than that week.
Take me through your average work day.
At SSE/Test Track I would often close so I wouldn’t have to be up very early for that, so I would sleep in as late as I could. This was usually till around noon. My shifts started between 3:30 to 4 and I would really advise giving 2 hours to get ready and get to work. A lot can go wrong with the buses and especially with the Epcot C Bus, as Vista was the last stop, it would often be very full and the drivers would sometimes tell CP’s to take the next bus if they couldn’t fit anyone else on the bus! The drive itself was only around 10 minutes as the Bus only goes to Epcot and the complexes. When I got to work I would scan myself in at Cast Services and walk through the “cheese graters” and then go right to costuming. I would go pick up a new shirt for my shift and then walk to whatever building I was scheduled at. When I was at Test Track the walk was pretty short since Cast Services is right behind Track but when I was at SSE it was a little bit more of a hike. When I got to my building, I would clock into CDS (Cast Deployment System), pick up my assignment (what position I would be picking up for someone) and my day would begin. At SSE my day went by fairly quick but when I was at Test Track I sometime felt my shifts were only two hours long it was such a fast pace. There were quite a few more agitated guests at Test Track though since it goes 101 (breaks down) the most of any ride at Disney, mostly due to weather. Attractions usually have two rotations running, Front of House and Back of House, and each position on the rotation usually only lasts 45 minutes so you’re not standing in the same spot all day. Plus every two hours you get a 15-minute break so it’s broken up pretty nicely. A plus for working at Epcot I discovered also, is that if you work long enough to get a lunch, Epcot CM’s get 45 minutes instead of 30 like the other parks. After the last guests would come through for the night, one or a few of us would do a ride through to make sure the attraction was clear and we would help to clear the area. We would then have Track Talk with one or more of the area managers and they would tell us what we needed to improve on or what was happening in the upcoming days. After Track Talk we would clock out and go home. At Epcot getting home was a real interesting experience. Since there were not only CP’s waiting for the bus, but most of the ICP’s there was generally a giant line for the buses. People would often cut in line and that would cause a lot of problems, not to mention that it would take 3 to 5 buses to get everybody home and I’ve been on buses with 70+ people crammed on to them. Sometimes when the line would extend past the cast services building I would pay 2- 3 bucks to take a van back to housing with the ICP’s. I’m not sure if other parks have this, but it was really nice to get home in 10 minutes after a 12-hour shift. When I’d finally get home, I’d usually talk or watch a movie with my roommates but sometimes I’d just collapse into my bed.
Explain your Personal Application Process.
My initial process went by really quickly. I applied for Spring 2015 on September 4th, 2014, Passed my WBI on the 5th, and had my Phone Interview on the 8th. I then waited until the 15th of October to learn I had been accepted. I had actually been accepted on the 10th but for some reason my dashboard didn’t update and my congratulations email went into spam so the email I received on the 15th was the one telling me I only had two more days left to accept my offer! So check your spam folder guys! This kind of stuff does actually happen.
What did you do in your free time?
Kayte is a down to earth girl who originally did a Spring Program for the DCP and had the opportunity to extend her program into Spring Advantage from February 2nd - July 29th.
How did you find out about the program?
I had found out about the DCP when I was a Freshman at Bowling Green State University and my mom told me that if I wanted to apply I would have to come home next semester and go to community college. She didn’t want to have to move me out of my dorm and then into another dorm in Florida so I came home and applied. I found out about the DCP itself through a girl in my Trumpet Section in the Falcon Marching Band who had done the DCP and loved it.
Have you lived in a Dorm setting before? Tell me about your experience living with new people?
I had lived in the dorm setting before but I never really had a REAL roommate till the DCP. My first semester roommate never moved in and during my second semester a girl did move in but she was never in the room and was always over at her boyfriend’s house. I got really lucky with the program though because I honestly got to live with 5 of the coolest people I had ever met. Amanda was constantly cracking jokes and lived for her chocolate milk and I still can’t look at a saltshaker without thinking of her. Her positive attitude toward life really kept me going and everyday with her was an adventure. Teresa really helped me starting off in the program since she was an alumni, and knew how to navigate the program, plus was how I got my nickname “The Last Carnotaurus Rider” and the night I spent stalking the internet with her and a few of my other roommates was insane. Jay was the mom of the group and was a mega excellent cook and artist. Since I managed to decimate a pop tart in the toaster oven and could burn basically anything it was a skill I admired. (I was also pretty much banned from cooking in our apartment after the pop tart incident) Valeria was the last of the 6 and I miss her like crazy. One of my favorite memories from the program was going to Universal with her and the rest of her co-workers from Space Mountain, and Valeria if you’re reading this I’m sorry I originally thought your boyfriend was part of a mob family! My roommate Alexandra, who I actually shared a room with was from the Midwest like me, (one state over) and we bonded over our missing of home cooked midwestern food. We often could be found at 50’s Prime Time and Crossroads at House of Blues. I think of my roommates every single day and how much I miss them.
Where did you work and what was your role?
My home park was Epcot at Future World East in Attractions. My rides were Spaceship Earth (SSE) and Test Track. I was also trained in FastPass+ and picked up shifts in the AD/LIB (Adventureland/Liberty Square) complex in Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
Tell me about some experiences, Good or Bad , in your role that are memorable for you.
