Hello Friends!
I'm back! I feel like I have so much to tell y'all! Since I've last blogged I've begun this whole experience. To begin, every day here gets better and better. Never have I had an experience where I felt just right. I can already say that I feel like I belong here and it's only been 4 days (I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S BEEN 4 DAYS). Before I get all deep on you guys, I want to tell you about my first week! You will have to bear with me though because this will be the longest blog I write during my whole program!
To begin, I packed entirely too much stuff and I think it is solely due to the fact I didn't have a packing list (That probably would have been smart). Because of my surplus of belongings, loading my car on Saturday took close to an hour. It was like a puzzle trying to squeeze plastic bins and miscellaneous items into my trunk and back-seat. My grandfather helped me load my car and told me, "Aren't you going to be wearing a costume most of the time? Why do you need all of these clothes?" And my response: "You never know what you'll need." The what-ifs definitely controlled my packing. To give you an idea of my loaded down vehicle:
On Sunday January 11th at 8 AM, my mom and I left for the 8 hour drive to Orlando, FL. The drive was not terrible but I was extremely bored. My mom drove her own car so that she could drive back after move-in on Monday. To pass the time, I would listen to music. One of the funny moments on the ride over was when my mom and I got separated. We had planned to stop at the next rest stop to use the restroom and she would call me when she saw one (since she was in front of me). In perfect timing my mom called me to tell me of an upcoming rest stop. I had no idea she was calling me though because CSpire coverage decided to cut out. So while my mom is waiting at a rest stop for me, I'm driving ten miles ahead of her as if I didn't have a care in the world. Finally she got in touch with me and we met up at a McDonald's. It wasn't funny at the time because of how scared my mom was, but I can't help but laugh at my oblivious driving that I didn't even notice the rest stop. Oh well! Needless to say, after driving for 8 hours with a few restroom stops and a Panera lunch stop, we made it to Walt Disney World's All-Star Movies Resort. Mom and I got a room there for the night so that we could explore Downtown Disney and get MagicBands. Speaking of MagicBands, that was my first one and I am so so so excited about it! But any who, that evening, my mom and I wandered around DTD (Downtown Disney) shopping and goofing off. We had dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Grande Cafe as well. It was delicious! It just so happened that two of my roommates were at DTD that night and so I met them in Once Upon A Toy! That was the first time I had ever seen Anne in person and I could already tell I would love her! Marissa was also with her but I had met Marissa before. After our DTD adventures, my mom and I went back to the resort and crashed. The next day was going to be a long one! It was this first night in Orlando that I had the majority of my negative feelings. I felt scared, nervous, and uneasy about this experience I was beginning. I missed my grandparents more than anything and reality set in that I wouldn't see them for two months (they are visiting in March). I also realized that I was on my own now, away from every comfort zone I once had. My friends, my family, my bed, my university. All things were new. But it was these this reason that I remember wanting to attend the DCP. I wanted new opportunities, new friends, new experiences, new networks. My mom assured me that this is what I needed and that all things would work out in the end. And she was right. And so with that, I begin to feel better and look forward to what was in store.
Here are some pictures from that day:
The next day, Monday January 12th, Move-In day, has honestly been a blur! The excitement was overwhelming for sure. When we first arrived, I went to check-in with my roommates (or hopeful ones should I say). They gave us most of the information we would need for scheduling the week ahead including casting and training. Most importantly, I found out I would be working at Port Orleans French Quarter and that all of my hopeful roomies, actually became my roommates! (Shout out to Anne, Michele, Marissa, Amy, and Mollie!) It was definitely a perfect check-in. We had a break after check-in so me, my mom, and the roomies went to our apartment and unloaded a lot before we had to head to casting at 12:30. We were in a major hurry. I'm so thankful my mom came along to help!! At casting, we mainly did business paperwork as well as background-checks. Fairly simple stuff, and I got out before the rest of my roommates. After casting, I went back to the room where I had to drive my mommy to her car at All-Star Movies and kiss her goodbye. It was a pretty sad moment because I knew I would miss her. After, my roommate Mollie and I went and grabbed Chick-fil-a before heading back to the room. For dinner, all six of us roommates headed to Kona Cafe at Disney's Polynesian Resort for dinner. I had PanAsian Noodles and two Sangria (Talkin' about delicious). We had a photo shoot on the monorail leaving Polynesian heading to Magic Kingdom. That was hilarious. We later finished off the day by gifting our presents to one another. I got everyone matching tanks with our initials on them! All of them looked adorable on! That's about all for that day. Here are some pics from that fun day:
On Tuesday, January 13th, we stayed pretty chill. We had a housing meeting to cover housing rules that afternoon and also made a trip to the grocery store. We basically spent our life savings on day 2...Not joking.
