Kitchen Training

So after learning the basics of food and beverage and learning about Blizzard Beach, it was time to start learning about the job!! 

The good thing about OTJ training is that you do it in pairs so you aren't on your own :) I was paired with a French girl called Marie and we became really good friends over the summer. There were also two other ICP's and two CP's being trained the same week so we got to know them as well. The first day me and Marie were trained in the kitchen. After trying to work out where to go we found out that out trainer wasn't on that day!! So one of the Spring CP's ended up training us, we started out in pizza where we learnt how to prepare pizzas, veggie burgers and the holiday sandwich which were all done in an oven.

We then went onto window which is where all the orders are filled and you have to learn very quickly that you have to shout to make sure people heard you from across the kitchen!! No room for quiet people in the kitchen! Although there were funny times when people didn't understand when you said tomatoes!!! Thankfully we were put on window 1 which was the quietest window and wasn't open for long during lunch time in June. We then had to close the window and clean it, this ended up being the only time ever that I closed counter bit it was still useful to know. 

Another advantage of OTJ training is that you get free food! We got to try some of the different things on offer for lunch before going through some theory and talking about things that we may not have covered while working. 

After that we headed to fryers which is pretty simple just hard work carrying all them fries!! By this time it was 4pmso the  kitchen was really quiet and we were able to talk to the people already on fryers. It was good to start to get to know some of the part timers, seasonal and other CP's (all the full time cast members get home early since they always open). 

The last job for that training day was broiler aka where the burgers are made!! It was fine but hard to judge how many burgers to put in! The hardest and dirtiest part of the day came when we had to close the broiler which meant taking most of the trays etc out and cleaning them! Trust me they were full of grease and it is probably the messiest job that you can do in QSFB. Again I was lucky enough that I never had to close broiler apart from training. 

That was the first day of four OTJ training days!! I'll talk about the next day in another post :)

Have a Magical Day!!!

Training - 14th and 15th June

After the high of being in Magic Kingdom for the first time that summer, it was back to reality when I had to get up at 6am the next morning to get ready for my first day at training!!

14th June - I was heading to Disney University again in my formal attire for the Food and Beverage core class. This class had people from quick service, full service and catering in it and there were a whole range of people there from ICP's and CP's to Full time Cast Members. We learnt all about the different areas of food that there are in Walt Disney World and about health and safety concerning food. It was quite boring but they tried to make it interesting and it was nice to talk to other people who were doing the same role as me. We then headed into a computer room where we had registered for the HUB and did some e-learning. After we finished this, we were told to head over to Costuming which is across the road from Disney University to get our work shoes. This is one benefit of QSFB, they provide you with non-slip shoes which saves you money in the first week. My shoes were like white trainers which turned out to be super comfy!
The rest of the day was spent going to Walmart for more shopping and doing some laundry, exciting times!! As much as it would have been nice to head to the parks again, I was absolutely exhausted and I needed just to do some essentials and catch up on sleep because I had a third early start the next morning!!

15th June - Forecast Blizzard
Today was yet another early start since I had to be at Blizzard Beach for 8am! I got on the K bus and it was clear who was going to the orientation of Blizzard since we were all in formal attire!! I started talking to some girls on the bus and they turned out to be a couple of the friends I would be hanging out with all summer :)
The orientation consisted of a walking tour and learning all about the park including using the Four Keys!
We had lunch before heading back to finish up our orientation by getting our training schedules. My training started the next day! So a group of us headed back to Vista and got the G bus to Caribbean Beach Hotel since that was were our costuming was located. This ended up being a pain since the G bus only ran every half hour which meant for a long return journey. We got our costumes and waited for the next bus, we it did turn up it was full so we all had to stand holding 5 sets of costumes!! Thankfully  most people got off at Pop Century or Art of Animation which meant we could sit down!! But we hit rush hour traffic and it was a very slow journey back to Vista. It was this journey that made up my mind about washing my own costumes!! It was easier just to wash my own costumes than having to do a 2 hour trip just to change costumes.

I'll talk more about my On the Job Training in the next post!!

Have a Magical Day!!!

13th June - First Night in Magic Kingdom

After Traditions I went home, had lunch and Skyped my family before having a nap! I had been up since before 6am!!

Me and my roommate decided to head out to MK since it was out first night as Cast Members. We got the bus to the Contemporary resort and got the monorail, although I had forgotten that if you do that it goes to the TTC and the other hotels before MK!!

We got to MK and we got through the turnstiles (Yay!!), went under the train station and took our first look at the beauty that is Cinderella Castle <3 I never  got sick of seeing it :)

We headed through the castle to Fantasyland since I was dying to see New Fantasyland!! We grabbed a Fastpass for the new Little Mermaid ride - Under the Sea before going to Pinnichios for dinner. I had a lovely pepperoni flatbread, at that point I still couldn't believe that here I was sitting in MK and this was my life for the next 10 weeks!

