TORONTO - Open Character Auditions

Just a handy heads up from a "friend" of the Princesses (apparently the official Company line when you work as a character - you will always say you're a "friend of" theirs) - she sent me a bunch of info for aspiring character performers/dancers on board on newer ships! SO if you wanna give it a shot, definitely do it - no previous experience required, it's all in your appearance & presentation/animation. So you could have years and years of stage experience but look nothing at all like what they want!


Give it a shot - this is the last time they'll be holding an open casting in Toronto in 2012 (*officially so far)!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012                       10:00 AM  Time zone: Eastern Time (US & Canada)

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Disney Character Performers for Disney Fantasy and Dream   For: Disney Cruise Line Audition City: Toronto, Canada Location: OIP Dance Centre Looking For: Disney Character Look-alikes and Disney Character Performers
Disney Cruise Line® is seeking talented and versatile Disney Character performers for entertainment productions on our luxury cruise liners, the Disney Dream® and our newest ship, the Disney Fantasy® sailing on voyages to Bahamian and Caribbean ports. Nine month contracts begin November 2012 and include competitive pay, room and board, guest sailing privileges, contract completion bonus, additional benefits package and no cruise staff duty. Seeking the following roles: Performers appear as fully costumed Disney Characters in our Mainstage musical theatre productions, meet and greets, events and production numbers on board the ships. Some Disney Costumed Character performers also appear as Disney Character Look-alikes. Some performers step out into ensemble dancer roles. Females: 4'8" - 5'0” 5'1" - 5'3" 5'5" - 5'8" Males: 5'1 - 5'3" and 5'5" - 5'8" with a youthful look 5'11" - 6'2" Note: Candidates will be measured at sign-in. Location: OIP Dance Centre 190 Richmond Street East - 2nd floor Toronto, Ontario M5A 1P1 Sign-in begins at 9:00 AM -10:00AM-Late applicants will not be accepted. Requirements: Performers must be at least 18 years of age Please provide a current headshot and resume Be prepared to learn a movement and animation exercise Please dress in comfortable clothing you are able to move in EOE – Drawing Creativity from Diversity - ©Disney What to expect at a Disney audition... We hold auditions in many different locations all over the world. While each one is a bit different, there are some basic things you can expect at every Disney audition.     Disney Character Performer & Look Alikes We won't ask you to have any specific content prepared for a Character Audition, but you can prepare in other ways. Remember that most roles in this category will require you to portray one of our world-famous Disney Characters with no words at all. You'll communicate through gestures and movement. The auditions are based primarily on movement, physical coordination and attitude. " A place to check in There will always be a Cast Member to help you check in and answer some basic questions about how the audition will run. This Cast Member will record your name and the time you arrived, and take your Headshot & Resume or give you an Audition Application form to fill out. Make sure to arrive early in order to give yourself time to check in and fill out the paperwork. Keeping to the clock We're a very time conscious bunch. We'll do our very best to keep the audition running on time, but we need your help in order to do that. It's very important that you arrive in plenty of time to complete your check-in and ready yourself for a great audition. Generally speaking, this means at least 15 minutes before your scheduled audition time. If it's your first time to a particular audition location, please plan enough travel time to navigate an unfamiliar place. The audition room Walking into the main audition room can be intimidating... but stay cool and have fun with it. Remember that we're people too, and we're quite happy that you came to audition for us. Keep your confidence and come right on in! Your audition will be run by a Disney Casting Director. As you enter the audition room we'll do our best to introduce ourselves, and give you a few instructions to help you through the audition. The room setup will vary based on the type of audition you're attending. It may be a small rehearsal hall with just a few Casting Directors, or a large facility with several people for a group audition. Either way, be sure to listen to any instructions that are given, and do your best! Closed auditions All Disney auditions are closed auditions. This means that we don't allow anyone into the audition room who is not auditioning. While we understand the important role the support of friends and family play in every performer's life, the audition is one place you must go on your own. If someone does accompany you to an audition, they will be asked to wait in the holding area of the audition venue." Audition Tips When you go to an audition you want to put your very best foot forward. Here are a few tips to help you along. Be on time Remember that your audition begins even before you arrive! Be sure to plan enough preparation and travel time for your audition. We can't stress enough how important it is to arrive on-time to your audition... and in most cases this means at least 15 minutes before your scheduled audition time. Being late, no matter the reason, can negatively affect your audition, or prevent you from being seen altogether. Headshot & Resume No matter what kind of role you're auditioning for, it's a good idea to have a Headshot and Resume on hand. Good quality photos on standard letter size paper are best. Make sure the photo you use is representative of the way you look now. If you change your appearance in any way, be sure to update your headshot. As you choose a photo, remember that your headshot is the calling card you leave behind for the Disney Casting team to remember you. Make sure it's the best possible representation of who you are. Keep your resume to one page and list your most recent experience and accomplishments. Don't worry if you have limited experience. Affix your resume securely to the back of your headshot, or have it printed directly on the back. Also, remember that we'll need to keep the photo & resume.

