Friday, June 27, 2014

Earned My Ears!

So the last time I posted was two weeks ago and I was still in training but now I am all done, I passed my assessment and I am officially a miner in the seven dwarf's mine! I am going to give short summaries of the past two weeks for each day, hopefully I remember what I did. *Warning: this will be a very long post*

Friday June 13th was my final day of training. We actually went down for a while because of weather so we didn't get to do much. We mostly reviewed some stuff that was going to be on the assessment. I felt pretty confident that I could do all the positions on my own and good thing I did because we really didn't get to do a lot this day.

Saturday June 14th was my assessment! It was a 147 question test and then the rest of the time we went through all the positions and we assessed on how well we did them. It went really well because I passed! We had to rush through some of the positions though because we went down for weather again today (we do almost every day) so our assessment time was cut a little short. But it all worked out in the end. Later that night some of the people in my Fantasyland training group and I decided to go to Magic Kingdom to celebrate earning our ears! We finally felt official, it was awesome.

Sunday June 15th was my first day on my own. I was so incredibly nervous, I don't know why I was, I knew how to do everything but I still was worried I mess something up. But it went extremely well! The ride was down for weather by the time I got there so I didn't really do anything for the first 2 hours but after we started operating again it was liked I had worked there for months. I did all the positions correctly and there weren't any issues. I was there from 6:15 pm to 2:45 am so that was interesting, by the end of the night I was so tired.

Monday June 16th my second day on my own. It was pretty similar to my first day, I learned this day that I am the first brand new CP to work at the Mine Train! So that was pretty awesome. Everyone was surprised to hear that I was brand new and that I had never worked at another attraction before. I guess I was doing a pretty good job! One thing that stood out about this day was that a woman came up to me when I was at greeter and told me that her husband was in line and that people kept cutting him and those around him in line and he thought that a fight was going to break out. I didn't really know what to do so I told one of the managers who had just come down by chance and relayed the story to him and then he proceeded to call security. I don't know what happened with the people who were cutting in line but later that night one of the other managers came up to me and asked if I had called security earlier and I told her that I didn't and that I only told the other manager. She basically ignored that fact and acted as if I called security and proceeded to tell me that I shouldn't have done that and to go and check out the claim myself next time. I apologized and just brushed it off, I'm not about to make enemies with the mangers on my second day. But overall it was a pretty good day.

Tuesday June 17th I had the day off so I decided to go to Epcot with my friend Darius who works at the Little Mermaid ride and one of his friends. We only went on a couple of rides, we walked through the countries though and met a ton of characters. After that we met up with my friend Ash, who I met by the Patterson pool, and went to Animal Kingdom. After that Ash went to meet up with some of his friends for dinner so we decided to go to Magic Kingdom and visit Elaina, the girl I was in training with, it was her first day on her own.
Love hanging out with our boss!

Wednesday June 18th my roommate Cate and I had the day off so we decided to spend in in Animal Kingdom! The goal of the day was to mainly look at the animals but it was her first time there so we ended up doing almost everything! We rode Everest twice, saw the Festival of the Lion King where Cate discovered her dream job of being the bird woman who flies around the stage, saw a bunch of animals, and caught four dinosaurs. Overall it was a pretty productive day! I really love Animal Kingdom, it doesn't get enough credit.
Photos we took during our dinosaur capturing experience.

Thursday June 19th I worked 3:45 pm to 2:15 am it was a nice 10 hour day... bleh. We had to evacuate the ride because some lady threw her purse on to one of the intrusion mats in the ride. I had to evac on my own (with no trainer) with a guy who had never evacuated on his own before either so that was an experience. It took us a little longer than it should have but we did it. Some woman was recording me the whole time so that was uncomfortable and weird. After we evaced everyone we reset and we back up and running not too long after. The rest of the day was pretty boring and uneventful compared to that. 

Friday June 20th we were down for weather by the time I got there, so again for the first two hours or so I just basically sat around and did nothing. Which is honestly great, I love when we go down for weather except that the guests are horrible and ask dumb questions. "When will the weather pass" how am I supposed to know? "Have you heard anything about when you'll reopen?" As soon as the weather passes. The only information I get about the weather is what I can see on my phone, the same as anyone else. I was there from 4:45 pm-12:15 am, not bad, after we came back from the weather downtime it was a normal, routine day. 

Saturday June 21st I worked 5 pm-12:15 am was a normal day at work, no down times that I can remember. The only thing I did this day was get a new bag from the outlet mall before work, so that was cool. Its a plain black Vera Bradley and it only cost me $45 which is awesome, I am super excited to use it!

Sunday June 22nd was my 15 hour shift. I worked 12:30 pm-3:45 am. Why? I have no idea. We weren't understaffed, I don't know why I was there that long. The first 8 hours weren't too bad but right around 10 pm I got tower for the first time, which is the position where you need to be constantly watching the monitors, I got super tired and almost fell asleep in there! The only reason I didn't is because a manager came into the room with me and was watching the monitors because the fireworks were going on and a lot of the smoke was blowing into the ride so he had to come check it out which kept me awake. It was a really long day and all I wanted to do was go to sleep.

Monday June 23rd I slept in until like 1 pm, which is so weird for me because I never sleep in past like 11 am. I didn't work until 4:45 pm this day so it was okay. This day was actually the best day I have had so far because we were down literally all day except for 1 1/2 hours at the end of the night. Apparently there was a fire in the ride control room early that morning so the morning people never officially opened the ride. So whatever the problem was it took all day to fix and by the time we were given the all clear to open we still had to go through the opening procedures to make sure everything was okay. For some reason someone thought it would be a good idea to do it during the fireworks so all the smoke blew into the ride and caused the fire alarm to go off about 20 mins into us opening, so we had to start all over again after the fire department came and gave us the all clear. Basically before all this we just stood outside the Mine Train and told people we were down for technical difficulties and we weren't sure if or when we would open back up for the day. People were getting so angry that they had booked fast passes and wouldn't be able to use them and that they had driven half-way across the country just to go on this ride. We opened at 11:50 pm and we were clear of guests by 1:20 am. It was a pretty good day, especially after coming off of that 15 hour day the day before.

Tuesday June 24th was my roommate Hannah's 19th birthday. She ended up sleeping in until like 2 pm so Celine, Cate, and I went to the pool for a little, then went to Magic Kingdom and then met up with her at Hollywood Studios. We all got semi-dressed up and took a ton of pictures, watched Festival of Fantasy, went on a few random rides at Magic Kingdom. It was really fun, we didn't go on any exciting rides or anything, it was just fun to be dressed nice and taking a ton of pictures. When we finally met up with Hannah at Studios we rode a couple rides and then met up with our other roommate Ashleigh for dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre. It was really cool, it is themed like a 50's drive-in theatre and they play really bad sci-fi clips of movies on the screen. After dinner Ashleigh and Hannah went home because they were tired but Celine, Cate and I went back to Magic Kingdom to squeeze in some more rides.