We headed to Under the Sea (which was brilliant! A new classic ride I'd say) and then went on Dumbo, but our lever wasn't working :( although at the end we went up high anyway!

We went on the tea cups (Top tip-it's brilliant for cooling down if you spin fast lol) before going over to Tomorowland where we bumped into Stitchs Dance party!! They were playing cheesy tunes and the characters came down to dance with everyone!!

It was getting close to half nine so we headed out to th Hub (the area in front of Coderella Castle) to see Celebrate the Magic. Now I had seen it on YouTube but in real life....WOW! It's the mix of amazing music, graphics and the atmosphere that just makes it even better in person :)

Then it was time for Wishes!!!!! Honestly just thinking about it gives me goosebumps, it is the most perfect fireworks display ever!! At the end my roommate said "And we get to do this for the next 3 months" and I just though how lucky I was to get the amazing privilege to work for the company and be able to enjoy the parks :)

We then headed back to Vista since I had another early start for training again!!

I'll talk more about the training in the next post.

Have a Magical Day!! 

13th June - Traditions!!

The most exciting part of the first week is Traditions!! This is the day that you are officially welcomed into the Cast Member family!! Some people describe it as being brain washed but it made me even more excited to be working for such an amazing and incredible company!! If you don't want to know about Traditions then  I would skip this post! lol

One down side to Traditions is the early morning!! I was in the morning class which meant meeting at Vista at 6am!! We all got on the bus and this was the morning that I had my first glimpse of the beautiful Cinderella Castle, it looked even more amazing in the morning dawn :) We proceeded to go behind Magic Kingdom where we past many buildings including where the monorails live and where the Christmas decorations are kept!

We then arrived at Disney University!!! Honestly if I could go here to study physics, I would be there! Haha The building is full of pictures from different Disney movies, quotes from Walt Disney and more! 

We were then sorted into our different Traditions classes by the colour of paper we had and before we even got into the room we were all given our Disney ID's i.e. our access to the parks! and the spelling of our names and hometowns were doubled checked. 

The class started off with a presentation about working with integrity then our two class instructors introduced themselves, a man and a woman. I wish I could remember the mans name because he was brilliant! The woman's name was Cookie (yes I know!) and she was very good as well. 

We learnt about the history of the company and about the four Keys: Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency. And we learnt that famous saying: SafeD begins with me :) Just as we were learning about the four keys, we were told that we were going to go on a field trip to see the four Keys in action....we were going to the Magic Kingdom!!!!!! Before we did that though each table had to elect a group leader and since I happened to be sitting at a table with 5 other French girls they elected me to be it! Thankfully I got a little Pluto figure to keep :)

So we headed out to Magic Kingdom in our business attire and earpieces lol and got to see the utilidors! It was so surreal knowing you were a part of this amazing destination. We then headed out to Main Street and our instructor seen a couple who had bride and grim ears on so he told us that when we surrounded them that we would all say "Happy Wedding" or something along them lines and they did not expect it at all!! It was amazing the feeling I had of making that memory for them :) We even wished people a Happy Birthday going passed them. 

After we passed the wedding couple we turned out onto the central bit of Main Street and seen the Castle for the first time!! If that wasn't enough, Dream Along with Mickey was going on as we walked right down the middle of Main Street USA !! I had the biggest smile on my face, I couldn't believe it I was in the most magical place on earth and I was going to be living, working and playing in this place for the rest of the summer!!

We unfortunately had to back to the classroom and we discussed the four Keys further before we had a very special visitor......the main man himself.......Mickey Mouse!! He was here to tell us that our name tags would be ready soon!! At the end of the class we got to go up and get our name tags out of a lovely wooden box like the one below. 

After that we got to proudly wear out name tags back to Vista on the bus :)

I really enjoyed Traditions and after feeling homesick the previous day, it reminded me that I am part of the most amazing company and I have the Best. Job. Ever!!!

I'll talk about the first night in Magic Kingdom in the next post!!

Have a Magical Day!!!

The First Few Days

In my opinion I think the first few days before Traditions is some of the toughest but enjoyable times :) You're dealing with jet lag, home sickness, living with new people, filling in forms, attending meetings and getting some of your first glimpses of WDW!

On the 11th we only had a housing meeting at 12pm. I had intended to sleep in a bit but jet lag woke me bright and early at 6am!! So both me and my roommate ended up unpacking before heading over to Walgreens across the road from Vista for more shopping. 

We met at Vista at 12 to get the bus over to the Commons where the housing meeting was taking place. I'm pretty sure this was the day where we had to do some immigration stuff before the meeting. Then some of us went to the outlet malls across from the commons for a nosey round the Disney store and a Starbucks. It was on the way back that someone said about the wind getting stronger and how that was the signal for heavy rain coming, 10 minutes later when we were thankfully under shelter we had our first Florida thunderstorm! 

