Disney College Program: My Final Thoughts

This past fall as some of you know I participated in the Disney College Program. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and I will never regret doing it. I was a Skipper on the Jungle Cruise in the Magic Kingdom. I absolutely loved where I worked and the people I worked with.... most of the time that is. Like any other internship this is a job, and you will be working very long hours most of the time. You will also work holidays and weekends... yes I know it sucks. I worked Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years while on my program, but in the end it was all worth it. Being a Cast Member makes you part of the magic of The Walt Disney World Resort, and it is our job as Cast Members to make dreams come true for both the young and old.

Being a Cast Member mean that the perks are pretty awesome. First and foremost, you get to go to Disney World for FREE! And during my program they were having a special promotion that we got to go to the water parks for free too. As a castmember, you also get merchandise discounts, hotel discount, cruise line discounts, and ticket discounts. During the Christmas holiday our cast member discount was raised to 50% off, which was pretty awesome because it applied to all Disney merchandise except for movies and CD's.

Now I will warn you, the housing situation seems great but as one of my friends so adequately put it, she "hates Price Management and their stupid apartments... they can take their stupid rules and shove it where the sun don't shine". The company that manages the apartment complexes absolutely blows. The rules are ridiculous, the security guys are assholes, and if you break a housing rule you can be terminated from the program. The housing is the biggest bad mark on the program in my eyes. I would recommend living in Patterson or Chatham, stay away from Vista. Patterson is the newest complex and where I spent my program. DO NOT LIVE IN A 3 OR 4 BEDROOM APARTMENT because it is 2 people per room meaning there will be 8 people max in an apartment. Though this sounds fun.... you will have no space in your kitchen for anything. I lived in a 3 bedroom so there were 6 of us, and well there was never any space in the fridge at all. Plus 6 girls in one apartment.... no bueno.

Despite the lousy housing situation, I would recommend this program to anyone. I have loved Disney since the very first time I went there when I was 4 years old and I love it even more now that I have been a Cast Member. If you have worries about seeing the backstage stuff and it ruining the magic, don't worry, being a part of the magic is such a rewarding experience. So if you have ever wondered if the Disney College Program is right for you, I say do it. You only live once and to have an opportunity like this is, in my eyes, a dream come true.

Tinker-Belle Cross-Stitch

This project was one that I worked on while on a road trip because it was the perfect size to work on in the car. I love working cross stitch kits in the car because I feel like I am accomplishing something while sitting in the car doing nothing.

This project stitched up really quickly, I was able to finish it in only a couple of days, the greatest difficulty I had with it was using the pearl filament thread on Tink's wings and wand. That stuff is a pain in the you know what but in the end it turned out really pretty, with just the right amount of sparkle.

I omitted a part on the pattern that was supposed to go above Tink between her wings because I thought it was silly looking to have her name there labeling her. It is must more appealing and I like the simplicity of it just being sly Tink looking like she is up to something like always.

I had a spare frame lying around and I gave it a couple quick coats of purple spray paint any tada! I'm done. I decided on purple for the frame because it matched the back stitching around Tink, and I thought it would be fun.

My Newest Project

I just finished this the other day and I am super excited that I finished it. I was thinking about giving it to my sister for Christmas but I think I have decided to make the whole set and then frame them. I just bought the Tigger one the other day and I still need the Piglet and Eeyore ones so that I have the whole set. I think they would be super cute for a nursery but I have a few years (like 6) before I have kids, so who knows what I finally end up using them for. The picture quality isn't that great cause my camera is dead and I left the charger at home in Texas and I am in Florida.

I love Disney!

There is nothing more wonderful than the Disney College Program! I have loved this experience since day #1 and will never regret doing it. I have learned so much from being here and my program still has 3 more months before it is over.

I have met so many amazing people, some of which I know I will continue to have wonderful relationships with as the years go on. I have decided that at the end of my program I am going to return to school and graduate while maintaining seasonal status at Disney. That way I can continue to work at the Jungle Cruise. When I graduate I would love to return to Disney and audition to be a member of the entertainment department.