On Wednesday, January 14th, the roomies and I went to the local Orlando Outlets to go shopping (spending more life savings), went to the Port Orleans French Quarter to try the beignets, and traveled to watch Epcot's Illuminations at Disney's Boardwalk Resort (We couldn't get into Epcot until after Traditions). At the outlets, I got a super cute Vera Bradley lunch box to pack my work lunches in (I feel so grown-up!) At Boardwalk, I was extremely thirsty and was craving hot chocolate. I got lucky because the Boardwalk Bakery sold hot chocolate. Needless to say, I was a happy camper watching Illuminations with a warm cup of hot chocolate in my hands.
On Thursday, January 15th, I had TRADITIONS! It was by far, the best orientation I could have had. The leaders were phenomenal, my table was phenomenal, and the fact I'm working for Disney was/is beyond phenomenal. I consider all of Traditions to be top secret so I won't go into detail, but I will say that Disney knows how to treat their new employees right.
On Friday, January 16th, Anne, Michele, Amy, and I went park-hopping with our new Disney employee ID's! It was magical! We started in Epcot, made our way to Hollywood Studios, and lastly finished off in Magic Kingdom!
Saturday, January 17th, I had my first day of training. It was a broad training strictly about how the company operates and our importance in its operation! We also went to the grocery store that evening (no pictures to commemorate that Walmart experience).
Training continued on Sunday as well. Sunday's training focused on my introduction into food and beverage. We learned a lot about food handling and the proper way of feeding our guests! Sunday night, the roomies and I had a spontaneous game of Disney HeadBanz just for kicks and giggles. Here are some funnies from our first round (Michele isn't shown because she was asleep):
Yesterday, Monday January 18th, I was off and had "Princess Day" with Anne. We went to Magic Kingdom for the day. We met Ariel, Gaston, Lady Tremaine with her daughters, the Fairy Godmother, and Peter Pan! I'd say it was pretty successful! One of my favorite times was eating Pecos Bill (so happy I finally ate it!). I got the BBQ Pork sandwich and put some of their absolutely delicious sautéed mushrooms and onions on it with lettuce and tomato. Talkin' about a good sandwich! To make the meal even more memorable, one of the cast members there brought us two free desserts just for being College Programers. It made my day. After meeting all of the famous people, Anne and I made our way down Main Street U.S.A. to Town Square to get our "I'm Celebrating" buttons that say "DCP 2015...Mae." So glad that we got them as souvenirs. When heading back to the apartment, Anne and I rode a boat to the Grand Floridian to walk around and do touristy things (just because we can!). I definitely think one of my favorite parts of being here is that there is no time crunch as if you were on vacation. I'm here on a 5 month vacation, and that my friends is still surreal.
Today, Tuesday January 19th, I had my resort introduction training! It was fun because we were able to walk around both Riverside and French Quarter looking at all of the amenities and activities including a few rooms! One of my favorites was seeing Princess Tiana's Royal Rooms in Port Orleans Riverside Magnolia Bend. They were absolutely stunning. The story is that Princess Tiana had a sleepover with all of the princesses and each one of them left something in the room. You see things such as Cinderella's coat rack, Jasmine and Aladdin's magic carpet, and Prince Adam's (The Beast) foot stool. I have set a goal to stay there at least one night before leaving my DCP! After that training I got my costumes and made friends with a boy from Australia and a girl from New Zealand. I'm feeling pretty cute in my mustard. Tonight, we all decided to try on our costumes and spontaneously play just dance in them. We looked silly but also like really happy cast members. Later, we all (minus Marissa who had work all evening) went for food at Chipotle, Jimmy Johns, Wendys, and Ben & Jerry's (We all went different places haha). I got a milk shake from Ben & Jerry's and friends from Wendy's. Mollie and I finished off the night watching Sleeping Beauty until we fell asleep. A great day it was!
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