The housing meeting was fine, they tried to make it exciting by playing Disney music and having a party atmosphere at the start but after that they went through all the rules of Disney housing including how we weren't allowed lightsabers as they can be classed as weapons!

Later that night a big group of UK ones went to Downtown Disney, it was so exciting to finally pass under the purple gates of WDW for the first time! We spent  most of the time walking around DTD trying to decide on somewhere to eat before eventually going to Earl of Sandwich. We spent the rest of our time looking around the different shops and we even got speaking to one of the Cast Members who was really nice and was so excited for us to start our program!

Wednesday the 12th June we had another meeting over in the Commons but this time it was to do with immigration and other serious stuff. We were in a room of 200 and they had to guide us through filling a form to apply for our social security number! And they had an officer from the department of homeland telling us what not to do or else we would be deported!!

We went back to Vista and each of us had an appointment in the welcome centre there to fill in even more paperwork and to find out where we were working!!! I found out I would be working at Blizzard Beach in Lottawatta Lodge (say it slowly you'll get it!!). To be totally honest I was a bit disappointed when I got a water park but it turned out to be the best place ever and I wouldn't change my location for the world. 

After that I went back to the apartment and probably Skyped home, it was after that the homesickness really hit me but my roommate was great, gave me a hug and we went out to Downtown Disney.

We ended bumping into a group of UK girls heading there as well and we all went to dinner at Paridiso 37. We had a lovely meal and I really enjoyed the night :) After the meal we all headed back to our apartments since a lot of us had an early morning for Traditions tomorrow!!!

Have a Magical Day!!

10th June - Hello Orlando!

The day I had been waiting for had finally arrived!! I woke up before my alarm and got myself organised before checking out of the Yotel. 

I then met up with my roommate at check in before heading through security. We then had breakfast before heading to meet up with the rest of the ICP's on our flight :)

Our flight was long but uneventful, it consisted of watching movies really! We arrived in Orlando on time and then the fun began!! We had an hour and a half wait for immigration since there were several international flights coming in at the same time. But thankfully they didn't take us into a separate room we were allowed straight through :)

We then got our baggage before heading on the fake monorail to the main terminal. Since there was so many of us we got a mears taxi to Vista Way which worked out at $10 each. Before we even got into the taxi the heavens opened up and it started to rain! What a welcome to Orlando lol

Once we got to Vista Way we were greeted by Disney reps and two of the Yummy Jobs team which was really nice to see! We had to do a bit of paper work and watch a video before heading to our apartments. My apartment was in Vista Way in building 17 beside the basketball courts which was a great location! It was close to the buses and the main building. 

After quickly meeting a couple of our roommates we headed to Walmart although on our way we seen two girls looking lost, we asked them if we could help and it turned out it was our other two roommates who had just arrived from France!

Walmart is massive!! I think it took us longer just to work out in our heads where everything is! I just got some essentials since I was tired already. 

After returning from Walmart me and my roommate decided to go to Wendy's which is just outside Vista Way since we hadn't ate since the plane! By this point I was so tired I hardly ate anything!! I think we eventually got to bed about 11/12 so it was a very long day!!

I'll talk about the first few days before Traditions in the next post!!

Have a Magical Day!!

9th June - Travelling to London

So the day had finally come, I was leaving NI and moving to Florida for 10 weeks! It was so weird sitting in church that morning thinking the next time I'll be there is August!!

After church we headed up to Belfast and went to a Chinese actually around the corner from my university, we had a nice meal before heading to the airport. 

I'm not gonna lie the goodbyes were horrible! I started crying in the carpark!! But I got through security and after a sit down and getting all the emotions out I didn't feel so bad :)

My flight to London was uneventful and I found the Yotel in Gatwick airport very easily. After settling into the room I Skyped home (I know I'd only been away a couple of hours!) But this was the first time being away from home for a long period of time and daily contact was necessary!

For dinner I actually met up with my roommate and we went to Wetherspoons, it was nice to actually met her and talk to someone who was going! My poor family had to put up with me talking about it lol The rest of the night was quiet and I did get some sleep thankfully!!

I'll talk about the arrival to Orlando in the next post!

Have a Magical Day!!

It's been a while is an understatement!

Hi everyone!

Well blogging out in America clearly didn't happen! But to be honest I knew it wouldn't and I've been so busy since I came home with university and stuff that the time has flown in!

Honestly the Disney ICP has been one of the, if no the best thing I have done in my life so far! I had a blast; making the magic for guests, working with some amazing people from all around the world, playing in the parks on days off and as much as it sounds cheesy I really did make memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life :)

Although it was tough as well! The first week is probably the worst for homesickness and you really do work hard! I was consistently working 40 hours a week and there were days I literally woke up, ate, work, sleep! But honestly I wouldn't change the experience for the world!

