Thursday, January 23, 2014

DCP Update #2

          It's been three days since I checked in here at Disney. I've signed my soul away and I've been fingerprinted and I've been tested for drugs. I'm glad that's all out of the way and I can really get started with my Program. Today was my first payed day. I went to Traditions where they split us up into groups and taught us about Disney heritage and how we can be great cast members and create happiness for the guests. This event took us through a lot of emotions so we all felt all of the things. I first started tearing up when we where shown a video of little kids' reactions to a surprise trip to Disney World.. I felt better when I found out a lot of people cried. We people care a lot here at Disney! When the time came for our first break, we were all required to leave the room. When we came back, there was a pretty red package sitting on each of the round tables (5 people to a table). The presents contained Mickey ears for each CP. The best part of Traditions was when they took us into the Magic Kingdom to observe on-the-job cast members being awesome. We all received ear pieces-which made me feel like a fancy super spy-to hear our guide while we were in the parks. We entered though the underground tunnels and while passing under the castle I saw Princess Aurora. I can't really justify how excited I got. I mean I was thrilled. I definitely squealed and jumped a bit in my surprise at seeing my first character in person since I was last here 5 years ago. She wasn't even wearing her pink dress. She was in princessy white underclothes that included mid calf capri-length bloomers that had ruffles at the ends. However, she did have the beautiful golden hair and tiara and it was glorious. Luckily she was up at the top of a flight of stairs facing away and didn't seem to notice my dramatic level of enthusiasm. There were a couple of other girls right by me who where also very excited to see a princess, so I think they helped my excitement blend in a little better. I think. At least I wasn't alone. While out in the parks my excitement only grew. I seriously needed to chill out, but I kept passing all these Disney characters that I've been watching in Youtube videos for years, only now I was seeing them in person and I just couldn't shake the happiness I felt. I wasn't the only excited person, but I think I was the most excited person. I passed Pluto, Genie, Sebastian, Mad Hatter, Alice, Pooh, Tigger, Merida, and a parade performer guy who waved at me (Yes!). I also got to witness a little 4-ish-year-old girl seeing the Cinderella Castle for the first time. When we all returned to our Traditions room, Mickey (The Boss) stopped by to welcome us to the program (EEP!) and brought us a golden package that had our name tags inside. Traditions was a very enjoyable experience and the best part is I got paid for it! The only down side to Traditions was that we were all supposed to receive our cast member IDs today, which is what gets us into the parks for free, but I couldn't have mine because they haven't processed my background check yet. Several of my roommates had this happen to them as well. If I had gotten my card today, I would not be updating right now, I would be running around Magic Kingdom getting autographs. Oh well. Maybe I'll get it tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, my first day of training for my role in attractions starts at 8 in the morning. I'm very eager to find out what my job will be and begin to create and spread happiness to as many people as I can!

One more thing, my roommate told me that she saw a couple of princesses while she was in the tunnels as well. Did you know that Ariel likes to wear grey sweats?


I wasn't allowed to take pictures during Traditions, but here is the my first pair of ears. :)

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Disney College Program Update One

Hello there! There's really not much to say yet, but I wanted to get my first post out of the way as I figure out how this whole blog thing works. I hope to update this blog at least once a week after I get to Florida. For now, I'm chilling in my bed where I get to enjoy the luxury of getting a whole room all to myself for three more weeks-then I strike out for the happiest place on earth to work for the mouse and learn how to create magic! My mom and I will fly to Florida on January 18th, and I'll check in to Disney on the 20th. I'll be staying at Vista Way (one of the apartment buildings for CPs) and I may end up with as many as eight roommates! I'll let you know how that goes. For now, all I know for sure is that I'll be working at Disney World in the role of attractions. What attraction you may ask? I have no idea, but I'm am very anxious to find out!