Sunrises and Surprises

More Training and Adventures! I'm a few days behind in posting..
 Training for Friday was mainly at the Captain EO show at the Magic Eye Theater. Managing the show is not too hard... there are just a lot of things to remember to do at once; a lot of multitasking. I enjoy it so far though! But by the end of the program I'll have seen/heard the show so many times I'll be sick of it! Today in training we got onto the topic of VIPs/celebrities that come to visit... one celebrity that we get occasionally at Journey to Imagination/Captain EO is Hayley Williams, the lead singer in a rock band called Paramore. Apparently she absolutely loves Figment (the purple dragon character in the ride Journey to Imagination) and Captain EO! I thought that was pretty cool. Also John Stamos and Adam Sandler had visited the park in the last few years as well - not sure when but my trainer also mentioned that they had been on our ride/went to see Captain EO.

                                         [a short video I took after getting off work one day]

Saturday at work, my trainer and I happened to be outside at a cool time. We were walking to another building and in the distance I saw a huge group of people speed walking towards The Land building (right next to our show/ride). I watched them for a few seconds thinking to myself.. is that a speed walking club or something? They were all really close and walking really fast as if they were on a mission. And on a mission they were - my trainer told me that they had just opened the park. They used to take all the ropes off of a certain area at the same time and then people would run - literally run - to The Land building to get in line for the Soarin' ride. Then after awhile they had to change the way they did things because it was too dangerous - now they open off two sections and then 2 cast members lead the whole group there - but they walk instead of run! (It's safer that way). It's definitely a riot to see that mob speed walking towards The Land..

Sunrise @ Epcot, I snapped on the way to work

After work today, my coworker and I changed out of our uniforms and went to the park to ride a few rides:) We plan on doing that later this week too.

Another fun thing Saturday at work - we had some extra time at the end of training, so my trainer and I got to go on Soarin'! Such a fun ride. We even got to talk to one of the managers and he took us to the front of the line so we didn't have to wait at all!!:) Gettin' the VIP treatment... perks of working at Disney:)

Saturday after work I took a much needed nap! When I woke up around 7pm, I was scrolling through photos on Instagram and I came across a post by one of my favorite bands called The Maine. It said, "Tonight we play a show at Orlando House of Blues and it is FREE! Just show up and you will get in. Doors @ 6pm." Wait, WHAT?!?!? I had to re-read the post a few times because I could not believe what I saw... a free show...in Orlando?!? What are the odds. I sprung out of bed and got ready.. grabbed some food, and looked at the bus schedule. All my roommates were gone and I figured no one would be free at this late of notice (plus hardly anyone knows who The Maine is)...so I just went by myself! I hopped on the next bus to Disney Springs (formerly known as Downtown Disney), which was unfortunately 15 minutes late... I was thinking I'd get to the House of Blues around 8 and maybe get there halfway through the show if I was lucky. Once I got off the bus I hurried to the House of Blues, and made it there just as The Maine was starting to play! Best. Day. Ever. They were amazing, as usual. I've seen them a few times in concert and they put on a great show every time!

The Maine!!

Some pictures below of hanging out at Magic Kingdom with my roommate!

Ha

Saying hi to our roomie Yennifer while she was working:) She's gonna be mad that I posted a pic of her in her uniform :D

Misc. goofing off pictures...

I was craving ice cream...

Me attempting to rap while my roomies took videos/pics of me :p Just call me Queen Rachel

Day Off and Training Days

Tuesday I had the day off! A few friends and I went to the Cast Connections store. It is a store for Disney employees and their friends/family and it has discounted merchandise and gifts and even furniture that is no longer needed from the Disney World parks and hotels. There is also a section in the back of the store for employees only that has slightly damaged merchandise that is sold for 75% off. You can find some really good deals here - sometimes there is only a small scratch or stain on something that is barely noticeable. I got a coffee mug, lanyard, and a case for my kindle for only $15!

 We also went to Costuming to get our work shoes. Costuming is a huge department - there is one at every park (all 4) and they have all the different uniforms for every job. There are so many uniforms!!! Rows and rows... they also wash all the uniforms. You can buy shoes at one of the Costuming locations as well, which makes it convenient. Costuming has everything from shirts, undershirts, belts, and pants, to coats and raincoats. When you work you have to use the Disney raincoats/coats. Apparently you should get yours early or else they could run out of sizes and you'd get stuck with a huge one..

