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!!