Month 2: Extension!

I am happy to announce that I will be extending my college program through December 5th! I will be taking online classes in the fall so that I will stay caught up in school. After much consideration, I decided that two and a half months in Walt Disney World was much too short (I have no idea how people can stay here for only a week at a time!). There is so much more that I want to do, especially since this will be my last college program. My new location will be outdoor foods (ODF) in Magic Kingdom!

I was lucky enough to have the Fourth of July off work. A big group of us decided to go to Epcot to see the fireworks that night. After fending off an angry group of fifteen year-old Brazilian tourists for three hours to protect our spots in the front row, the show finally began. Boy, and I'll tell you, it was well worth the wait. This finale was the best I have ever seen of all the Disney firework shows, and I have seen many!

I also went out to a very fancy dinner with Craig, which gave me an excuse to get all dressed up! We went to Johnny's Hideaway, which was absolutely delicious! I got seared scallops and a lobster mac n' cheese, and he got the porterhouse steak. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Here is a snapshot of how I did my hair for the night, with the help of some Pinterest inspiration.

Other than that, the rest of the month has been pretty uneventful. Last week, I worked 67 hours, so I didn't have a whole lot of free time to do anything else (oh, but my paycheck tomorrow will be well worth it!). However, a group of us are going to the beach on Friday, so I'm sure that will be a blast!

Month 1: ESPN, the Polynesian, and More!

It has been exactly a month since I started my college program! The week one process was exactly the same as it was on my last program two years ago (check-in, casting, traditions, welcome meeting, orientation, etc.). So, if you are interested in reading about that, visit the following blog posts:

Day One: Check-in & Casting
Day 2: Housing Welcome Meeting & DTD
Day 3-5: Kitchen Sink, Traditions, & Magic Kingdom
Day 6-8: Disney University & Training

The day after I finished my training at ESPN, I was deployed to Typhoon Lagoon for a week because there were no events going on at ESPN. Since then, it has been a pretty chill place to work. However, I sometimes feel like I'm not actually working for Disney because ESPN is just a complex that hosts sporting competitions, as opposed to a theme park. But on the bright side, I love sports so I don't mind that the view from my concession stand window is a baseball game most of the time.

Last month, my friend from my last program came down to visit from Minnesota. We stayed in the Polynesian Resort, which was beautiful! This is one of my favorite Disney Resorts. And I highly recommend going to Trader Sams, for all of you who are over 21! It is a bar based on the Tiki Room in Magic Kingdom. Every time a drink is ordered, something happens based on the type of drink. The bartenders chant, the room darkens, thunder sounds... Its an amazing experience!

I ordered the HippopotoMai-Tai as the bartenders
yelled and chanted "Two shots of rum!"

We also rented a boat from the Polynesian. I didn't even know you could do this until recently! And if you are a cast member, you get 50% off! First we rented a small two-seat boat. The next day, we got the 10-seat pontoon. We took these out through the Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake in front of Magic Kingdom. While in Bay Lake, we drove in front of the abandoned water park and island, Disney's River Country and Discovery Island. It was so eerie, but I would love to explore it some time!

Disney's River Country

We finished up the weekend with park visits to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, as well as a couple games of bowling at Splitsville in Downtown Disney. Normally, I can never break 100 points, but somehow I got 5 strikes in a row this game!

Last week, a group of us went on the party bus so Drip, a new club in downtown Orlando, for a paint party. It was so much fun, and the music was great. I can't wait to go again!

This past weekend, a couple more friends from my last program, who I haven't seen in two years, came down to Orlando! We hit up all the parks, went bowling, and had a great time. It definitely did not feel like it had been two whole years. Our last program seemed like only yesterday! But it was a happy reminder of just how fast the time flies while down here on the program.

Two days ago, Craig and I had dinner at Be Our Guest, the Beauty and the Beast themed restaurant in Magic Kingdom. I had the shrimp and scallops while he had the braised pork. For desert we couldn't decide on just one, so we got the grey stuff, eclair a l'orange, and (my favorite) the strawberry cream cheese cupcake. Delicious! The castle was just as beautiful as I remembered, and you get to meet the Beast after your meal.

I forgot to take a picture before I started digging in!

Hopefully I can continue to blog at least once a month. In my spare time, I usually go to the parks or downtown. However, last week I worked 60 hours (by choice - I was not scheduled this many hours), so my free time is limited. To be continued!

Check-In!

Today was check-in, which took surprisingly less time than I thought it would. We got through it all in about an hour. There, I found out that I will be living in Patterson Court again in a 2-bedroom 5-person apartment. Luckily, I got to the apartment early enough to not have to be in the bunk bed in the other room! Also, I will be working quick service food and beverage at ESPN Wide World of Sports! I am so excited to work here, as I have never even been to this location before. It will definitely be a new experience!

After check-in, we went through casting and got our fingerprints done, as well as the other logistics of being a new hire. We also received our schedules for the week:

Wednesday: Housing Meeting
Thursday: Day Off
Friday: Traditions (first paid day of work)
Saturday & Sunday: Day Off
Monday: Disney University Training Day 1
Tuesday: ESPN Training Day 2

I will be sure to write another post later about the trip down to Disney World. Mongomery, Panama City, Orlando, oh my!

DORMS

As my check in date is exactly two weeks away, my DORMS email arrived right on schedule! For those of you who don't know, DORMS (Disney Onsite Resident Management System) is the program where which you apply for housing, select your apartment complex and room size preferences, and choose roommates. On my last program, I linked with one other girl who I met through the DCP Facebook page. For this program, however, I have decided to be a bit adventurous and leave that up to chance. Fingers crossed for a normal roommate!

I did select my preferences for complex and unit size, though. If any of you are curious about what the individual complexes are like, I wrote all about all four complexes in this post HERE. In my last program, I was in Patterson, which I loved! However, I have put Chatham as my first choice this time around. This is because Chatham hosts all the housing events, and the bus stop is located right outside of the front gates. My second choice was Patterson, and third was the Commons. I noticed that the weekly rent prices, which are deducted automatically out of your weekly paycheck, have gone up a little since my last program, but not by much. Below is a picture of the prices for each type of room offered. Sorry for the bad quality!

For more information about DCP housing, you can visit the college program website HERE. 

Three Weeks To Go!

According to my lovely Up countdown (pictured in a previous post, titled Countdown), we are officially into the teens: 19 days left to be exact. Today is the first day of finals week here at the University of Kentucky, so naturally all I can think about is how bad I want to be in Disney. I have begun planning my drive down to Orlando, which I think has turned from a 12 hour long drive into a three day adventure!

Truly the happiest place on earth!

In an effort to cross another state off my list, we will be traveling through Alabama instead of Georgia to get to Orlando. As I have never been to Alabama, we plan to spend a night in Montgomery - it looks beautiful! Plus, I love cities that have a lot of history behind them. I also plan to stop in Panama City and Cape San Blas in order to get my fair share of beaches in before heading to central Florida. I am so excited! Let's just hope that I can survive the next two days of finals week. Wish me luck!