Wednesday June 25th was another day off for me! I didn't do much in the morning, just hung around the apartment, went down to the pool for a bit with Cate. I didn't want to waste the day though so I asked her if she wanted to do something and we decided we'd go to Universal Studios and get our annual passes, we'd been talking about getting them so we decided to just go. Cate's friend Jeremy came with us which was great because he is really nice and he knew where everything was since I had only been to Islands of Adventure before and Cate had never been to either of the parks. It was really fun, Universal is better for more intense rides but their show is so bad. Cate and I were pointing out all the things that Disney would never do. It was fun though, it was cool to experience things like a real guest since we had never been there before.

Thursday June 26th was another morning-afternoon pool day. Charlotte, Celine, and I went to Chik-fil-A for lunch, did a little grocery shopping, and then sat by the pool for a little. I worked from 3:45 pm- 2:15 am, it was another routine day. We went down for like two hours for weather and during that time we had a maintenance issue, it got fixed during the down time but the track had to be reset after we came back from weather before we could let guests on. The rest of the day was uneventful. I was so tired when I came home.

So that was everyday for the past two weeks, I'm sure I forgot some stuff but oh well! I'll try to update more often! That's all for now!

Friday, June 13, 2014

Settling In

Thursday June 5th-Thursday June 12th

To sum up this past week in one word: TRAINING!

Finally I've been able to start my training after everyone had almost finished with theirs I had finally started mine.

Thursday June 5th I finally got to go somewhere other than Disney University for training and this place was... Magic Kingdom! My class this day was called Once Upon a Time... Is Now! It started off with a 4 hour in-depth tour of Magic Kingdom which was really cool but really tiring. It was a lot of stuff I already knew, but there were some new things that I learned. We also got to ride the Haunted Mansion and skip the line, so that was pretty cool as well. After our tour we got broken up into groups in regards to our role and our location. I was in a group of nine people who would all be working Fantasyland attractions! From there we went back out into the park and walked around Fantasyland a little more and talked about certain attractions there. Then we went to lunch and then came the highlight of my day (and you know it's good because I got paid to walk around Magic Kingdom already) I got my costume!!

Friday June 6th was another training day but it was still group training, not on the job so I didn't get to wear my costume this day. This training day was called For Our Guests and I don't know why it was called that because all we did that day was ride almost every ride in Fantasyland. It was an absolutely amazing day of training, if you could call it that. Along with riding rides we got to see all of our backstage areas we would be going to, we didn't see much of Mine Train because it was so busy. But we saw everyone else's areas and got to go a little more in-depth in some of the positions of the attractions. It was a really fun training day, who gets to say that they were being paid to go on rides all day??

Saturday June 7th was my first day of on the job training! In my training group of nine there was one other girl who was also going to be working the Seven Dwarves Mine Train and she had the exact same schedule as me! So I didn't feel all awkward and alone my first day since I got to do everything with her. Our shift started at 6:45 am, that was quite the change for me. We met our trainer who is AMAZING he is the greatest guy I've met at Disney, he should be much higher up in the company. He just has such a fun personality and he is great at his job, so many people love him and I am so grateful to have him as a trainer. Such a great guy, he made us feel so comfortable on our first day. We started out with a track walk, at Mine Train everyone gets a separate area to open in the morning so things get done faster, we picked up walking and resetting the track, it is very tiring. Obviously you have to walk the entire track which is quite the workout. Also at Mine Train you can't cross the track in the station, you have to climb a flight of stairs, cross over from above, then walk down a flight of stairs. That alone is a workout, and we have to do that many times a day. I was not prepared for all this physical activity and I came home that day extremely tired. We also got to experience an Evac (on our first day! Unheard of!) so we had to go back out onto the track and get guests off a train. This involves things called lock and leveling devices, since the Mine Train's cars rock back and forth it would be dangerous if a guest were to get out while it was rocking. With the lock and leveling devices it locks the cars in place so that they can't rock. Day one of training was just to get our feet wet, we mostly observed our trainer and got a feel for what we'd be doing in the next few days. It is very fast paced, but I think I'm really going to like it.

Sunday June 8th was another 6:45 am shift, everyone complains about closing, but I'd much rather go to bed at 3:00 am and sleep in than wake up early. This day we opened tower, which is like the control room of the ride. There are a lot of rules to follow here and you have to have your eyes glued to the screen. A lot of things have been going wrong on the Mine Train so tower position scares me the most, I feel like I'd panic in a situation where the ride has to be stopped or something like that. I'm sure I'll become more comfortable with it in time, but for now it still scares me. After we opened tower we got a little more involved in some of the other positions. We got to load guests into trains, "please pull up on your lap bar" and unload them out of trains, "please exit to your right--ma'am your right, right, thank you". Guests sometimes don't listen or have a hard time understanding, I don't know what it is but you'd think I was speaking a different language when I say some of these things to them.

Monday June 9th yet another 6:45 am shift (the last one) this was our hump day of training.We opened tower again this day, I am starting to get a little more comfortable with it. We also got to go through many more positions this day. We did station assist: the person who tells people which rows to sit in, grouper: the person who sends about 20 people to station assist, and merge: the person who merges the standby and fastpass lines together. These positions are very fast paced and you need to be very attentive, these are major areas where guests either don't understand what you are saying or they completely ignore you. It is easy to mess up in these areas, but you have to just let it go and move on. After this day I felt really confident about working in the mine. It is a fun, fast paced work environment and that's what I do well in.

Tuesday June 10th I worked from 6:30 pm to 3:00 am and I guess these hours are something I'm going to need to get used to because full time cast members joke that CP (college program) actually standsfor "closing person" because all cps get the closing shifts, but I am so okay with that, I don't like opening or waking up early. Today was our fourth day of training, we did more of the fast-paced positions again and we got to do tower during the day while the ride was running with guests on it. The park closed at 1:00 am, so for the last two hours we were supposed to mess around with the lock and leveling devices and practice evacing the ride. However we had to actually evac guests at about 11:30 for a real issue so we got out of doing it later. We were supposed to leave early since we no longer would be practicing evacs but we had to stay since there were still trains on the track. We were supposed to store them once maintenance was finished but they took too long so we left at our scheduled time.

