In late 2001, she was cast as Chelsea Daniels, the best friend of the title character on the Disney Channel's "That's So Raven", a role which she portrayed from 2001 until 2007. Just as the first season of "That's So Raven" began, she went back to Austin Musical Theatre to perform in "Celebrate: AMT," a performance highlighting all the shows the company had done up to then. She was a featured soloist. Van der Pol also appeared on the "Disney Channel Games" as a member of the Red Team; her teammates were Zac Efron, Kay Panabaker, Dylan Sprouse, Shin Koyamada, and Moises Arias. She also played Heather in a guest starring role on "Kim Possible" in the episode "And the Mole-Rat Will Be CGI."