I am truly looking forward to what these next 3 months have in store for me. I could have never guess that I wold be having the experience that I am having now. Some people may think that this is a load of crap, but I believe strongly that your dreams really can come true. I feel like I am living a fairy tale and each day gets better and better.

Have a Magical Day

Thoughts on the first Month

So I have been a Disney World castmember for a month now and I absolutely love it. I love my job working at the Jungle Cruise in the Magic Kingdom. Last night on one of my boats I had a little girl come up to me at the end and said she wanted to take a picture with me. She was the cutest little thing ever, she even let me pick her up for the picture. I have been told that I have a really good boat by alot of people, even some of the other skippers who have rode my boat say that it is good.

The thing that sucks the most about the college program is living in the housing. I am at Patterson and the apartment is great and so is the complex but, the security policies SUCK. You can't have anyone over after 1 AM, if they arrive after 9 PM you have to check them in with a drivers license, and your visitors must be 18 years old. So if my sister wants to come visit me and see my apartment she can't because she is a minor.

I bought 3 books yesterday at Barnes and Noble, I figure since I don't have my sewing machine with me here I am going to be doing a ton of reading to keep me occupied in my off time. I do have some cross-stitch kits with me that I could also do.

I'm here

I have officially been here for a week, and I love it. I found out that I am working in Magic Kingdom as a Jungle Cruise Skipper, which is one of the most sought after jobs to have in the Magic Kingdom.

Today was my second day of training and I got to drive the boat around the track without guests and I practiced spieling.

Packing

I have been in the mists of getting all my stuff together and packing for my adventure to Florida for six months. I am pretty close to getting finished but I still have quite a bit to do before my parents, my sister and I leave Texas on Monday. I just got a new laptop today which i am currently using. I am really excited about it and I think it is going to work out great for when I am in Florida.

I'll post later when I get my packing stuff alittle more organized so that I can show off what I am planning on taking. Thats all I have for now.

Have a Magical Day!

I'm alive

I have just returned from my week long vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was an absolute blast despite the fact that y digital camera broke early on into the vacation and I had to buy a disposable camera to use. I had a lot of fun and returned home with a tan and not much sunburn. (Oh and the beach bikini workout book worked great! So if you are looking for a great workout to get you in shape for the beach I recommend picking one up)

I got my wisdom teeth taken out and that really sucked at first but the swelling has gone way done and I don't have much pain. The main thing that sucks is I can't exercise and I am on a liquid diet for a few days.

After I have recovered a little more I am back to packing for my move to Florida and I am hoping to make another Vlog before I go/while packing. We will see what happens. I am off to take some pain meds and go to bed for the night.

Have a magical evening.

Packing

I have begun my initial stages of packing for my CP and I am kinda glad I am doing some of it so early. My main motive is the fact that I have to get everything I am not taking and store it at my parents house while I am gone, which has proven to be a little more challenging than I thought.

Last Week!

Today starts the final week of summer school, and I could not be more excited because I wont have "school" again till the spring semester. I am going to be taking 2 classes when I am down at Disney but I wouldn't count that as school.

This time next week I will be lounging by the pool at my house and not having to worry about papers, or homework or tests! I can finally finish the book I am reading for fun and work on my craft projects that are sitting half completed. It's going to be wonderful!

Well that's all folks, Have a Magical Day

A Few Updates

I felt like updating so here is how the next 59 days till Disney are going to go (surprisingly most of my time is booked/planned out):

This week(June 21-27): I am in my second to last week of summer school. I have a group presentation in my music class about Fantasia on Tuesday, on Friday I have an essay due in my American Lit class and a test in my Music class. This is also week #2 of my beach workout.

Week 2(June 28-July 4): Finals week! I have a two day Spanish final on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I also have my English final exam on Wednesday. Thursday I am done with summer school and I get to go home.