Later we went to Animal Kingdom! It was the last park of the four that I hadn't been to yet. (There is Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom). This park was so cool - its jungle/safari/Africa themed. We went on the Everest Expedition roller coaster twice, it was SO FUN. We also met Pocahontas and the governor (the villain from that movie), and saw a Lion King show - it was so neat!! I wasn't expecting much from the show but it was amazing - they had gymnasts, trapeze artists, singers, dancers and a fire dancer!

Tree of Life

Expedition to Everest for the 1st time:)

selfie with the governor

Lion king show - the blue blur near the middle of the photo is a dancer/circus act thingy.. not sure the official term

 

Amazing dancers! Makes me miss it...

Safari Tour

Pocahontas!

Wednesday and Thursday were my 1st and 2nd training days! In addition to working at the ride, I'll be working at a spot where guests can meet characters, and also at the Captain EO show. Training was really interesting - it's really cool to see all of the behind the scenes stuff done at the ride, the security system, and all the details that go into safety checks. We get to ride the ride every morning and night (depending on your shift), and also sometimes throughout the day to make sure everything is running smoothly. I wish I worked at a roller coaster... then I'd get to ride one every day at work - how cool would that be?!? I'm enjoying where I work so far though.. there are a lot of different positions and we switch every hour so it doesn't get boring. I'm excited to get to know my coworkers and get into the swing of things.

Sign on the fridge at work :D

Also this song is stuck in my head...

Officially Moving in to Epcot.

Not really, but I'll be spending most of my time there... Monday was my first day of training on site! Waking up early hasn't been too bad.. but then again I haven't done it 5 days in a row yet. It's nice to see the sunrise in the mornings on the way to work though. The Florida skies are beautiful!

Training was brief but fun. We learned a lot of facts about Epcot and also got a tour (which included one of the rides - Spaceship Earth, my fave!) and a fun surprise on the tour. I can't tell you the surprise - it's an Epcot cast member secret. We swore an oath near the fountain in Epcot. I also found out where I will be working and my first week's training schedule. I'll be working at a ride in Future World West called Journey Into Imagination and I'll also be working at the Magic Eye Theater. The ride is a kids ride featuring a little purple dragon called Figment - which I had never heard of before. I have a few friends that are working in Epcot, but I don't know anyone working at my ride yet, so it will be fun to meet new people! Also on the tour we took a cruise around the World Showcase and learned about the dining/attractions at each country.

Work day selfie:)

From the ride Spaceship Earth with my fellow Epcot friend

Fun fact: Epcot has 11,000 parking spots. It's the second largest parking lot in the world!

Training ended at noon, and I ended up going to the Magic Kingdom with one of my roommates and one of my friends that will be working at Epcot also! We walked a total of about 5 miles at the Magic Kingdom... guess I won't need to be doing a lot of extra exercise here - I'll just need to go to a park for the day:) We went on a lot of rides including Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller coaster. Something really awesome happened when we went on the Mine Train roller coaster - right as we began the ride, the Disney fireworks show started!!! The roller coaster twists and turns and goes inside a "mine" and back outside, and every time we were outside, the fireworks were going off right above us. It's hard to describe, but it was the coolest thing ever - we had the most perfect timing.

Space Mountain ;)

the Castle!!!

Sunday Funday

Sunday we had a sleep in day...most of us didn't have training so it was a relaxed day. In the afternoon, we decided to go to Animal Kingdom. We should have checked what time it closed (we're new at this), because by the time we got to the park it was closing in a half hour. We checked out the Rainforest Cafe outside the park and then hopped on a bus to Epcot. It's a really cool park - future themed, and then there is World Showcase, where you can get food and drinks from all different countries. We did a lot of rides in the short amount of time we had - we saw the Captain EO show (classic..Michael Jackson in his prime), and went on Spaceship Earth, Journey Into Imagination with Figment, the Seas with Nemo and Friends (which houses the second largest inland aquarium), Soarin', and then we rode Test Track two times (the single rider line = best invention ever - cuts down the wait time a lot).

Bus rides every day.. better with friends

At least I got a picture?

I <3 palm trees

When you first get into the parks, it is really hectic if you don't know where anything is/you've never been there before. You're trying to simultaneously walk around and find rides/fast pass kiosks, navigate by using your paper map, take in all the sights, smells, and sounds, and also stay with your group of friends. Then try to snapchat while you're doing that and also dodge little children and strollers and you have a recipe for disaster. I haven't run into anything yet though...fingers crossed. It was fun to check out Epcot though, because I'll be working there in Future World West!