XII. The Waiting Period

Now pretty much everyone who has ever applied to work for Disney whether it be the ICP (International College Programme) or the CRP (Cultural Representative Programme) - (basically imagine working at Canada's Wonderland for the same sort of pay and hours you'd get at Wonderland except you're in a dorm with roommates and curfews and rules in a place full of international folk) - has to deal with the dreaded waiting period. Where you're pretty much sitting around doubting you'll end up leaving and thinking about all the horrible reasons why Disney don't like ya no more. :(

WHY MUST I WAIT SO LONNNNNG!?!

This is after you've gotten all of your paperwork done, everything's sent off,
and all you're waiting for is a date when they're gonna gloriously email or call you up and tell ya to fly off at a moment's notice. It's a nerve-wracking thing, especially as you have to typically guess about a month in advance whether you need to move out, or make alternate plans, or quit your current job.  I've heard of people getting told after several months about their position opening. Others were called and told they're leaving within the week.

So I, like many others (from what I could tell from their blogs and so on) - passed the time by looking at fun Disney images online or watching Disney Movies. Except I like to think I'm clever sometimes - and figured - Egads, I'm probably going to be watching Disney movies 24/7 for the rest of my job and don't want to get bored of them.

So after watching The Little Mermaid and The Lion King and Pirates of the Caribbean and Cars 2 again I put my foot down and decided to save it for the ship. :P  Instead I watched the next best thing - Disney Cruise Line propaganda videos!

LOOK HOW EASY APPLYING CAN BE! .....sometimes. for some people.

Thankfully, about a month ago on Sept 19th, I got an email finally saying what week I was likely to fly out and board the ship if I accepted. As well as a crazy long copy of my contract. Oh also, that I was going to be switching ships and not going on the Disney Dream (as I was originally slated to go), but the Disney Wonder instead. Pros and Cons to this on both ends= but apparently A LOT of the youth staff on either both were swapped about.



My waiting period was coming to an end - it was happening for realsies this time!

XI. The Gauntlet pt 3

So after completing my First Aid retraining (Gauntlet pt 1), passing my Medical examination (Gauntlet pt 2) and now waiting for those results, I had the last of my three trials ahead of me:

TRIAL #3: THE POLICE BACKGROUND CHECK

Now here's the thing, I've had this done for me before. Consider that I work with kids in...at least 3 different jobs/settings per year and have done so for about the past 6 years - that means for each individual thing I've had to do whether it be tour leading, tour guiding (there's a difference!), teaching in classrooms, children's entertaining, or camp counselling, I have had to do a brand new police check. That's almost 20 times to be checked over by the po-po ever since I became an adult.

Now to work on any Cruise Line, you need one done no matter what position you're in. Can't just have any criminals hopping on a ship to sail into international waters so they can sell crack and marry their horses.

There's a very specific one that needs to be done however, when you're to be working with kids. 

This is called a Vulnerable Sector Check.

Now when I've done this in the past, my company just went and got my consent to do it for me- and through whatever police channels, this manages to be completed and surprise-surprise, I have no criminal record. 

 All I needed this time around was 2 pieces of valid ID, one with my address and photo and go to the station and pay for it to get done.

-I was counting on this to be the easiest thing I had to do since - I didn't commit any crimes since the last time (that they've found any evidence/bodies for at least). Lol jk, just in case.

What I wasn't counting on, was the overall incompetence of the Toronto Police Service.

Yep - now this isn't just me saying this, it's every Cruise company, and the whole Disney Corporation that all very likely find the Toronto Police service incredibly difficult and ineffective when it comes to processing these so if you're a permanent resident of Toronto and you're looking to get this done, you're kinda screwed with having to deal with them.  When you could just drive 15-20 minutes to the next municipality like Vaughan, Brampton or Mississauga and it'll be done like *that*, if you lived there - I'll explain.

SO I go to the Toronto Police Station downtown. This place has very specific hours of operation for Police Checks and the sort, so I went down early to get 'er done. When I got to the building, there was a sign taped to the window:

"For Background Checks for Employment, go to this other place that we can't be bothered to give you directions to but here's an address and good luck." 

 (That may or may not be what it said. Nevertheless I walked a good half hour to get to the place)

I get there, wait in line, which takes up a good 20 minutes. Because this is after all, downtown Toronto. Finally I get up to speak to the bored-looking lady at the desk:

Me: Hi, I'd like to get a Police Reference check done?

-Did you go online and print off the form?

Yeah I went online, but it was just a general one, I need a Vulnerable Sector check.

-Do you need it for a job?

