My hopes and fears for my Magical Disney Year! (Hey it rhymes!)

My Hopes:

1) I hope to make the most out of every opportunity given to me. If there was one thing I took away with me from my Uni experience was that I was grateful for every opportunity I said yes to and regretted the ones I said no to. As the things I learned from each opportunity I had said yes to, helped me become the person I am today (Excuse the cheesiness).

2) I hope to learn as much as I can about other people's cultures and their customs and traditions that go alongside it.

3) I hope to create several magical moments for guests.

4) I hope by sharing my own culture with others that it will encourage people to visit the wonderful country that is the United Kingdom.

5) I hope to never take for granted the opportunities I will have as a Disney Cast Member.

6) To capture as many memories as I can, be that on my camera or just writing them down in a diary so I never ever forget my time spent out there living my dream.

7) I'd LOVE to be given the honour of conducting Tea Tours around the garden in the UK Pavilion.

8) I hope as many friends and family who are able to, come out to visit me and get to experience the true magic of Disney.

My Fears:

1) I don't get along with my roomate (Like Becca didn't in Pitch Perfect).

2) It turns out not to be everything I dreamed it would be (although I highly doubt this will happen as going by people's experiences who are out there now they seem to be having a whale of a time)

3) I'll like it too much and will never want to leave :P

One Month to go!

I can hardly believe it! Time is going by so so fast at the moment eeek! As Princess Tiana would say...

My Visa is here! It's arrived. It's real.

My VISA has arrived at last :D!! 

It's essentially just a sticker in my passport, but don't let that fool you, it's not just any old sticker, it is a US Visa sticker (*High five* if you read that last bit in your head like the M&S Food advert). It is the most important sticker I have ever owned in my life and did I parade it around the house showing anyone who cared?!?...hell yes I did! But of course I was sure to cover up the photo on it, because well...who knew having a photo taken trying to do a neutral facial expression was so hard?!? It goes against everything you know! I look like I'm about to kill someone/someone is forcing me against my will to go to Walt Disney World for a year...I kid you not the photo is terrifying and I will make sure only those who have to see it (a.k.a. US Immigration officials) are the only ones who do. It is THAT bad.

I was told my Visa would take 5 working days to be delivered, which surprisingly they stuck to. However...a word of warning to those who have yet to have their Visa's delivered to them, make sure someone is at home to sign for it. You have until 6pm on the day that they tried to deliver it (if you missed them) to arrange for next day delivery. I had missed my delivery as they delivered it when I was at work (Had I known what time they would be delivering it I would have given them my work address but alas I wasn't to know!). So my very kind Mum went online and rescheduled the delivery. However, the next day I raced back home (don't worry Mum I stuck to all speed limits....boy did I hate that 20mph road I have to drive down that day) after work hoping to have it in my hands, and to my disappointment it hadn't come. My lovely Mum had waited in all day to make sure we didn't miss the delivery again and it still hadn't arrived by 5.45pm that day :(. There was about 10 minutes left until 6pm and I desperately got up the page and dialled a contact number ready to reshedule once again but just in the nick of time I saw a white Van pull up on my drive at 5.56pm and it was my VISA!!!!! Talk about cutting it fine...but panic over my Visa was now in my hands! Woohoo, let's celebrate!

I'm allowed in the United States!!!!! Visa has been APPROVED :D!

My day started at 5.30am, I woke up just a few minutes before my alarm went off - clearly feeling eager to get this Visa sorted!

Now being a girl first thought of the day...what the heck do I wear? Do I dress smart like I would for a job interview? Or should I dress casual but not too casual so it looks like I'm taking this whole Visa thing seriously....girls do you understand what I'm saying here? Knowing what to wear is tough alone but add in the complication of British weather and all hell breaks loose!! This is the Met Office info for the day I travelled:

And to no surprise the weather was chucking it down with rain in the morning, I quite literally legged it from my parked car to the station platform and the below definitely happened as all available shelter was occupied...

Yup. Not happy.

But this was just another reminder that soon I'll be leaving this weather all behind for the Sunshine State of FLORIDA!!! God Bless America! (We'll just ignore the fact about the random thundery downpours that do happen)

This is probably going to be boring information for most reading this, but anyone who gets the 6:54am train from Fleet to London Waterloo is SUPER lucky, my sister had warned me about this prior to my journey, but the train is like no other you have ever been on. I'm talking super plush seats, maximum comfort - perfecto for an early morning commute!