Wednesday June 11th was my first official day off! I slept in until 1:00 pm, I never do this. I was so tired from the previous night, I probably could have slept longer. Today was my productive day, I went grocery shopping at Publix for the first time and I did all of my laundry. When some of roommates got home we even went to the outlet mall and Target. I found a Disney look watch but I am still on the hunt for Disney look sunglasses. It was a boring day but I got a lot done.

Thursday June 12th I woke up really early, at like 8:00 am and I don't even know why. I lounged around the house for a bit, took my roommate Charlotte to pick up her car, went down by the pool for 30 mins (left early because a ton of internationals were smoking-gross), went do Downtown Disney and bought anything Mine Train related I could find. After that Celine came home and we decided to randomly go to Magic Kingdom JUST BECAUSE WE CAN, we did like all of the boring or over-looked attractions there. Then we came home and had a roommate meeting because we needed to figure out a cleaning schedule, we'd been putting it off for a while now and it was seriously time to change things. Everything went well and we have a bunch of stuff in order now which is great!

Tomorrow is my last day of training, I am so excited but also pretty nervous. After tomorrow is my assessment and then I am on my own! It is still all so surreal to me and I don't know that it will ever hit me that I am living and working in Disney World, it is just crazy!

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Lots of Days Off, But Where am I Working?

Sunday June 1st- Wednesday June 4th

June 1st started off as a really boring day, we had plans to go to Magic Kingdom that evening so for the beginning of the day while half of us had training and the other half (including me) sat around the apartment and just chilled. We waited until Celine got home to go to the park, she ended up inviting one of her friends she met in Traditions, Jordan, who was awesome. When we decided to leave the apartment it was absolutely pouring outside, but we decided to brave the weather and head out anyways. By the time we got to Magic Kingdom the rain had stopped and had driven out a lot of people. First thing we did was head to New Fantasyland, we had three goals for the day: Ride Mine Train, Ride Space Mountain, and meet Rapunzel. Because of the rain Mine Train was down due to rain as soon as we got to Fantasyland it was opening! Oh and did I menion... I WILL BE WORKING THERE!! I AM WORKING THE SEVEN DWARVES MINE TRAIN. So we had to ride it and since it was just down the line wasn't crazy long like it has been, usually the line is 90-110 minutes but we waited just under an hour which was awesome. And let me tell you, that ride is amazing.
The theming in the queue is incredible, the landscaping is beautiful, the whole thing is just so well done. I am so excited to work there! After Mine Train we were going to meet Rapunzel but her line was just too long, we decided to hang around in Fantasyland for a bit, we rode a couple more rides then headed over to Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain. After that we headed to Adventure land and the first thing we did was get Dole Whips, Cate and I had never had one before so we split one; I know people are obsessed with these but I wasn't that impressed, it was good but I probably wouldn't get one again. After our Dole Whips we stayed in Adventureland for a little, riding a few things so that we wouldn't get stuck in the crowd during the electrical parade. After that we decided we'd do one more ride then head home. We picked Big Thunder Mountain, we could not have made a better choice. By the time we got on it Wishes was going on, which was amazing to experience while riding Big Thunder, and also it rained for the two minutes we were on the ride. So we got to ride Big Thunder in the pouring rain while watching Wishes, literally the best experience of my DCP so far. It was an absolutely fantastic night.

Monday June 2nd was  finally my first day of training, kind of. It was "Welcome to Operations and Welcome to Park Operations" so it wasn't really specific training. It was from 7:30-2:00 and it was a lot of repeated info from Traditions, pretty boring stuff. After training I bought a lanyard with Dopey on it to hold my IDs, its super cute! After training I just hung around the apartment, went to Walmart for a few things, it was a pretty chill day.

Tuesday June 3rd was yet another day off for me, everyone's been working except for me!! Actually Ashleigh had off too so we went to the parks together! First thing we did was go to the Magic Kingdom cast member parking lot so that I would know where I'll have to go on Thursday and we also went to the cast-only stores in the parking lot, Cast Connections and Property Control. Cast Connections is cool, there is overstocked and outdated merch there. You can find some pretty cool stuff there, Ashleigh found an Alien (from Toy Story) bobble head in honor of her working at Pizza Planet; it was only $8! Property Control is broken or slightly damaged stuff, if you get there early as they are just stocking new stuff you could probably find some good stuff there, but by the time we got there it was mostly filled with junk. It honestly is sad to be in there, like all this stuff that no one wants, Mickey figurines missing hands, ears, and noses so sad. After that we headed over to Hollywood Studios so that Ashleigh could get an idea of where she had to go on Wednesday. We decided to go on Tower of Terror while we were there, after that we just left and headed to Epcot. It is so awesome that if we want to, we can go to the park for one thing then leave! I don't know if I'll ever get used to that! At Epcot we got a tip that our a good friend of ours was going to be hanging out with King Louie in America so we fast-walked all the way to America (no running- Safe D begins with me!) which was quite the walk, and made it just in time to see King Louie and a ton of other characters come out!
We saw Foulfellow, Gepetto, Mr. Penguin, Eeyore, Pluto, Chip & Dale, Goofy, and Mickey! We got pictures with as many as we could, it was really cool. After that we stayed in Epcot for a bit, went on a couple of rides, found more characters in the Character Spot which only had a 5 minute wait time- crazy! We had a pretty good time and I usually don't like Epcot.

Wednesday June 4th I was woken up by a call from Disney Deployment, they left me a voice mail asking if I wanted to pick up an extra shift today since they didn't have enough people. I would have loved to pick up a shift but... I haven't had any training!! Anyways, Celine also had off this day so we decided we'd *drum roll* go to the parks! Surprise huh? We started off in Epcot because we got another tip that a good friend of ours was going to be hanging out with Chip in America. The first thing we did was start to make our way around the countries, we started in Mexico and we only got as far as Norway when we got a message saying Chip and his friends would be in America in a few minutes. So once again we fast-walked to America to meet some characters! We were first in line for Chip and Dale, they were great!
We also met Captain Hook, Rafiki, Donald, Turk, and the Country Bears! After we went through the remaining countries past America where we found more characters. We met Mary Poppins, Tigger and Pooh, Tigger was really friendly today, he gave us lots of kisses. After that we went on Test Track since it was only a 30 minute wait unheard of! After that we headed to Magic Kingdom with the intents to do some shopping, we looked around the Emporium and decided we come back on our way out. We walked out right when the Dapper Dans were performing, I had never seen them live before, they are awesome! We even got a picture with them.

After that we rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin just because we felt like it and then went over to Fantasyland and shopped around. I got an awesome Seven Dwarves Mine Train pin! I just need to get a lanyard to put it on. After that we were getting tired, it was very hot and sunny all day so we were pretty drained. We stopped back in the Emporium and I bought an Eeyore pillow pet because he just looked so cute and I had to get him. After that we headed home, I got some stuff ready for my early day of training tomorrow- 7:15am! I can't wait, it is my park orientation day, I get to ride all the rides in my area and I think I get my costume! I'll be sure to post a picture of me in it as soon as I get it, I honestly cannot wait to start working; I have a feeling though that that feeling will go away in a few weeks, but for now I am just so excited!!!