I'm gonna talk a bit more about my work in another post :)

Have a Magical Day!!

Monday!!!

Well today is my last full day in Northern Ireland!! I honestly cannot believe how quickly time has flown in and it still doesn't seem real!!

Today will be the start of the goodbyes :( But tbh I think I'm actually ready to leave home for 10 weeks and Skype will be brilliant for keeping in touch :) I think also seeing the 3rd of Juners updates makes me feel more excited and less nervous about it :)

Packing is just about done! I was slightly over 20kg so I had to repack and it is now under! Silly Aer Lingus has a weight restriction on hold luggage of 20kg but Virgin Atlantic has a weight restriction of 23kg!! And since I'm flying with Aer Lingus from Belfast to London I have to keep the weight under 20kg. 

Have a Magical Day!! 2 days to go!!!! 1 day till the journey begins!!

This time next week...

...I will be taking off from Belfast and will be on my way to London Gatwick!! :O

It's still hard to believe to be honest. I have quite a few things to do this week including packing and after hearing about the 3rd of Juners doing packing and having to repack things so that they are under the weight limit, that should be fun!! Last week I thought that, actually I don't have that much stuff, then I looked in my Disney drawer under my bed which is full of different things including duvet and towels and thought "Oh dear!!" lol I'll let you's all know how I get on with that challenge!!

Also if any 3rd of Juners are reading this, Have a great time and enjoy yourselves!!! Hope everything goes smoothly and I cannot wait to be there in the Sunshine State with everyone!!

Have a Magical Day!!! 8 days to go!!!

13 days to go!

How can time fly so quickly!!?? Honestly it seems like yesterday when I found out I got onto the program! Here I am 13 days from landing in Orlando and it still doesn't feel real!!

Everything is paid off now including travel insurance and I have my travel money card from Virgin with money just waiting to be spent!! I finished uni on Thursday and then ended up going shopping the next day to get clothes since I hardly have a summer wardrobe! lol My bank account was definitely lighter after that shopping spree!! I just have to buy a few bits and pieces which include an Ethernet cable, alarm clock and some toiletries like sun-cream etc. Then next week I can focus on packing, spending time with family and celebrating my birthday before I go away!

It's weird since I actually leave Northern Ireland on my birthday then we aren't celebrating on my birthday then but one day next week and apparently I'm going to get my presents then :) One part of this program that I'm not looking forward to is saying goodbye!! I know once I get the first few days over I should be fine but it's just getting to that point!!

I'm not promising to keep this blog updated, it's got quite a few posts but there have been times where I have forgotten about it with being so busy with uni work. But I will definitely update about my time after I return to the UK :)

Have a Magical Day!!! 13 days to go!!!!

Less than 4 weeks now!!

Hi!! I cannot believe that it is less than 4 weeks until I leave for Florida!! Unfortunately I'm still in uni at the minute, I have my first exam his afternoon and then another one on Tuesday morning and then the last one is next Thursday afternoon! But after that I have 2 weeks to do some last minute shopping!!

Nothing has really changed since the last update but I still have to pay for travel insurance and get a travel money card which I'm going to do when I get home today. 

There's more talk of where people want to live and roommates now because Disney has introduced the DORMS system which for the first time allows ICP's to have a say in where they live. So far for the Canadians who have just when out recently it has worked pretty well although by the sounds of it a lot of people who only linked with one roommate got one bed apartments. 

Thanks it for now! Have a Magical Day!! Only 24 days to go!!

It's been a while...again!!

Hi everyone!! I know it's been over a month!! Uni is a nightmare at the moment!! Too many assignments, a lab report and revision all to do over the next 3 weeks :O But thankfully after that it's only a couple of weeks before I go to Florida!!! Which is hard to believe, it really doesn't seem long ago when I first got accepted!!

So I had my Visa appointment on the 9th of April and I went to the Belfast Embassy. I arrived about 11am, went into the embassy and I was out within 40 minutes!!! I was so pleased that I didn't have to wait long. The process was quite simple, I went up to a window where I handed them all my documentation, second time I went up to the window they took my fingerprints and handed back most of my documents. Lastly my name was called and I went into the interview room where the lady just asked me a few basic questions like where I live and what I will be doing over in Walt Disney World, that was it!! I received my passport back 2 days after my appointment with my visa in one of the pages.

I have also received several emails from Disney recently, one was about medical insurance which I have now paid off, it was $210 for 3 months and that was the cheapest option!! Another was about the website which gives us a lot of details about what to expect the first few days and this is where we can find the link to pay the Program assessment fee which cost $104.50 which I've paid as well. Also on this website is the hire documentation which is 7 pages which you have to sign and it includes stuff like you will wear your costume properly and any ideas that you have can be used by Disney (something along those lines!).