Having arrived at Waterloo, I hopped onto the Jubilee line to Bond Street and got out my phone to read my step by step instructions I had noted in my phone to find the U.S. Embassy. Now this was all going to swimmingly so of course something had to go wrong and one wrong turn later I ended up getting lost and running around like a mad woman scratching my head thinking HELP! As it was only 8am there was barely anybody on the streets to ask for pointers so in a moment of desperation I rather reluctantly switched on my mobile data got up Google Maps and followed the little blue arrow to my destination...oh the shame! Google: 1 Rachael: 0.

Then ta-da, I saw the building which I had seen on various people's blogs/instagrams before and as soon as I saw the American flag and a white tent saying Visa I knew I was in the right place and joined the queue.

The U.S. Embassy

Step By Step guide as to what happened:
1. Join queue for Visa applications
2. Person will check you have the correct documents whilst you are in the queue and remind you that if you have a laptop you are not allowed to take them in with you so you need to drop it off at a local Gold Pharmacy for a small charge to hold it for you. One guy when I went through security obviously chose to ignore this and when his bag went through security all 3 security guards yelled 'LAPTOP' as if it was me yelling 'SPIDER' to my Dad. Just whatever you do, don't take a laptop in with you, you are warned about this though.
3. Person in the white gazebo with US flag on it checks your name and asks what time your interview is scheduled for, then proceeds to tell you to join the back of another long queue for the next step - security.
4. Wait in line until called over by a security guy who checks that your passport matches your face then points you to another queue (although smaller this time - yay!)
5. Get called over by another security guy in groups of four to glass hut *as seen in the photo above* to drop your bags/items into tray (with your phone, keys, belt and any loose coin into see through bag which they provide for you) then walk through an airport security scanner, collect your items and exit glass building following sign saying 'Visas'. 

Simples so far - Phew!

6. Walk up steps into building and head to reception desk who then checks through your paperwork and gives you a sticker with a number on it, then they point you to the big waiting room.
7. Sit in waiting room and wait to see if the big screen at the end flashes up with your number which tells you which window to go to. *Note: everytime a new number appears a bing noise will occur but no announcement will happen, you'll find the bings happen every few seconds and change quickly so you have to have your eyes glued to the screen at all times (although if you do miss it your number & window number will briefly appear on the left hand side of the screen in small print) Think of it as a glorified Argos pick up point if you like.
8. Your number is called, head to instructed window, provide fingerprints using the scanner device they have, confirm what Visa you are applying for and reason why you are applying for that, hand over documents and passport. They take your passport and tell you to sit back down and wait for your interview.
9. Same process as step 7.
10. Go to interview window on the other side, answer around 3 basic questions. The American guy who interviewed me told me I needed to improve my British accent and proceeded to speak Cockney...because you know all British people speak Cockney...haha!
11. All being well you are then told your Visa has been approved and you'll get it sent to you in the post in the next 5 working days.

Just like that. Simples. One Q1 Visa for me and off to work at Walt Disney World I go.

Having arrived there at 8:05 I was out by 9:20am so for anyone reading this about to book their appointment definitely try to get the 8:30 appointment you'll be finished much quicker than the 9am appointments!

I couldn't get over how easy the whole process was, and what a relief it is to have it all behind me now. Can't wait to get it sent back to me in the post now so I can see it for real. Eeek such excitement and it's only 6 weeks to go now :O!

Rachael's Magical Disney Year is on Instagram too!

I decided to set up a new Instagram account to A) Coincide with my blog updates so people can view my picture updates as well as text! B) So I don't bombard those already on my Instagram with never ending Disney related posts, which while some may enjoy I'm sure others would get annoyed.

So without further ado, if you're interested in following me on Instagram you can find me at @rachaelsmagicaldisneyyear

I have also set up an Instagram feed at the bottom right hand side of my blog too for those who don't have Instagram accounts!

Q1 Visa Application

The evening of the 15th May Disney sent everyone in the July 21st arrival date (the dream team) an email stating:

Congratulations! The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has notified the US Consulate in your country of the approval of the petition that allows you to participate in the Q-1 International Cultural Representative Program at the Walt Disney World® Resort.

However... in this email was a link to the site to begin your Visa application and there was also a link to your I-797 form, BUT due to a technical glitch on the site the link they had sent us to the I-797 form was not working but after a quick email to alert them of this they replied almost instantly and said thank you for the email that they are looking into this and will notify us as soon as it is available.

Then the evening of the 16th the new link arrived. Wahoo! Although I was far too sleepy by this point to start, so I waited until the next morning as I daren't risk answering a question incorrectly due to my tiredness!