Sunday, June 1, 2014

We Create Happiness

Thursday May 29th-Saturday May 31st

Thursday was a completely free day for us, there was nothing we absolutely had to do except that early that morning Cate and Charlotte had to go for their body scans which is a part of the character performer process and lets them know whether they will still get to be one. That was early in the morning, after they got home Cate went out with her mom and the rest of us went to target to get a few other things we needed. We wanted to get chairs for our patio, a step stool (for my fellow shorties and me), and a few other things. We took my car and it was the first time I actually drove in Orlando (besides driving to Vista Way) which was interesting; Florida drivers are terrible and no one uses their turn signals! After target we met up with Cate, got changed and headed to the High School Musical themed pool party at the Commons. It was basically just a regular pool party, there was no HSM theming but it was fun! There was free food, dancing, hula-hooping competitions, and tons of people. After the pool party we hung out for a bit, then got ready to go see Maleficent! We also decided we wanted to try out the CP buses for the first time

#tranSTARS
 We decided to get "I'm Celebrating" Maleficent buttons-- I've decided that I want to collect the "I'm Celebrating" buttons during my program. We saw Maleficent and I didn't like it, I won't give anything away to spoil it, but it just wasn't good. After that we went home, Charlotte and Hannah had early morning Traditions so they wanted to go to bed early, which was fine with me because I was pretty tired.

Friday was Traditions!! Celine, Ashleigh, Cate, and I had afternoon Traditions. We all just hung out or did our own thing that morning but by 1:30 we were on the bus heading towards Disney University. We were broken up into groups based off of numbers on our program guides, Celine and Ashleigh went together and Cate & I went in separate groups. Traditions is supposed to last only 4 hours but ours were close to 6 hours long! It wasn't too terrible though, we got our first pair of ears, went on a walking tour of the utilidors and part of Fantasyland, met our boss, and most importantly got our name tags!
They show a lot of cute videos, encourage you to participate by awarding little characters to those who do, joke around a bit- the whole thing is fairly light-hearted. After Traditions we all decided to go to Magic Kingdom for the first time (for free)!!! We got there and had to go straight to Guest Relations to fill out a slip to get a 1-day ticket to the parks since we didn't have our main entrance passes yet and our blue IDs weren't activated. After that we finally made it into Magic Kingdom! We watched wishes for the first time, which was amazing, I think it is 100x better when you're a cast member! Then we ate because none of us had dinner, went on a couple of rides, then went home around midnight.
Roomies! Without Charlotte since she had early training the next day :(

Saturday was park hopping day! Celine and I set out around 11:00am with the intent to hit all four parks in one day! A little ambitious for our real first day in the parks. We only made it to three, we went to Epcot (but only rode one ride), Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. We parked at the TTC and took the monorail to Epcot because why not? We got there and the lines for everything were so long, however Ellen's Energy Adventure was walk-on so we just went on that. Epcot is not my favorite park so if I was going to wait in 30 min lines, it wasn't going to be there, so after that one ride we left and headed for Animal Kingdom. The lines were long here too but I love Animal Kingdom so we decided to wait. First thing we did was get "1st Visit" pins and we wrote "as CPs!" on them, then we went to eat at Restaurantasaurus and had the most amazing cast member she had such fun energy and was getting the people in line to chant "if you're happy and you know it". After we ate we waited 30 mins for Dinosaur, then almost an hour for Everest, then we left and headed for Hollywood Studios. We spent a lot of time at Studios, probably because the wait times were long due to it being Star Wars weekend. Right after we got there it started raining so we went on Great Movie Ride (one of my favorites) and we completely missed the rain, by the time we got off the ride the rain had stopped. Then we did Star Tours and Tower of Terror (MY FAVORITE!) then we met up with Ashleigh and went to Pizza Planet because that is where she is going to be working! After that we did the Muppets Show, Star Tours, Celine and Ashleigh went on Rockin' Roller Coaster (not one of my favorites), and then Tower of Terror was walk-on so we ran to that. After we watched Fantasmic which is Ashleigh's and my favorite show. 
After that we still had time to go to Magic Kingdom since it closed at 1:00am but we were so tired, plus Celine had training the next morning so we went home.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

I'm Not on Drugs, Just Let Me Pee!

May 28th- the day after check-in.

In my last post I mentioned I had to go for a drug test, if you work in attractions, transportation, or are a lifeguard you are required to take a drug test. My drug test was scheduled for 9:15 am the day after check-in, they told us that we should not pee before the drug test since we wouldn't be properly hydrated and wouldn't be able to have enough pee to do the drug test. So when I woke up that morning (at 7:30 for some reason) I had to hold my morning pee for 1 1/2 hours. The drug test is at Vista Way in one of the apartment buildings, it was really weird. Needless to say I had enough pee to fill that cup.

After I got back to the apartment Celine and I went down to the clubhouse to get a form to fill out in regards to things that were wrong in the apartment- broken things, missing kitchen stuff, etc. After that, the two of us and Charlotte hung out by the pool for about an hour and then Charlotte, Cate, and I had our housing meeting.

The housing meeting is a bunch of things you can and cannot do. Most of it is common sense, they try to make it fun, it's not terrible but it kind of drags. It was about an 1 1/2 hours long and it was at The Commons, which is like a 15 minute walk from Patterson. Overall it felt like a waste of time and I just wanted to go back to the pool.

After the housing meeting we all had lunch and hung out for a bit, then we went to Downtown Disney to explore and have dinner. We decided that after dinner we would go and see Celine and Hannah's work locations since they both worked in resorts! First stop was Pop Century where Celine would be working in the gift shop there. She got to meet her scheduling manager and some of the other cast members there. It is a cute store, we got "I'm Celebrating" pins from the front desk and we learned that the CMs from the store come out and do the electric slide and dance with the guests. We walked around for a bit and took a bunch of pictures, Celine even got a Pop Century post card that she pinned to her cork board. After that we got on a bus to Magic Kingdom where we then hopped on a bus to the Wilderness Lodge where Hannah is working. The Wilderness Lodge is beautiful! The only one of us who had ever been there was Celine, the rest of us were in awe, it is an incredible resort. We walked around for a while and took pictures again, Hannah also got a post card of her resort. She even got to meet the front desk manager, he seemed really nice. After that we got on the bus back to Chatham and went home.