So everything is paid off now for Disney!! All I have to do now is do some shopping for new clothes, since in Northern Ireland we don't need a summer wardrobe lol :) and I need to get dollars onto a travel card of some kind. Things are starting to seem more real now! On our flight Facebook page there has been talk of getting a group taxi/s from the airport to Vista Way since apparently it's quicker and cheaper.

I also met up with a couple of girls who go to my university and another girl who was over in Belfast for her visa appointment a couple of weeks ago. We met up in Starbucks and literally sat and talked about Disney and Florida for 2 hours!! Honestly it was so nice just to talk to people who will be doing the same thing as me this summer and are just as excited as me! Since I don't like to talk about it much with other friends in case they get bored of me talking about it all the time lol.

Have a Magical Day!!! 36 days to go!!!

Disney Pack Arrived!!

Hi everyone!! My Disney Pack arrived on Tuesday 26th March :) It contained my letter from Disney, a couple of forms about visa, an instruction sheet helping with the Visa process and an American Sim Card!!!!

My letter from Disney told me that I will be earning $7.80 an hour which is about £5.15 which I'm pretty pleased about :) I'm also really happy with the Sim card since it gives me a USA number and a global number and it's not a monthly contract which means I can just top up when I need to :)

I have now booked my visa appointment for the 9th of April. After I did that I paid my SEVIS fee of $35 which was a simple form that needed to be filled out online. Then I started the DS-160 which is the online form that needs to be filled in before your visa appointment. It took me a good hour and a half to do, thankfully for me it wasn't too bad. It asks you a lot of questions and some of the questions can vary; for example I got asked about my family, like if I had any family in the USA, but some people get asked about how much they expect to earn while in the USA amongst other things. There are a lot of security questions which thankfully I can answer no to all of them lol :)

Overall the visa process has been ok so far, I think my main advice would be to sit down with all the paperwork and take your time when answering the questions, and look at the information given to you from the Disney Pack and Yummy Jobs.

I'll update again after my visa appointment in a couple of weeks, but after the visa appointment there really isn't much else to do before Disney!!! It's just a matter of waiting and getting through the last few weeks at uni!!

Have a Magical Day!! Only 72 days to go!!

Plane Seat is booked!

Hi everyone!

On Tuesday it was 90 days until I arrive in Orlando which means one thing...we could pick our seats on the Virgin Atlantic flight from Gatwick!!

There's probably about 10 or so Disney ICP's on this flight and we've taken up most of row 39!! So apologies in advance to everyone sitting near us, we'll all be really excited!!

I am still a bit nervous since this will be the first time that I will be flying on my own but knowing that I'll be sitting beside people who are just as excited about the program as I am and who are probably feeling nervous as well definitely makes me feel more at ease :)

Hopefully we should have our Disney Packs by next Friday and then I can start the visa process!!

Have a Magical Day!! Only 88 days to go!!

99 days to go!!!

Wow can you believe it?? 99 days until I am back in Florida and starting what I hope will be an amazing summer working for the mouse!! :D To be honest it still doesn't feel real, it might kick in when I get on the plane lol :)

Have a Magical Day!! Only 99 days to go!!

End of another month...

Hi everyone!!

So today is the last day of February already!! Time is going way too quickly these days lol In one way that's a good thing since it means I'm getting ever closer to going to Disney but I have a lot of uni work going on as well!!

Still no sign of the Disney packs yet, but some one emailed Yummy Jobs and apparently they will be starting to send them out in March!! :D So looking forward to getting it!!

Nothing else has happened really lol but in non-Disney news: My parents and my car insurance came in and this year it's £200 cheaper :O So my monthly payments have gone down by nearly £20!! This now means I can be saving more money for Disney!!! Yay!! :D

Lastly I am nearly in double digits in my countdown to Disney :D On Sunday it will be exactly 99 days until I jet off to Orlando!! It's so hard to believe considering I started counting down at over 200 days to go!!

Have a Magical Day!! Only 102 days to go!!

Roomate Survey!