Week 3(July 5-11): Finally I have a full week without school. I am mainly going to be getting my stuff organized since it's all in boxes and I need to find what I am wanting to pack and take with me to Disney. I also get the lovely task of cleaning out the garage with my mom. Week #4 for my beach workout.

Week 4(July 12-18): Same as week three. Week #5 for my beach workout.

Week 5(July 19-25): Time to get packed for my trip to South Carolina, my flight is on the 23rd at 1:35. It is leaving from Houston so I will probably drive down there the morning of with my mom. Last week of beach workout.

Week 6(July 26-August 1): Myrtle Beach with my BF and his family.

Week 7(August 2-8): I get home from South Carolina on the 2nd of August, hopefully I wont be super sunburned. Time to chill and start to officially get things in order for Florida. Last full week in Texas.

Week 8(August 9-15): My mom, sister and I are leaving for Florida on the 11th to attend the Melaleuca Convention (its a business my mom and I do, I'll tell you more about it if you message me). The convention lasts through the 15th and that is when my Dad, brother and Bf will be arriving in Florida.

Week 9(August 16-19): Family vacation time/ spend time with me before they leave me in a different state. We are going to go to Universal and do other stuff in the Orlando/Tampa area. On the 19th they are dropping me off at Vista Way for me to begin my Disney CP adventure, and i think they are leaving the next day.

So that is my next couple of months. Have a Magical Day!

Beach Body Countdown

So at the end of July I am going to Myrtle Beach for a week with my boyfriend and his family. Well I have never been one to be super self-conscious about my body but I felt like since this vacation is devoted solely to going to the beach I decided to workout so I am all toned up for my trip. Also I figure it will help me fight off gaining weight while on my Disney CP because I have heard that you will gain weight while doing the program.

Today I bought the book "The Six-Week Bikini Countdown" and began my first day of working out. The book uses a combination of cardio, weight-training, pilates and yoga. Tonight my bf and I did the first day which is about 50 minutes of cardio, and it went ok. I haven't legitimately run any distance since I ran track in middle school, so it was a lot for me, but I am really excitd about the workout program. And my bf said that he will do the running with me, which is nice, since running alone can be boring.

I am hoping that when I get down to Florida that I can keep up this workout at least every other day or so.

Officially Have a Roommate

As of a couple days ago I officially have a roommate for my Disney College Program. We found each other through the Disney CP group on Facebook. Her name is Megan and I really think we are going to get along great.

We have already started talking about what each of us is bringing, and stuff like that. I am really glad this has been figured out and that on the first day I will know my roommate and also that we wont have a ton of duplicate stuff. Well that is all I have for now. Hopefully I will have more updates soon.

Have a Magical Day!

Mini-Breakdown

So, this morning I had my first (of probably many) breakdowns about summer school. For those of you who don't know, I am taking 10 credit hours of summer school all in only the first session (which is a lot). I looked at my calendar today and almost everyday from tomorrow on I have some form of test or quiz or project to tackle.

Well this morning at 5:50 AM, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and was in a pretty bad mood through most of my Spanish class. I kept trying to figure out how I could drop one of my classes and if I would get a refund or not. But then I realized, I just have to make it till July 2nd and summer school will be over.

Once summer school is over I get to go home and do nothing for 21/2 weeks, then I am going to the beach for a week, and then only a week and a half later I am going to be in Disney. I guess it was looking at the broad scope of things that got me to realize that, hopefully, summer school wont be so bad.

Updates

So, it is now time for an update. My mom and I have official figured out our plans for when I go down to Florida. We are leaving Texas on the 10th of August and hoping to arrive in Orlando by the 12th (it shouldn't be too hard to do, we allotted time for stops at night). We then are going to attend the Melaleuca Convention from the 13th to the 15th.

Then my dad, sister, my boyfriend, and possibly my brother will either drive or fly down and be there by the evening of the 15th. We will then commence our "vacation" by doing stuff like going to Universal and Sea World (save the Disney visits till we have free tickets). Then on check-in day they are going to drop me off and help me get settled etc.