It was about 9:30 pm when we got home, we all took showers and then hung out in the living room playing Would You Rather and Headbanz, Cate even joined us. It was a pretty fun day! I absolutely love my roommates and I just feel so at home here. Next up is a housing event, traditions, finally getting to play in the parks, and then training!

Check In Day!

So I checked in May 27th but I was so busy yesterday, I never had time to write what happened. So here's a recap of check-in day

Everyone crouching around me makes me look
extremely short, but still a cute pic check-in day!
My roommates and I were scheduled to check in between 7:30 am and 9:00 am, we decided that we wanted to get it over asap so we planned to get in line around 7:00 am. We all met up at 6:45 am at the hotel where Charlotte, Hannah, and I were staying and then we headed over to Vista Way. On the way over we grabbed some breakfast, Ashleigh and Hannah got Chick-Fil-A and Charlotte, Celine, and I just bought some granola bars from the gas station. We then got in line a little after 7:00 am. We waited just under 20 minutes for them to start letting people in.

The first things we got were our program guides, they were handed to us while we were waiting in line. Next we got stick-on name tags, Disney is on a first name basis with everyone, everyone greets each other by name. After that I thought we got our housing assignments and more boring stuff, but I was wrong! Next stop was our job locations! I was not mentally prepared for that moment so I was already freaking out when I found out I was going to be working at... MAGIC KINGDOM IN NEW FANTASYLAND!!!!!!!!!! So after I found that out I was freaking out even more. Quick side note- I am so excited to be working there! Fantasyland is like the epitome of Disney World, I can't think of a more iconic place in Disney. I didn't really have any area or park I specifically wanted to be in, I was leaning toward MK because it's the most well-known and popular park, it is also my favorite one, but I wasn't going to be upset if I didn't get it. Literally can't be more excited! Anyways... after getting our locations we found out where we'd be living; we got a 3 bedroom in Patterson! Our first choice! After that we took a picture for our housing IDs, got our keys, and received our recently printed housing IDs- they print them out right there. After that we got in line to receive our itineraries for the week, it will tell you what time you have casting (some people have it right after check-in some had it later in the day- like me), if and when you have a drug test (I did), when you have your housing meeting, when you have Traditions, and if and when you have a language test (I didn't- this is if you can speak another language fluently and want to have a pin that says you do). After that we broke up into groups of about 5 for someone to go over our schedules and we could ask questions about it. Then we went to a table to make sure all of our pay information is all set, then we filled out I-9 forms (& kept them) then we get a spiel about safety- Safe-D begins with me! Then we were finished with check-in, it took about 1 1/2 hours. My roommates all had casting right after but I didn't have mine until 1:00 pm that day so I got to be the first one in the apartment which means... the biggest room!

After check-in I walked back to the hotel and my sister, my mom, and I drove over to Patterson to start moving me in! We are on the 3rd floor which kind of sucks because it is a bit of a hike, but our building is really close to the front (so we don't have to walk as far to the Chatham bus stop), pretty close to the pool, and also close to one of the laundry facilities, so we got pretty lucky! Our apartment is awesome, I absolutely love it, it also helps that I nabbed the biggest room for Charlotte and I, so overall I'm pretty happy with it. I got everything in the apartment and got a bunch of stuff unpacked and then went out and bought more stuff. After unpacking some stuff I realized there was a lot of stuff I still needed to get like: a lamp, plastic drawers, baskets for under the sink, more hangers, laundry basket, hamper, and a few other things. On our way back Charlotte texted me and said that the 6th girl (who none of us knew) had moved into my room with me, my stomach basically dropped, fortunately Charlotte's dad took care of it and it was fine. I dropped everything off at the apartment and then me and the 6th girl- Cate and I went to Casting.

While check-in was fun and exciting, casting was boring and tiring. Casting is a lot of waiting in line and all boring stuff. You get finger printed, hand over your I-9 stuff, get your training schedule, and get information about traditions and busing. Make sure you have your I-9 stuff- a passport OR a license and your social security card/birth certificate, they have to be the original documents no copies. Lots of information, lines, and boring stuff- but you get to meet a lot of other CPs, which is cool.

After casting I finished unpacking my stuff and got all settled in. My mom and sister were leaving the next morning super early so I hung out with them the rest of the night and said goodbye to them. I didn't really want them to go but I was okay with it. My mom cried, which made me sad but I'm going to see her in 2 months so it is really fine. I already feel at home here, I love my roommates, I love our apartment, and I love Florida!

Monday, May 26, 2014

One Day More!

Check-in is TOMORROW! I'm so excited and also anxious! It is crazy that I'm finding out where I'll be living and working for 7 months in less than 10 hours!

Today was a full day for me, we woke up early and went to the outlet mall-- it is amazing there, I already know I will be spending a lot of time there and we get a cast member discount which is amazing. After that my sister and I laid out by the pool for a bit, then I got ready to meet my roommate Charlotte at Target to buy some of our bathroom stuff. Of course the time we decided to leave it starts storming so it was delayed a bit and then we ended up at different Targets, so that was an adventure. We bought a Mickey & Minnie shower curtain and got a bathmat and hand towels to match, our bathroom is going to be adorable! After we were done shopping we went back to the hotel to get ready to meet 2 of our other roommates out for dinner! We all met up at Planet Hollywood with our families, it was a great time! All of the parents got along great which was awesome and my mom absolutely loved my roommates, which I don't know how you couldn't, they are a great group of girls! After dinner we went to pick up Hannah from the airport which was kind of another adventure since her flight was delayed and we couldn't find her, but eventually we did and it all worked out!

I am just so excited!! Even more so after meeting my roommates in person! Tomorrow we are all meeting up at 6:45am to get breakfast then over to Vista Way for our check-in time at 7:30! I'll definitely update tomorrow but that is all for now!

Sunday, May 25, 2014

ORLANDO!

Today around 2pm we finally made it to Orlando! We started driving around 5am on Saturday and drove all day until about 7pm; we stopped in Savannah, Georgia for the night. We got up today at 7am and struggled to find a place for breakfast, we finally found a place and were back on the road by 9am. Fun times!
The drive wasn't as bad as it seemed, it took us 18 1/2 hours total, 1,200 miles, and we were in a teeny tiny car but somehow I didn't mind as much as I thought I would.