So alas, the next morning I began the application which sent you to the DS-160 form to fill out, which by the way is VERY long and requires you to be on the ball, paying close attention to detail. I was grateful I waited as one of the questions asked me to state the last five visits (and state the arrival date and the duration of your stay) I had to the United States. I have only been twice but the first time was when I was 6 so obviously I was clueless what date this would have been, but many thanks to my Dad filming every second of our holidays we were able to track this date down...magic! The form also asks several security questions which checks your intentions of your stay, your criminal background amongst other checks! There is no point in me stating what else the DS-160 form covers as I'd be here all day and I'm sure you aren't all interested to know exactly what was covered.

For the DS-160 form to be complete required a photo to be uploaded but due to the strict rules for this US Visa photo I decided to visit a photobooth and an expensive £7 (and a terrifying photo of myself) later, I had a photo I could use to upload and complete the application.


THEN I could finally book and pay for my Visa appointment, which I'll be heading to on Friday 5th June at 8:30am (Yes all Q1 Visa appointments are crazy early!)

Medical Insurance!

I DID IT! Earlier this week I finally 'bit the bullet' and bought my medical insurance at long last!

*WARNING: This post is by no means a recommendation or advice page, just simply a post about who I went with and why. Please make sure to do your own research and get the best cover for you*

Brief Summary of Medical Insurance with relation to doing the Disney Cultural Representative Program:

It is worth knowing that Disney require you to be covered for the first 120 days as stated in your acceptance letter:

WALT DISNEY WORLD® Resort and its affiliated companies provide health and life insurance for employees; however, this coverage does not take effect until the first day of the month following completion of one hundred twenty (120) days of continuous service. It is mandatory that you insure yourself at least until this date and you must provide proof of insurance upon your arrival in Orlando.

As I am flying out on the 19th July 120 days from this point takes you to Nov 15th, BUT as stated above Disney will only protect you from the 1st day of the month following completion of the 120 days of continuous service. So I cannot be without cover whilst I wait for the 1st Oct so I have to get 5 months cover starting 19th July-30th November (STA also only work in whole months).

So who did I decide to go with and why?

I decided to go with the company STA Travel/Yummy Travel.

I went with them as they work in partnership with Yummy Travel (a sub company if you like from Yummy Jobs). I felt comfortable going with them for the fact that they have insured people going on my program and others similar for several years and hence they know exactly the kind of cover that is required. Plus it helps as being a Yummy Jobs participant you are also entitled to a cheeky 10% discount (and I am ALL about discounts!). PLUS, by recommendation of people who have already done the program before, once you are on Disney's Medical Insurance apparently it is alot easier to book appointments and see a Doctor than if you are not with them, so for peace of mind I'd like to be with Disney. The only slight downside is that the money will be deducted weekly from your paycheck. Whereas if you decided to never go on Disney's insurance and booked 1 years full cover you get to pay up front and won't have to see that money being taken out every week.

How did I go about sorting it?

I first contacted STA Travel via email outlining the program that I would be doing, how long I would like cover for and they replied giving me two options that best suited the cover I required.

We have 2 different Gap year Policies to choose from - our Premier blue and Standard blue. Both the Standard and Premier provide cover for cancellation (Cancellation fees for flights, experiences and anything else pre-booked if you have to cancel for reasons such as illness), medical cover, Repatriation (for reasons such as Illness or Death of a close relative), luggage, loss of passport and tickets, emergency dental treatment.

It also covers activities such as skydiving, bungee jumping, jet skiing, kayaking, elephant trekking, zip wiring, safaris, scuba diving, yachting in territorial waters, overland expeditions and mountain biking, amongst others.

The main difference between them is that Premier provides higher levels of cover, and covers some areas which Standard does not include; such as Search and Rescue (up to £5000), Cash (up to £200), Hijack and Hostage, Travel Trade Indemnity and Government travel restrictions. Also, it covers some activities standard doesn't cover such as shark cage diving, Black Water Rafting, River Kayaking, Skiing and Snowboarding, Trekking under 6000m, canyoning.

I went with the Standard Blue Policy as I'm not planning on going shark cage diving or Skiing etc. So yeah, I also better not need any search and rescue whilst I am out there and I'm praying there will be no hijack or hostage situation other than that I'm covered wahoo!

All I had to do to purchase it was contact the guy who had given me his contact number on the email, phone up confirm a few details and voilà in less than 10 minutes I was sorted!

So how much did it all cost?

So for me, 5 months Standard Blue Cover with the Yummy Jobs 10% discount PLUS I asked for the Medical Excess Waiver to be added (£14) brought my grand total to £214.70 .