Yeah I do.

-Do you have a police check request form from them?

No, they didn't send me one. 

-Did they ask you to get you one?

Yeah they said they needed to have one completed and sent back to them.

-Are they registered with our program?

I....don't know.

-They need to be registered with our program or they can't have it done.

Ok, they probably are - they do their training here in Toronto after all.

-Ok, what's the company?

 Disney Cruise Lines.

-What's that?

It's a cruise company run by Disney, I'll be working as a Youth Activities Counsellor on board. 

*Lady slithers away and confers with a guy nearby. I overhear her asking if Disney actually has a cruise line. The guy comes walking over*

-Hi sir, it's a cruise line?

Yes.

-Nope, they're not listed here. Is it a Canadian company?

No, I'm pretty sure it's not. 

-The police can only do vulnerable sector checks for employment based in Canada.

But they hire Canadians to work on board, my friend did it last year and got his check done.

-I'm sorry, but if your employment isn't in Canada, we can't fingerprint you or do the check. 

But the recruitment agency that placed me is based in Canada.

-It needs to be the company you're working for, not a recruiter. 

So Disney's not registered with your program.

-No, it's not.

So.....what can I do now?

-You can ask the Cruise Line to register for our program here in Toronto and once your company does that and that's been processed you can apply for your Vulnerable Sector check.

So, there's nothing I can do in the meantime?

-I'm afraid so. Anything else I can help you with?

 Pfft. Apparently not.

 So I email my PA - Professional Crew Advisor and tell them what happened. When she emails me back, I can almost her the sigh in her voice - APPARENTLY, the Toronto Police Service has been screwing over applicants for a long time now as I'm definitely one out of many who've had these issues. They won't listen to them because they're not Disney, and they won't listen to Disney because they're not in Canada. Ugh. 

But then I realised that the address on my Driver's License was still in my hometown where my parents lived, even though I moved out to live in Toronto just this year. The problem was, I distinctly remember losing my Driver's License in New York City over the summer. Nevertheless I tole my PA that would try to apply for the background check with the police service in my hometown and she thought that was a good idea and to let her know how it went while they tried to sort things out with Toronto.

• Sooooooooooooooo just so you're aware, for me to get home-home from my place downtown Toronto it's about 2 hours of a bus, a train and a bus ride- followed by a 30 minute walk from the bus station alongside a ranch, a field with a barn in it and a golf course before I reach my old neighbourhood. I'm not joking.

 I decided to call up my hometown police service just to make sure everything worked out.

Lady: Hello, Peel Regional Police.

"Uhhh hi, I just have a question - I need to get my Vulnerable Sector Check done but I don't have a driver's license anymore."

Lady: Not a problem, just bring in something that has your home address on it.

"Like,would mail do?"

Lady: Sure, but it just can't be something your friend sent you. Something official, like government.

"Would tax receipts work?"

Lady: That would be perfect. See you here!

That reassured me quite a bit. I trekked all the way home and spent the night scrounging through my things for something -anything with my hometown address. Luckily - BAM - I found my tax statements form the government, still addressed to home. Fantastic. I was set to go to the Police Office the next day - which was, mind you - another hour and a half by bus across town.

Sooo yet again I make it to my third Police Station this week, this time the Peel Regional Police.

• I get there, I walk right up to the counter- no lines! 

I speak to another police station lady behind the counter.
"Hi there, I'd like to get a Police Check done?"
-Is this a Vulnerable Sector check?
"Yep."
-Ok, who's your employer?
"Disney Cruise Lines."
-Perfect. Here ya go.

• I had to fill out a form where I clearly stated the company I was working for, what ship/location and what my job was to be. 
• I also had to briefly fill in my past employment history and any alternate addresses I had over the past 5 years. 
• Finally, I had to show them my identification and address and the lady takes it, and signs it and asks me to pay $45.

• I swipe my debit card, and BAM.

-It'll take about 2 weeks to process and it'll come in the mail. Need anything else?" The lady asked behind the counter.

"Nope!"

-Have a nice day sir.

And with that, I was good to go - no problems, way faster and more efficient than Toronto. The whole thing took maybe 10 minutes, tops.

I waited anxiously and 2 weeks later on the dot -  IT CAME BACK!

Pretty much the exact same form I filled out except signed with a wee scribble in the bottom and a boxed checked off that says that I passed my Police Vulnerable Sector Reference Check.

I send it digitally to my PA, and that was it! I was officially through The Gauntlet. I did everything I needed to do, and now I just had to wait for them to book my flight, assign me a start date and I could set sail!!!!

Hooray!

UP NEXT:  The exciting information comes pouring in

II. The Process

So getting started with a career with a cruise company isn't exactly an easy, fast process - at least not for Disney. I began this whole thing over a year ago and now still have 2 pieces of paperwork to complete before I take off in 2 weeks!