I realise UK ICP'ers don't get to pick roomates but I thought it would be nice to do it anyway :)

Name: Rachel
Gender: Female
Orientation: Straight
Birthdate/Age: 9 June 1993 / 19
Hometown: Newtownards Northern Ireland
Major: Physics with AstrophysicsCollege: Queens University Belfast
————————————————————————————-
Role: Quick Service Food and Beverage
Term: Summer 2013
Arrival Date: 10th June
Departure Date: August 16th
Flying or Driving:Flying
——————————————————————————————————-
HOUSING PREFERENCES
Wellness/ Non Wellness: Wellness, I'll only be 20 :)
3 Good Qualities in a Roommate: Friendly, Considerate and Good sense of Humor
Do You Drink?: Nope
DO YOU LIKE TO PARTY?:  Not really tbh! I don't mind going out the odd time :)
Do You Smoke? Nope
Messy or Tidy?: Probably on the messy side but would tidy after myself :)
Do You Like to Cook? Yep!
Night Person or Morning Person? More of a night person
Do You Have a Current Job? Nope
———————————————————————————————————————
ROOMMATE Q’s
Favorite Chores? I don't mind doing the dishes
Least Favorite Chores? Cleaning the bathroom.
How do you feel about sharing? As long as people ask, or let me know if they took anything.
Do you snore? Nope, but I do mumble in my sleep I have been told!! Hope my roomate is a heavy sleeper lol :)
What time do you go to bed? About 10:30 - 11pm
What time to you wake on free days? Usually at 10:30am ish 
I PREFER TO SLEEP IN A ROOM THAT: It has to be dark and quite quiet, I don't mind some music as long as it isn't heavy metal hahaha :)
———————————————————————————————————————
PERSONALITY
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU: Funny, loyal and friendly 
ONE GOOD QUALITY: I would say I like a good laugh and I can laugh at myself :)
ONE BAD QUALITY: I can be lazy at times
TOP 5 FAVORITE TV SHOWS: Once upon a Time, Bones, Beauty and the Beast, Big Bang Theory and Pointless
TOP 5 FAVORITE MOVIES: Beauty and the Beast (a no brainer there lol), Lord of the Rings, Star Trek (the newest movie) and really any Disney movie lol 
FAVORITE SONG: Good Life - One Republic
FAVORITE BOOKS: Any Kathy Reichs book, The Christy Miller Series.
INTERESTS:  Piano, Disney, Science
.——————————————————————————————————————
DISNEY STUFF
FAVORITE MOVIE: Beauty and the Beast
FAVORITE CHARACTER: A tie between Mickey, Belle and Tigger
FAVORITE PRINCESS: Belle
FAVORITE PRINCE: Flynn Rider
FAVORITE VILLAIN: I don't really have one!
FAVORITE PARK: Magic Kingdom closely followed by Epcot
FAVORITE RIDE: Ohh I have so many! Tower of Terror, Soarin', Mission Space, Big Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan's Flight, Splash Mountain, Mickey's Philarmagic, I could go on!!
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU BEEN TO DISNEY? 3 times to DLP and 3 times to WDW
WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT AT DISNEY? Making new friends, making magical memories for all the guests and being back in WDW after 5 long years!!!

Have a Magical Day!! 117 days to go!!

Quick Update!

Hey everyone!! Just a quick update before I go into labs for today :)

Nothing has really changed since the last time lol We are all waiting on our Disney Packs which should arrive this month!! :D

But the Canadian ICP'ers have been accepted and there is now a new massive super group with all the UK and Canadian ones!! Just reading through the group makes me even more excited :) Its also really nice to learn more about Canada! There's been discussions about how different people pronounce words and also us UK'ers can't get our heads around the fact that there are different time zones in Canada lol

Th only major thing I have done recently is send Disney my flight details :) And I got an email back ending "Have a Disney Day" eep!! I got so excited reading that lol

That's all for now!! Have a Magical Day!! Only 123 days to go!!

My must do's in Magic Kingdom!

Hi everyone!! Thought I'd do a post on what I really want to do in each of the Theme Parks in WDW while I am out there on my ICP, with free admission ;) lol. I have been to WDW 3 times but there are still a lot of things I have not been able to experience, and now I know a few more things thanks to being a member of the DIS boards and learning things from reading other people's trip reports.

Main Street USA

1 - Take a ride around the park on the Walt Disney World Railroad.

2 - Meet Mickey in Town Square Theatre

3 - Try and photograph all the upper windows along Main Street which are all references to Disney Imagineers.

4 - Eat at Casey's Corner

5 - Watch the 3 o'clock parade

6 - Watch the Night time parade

7 - Watch Celebrate the Magic and Wishes from the Hub :)

8 - Play The Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom Game

9 - See the Opening Show

Adventureland

1 - See the Enchanted Tiki Room, the last time I seen it, it was the Under New Management Show.

2 - Ride the Jungle Cruise

3 - Go on Magic Carpets of Aladdin

4 - Ride POTC ride

5 - Explore Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse

6 - Go to Aloha Isle and have the famous Dole Whip!!!!

Frontierland

1 - Ride Big Thunder Mountain, both day and night!

2 - Ride Splash Mountain, both day and night!!

3 - See Country Bear Jamboree

4 - Eat at Peco Bill's at have a BBQ Pork Sandwich

Liberty Square

1 - Go see the Hall of Presidents

2 - Ride the Haunted Mansion, both day and night! I think riding at night would be extra creepy :)

3 - Take a relaxing ride on Liberty Square Riverboat, with an ice cream in hand :)

Fantasyland

1 - Ride the Carousel  It's a Small World, Peter Pan's Flight, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the Tea Cups.

