On Sunday January 24th, I went to breakfast with some of my best friends before I left. It was hard to say goodbye to them for 4 months, but I was ready to leave. I said some tearful goodbyes to my dog and my brother, and then it was time to get to the airport.
My flight left Milwaukee at 2:30 pm, and arrived in Orlando close to 6 pm eastern time. The sun was setting just above palm trees when I landed, it was beautiful. Also, I was beyond overjoyed to see palm trees in the airport so I had to snap a picture.
I took a limo service car from the airport to my hotel in Lake Buena Vista, where I dropped my bags off and headed to Disney Springs to have dinner at the Rainforest Cafe with my new roommates.
The next morning, I went to check in at Vista Way at 9:15. I was put into a line right away to find out my work assignment. I was excited to learn that I'm working in Magic Kingdom, even though I had no clue what Columbia Harbor House was. Upon googling, I found out my costume, which I'm so very excited about. I love history, so I'm really pumped about working in Liberty Square!
Next at check in, they took my picture for my ID & I learned where I'd be living. I was overjoyed that my roommates & I got our top pick: a 3 bedroom apartment in Patterson square. We are still majorly in love with our living situation, its a spacious apartment for the 6 of us to share, especially with 3 bathrooms.
The rest of Monday was spent mega grocery shopping and attempting to drive around Lake Buena Vista & Orlando. I don't think we'll ever get used to the crazy insane traffic around here. Monday night, we went to the Yacht & Beach Club for Beaches & Cream's famous Kitchen Sink. We tried our hardest & finished almost all of it.
Tuesday was another early morning for me, I had casting at 9:30. Casting consists of driving to the official Disney Casting Center & filling out a bunch of paper work & getting finger printed. I also received my training schedule for the following week, where I'll be training & what I'll be doing. Everyone working for Disney that I've encountered so far has been incredibly welcoming, friendly, and personable. While in casting, I realized that I want to work for Disney for a long time; there were TVs mounted on the wall amongst cubicles that were showing Monster's INC. That is a company that I want to work for.
(Picture above posted on Disney College Program Facebook page)
After casting, my roommates and I drove & parked at Epcot, then took the monorail resort hopping. When I saw Cinderella's Castle for the first time in the distance from the monorail, I thoroughly freaked out. We went to the Polynesian first, where I had Dole Whip for the first time and absolutely fell in love.
We walked along the beach for awhile, then headed over to the Grand Floridian. The Grand Floridian was so elegant and fancy! There was a man in a tuxedo playing a grand piano in the lobby, he started playing "Reflection" from Pocahantas & I got a little teary eyed. Just a little.
Lastly, we stopped at the Contemporary, which is really neat with the monorail running through it. We ended the day with cooking dinner in our new apartment.
Wednesday was a relaxing day, some of us had a housing meeting that evening. It was a stereotypical college housing meeting of dos & don'ts. Afterwards, we went to Walmart to buy postcards (spoiler alert for some of my friends & family, you'll be getting those soon!). We stopped at Publix to get subs from their deli, something Julia & I discovered & fell in love with on our first day here.
Both Wednesday & Thursday, it poured rain. Thursday I did absolutely nothing during the day, besides pick up medication for my lingering case of bronchitis. Thursday night, my roommates & I went to O'hana at the Polynesian Resort for dinner. We ended up sitting next to a huge window that we could see Cinderella's Castle and Magic Kingdom from our table. There was a man walking around and playing a ukuele and singing Hawaiian songs. It was a magical night.
I had nothing scheduled for Friday, but we ended up going to Cast Connection for the first time. I got an awesome Mickey phone case and a backpack, which you'll see in the following photos from the parks. I was very close to buying a giant Sorcerer Mickey, but I'm definitely going back for him once I get paid. Friday night, my friend Zoe was in Orlando for the Harry Potter Celebration Weekend, so we went to dinner at the Contemporary and watched Wishes together.
Saturday was a day that I had been waiting for. Saturday, I had Traditions. Very long story short, Traditions is where you become a Cast Member; you learn about important aspects of the Walt Disney Company, what it takes to be a cast member, and you get to walk through Magic Kingdom and observe other cast members. It was a day I'll never forget. I haven't been to Disney World since I was 4, so I was basically going for my first time. When my group leader found out that it was my first time in the parks, he let me open the cast entrance door into Main Street USA, which was a truly unforgettable moment for me. I received my name tag, my ears, and my cast member ID. The minute I got home from Traditions, I changed clothes and left to spend Saturday night at Magic Kingdom until 1 in the morning. I went on the Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, & Space Mountain and I met Mickey, Rapunzel, and Cinderella.
Sunday was eventful too. I went to Animal Kingdom for the first time (many first's are happening in this post). I ate a Mickey ice cream bar, rode the Dinosaur ride, rode Expedition Everest from the front row (which I absolutely loved), and I met some of my favorite characters. I thoroughly freaked out meeting Flick from Bugs Life, which was one of my favorite movies growing up. I met Tarzan, who was SUCH a flirt and I loved it. He held my hand and told me he would come visit my restaurant in Magic Kingdom to get some bananas. He also called me his pretty jungle friend, which I greatly enjoyed. Finally, I met my favorite wilderness explorers, Russell & Doug! Russell gave the best hugs, even if he jokingly compared my hair to Doug's fur.
I'm lucky to have some free time this week to be able to write such a lengthy article about my first week here. I start training for my job on Tuesday, so I'm assuming I won't have so much time off to do fun things and write as much.
Thank you so much to all of my family and friends back home in Wisconsin, I miss you a lot! I'm having way too much fun down here, although I do miss home.