When we got to Orlando it was 95 degrees which was crazy, I haven't been in that kind of weather in sooo long. We basically headed right for the pool after we checked in to the hotel, it was so hot. After the pool, we went to dinner, then we tried to go to the outlet mall. The traffic was insane, I know Orlando traffic is bad, but today was terrible. We made it into the parking lot of the mall and couldn't find a spot so we decided to head to Downtown Disney. On our way we kind of saw where the DCP housing was, which was pretty cool to see since my mom and Kara haven't seen them before. We only spent a little time at DTD since it was so hot and crowded, we actually had to park across the street at Disney's casting building since there was no parking in the DTD parking lot. It was actually pretty cool to see casting before I check in, I had no idea it was right across from DTD until today. We finally left when it started to rain, we were tired. We stopped to get some food for the hotel and now we are relaxing and watching tv.

It was a long day today, I am exhausted. Tomorrow I'm going to meed up with my roomies! Charlotte and I are going to shop for some stuff for our bathroom and then we'll meet up with Ashleigh and Celine in Downtown Disney for dinner at Planet Hollywood, then we are all going to pick up Hannah from the airport! Then Tuesday is check-in! I can't believe I'm here and it's almost time for me to move in and start my life here! Crazy!

Thursday, May 22, 2014

So Prepare For a Chance of a Lifetime

... be prepared for sensational news. A shining new era, is tiptoeing nearer.

Preparing for arrival in Disney has been a whirlwind. There has been so much stuff I've had to get together, there was a bunch of stuff I've had to buy, stuff I had to dig for to find in my house, I've had to go through my entire wardrobe and figure out what I should bring and what stays at home, and then pack it all up and make sure it fits in my car. Speaking of my car, my lease is up in September and I originally wanted to turn it in early so I wouldn't have to worry about it down there, but it ended up being to expensive to do it now. So instead I'm going to get new tires and keep my car until September, turn it in down there, and then my mom will drive her car down and I'll use her car for the rest of my program. So I've had a lot going on in the past few days, but it is all worth it!

Packing has been such a fun experience stressful. I know I've over packed but it is so hard not to when I know I'm going to be down there for so long! I'm going to want options says the girl who wears the same 5 outfits in the summer and I'm so used to the cold I still pack for cooler weather just in case, even though I'm sure I'll be melting during the summer. At least I'll have room for all the stuff (mainly clothes) I'm bringing, it's looking like my roommates and I will definitely be in a 3 bedroom apartment, today a lot of people were posting that they got emails saying they were assigned triple occupancy rooms. None of us got that email so we're pretty confident we got a 3 bedroom, fingers crossed!

Back to packing, I have a huge suitcase that is filled with clothes, one large tote with a bunch of toiletries, a small flat tote with bags and shoes in it, and I think I'll be bringing a laundry basket that I'm going to put my bedding and towels in. I'll be sure to post a picture once everything is all packed up so anyone who is reading this can get an idea of what I think I need for 7 months. There isn't too much more I have to pack, if I needed to leave right this minute I could.

I am only 2 days away from leaving for Disney. UM WHAT? Wasn't it like 40 something not too long ago? How did this semester go by so fast? Craziness. My sister has about 70 days left until she checks in, when I got accepted I was 76 days away from check-in. So to all those who think 70+ days is a long wait, it's not, that time is going to fly by!

Goodbye May Seem Forever

 ... farewell is like the end, but in my heart is the memory and there you will always be. -Walt Disney

It has been a week of goodbyes. I had a going away party with my family on Saturday, said goodbye to my boyfriend on Sunday since he left for Italy on Monday, had my last day at work on Monday, said goodbye to my paternal grandparents today, and today I also said goodbye to some of my coworkers that I didn't get to see before my last day of work. And there are even more goodbyes still to come later this week, and those are going to be really tough.

I know I talked about leaving my family in my last post but I think it really hit me today. I am leaving home for 7 months, the one time I tried living away from home was a disaster and I was home after 3 days. I was only 17 at the time though and I wasn't as confident as I am now. It also didn't help that I was going to school and not Disney... so there's that too lol. I am worried about getting homesick and wanting to come home but I know that I won't give in to it. There will be days that are going to be tough but I mean, I'll be working in DISNEY WORLD so there's no reason to be sad about anything. Only 3 more days now until I leave!


Side note: I am really happy I decided to have a blog during my program, even if no one reads it, it helps me to express everything I'm feeling; it even makes me feel better about things. I started writing this post feeling nervous and a little sad but the time I ended I was excited again and feeling really confident! If anyone reads this who is going to do the DCP, I highly suggest blogging or just keeping a weekly journal. Even if you write something and no one sees it, it may help you feel better by writing everything down, plus at the end of your program you can go back and read everything and maybe relive some things you've forgotten!

Sunday, May 18, 2014

M-I-C See Ya Real Soon...

K-E-Y Why? Because we like you! M-O-U-S-E


Today my mom threw a little going away party for me with some of my family. I can't believe I'm not going to see all of them for 7 months! I didn't realize until today exactly how much I was going to miss everyone. I basically see them all at least every other weekend, my cousins I see every single weekend for the entire weekend. I'm only 10 days (technically 9 since it's midnight right now) away from check-in, and only 6 days away from leaving. 6!!! Where did the time go? I'm excited to go and I am so ready but it hadn't really hit me how much I was going to miss my family while I'm gone.

I'm not sad, so I don't want anyone reading this to take it that way, but I'm not happily leaving my family either. I am so lucky that I have such an amazing family who are happy for me and support me in everything I do. I'm just distraught over the fact that if I want to go hang out with my cousins I can't make the 3 minute drive to their house to see them or the fact that I am missing so many big holidays that I always spend with my family. It is a huge change for me and it is probably going to be really tough.

But, it is time for me to do something new, I'm so comfortable with my life right now that it is becoming monotonous. School, work, school, work, hang out with cousins, work, etc every single week. I need a challenge, something that will put me out of my comfort zone and into a new situation, which is exactly what I'm doing. Sure I'm going to miss my family, but they will come visit me and they will all be there for me when I come home.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

The Home Stretch!

Yesterday was my last day of exams! So now I can officially focus on all things Disney without feeling like I'm procrastinating! Yay!! I'm 13 days away from check-in and 9 days away from leaving home! That's crazy, I honestly can't believe how fast that time went by; it feels like it was only a week ago when I first found out I was accepted and made a post on Facebook saying I was 76 days away from check in. I seriously can't believe it!

So yesterday my roommates and I got our DORMS email to put in our preferences of where we want to live. Our original choice of a 2 bedroom in Patterson, with one of the rooms being a triple, did not work out; apparently not all of the choices are available for each check in day. We just assumed it would be fine since no one else really wanted the triples and we were fine with it. But nope, it wasn't available for us, so we settled for a 3 bedroom which means we'll be getting a random girl joining us! It's exciting and nerve wracking, the 5 of us get along so well already, I feel bad for the girl who is coming in to this not knowing us and us already being friends. We'll make it work but it was just an unexpected twist in our plan.