2 - Eat at Pinocchio Village Haus while watching the It's a Small World boats float pass below.

3 - Eat at Be Our Guest Restaurant

4 - Experience Enchanted Tales with Belle

5 - Ride Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid

6 - Eat at Gaston's Tavern and try LeFou's Brew.

7 - Ride Dumbo and the Barnstormer including the Great Goofini

Tomorrowland

1 - Ride Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Stitch's Great Escape, Space Mountain, Tomorrowland Speedway and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover.

2 - Watch the Carousel of Progress and Monster's Inc Laugh Floor

3 - Eat at Cosmic Ray's Stalight Cafe

I think that is everything!!! lol Hopefully I can manage to experience all of this. 

Have a Magical Day!!! Only 143 days to go!!!

A Trip down Disney Memory Lane!

Hi everyone!! Thought I would do a post on my previous Disney Trips :)

My very first holiday abroad was when I was 4, in 1997 and we went to Disneyland Paris for a few days. I don't remember much but my parents videoed the trip so we have the memories from it to look back on :) Of course I grew up with watching the Disney movies anyway, there's footage of me when I was 2 watching Beauty and the Beast on video and during the song "Belle" I was walking around with a wee wooden basket pretending to be Belle :) One of my favourite moments in the film is when she sits at the fountain and the sheep come along.

Then in 2001 we went on our first trip to WDW!!! We went for a week in May and I loved it! We stayed off property and rented a car, although I do remember getting lost when we first tried to find our hotel!!

Fast forward to 2004 we had a holiday to DLP for another few days but this time we stayed on property!! We stayed at Sequoia Lodge and it was a good age for me and my sister since if we wanted to go on rides my parents were happy to let us go onto the ride ourselves and we would meet them at the exit :) DLP also had a second park so there was more to do for us on this trip.

Christmas 2005 came and to be honest 2005 wasn't a great year for me or my family, but for Christmas my grandparents surprised us with a trip to WDW for a week with them and my auntie and uncle. It was a great holiday and definitely made my love for Disney even stronger :)

2008 brought my third trip to WDW with my sister, Granny, Auntie and Uncle for two weeks. This was the first time I had stayed on Disney property and I loved the Disney transport system, it worked really well for us. Also being there for two weeks allowed us to take our time and also we had two lazy days to relax by the pool and make sure we had a nice tan ;) hahaha

After the trip in 2008, I honestly had no idea when my next Disney trip would be, I had GCSE's and A Levels in front of me after that trip. Then in 2011, in my final year of secondary school, loads of people in my year were planning holidays with friends, then I was talking to my friend an we both said how it would be nice to go away to somewhere where it wasn't all about getting drunk and the beach and we both suggested DLP!! So we went in June 2011 to celebrate the end of school, exams and my birthday :D We even had my Birthday dinner in Cafe Mickey!! This was a brilliant trip, we enjoyed the rides, the characters and just the freedom of it all. At the end of that trip I honestly imagined that the next time I would go to Disney, most likely WDW, was when I had a stable job after uni and could afford to go!!!

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined, even in 2008, I would have the courage to even apply to the program and contemplate living in another country for 10 weeks!!! And yet here I am accepted onto the program and going!! Yes I will still miss my family so much but there's Skype and I know this experience will make me stronger as a person. Especially since I decided to stay at home whilst studying at university, which means I have never lived away from home before. Also I will be able to say that my first job was working for Walt Disney World!!! :D I'll be able to work and play in the most amazing place!!

Have a Magical Day!!! Only 145 days to go!!!  

Other Expenses...

Hello again!! I know two blog posts in one day!! Can you tell I'm off uni for a while ;)

Again this post should not put people off the ICP but just to be aware of costs that you may not have anticipated!! :) If you are thinking of applying, go do it!!! :)

After Christmas I had some money as gifts so I decided to buy myself a cheap(ish) video camera so I can video all of the Disney Parks in their glory!!! :) That cost me £150, I still need memory cards and a case for it but I may be asking them for my birthday (which is actually the day I leave for London but I'll probably celebrate with my Dad's birthday the week before). I probably will buy an extra memory card for my photo camera as well which I got for Christmas a couple of years ago.