BUT - for those of you wanting to start the whole process, I'll give you a play-by-play of all the hoops I had to jump through to get 'er done.


->First things first:
Now just a bit of background about me - I've been working with kids and in the travel agency for the past 6 years (and doin a pretty awesome job of it apparently!). I've been picked up by several tour companies to lead and guide trips to Boston, Quebec City, Toronto, Washington, New York, Ottawa, Niagara Falls - and a bunch of other random places. I continued on by working at an International language camp in Quebec and Ontario. In both I spent my time visiting monuments, attractions, museums, watching Broadway shows and circus performances, eating local food and speaking in foreign tongues while I kept kids entertained and educated.

 It was working these jobs that I realised that I really didn't mind living away from home for half the year, living out of a suitcase was a breeze and traveling gave me one seeerious high that I never got from my studies. But one step up from traveling the world via motorcoach was either flight attendant as a man of the skies or crew member on board a ship - and I really wanted to keep working with kids , cause this was something that surprisingly came very naturally to me.

In the end, my Pacific heritage and islander birth leaned on being a seaman instead of a flyboy, and after a cruise with the family I was hooked.

The Application:

Speaking from a purely Canadian perspective, most of the people I know who've landed jobs on boards have gone to a hiring agency online, who handles your application and refers you to the cruise lines.

I originally tried Page Marine Crews : http://www.pmcmarine.com  
-They take care of cruise lines like Cunard, Princess, Holland America, and P&O. These cruises go like, EVERYWHERE. Especially the Mediterranean and Pacific.

Sadly they never got back to me and I was kinda bummed out.
So I tried another recruiter, Cast-A-Way: http://cast-a-way.com/main/home.html
-They handle cruise companies like Carnival, Steiner and of course, Disney Cruise Line.

The first time I applied to Cast-A-Way, I didn't hear anything back - and didn't land an interview! (Le sadface.) Now that only depressed me because a fellow colleague & good friend at the time also wanted to apply and I helped him with the process - and he managed to land interviews and the job, and sailed off to the Mediterranean while I sulked like a jealous, jealous boy.




BUT after a few months of moping and renewing my passport, I decided to try again!
Now it can be nerve-wracking since for many of these companies, all you have is an online application to fill out, and often you have to compartmentalise your stellar resumé into a wee box.

Put A LOT of thought and effort into this. This is apparently where a lot of would-be candidates slip up because they forgot to fill in a section. In my case the first time, my passport status was still pending so I left that section blank and figured I could tell them to fill it in later. DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING BLANK!

This is where they will automatically toss your online application into the reject pile while they're weeding through:

• Can't commit to a 6-month contract? -NEXT.

• Only want seasonal employment? -NEXT.

• Have a visible tattoo? -NEXT. (At least for Disney)

And as far as your spoken languages & skills go, that's all extra and wasn't required for my job really.


What would really up your chances of getting in to the first interview - which is a phone call that screens applicants - is to have the following ready and perfect:

-> First Aid Certification
-> Passport valid for at least 2-3 years after application
-> Professional reference letters in hand and ready to go
-> A follow-up email or phone call!
As they process tonnes of applicants across the country and worldwide, make SURE you follow up - it could be the difference between your application being skipped over or remembered!


Finally, do your research! Look up the various positions on board and see how it fits with your current array of experience. Look up how much money they make, what their living conditions are like, and what life on a cruise ship is.

I spent months dedicated to research - many people sign up for a position on board to find out that it's one of the crappiest, gratuity-only, working-to-the-bone and no-sunlight jobs ever (re: Dining Room Server). A book I can recommend to you that will definitely make you change your mind if you're looking to be a server or anyone that works for tips on board is called: Cruise Ship Confidential.Look for it at Chapters/Indigo and skim through it, its pretty accurate to what life is like below deck beyond the passenger area. Also look up crew member videos on youtube to get a good idea of what the living situation is. There used to be a number of blogs like this talking about the whole shebang but the latest ones now go back to 2008 :S

 So really look into it; I made a point of tailoring my CV/resumé with lots of youth-related and travel-oriented experience to make myself super attractive to Disney.


And finally, when I'd submitted everything for a second time last August - I just crossed my fingers and waited. And waited. For weeks. Until finally, I then decided that JUST in case, I would email them directly my CV/resume with a stellar cover letter attached in case anything fell through the cracks online.

Not more than 2 minutes after, I got an email back:
 "

Thank you!

Nicola will be in touch with you soon to set up a preliminary phone interview .

Good luck!

Kind regards,

Tracy Braunstein

Cast-A-Way

www.cast-a-way.com"

And that's when I knew my application had gotten through, and I was ready to face the next level of this whole process. 

Up next: The GAZILLION BAGILLION (only slightly exaggerated) interviews!