I had a great experience working FastPass+ at Ad/Lib because it was actually the first time I got to watch Festival Of Fantasy! I had just gotten my lunch break bump out as the trumpets sounded. My Coordinator let me pop backstage and take my FP+ shirt off and go out in my t-shirt and khaki’s on my break and watch FoF. It made me cry, it really did. I also had a really cool experience at Spaceship Earth because I got to load Bunny Meyer (grav3yardgirl from Youtube) and her boyfriend Dogman into their “Time Machine” and I sorta squeaked out “Hi bunny!” as I did it, and she said hi back and it was really nice. A bad memory I had was a day I now refer to as “Florida Monsoon Day”. I had been out at greeter at Test Track when the “Incoming Weather” canned spiel started to play. This was basically a way to tell guests that the ride will probably go down soon because of the weather. Test Track has an element of the ride where you go 60 mph on an outside track, and it wasn’t safe to be on the ride in a storm. Not even 15 minutes had past when the rain started to pour down and lightening was cracking all around us. All the guests tried to huddle together under the giant canopy that covers the front of our attraction and this is when things started to go very bad very fast. A giant crack of lightening came down on the SSE lightening rod or very near to it and I saw the whole sky light up and it was honestly one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen. Then, because the rain was falling so hard, the storm drains began to clog and the entire pavilion started to flood. THEN the rain and wind shifted so it was raining sideways and drenching everyone under the canopy. All the guests ran for cover in the building but I wasn’t allowed to go in until a leader told us we could. So another Track worker and I were standing outside getting drenched and about three minutes went by before a manager told us we could go inside. Those three minutes were all it took and I was soaked. I spent the rest of the shift trying to stand if front of fans and AC trying to dry off. This rain continued for three days. I don’t think I ever missed the feeling of dry socks more than that week.
Take me through your average work day.
At SSE/Test Track I would often close so I wouldn’t have to be up very early for that, so I would sleep in as late as I could. This was usually till around noon. My shifts started between 3:30 to 4 and I would really advise giving 2 hours to get ready and get to work. A lot can go wrong with the buses and especially with the Epcot C Bus, as Vista was the last stop, it would often be very full and the drivers would sometimes tell CP’s to take the next bus if they couldn’t fit anyone else on the bus! The drive itself was only around 10 minutes as the Bus only goes to Epcot and the complexes. When I got to work I would scan myself in at Cast Services and walk through the “cheese graters” and then go right to costuming. I would go pick up a new shirt for my shift and then walk to whatever building I was scheduled at. When I was at Test Track the walk was pretty short since Cast Services is right behind Track but when I was at SSE it was a little bit more of a hike. When I got to my building, I would clock into CDS (Cast Deployment System), pick up my assignment (what position I would be picking up for someone) and my day would begin. At SSE my day went by fairly quick but when I was at Test Track I sometime felt my shifts were only two hours long it was such a fast pace. There were quite a few more agitated guests at Test Track though since it goes 101 (breaks down) the most of any ride at Disney, mostly due to weather. Attractions usually have two rotations running, Front of House and Back of House, and each position on the rotation usually only lasts 45 minutes so you’re not standing in the same spot all day. Plus every two hours you get a 15-minute break so it’s broken up pretty nicely. A plus for working at Epcot I discovered also, is that if you work long enough to get a lunch, Epcot CM’s get 45 minutes instead of 30 like the other parks. After the last guests would come through for the night, one or a few of us would do a ride through to make sure the attraction was clear and we would help to clear the area. We would then have Track Talk with one or more of the area managers and they would tell us what we needed to improve on or what was happening in the upcoming days. After Track Talk we would clock out and go home. At Epcot getting home was a real interesting experience. Since there were not only CP’s waiting for the bus, but most of the ICP’s there was generally a giant line for the buses. People would often cut in line and that would cause a lot of problems, not to mention that it would take 3 to 5 buses to get everybody home and I’ve been on buses with 70+ people crammed on to them. Sometimes when the line would extend past the cast services building I would pay 2- 3 bucks to take a van back to housing with the ICP’s. I’m not sure if other parks have this, but it was really nice to get home in 10 minutes after a 12-hour shift. When I’d finally get home, I’d usually talk or watch a movie with my roommates but sometimes I’d just collapse into my bed.
Explain your Personal Application Process.
My initial process went by really quickly. I applied for Spring 2015 on September 4th, 2014, Passed my WBI on the 5th, and had my Phone Interview on the 8th. I then waited until the 15th of October to learn I had been accepted. I had actually been accepted on the 10th but for some reason my dashboard didn’t update and my congratulations email went into spam so the email I received on the 15th was the one telling me I only had two more days left to accept my offer! So check your spam folder guys! This kind of stuff does actually happen.
What did you do in your free time?
Like every CP in the program you get into all the Disney parks for free. I loved going to the parks but looking back I feel like I was constantly running off to universal. I bought a medium level annual pass in March for around $255 and it’s honestly the best money I’ve ever spent. I love Harry Potter and found myself craving the pear juice served in The Three Broomsticks in the middle of my shift (even now remembering about it, is making my mouth water) and thinking about how much money out of my paychecks I’d have to save to buy a wand. I still remember seeing Diagon Alley for the first time during my program and how hard I cried.
Which Housing Complex did you stay in?
A 3 bedroom, 6 person apartment in Vista Wayyy. Apt. 2202 represent!
What have you done since your program ended?
After I came home to Ohio I got a job at Starbucks as a barista and haven’t had a single day where I haven’t come home smelling like coffee. I’m taking a few classes at my local community college as well, and trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. I’m in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Tokyo Disney in mid 2017 and I’m currently in the process of applying to go back to Florida for the Disney College Program Fall Advantage 2016.
Be sure to follow Kayte on Instagram and Twitter : @ToughTaters
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