So now that I'm so close to being in Disney, there are just a few things I still have to buy and take care of before I leave! I've decided to buy my bedding, towels, and stuff like that here in Buffalo just so that there is less stuff for me to worry about when I get down there. I'm also in the process of figuring out if I can get a new car before I leave since my lease is up in September or if I should just wait it out and do it then. So I've got lots of things to take care of in a short amount of time! But that doesn't stop me from being so excited!

That's all I have to update for now. I really hope I can keep up with posting during the program!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

It's May!!!!


It's gonna be May! Which means this is the month I leave for Disney!!! 26 days until check-in, 22 days until I leave Buffalo, and 20 days until my last day of work!

I know I've said this in almost every post already but I'm getting really excited! The fact that I'm leaving home for 7 months and living on my own, 1,200 miles away from everyone and everything I know does not bother me in the slightest. If anything it makes me even more excited, it's like a total fresh start. I've already though about staying down there/extending after my program is over. I'm usually not like this at all, in the weeks leading up to my first year of college (I had decided to dorm) I was having like a melt down and my school was only 25 minutes away from home! This time around I can't wait to leave, I have been stuck in the same routine for like 3 years now and it is definitely time for a change. Everything I do has become such a chore with very little reward, so while I'm working at the same ride everyday in Disney I can at the very least get through it knowing I'm living in the most magical place in the world!

The days seem like they're going by faster and faster, I can remember when my countdown was at 76 days and now its 50 days later and just a few weeks away from leaving! I have been preoccupying myself by reading every DCP blog I can find and I'm pretty sure I've seen every DCP vlog on YouTube. I have a ton of stuff packed already, all of my toiletries are ready to go and I have a ton of clothes in my suitcase, I could leave tomorrow if I had to and I want to! Most of my time in class has been spent making lists of stuff I still need to buy, stuff I'll buy in Florida, what attractions I'd like to get at each park, and other random things regarding the DCP; who needs school when you're moving to Disney? That's kinda bad but I just can't help it, I'm so EXCITED!

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Packing List

Since I'm 29 days from leaving and I've kinda  already started to pack some stuff I thought I'd write out my packing list. This is specifically what I'm bringing, but feel free to get ideas from it.

BH= Buy at home
BF= Buy in Florida
R= Roommate is bringing


Clothes:
  • Tops
    • All Tank tops
    • All Short sleeves
    • ~4 Long sleeves
    • 2 Hoodies
    • 2 Zip-ups
    • 2-3 blouses (for Traditions/Training)
  • Bottoms
    • All Shorts
    • 1 Capris
    • 2-3 Jeans
    • 3-4 Leggings
    • 4 Skirts (including pencil skirt for Traditions/training)
  • Jackets
    • Rain jacket
    • Light, grey jacket
  • ~5 Dresses
  • Bags
    • Brown
    • Tan
    • Pink Cross-body
    • Small Backpack/Bag to take to parks (BH)
  • Shoes
    • Converse
    • Sneakers
    • Brown Sandals
    • Black Sandals
    • Flip flops
    • Flats (BH)
  • Pajamas
    • T-Shirts
    • Shorts
    • PJ Bottoms
  • All socks, underwear, bras, bandeau
  • 2 Bathing Suits
  • 2 Sunglasses
Bedroom:
  • Bedding
    • Comforter (BF)
    • Sheets (BF)
    • Pillowcases (BF)
    • Pillows
    • Blankets
    • Mattress Pad (BH/BF)
  • Laundry Basket
  • Hangers
  • Closet Organizer
  • Storage Containers (BF)
  • Lock (BH)
  • Stuffed Animals
  • Multi-outlet plug-in
Bathroom
  • Toiletries (BH)
    • Shampoo
    • Conditioner
    • Body wash
    • Face wash
    • Toothbrush
    • Toothpaste
    • Razor
    • Deodorant
    • Lotion
    • Heat-spray
    • Makeup
    • Makeup wipes
    • Nail polish
    • Band-aids/First-aid kit
    • Pads
  • Straightener
  • Curling Wand
  • Blow dryer
  • Hairbrush
  • Towels (BH)
    • Washcloths
    • Bath towels
    • Beach towels
  • Shower curtain (BF)
  • Bath rug (BF)
  • Hand Soap (BF)
  • Toothbrush Holder (BF)
  • Tissues (BF)
  • Toilet paper (BF)
Kitchen
  • Toaster (R)
  • Coffee maker (R)
  • Crock Pot (R)
  • Blender (R/BF)
  • Water pitcher (BF)
  • Tupperware (BH)
  • Water bottle
  • Extra cups, bowls, mugs
  • Cooking utensils not provided in apartment(BF)
  • Oven mitt (BF)
  • Napkins (BF)
  • Paper towels (BF)
  • Paper towel holder? (BF)
  • Dish soap (BF)
  • Dish sponge (BF)
  • Dishwasher detergent (BF)
  • Dish drying rack (BF)
  • Oven mitts (BF)
Cleaning Supplies (BF)
  • Windex
  • Swiffer (R)
  • Vacuum
  • Broom & Dustpan
  • Bathroom Cleaner
  • Toilet bowl Cleaner
  • Febreeze
  • Trash bags
  • Laundry detergent
Living Room/General
  • TV (R)
  • Router
  • Board games
    • Headbanz
    • Would You Rather
  • DVDs
  • Wii (R)
  • PS3 (R)
  • Iron (R)
  • Ironing board (R)
  • Steamer (R)
  • Post-its (BF)
  • Thumbtacks (BF)
  • Light bulbs (BF)
  • Powerstrip
Other
  • All appropriate paperwork
  • I-9 Documents
  • Voided Check?
  • Umbrella 
  • Laptop
  • Camera
  • iPad?
  • Jambox
  • Shower Speaker
  • All chargers
  • Lunchbox
  • Headphones
  • Wristlet

Thursday, April 17, 2014

My DCP Bucket List

Just a few things I hope to do during my program.