I have a feeling I will have the greatest number of people with me at check-in, but that doesn't bother me one bit. I am very much a homebody, so having them there to drop me off will make me feel a lot better.

Now that this is figured out it is time for more waiting, only 82 more days.

Finished!

I am officially finished for the semester. I took my last final this afternoon, it was terrible, but I don't care because I am done and I ended up with an A in my English class.

Now I can relax, somewhat, and do arts and crafts in my free time when I am not working. I just went to Hobby Lobby today and got some new projects to work on and also some supplies for one I am currently working on.

I have 99 days till I arrive in Disney and I absolutely cannot wait. But before I go to Florida I am going to Canada for a week with my parents and my sister to meet here boyfriend. It will be interesting to say the least. I'm also going to South Carolina at the end of July with my boyfriend and his family for a week. We are going to the beach, so I am excited about that.

Hopefully this summer will be relaxing and not too hectic. We will see.

Have a magical day!

School is Almost Over

I'm sitting in the computer lab on campus working on an essay draft I have due at 3 and I just can't stop thinking about how close the end of the semester is. It makes me very happy to know that I am going to have 3 or so weeks off before I start summer school. Granted I am going to be working during that time, but I really don't care about that because I will be making money.

The end of the semester is killing me though. Right now I am supposed to be working on a critical interpretation essay rough draft that is due for peer editing at 3. The essay is focusing on Shakespeare's Othello and has to include 5 outside sources. It really is not that hard but it is rather time consuming because it has to be 7-8 pages long and a minimum of 2200 words.

After I finish the essay I need to write a speech that has to be 6-8 minutes long about the importance of protecting yourself against skin cancer, and how to avoid it. I am not too worried about the speech because I have personal experience with family members who have had terrible cases of skin cancer. Skin cancer runs on both sides of my family, so you can see I am definitely pro natural skin color and anti excessive tanning. The only thing I need to make sure for my speech is that I don't turn it into a rant about how excessively tanning is killing yourself, but rather make it an educational informative speech about the proper way to protect yourself against skin cancer.

Once I finish these things I am pretty much free and clear for the end of the semester in these two classes. I have the final draft of my essay due next Monday and that is no big deal, and technically after my speech tomorrow I don't have that class anymore.

I am just so ready to go to DISNEY!

Dream Places to Work

I got this idea from another blog and decided it would be fun to do it too. In the fall I am going to be an attractions cast member at Walt Disney World as a part of the Disney College Program. I thought it would be fun to share with y'all the places I would love to work at while in Disney.
First: The Great Movie Ride in Disney Hollywood Studios
Second: The Haunted Mansion in the Magic Kingdom
Third: Kilimanjaro Safari in Animal Kingdom
Fourth: Jungle Cruise in Magic Kingdom
I think any ride at Disney would be great, but these are my top four that I would love to work at. Sadly I have to wait till August to find out exactly where I am going to work, so we will see what happens

My Next Quilting Project

For my next quilt I want to do something simple because I want to be able to finish it in a reasonable amount of time. I was looking at doing some thing like this, it is really simple and I can make it look whatever way I want because I can change up the fabric choices really easily. I am seriously considering doing it with different Disney fabrics. I really like this one: And there are a few more that I like too, I got a gift card to Hobby Lobby for my birthday so I think it is about time for me to go and spend that. I probably should wait till after school gets out so I am not distracted from my studies, but as it is I am distracted by the fact that I am going to Disney in the fall. So we will see what happens =)

woot.com I love you

So tonight I was waiting up to see what Woot, if you don't know what woot is, it is a website that everyday they sell something different at discounted prices. It's cool you should check it out woot.com. Anyway I wanted to see what they would have today and to my surprise it was something fabulous! The Magical Musical of Walt Disney, Original Motion Picture Soundtracks with Full Color Book. They are original from the 70's when they were first released. I then went to sellout woot and bought a record player because I didn't own one. Yes this was probably one of my sillier buying binges but I couldn't help it, it's Disney. Now it is time for me to get a job so I can afford these buying binges.