Accepting Your Offer!

You've waited, you've researched, you've driven yourself insane with worst case scenarios and then finally one day you check your email and see an email from Disney with that most beautiful word ever in the subject line: CONGRATULATIONS!

Clicking on the email you soon discover you've been accepted into the Disney J1 Cultural Exchange Program!!!!! 

First of all - Huzzah, Yay and Woohoo!  Congratulations!  This is such a special and exciting moment.  Take some time to celebrate - tell your family and friends, contact any fellow applicants you know and gush with excitement.  Enjoy the wonderful feeling of knowing that you're going to Disney World.

Once you've caught your breath, grab a cup of tea (coffee is probably best avoided if you're still buzzing) and settle down at the computer because there are a couple of things you have to do in order to officially accept your offer, and there is a time limit on finishing these tasks.
From this point on I will be regularly stressing a very important point to remember: READ EVERYTHING DISNEY SENDS YOU.  This is vital because there is so much you have to do between now and when you leave and you don't want to miss out on anything important.

There are 3 steps you need to take in order to accept your offer from Disney.  These are:

1. Accept your offer
2. Pay the Program Fee
3. Upload your documents

It’s really important to note that you only have 14 days in which to complete these 3 steps.  If you don’t complete them by the deadline, Disney will view that as you declining your offer.  Not to worry though, they are relatively simple steps and you should have no trouble completing them well within the time frame given.  Even though your acceptance email will contain all the instructions needed, I’ve gone through each step in more detail below in my own words.  Keep in mind that this process involves clicking on a LOT of links and being redirected to a LOT of different pages.

Step 1: Accept Your Offer

In the acceptance email, you will find a link to something called the ‘Offer Portal’ or ‘Candidate Portal’ (if this makes you think of parallel dimensions and sci fi novels – you’re not the only one!).  Click on this link and it will take you to a page on the Disney careers website where you will asked to log in.  Use the same log in details as you do to log into your dashboard.  If you’re like me and have forgotten your password, don’t freak out – you can simply re-set it and it only takes a minute or two.

Once you’ve logged in, you will be taken to another page that displays your offers.  You will most likely have just the one offer unless you have applied for and been offered other positions with Disney.  It is very important to note here that on the right hand side you will find the date that your offer letter expires.  After this date you will no longer be able to access you offer letter to save and/or print it off.  For my program it was the end of October which meant we had access to the letter for about 6 weeks.  I strongly recommend you print or save your offer letter straight away because you will need that letter to apply for your visa. 

When you click on the link to your offer letter, you will once more be re-directed to your official offer letter complete with a little Mickey Mouse letterhead (it’s very exciting).  Your offer letter contains a lot of important information including:

• Your role and role description
• Your program start and end dates
• Your rate of pay
• Insurance Policy
• Visa Policy
• Background Check Policy
• Legal Conditions of Employment
• Contact information for International Recruiting.

Towards the end of the letter you will also notice a big blue button that looks like this:

DO NOT OVERLOOK THIS BUTTON!!!

Now you might be thinking “Bec, it’s a huge blue button, of course I’m not going to miss it!”  Well let me tell you, I came across so many people on my program that overlooked that big blue button and then went into a panic later on because that button is very, very, very important.  When you click on the big blue button, it will take you to the immigration documents, including instructions on how to apply for your visa.  You don’t need to read this yet, but print or save it and put it somewhere safe.

At the very bottom of the acceptance letter, you will find a dropdown list and confirmation box which you need to use to officially accept your offer (make sure you click the correct option!).

Once you’ve read the email and taken everything in, take a minute to save or print it out.  Trust me – it will save you a lot of stress to print and/or save as your go!

Step 2: Pay the Program Fee

Once you have officially accepted your offer, you will receive another email.  This should come through fairly quickly – I think mine only took a matter of minutes but it could be up to several hours.  This email will explain how to pay the program fee.  It contains the link to the payment site, your Candidate ID and just another reminder of that 14-Day Deadline. 

Click on the link in the email and you will be taken to a page where you need to log in using the Candidate ID provided in the email and your last name.  This will then take you to a page that asks for your gender; you must provide your gender in order to proceed.  You will then be directed to a page that asks for your card details and billing address.  You only need to include a billing address if it is different to the address you have already provided to Disney. 

Once you have paid, you will be taken to a confirmation page.  YOU MUST PRINT THIS OFF AND BRING IT TO CHECK-IN.  You should also receive an email confirmation of payment. 

At the time of my program it was $154.50 USD for the J1 Cultural Exchange Program – keep in mind that this will be more in AUD/NZD so if you are paying with a Visa Debit card, make sure you have enough money to cover the exchange rate!

Step 3: Upload Your Documents

The last step is to make sure all of your documents are uploaded to DOC.  I know a lot of people get confused by this step so I’m going to keep this simple: The only documents you need to upload by the 14-Day Deadline at the five original documents that Disney has already asked you for.   Just as a reminder, these are:

• Address Information
• Emergency Contact Information
• Passport Information
• Visa Appointment Information (Only which consulate you will be attending)
• Proof of Student Status Form

For the most part, you should already have most of these documents uploaded already.  You can view my post on uploading documents to DOC HERE.  If there are any problems with your documents or something is missing, Disney will contact you informing you that you need to fix the problem before the 14 Days are up (I had to upload a new PSSF). 

Once you have accepted your offer, you will discover two new items on DOC.  These items DO NOT have to be uploaded within the 14-Day timeframe.

Welcome to the Team!

Once you have completed these three steps, you will receive an email welcoming you to the team at Disney! 

The welcome email also has a link to the Onboarding website where you will find information about the Disney Look, Housing, Classes and other information.  You can read through this at your leisure and return to it at any time.

 

Congratulations!  You’ve officially accepted your offer and you are on your way to being a Disney Cast Member.  You have finally reached the end of the application process and now begin the exciting and sometimes frustrating process of preparing for your departure. 

From this point you can return to the Masterlist where you will find information on preparing for the program.  You can also have a look at my post about what to do if you are made NLIC or Waitlisted/Pended.