General:
  1. Earn my ears
  2. See a celebrity
  3. Witness a proposal
  4. Meet a guest from Buffalo
  5. Create at least one magical moment for a guest
  6. Receive and give a GSF
  7. Take one picture every day of anything I see
  8. Take a picture with every character
  9. Collect more Vinylmations
  10. Attend a housing event
  11. Spend New Years in the parks
  12. Take a picture with Mickey at each park
  13. Participate in Dapper Day
  14. Go to a character dining experience
  15. Go to all 4 parks in one day
  16. Ride all 4 mountains in one day (Splash, Space, Big Thunder, & Everest)
  17. Go on every ride/attraction in every park
  18. Stay in every park from open to close
  19. See every parade & every show
  20. Buy at least one ride picture
  21. Roomie picture in every park
  22. Find as many hidden Mickey’s as I can
  23. Get a shirt from every park
  24. Disneybound
  25. VoluntEAR
  26. Shop at Company D
  27. Shop at Property Control & Cast Connection
  28. Go to the beach
  29. Visit Harry Potter world
  30. Stay at one of the really nice resorts when my mom comes to visit
  31. Get something to commemorate the DCP
  32. Buy a DCP hoodie
  33. Graduate from the DCP

Magic Kingdom
  1. See the opening show
  2. Ride Seven Dwarves Mine Train
  3. Attend Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
  4. Attend the Christmas Party
  5. Attend the filming of the Christmas Day Parade
  6. Work a Christmas/Halloween Party shift
  7. Finally try a Dole Whip
  8. Eat at Be Our Guest
  9. Try the Grey Stuff
  10. Watch wishes from the back of the castle
  11. Get Starbucks
  12. Haunted Mansion back stage tour
  13. Ride Space Mountain with the lights on
  14. Play the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game

Epcot
  1. Eat around the world
  2. Take a picture in every country
  3. Try various different drinks on my 21st Birthday
  4. Eat at as many pavilions as I can during Food & Wine
  5. Swim with the dolphins
  6. Try all of the pop at Club Cool

Hollywood Studios
  1. Eat at Sci-fi Drive in
  2. Eat at 50’s Prime Time and get a PB&J Milkshake
  3. Ride the Tower of Terror 13 times in a row
  4. Get picked for Indiana Jones Show
  5. Be the rebel spy on Star Tours
  6. High Score in Toy Story Midway Mania

Animal Kingdom
  1. Ride Dinosaur with my sister & recite entire ride together
  2. Ride Dinosaur as many times in a row as possible
  3. Ride Expedition Everest as many times in a row as possible
  4. Ride the first Kilimanjaro Safari of the day
  5. Go to the petting zoo at Rafiki’s Planet Watch

Downtown Disney & Boardwalk
  1. Eat at Earl of Sandwich
  2. Go on Characters in Flight
  3. Attempt the kitchen sink with the roomies
  4. Go to Jellyrolls
  5. See a show at the House of Blues
  6. See the Cirque du Soleil show La Nouba
  7. Go to DisneyQuest

Typhoon Lagoon & Blizzard Beach
  1. Go to both water parks
  2. Go on Summit Plummet
  3. Surfing lessons at Typhoon Lagoon

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Random Post(s?)

I really want to get into the habit of blogging while I'm down there so for the next 48(!) days I am going to try to post random DCP/Disney related updates until then. 

So I am only 48 days until I check in to the Disney College Program, 44 days until I start the drive down there, and 42 days until my final day at my current job! The time is flying by!

I have been passing the time by reading and watching any DCP related thing I can find online. It's kind of bad because I am really procrastinating on school work even though I usually do that anyways but I do not care because DISNEY! I literally cannot stop talking about how excited I am; I am sure that everyone I work with is tired of me trying to sneak it in to casual conversation. For example I'll randomly ask "Is anyone doing anything exciting this summer?" wink, wink. Then someone replies something along the lines of "Well, I'm getting a second job at a summer camp and--" Cue me jumping in "OH that's cool, did you hear I'm moving to Disney World?!?!?!?!" It is just so exciting to talk about!

Speaking of, Monday night my roommates and I had our first video chat! It was actually just 4 of us, one of the girls could not join us because she had a project and test the next day so she had to work on those things but she'll join us next time. Our chat was so fun though! We talked for like 5 hours, it was amazing; we all got along really well, we laughed and joked around, we made plans for check-in day, talked about apartment stuff, we even planned on a group Halloween costume (I'll keep that a secret until then). It reassured me that we had an amazing group and that we are all going to get along famously. It  really was so awesome talking to them and it made me even more excited, if that's possible!

I just can't wait until May 27th! I've already started to buy things and put clothes aside to take down there. I wrote out an entire packing list during class the other day oops? I included things I already have that I plan on packing, things I still need to buy here in Buffalo, and things I plan to buy in Florida. I'll probably post it once I type it all up, if anyone ever ends up reading this it may come in handy to them!

Reading blogs, talking to my roommates more, setting stuff aside to pack, it is making this all so surreal. I can't believe I'll be moving to Florida in 7 weeks and starting an internship with Disney!

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Introduction

Hello, my name is Paige and welcome to my Disney College Program Blog! Here I will be blogging about my experience as a DCP cast member; I will try to update every week with stories or pictures of what I've done during that time. 

A little about me: As you know my name is Paige, I'm 20 years old and obviously I am a huge Disney fan. I'm currently an undergrad student majoring in Speech-Language Pathology and after going on to grad school and getting my masters I hope to get a job in a school where I can work with children as a speech pathologist. Currently I work in an independent living home for the elderly as a server and I've been there for a little over three years now. I have a huge Greek family that I love, I'm 5'0", my favorite color is blue, I'm really sarcastic, I have two cock-a-poos that I adore, I will probably use too many exclamation points in my posts, and that basically sums me up!


About my acceptance: I was accepted on March 13th for Fall Advantage as an attractions cast member! Fall Advantage was actually my second choice but I am so incredibly happy that I only have to wait until May 27th to check in rather than wait the entire summer! Also I am so excited that I got my top role (well it was tied with character attendant but still!). When I applied I was pended for about one and a half weeks; I applied right when applications came out, web interview the next day, phone interview February 11th, then pended on March 4th, exactly three weeks after my interview. The day I got accepted I decided I was not going to keep checking my phone for an email or log on to my dashboard and I would just let it happen and hope I would get the email unexpectedly, and I did! 

**Also I want to note that my younger sister was also accepted before me! She will be joining me in Disney August 4th as a merchandise cast member! Which is so awesome because if we ever get home sick (and I know we will) we both will be down there together!

What I am doing now: Preparing for my DCP check-in day of course! I have found four amazing girls to live with and we all get along great. We are hoping for a two bedroom in Patterson, there will be five of us so there will be two in one room and three in the other due to Disney changing the room options for this program. A lot of people are upset about this but I am actually excited, we don't have to go looking for another roommate (we had one other girl we planned to room with but she decided that this was not the right time for her to do the DCP) and the rent is going to be much cheaper, which is always great! We have started figuring out who is bringing what and I have begun mentally figuring out what I will be bringing down with me (I always over pack, so this will be tough for me). Also my lease for my car is up in September so at the end of this month I will deciding whether or not I want to buy Judy (my car) or turn her in and get something new. Lots of things to get done before May 24th (the day I start my 19 hour drive to Disney).


56 days until I check in (and only 53 until I leave Buffalo!)