Spaceship Earth ride w/animation at the end

3 of my roomies - @ Epcot

Monsters Inc. is one of my fave Disney movies... so I had to try on the Sully tail, of course

My favorite ride in Epcot so far is either Soarin' or Spaceship Earth! Definitely recommend them. Coming up in late September-November is the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot! All my friends and I are looking forward to going. I definitely want to try the Dominican Republic food with my Dominican roomies. They already looked up the menu and showed it to me! I want to go to some of the other countries also to try the food/see some of the shows as well...so much to do!

Life the Vista Way

Another few days of getting settled in at Vista Way.. yesterday I didn't have time to write, so today I'll fill you in on the exciting events here at the apartment. My roommates made me a Dominican breakfast yesterday and it was really good! Mashed plantains and fried cheese - it's called mangu. Plantains look like green bananas and to me they taste like potatoes. Awhile after breakfast we went to the pool to hang out with a couple friends and we met some new friends - one from Seattle, one from New Jersey, and one from Charlotte, NC.  It's been so fun meeting people from all over the US! ALSO did I mention that I love having a pool? Went to the outlet mall in the evening to check out the stores too.

the squad

roomies!

Outlets

Today was the first day of training, called Disney Traditions! I'm definitely glad I had the early session of training, because I got to spend the rest of my day in one of the Disney parks - Hollywood Studios! As my mom would say, the early bird gets the worm. Training was fun - we got to see part of Magic Kingdom, we earned our "ears" (mickey ears, of course), we received our name tags (super exciting!), and received a visit from the Mickey himself. One thing you will hear a lot here is "Lets start with some trivia!!!!" I should have brushed up on my Disney trivia before coming here.. Let me test your knowledge: What are the names of Snow White's Seven Dwarfs? Answer at end of post.

After training, a few friends and I went to Hollywood Studios. Both of my friends - Tevin and Tayler, had already been to Disney World, so they let me pick which park to go to.
I picked Hollywood Studios because I really wanted to go on the Tower of Terror - perfect because they love that ride too! The wait line was really short which was awesome. After that we went on the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster - which is a roller coaster inside, and its really dark. It shoots you off super fast and you can't even see where you're going at first. And then we went on it again. And then we went on it again:). It's definitely one of my favorite rides. On the way to ride Star Tours, Tevin and Tayler both got randomly chosen to be in a skit on the street. It was too funny. I took the liberty to photograph it and take videos and cheer them on.

What did I get myself into?

After Star Tours, we rode The Great Movie Ride. We were going to go to the Frozen Sing-Along, but didn't quite make it in time. Definitely will do that one another day:) For dinner, I got my first giant turkey leg. I remember they had those at Disneyland, but I never got one there. Definitely have to try it at least once - if you're not a vegetarian or vegan, of course... then I would not recommend it. To finish off the evening, we watched    a bit of Fantasmic and then called it a night. I'd say the day was a success!

Turkey legs are as funny to eat as they are big

P.S. Sorry for the really awkward layout of this blog post... still trying to figure this thing out. The photo settings are very limited.. If anyone has any tips I could definitely use the help.

Trivia Answer: Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Grumpy

I can now say I've been in Disney World twice.

Today began with a mandatory housing meeting. Guess who had to go to the early session? Yes, me. If you know me, you know that I am not a morning person. However that could potentially be changing soon.. most likely will be changing soon... okay I have to grow up at some point. Now could be the right time. Also I have the first session for Disney Traditions training Friday in which the bus leaves at 6:55am. Thank goodness for coffee! And thank goodness for my other 4 roommates, because we all chipped in and bought a coffee machine (at Walmart, of course). $4.50 per person is not a bad price for a coffee machine.

Anyways, the housing meeting was the usual - rules, safety, phone numbers of important offices, transportation, etc. Lots more information - definitely useful! One of the safety rules is no weapons. However, light sabers are okay! Good thing, because now I don't have to throw away my light saber. Kidding! Also seeing as Harry Potter World is in the neighborhood, magic wands are also allowed. But only as long as we use good magic, not dark magic - words from one of the speakers at the meeting...

