Disney Dreams in Reach for Orem Resident

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    By Shanae Briggs

    The weiner dog was perfect. Granted, it was blue and made out of a balloon, but it was perfect.

    When she was three years old, JorDan Tripp, a native of Orem, carried that blue balloon animal around with her everywhere until it popped in the bathroom. JorDan was devastated.

    Yet this first emotional experience in Disneyland would not stop her from loving everything about the Disney experience.

    Now, years later, JorDan Tripp is a finalist in Disney”s “Dream Job” contest.

    Disney is offering five people in five different categories the chance to live their dream as an honorary cast member for one day. Of 100 finalists, Tripp is the only one from Utah, and she is in the Princess-in-Waiting category.

    Tripp, 22, is married, lives in Orem and commutes to Springville to work full-time as a conference-call operator.

    “Basically I run conventions over the phone,” Tripp said. “So this one-day experience really would be a dream come true for me.”

    Tripp has worked for many things in her life, but has always come back to Disney.

    “She spent time figure skating and doing long-track speed skating,” said Shauna Olds, Tripp”s mother. “It”s hard to commit to things like that after you get married. So this is her little dream.”

    One thing Tripp will never forget is when her parents drove her to California to audition to be a cast member at Disneyland three years ago.

    “She made it to the final cuts,” Olds said. “People would come out and tell us she was still in there. They were shocked when they found out it was her first time auditioning because most people audition several times before they actually make a cut.”

    Tripp said she hopes she makes this cut, because it”s her last chance to work for Disney.

    “They would dress me up, and I would get to be a princess for a day,” Tripp said. “I really hope I win this.”

    Olds said she”s hoping Tripp wins as well, but for a different reason.

    “We have to get her to win so she can get that dream out of the way, and I can have grandchildren,” Olds said.

    Disney is giving away one million dreams this year, said Andrew Hill, who has worked as a Disney cast member since 2004 and is the Disney college program campus representative at BYU.

    “It”s pretty neat that someone from right here in Orem might get that chance to be one of the million dreams,” Hill said.

    To vote for JorDan Tripp, go to http://www.careerbuilder.com/disneydreamjobs, click on the Princess-in-Waiting category, and vote for Tripp (the Cinderella princess standing between the castle and the tree).

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