Another thing is laptop, originally I was going to bring my own laptop which I have had for 3 and 1/2 years now, I got it for my A Levels / getting through my GCSE's :) I love it and it is ideal since it has an SD card reader in it and plenty of memory, the only thing I would have had to buy is a webcam. But my dad was concerned about it being stolen and my parents had kind of toyed with the idea of getting an extra laptop so my dad can work on stuff  while in the living room and my mum can use it whenever she wants. My dad then saw a refurbished laptop plus a webcam for £140 on ebay. The seller obviously done this for a living and seemed like a genuine seller, so I went halfers on a refurbed laptop with extra memory and a webcam. This laptop will then be used by me when I'm in Florida and by my parents any other time :) This means if it gets stolen, it isn't the end of the world, to be honest if someone saw the laptop they probably wouldn't bother stealing it because it looks old and ugly hahaha :) It is slower than my own laptop but it will do fine!

The only two downsides of this refurbed laptop is that it does not have a SD card reader and it only has 30GB of memory :O So I will have to buy a SD card reader and an external hard drive. Although to be honest an external hard drive would be useful for having a back up of files at home anyway. With a quick look on Argos I found a 500GB hard drive for £50!! So a SD card reader and external hard drive are next on my to buy list!!

So far that's all the "other expenses" I have encountered! I will let you know of any others that creep up on me lol 

Have a Magical Day!!! Only 146 days to go!!

Money, Money, Money...

Hi everyone!! Unfortunately this will be a bit of a, not sad, but realistic post today. Before I start, this post should not put anyone off applying for the ICP but it is something that you should think about!! If you are reading this and thinking of applying, honestly go for it!! I just want people aware of the expense of the program and seriously think about if it is manageable. Also I live in NI which means I had to fly to both of my interviews but then again I will have hardly any transport expenses for the Embassy interview.

When I first applied for this program I realised that if I did get through to the interview stages I would have to travel. This was not a problem financially because I had some savings which I was prepared to use. So I got through to the pre-screens and had to travel to Liverpool. Also I should say my mum accompanied me on both trips!! :) So I probably spent double what I should have, but the extra support was helpful!! I had to pay for flights, a hotel, two taxis to and from the airport, dinner at the airport the first night and dinner at the airport the second day, plus some money for coffee/tea/frappicinos lol

When I got through to the face to face interviews at Disney HQ in London, this is where things got more expensive!!! I paid for flights, petrol money to get down to Dublin airport (since it was cheaper than Belfast),  two nights at the Premier Inn near Heathrow, tube tickets in and out of London, breakfast for two mornings, lunch near Disney HQ, dinner at hotel after interview, taxi back to airport plus some money for Starbucks and for the coach back up to Belfast.

After being accepted onto the program the first expense was the fee for the CRB check, unfortunately this is mandatory! and cost £60. Then flights... admittedly I could have done it a bit cheaper if I had decided to fly back to England and then have an extra flight back to NI but I decided I would like to fly back to Dublin so it means either my parents could pick me up or I can get the coach back to Belfast. My flight from Belfast - London Gatwick: £51, Hotel in Gatwick: £39, Flight Gatwick - Orlando with Virgin through STA: £375 then Flight Orlando - Dublin: £492.

The next expense I have to consider is Visa, I think it will cost approx £100 but I will confirm this amount when I have done it!! lol Thankfully there is an American Embassy in Belfast up the road from my University which means my transport costs will be like an extra £2 on top of my normal uni commute :) After the Visa I then have medical insurance to pay which is done through Disney and costs $70 a month. Lastly I have a program assessment fee of $100 which has to be paid for about a month before I go.

All of these expenses are obvious and the Flights, Visa and insurance are mentioned in the Step-by-Step guide that Yummy Jobs sent us but there are other expenses that I have encountered already that may not be so obvious and I'll cover them in another blog since this is pretty long!! lol

Have a Magical Day!! 146 days to go!!

Exams and CRB Check

Well my January exams are now over!! YAY! I'll find out the results at the start of February, I think I've passed them ok so I won't have to resit them in August! :) One less thing to worry about!

Also in the post today I received my CRB check certificate :D I am not a criminal which is good to know ;) hahaha It was quite surreal to see "Name of Employer: Walt Disney World"!! It's one of them little things that remind you that yes you will be working for Disney!! Every so often you kind of forget about the whole thing, then someone will post something on the facebook group or you'll see something and get all excited again :)

Also I have booked my flight back from Orlando!! All I have to do now is book a flight to London in June and a hotel in Gatwick for the night :) I am getting there!!!

Hopefully in February sometime we will get our Disney Packs!! That will be very exciting!! Then we can start to think about Visas!! That will mean a trip up the road from my University to the American Embassy in Belfast!

That's about it for now!! Have a Magical Day!!!

149 days to go!!!

Yay It's 2013!!

Hi everyone!! Happy New Year!!

It is now 2013 and that means one thing...I'm working at WDW THIS YEAR!!! :D

Still can't quite believe it to be honest lol

Nothing has changed really since my last update. But I hope to book my other flights and the hotel for Gatwick hopefully at the end of this month when my student loan comes in!!

Have a Magical Day!!!

156 days to go!!!