After the meeting, my roommates and I put in a few maintenance requests for our apartment. Much to our surprise, the maintenance guys showed up within about 10 minutes! Thank goodness - time to get our AC fixed. They were super helpful and fixed several things around our apartment.  My roommate Yennifer and I also learned about some of the local animals from the maintenance guys... of course we already learned about the lizards first hand by seeing them outside several times (ew!). There are also some funny looking white birds with red and blue feathers that waddle around the apartment complex and live here, and an occasional harmless snake. But if you try telling Yennifer that the snakes are harmless, it won't do any good because she is terrified either way. Florida also has bears and panthers!

living room/kitchen

Shoutout to our friend Jimi for lending us his wifi router!!! This post was brought to you by his hospitality. His roommates already had a router set up so he lent us the one that he brought. Rumor had it that the wifi was slow, but it works great.

Got to spend some time at the pool today with some of the roomies! Gotta work on that tan. I finally live in an apartment complex with a pool - that has been one of my dreams for as long as I can remember. It's open until 1 am too. I'll definitely be spending more time there tomorrow. Hopefully the weird guy with the red furry robe won't be there tomorrow... he had a sunburn so maybe he will avoid the pool for a day?

Hulk at the Lego store

In the evening, my roommates and a few other girls and I went to Downtown Disney. We got dinner and then went to a few shops. We'll definitely have to check it out again.. lots to do! There was also live music in different areas which was fun. You couldn't restrain yourself from dancing as you walked by.. well it was difficult to, from my personal experience.






The bus system has been getting easier to use. It is really convenient and it's just for DCP participants. We take it to and from work (unless you have a car and want to drive) and also to and from all the parks/shopping areas on our time off. You'll always see people on the bus with their Disney costumes on, which is fun to see.

Looking forward to another day off tomorrow to hang out with my roommates! Last free day before the work starts!

Day 1!

Quite the day today was! I left Portland at 7:20 pm Monday night and arrived in Orlando, FL at 5:22 am. I made it to Vista Way Apartments (1 of the 4 complexes that house Disney College Program participants)  on time for my 8am check in and was swiftly guided through all the steps of receiving my ID, apartment keys, and various informational packets. Overwhelming much? So much info! After that a group of us was whisked away on a bus to fill out paperwork at Disney Casting. When the bus took off, they played the song “What Dreams are Made of” by Hilary Duff from the Lizzie McGuire move. That made me laugh at how appropriate the song was – seeing as it is Disney and all of us new DCP participants are just arriving.

Finally after all the various line waiting, I got to head to my apartment and unpack and relax. I met my roommate Kaliah from southern Florida, who was super friendly and welcoming! We also have 3 roommates from Brooklyn, NY. Our 6th roommate did not show up.. we aren’t sure if they will fill her spot or not! We have a 3 bedroom apartment. One room has a master bath (unfortunately didn’t make it here early enough to claim that gem) and the other two bedrooms share a bathroom and there is another sink and counter space out in the hallway – so there is plenty of bathroom space which is good!

Our apartment complex has quite a few amenities – two pools, a basketball court, tennis court, clubhouse, 24 hour fitness center, learning center (with writing workshops – which I’ll definitely use for help on my resumes and grad school essays), and ping pong and pool tables. Lots to do! Within walking distance are a few restaurants, shops, and a Walgreens. For everything else we can take a bus or bum a ride with a friend – if you’re lucky to make friends with someone who has a car!

It is definitely quite the adventure, however, to take the bus to Walmart and get a bunch of groceries. I probably spent 5 hours at Walmart today with my roommates. The first trip my roommates mom took us and I got a bunch of food. The second trip, all my roommates and I went. We each got stuff for ourselves, and also had a list of stuff such as cleaning supplies, kitchen essentials, and appliances (**coffee maker!!!*) that we all split the cost of. We met a few new people on the bus, and ran into a few guys I had met earlier when taking luggage to my apartment. To sum up the trip, we ended up with 9 people, 6 grocery carts full of food and supplies, at least an hour of waiting in lines and for people to finish shopping. What was even funnier was our caravan of carts to the bus, and then our struggle to load our arms full of bags and all get onto the bus with no casualties. We definitely caused a scene.. but it was worth the laughs and trouble.

I’m exhausted sitting in bed right now… time for some sleep to prepare for tomorrow!

P.S. bear with me as I figure out this blogging thing… Pictures to come soon!