My Best Friend Visits Disney World

My best friend from home, Sara, and her family recently visited Walt Disney World for a family vacation and I was lucky enough to spend some time with them while they were in Orlando! Sara, her brother Jack, and I went to the Magic Kingdom one night and rode lots of rides and watched the Electric Light Parade and Celebrate the Magic. Another night, I was able to join her family for dinner in Hollywood Studios at Brown Derby and then watch Fantasmic afterwards! I also had the opportunity to visit their resort and watch the fireworks from there (and they even stole me a few rolls of toilet paper!) Her mom and her even came to see a Finding Nemo show and they loved seeing me in action and seeing a bit of what I do every day! (They also enjoyed the show, and the VIP seating!)

Sara and I after Dumbo

It was great to see someone from home in Florida, and it was even nicer to be able to spend time with her and her family. The time we spent together in the parks was great and the dinner was fabulous (much better than my usual pasta).

Sara, and the rest of the Fitzpatrick family, thank you for visiting me in Disney World and brightening up my week!

Thanks for the visit, Princess!

Universal Studios

Yes, it's true, Disney Cast Members do occasionally cheat on Disney. About a week ago, my roommates and I went to Universal Studios Orlando, and we had a BLAST! It was so much fun to spend time with one another, and as much as I hate to admit it, it was a nice break from Disney as well!

For those of you who don't know me, I am a big Harry Potter fan, so visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was definitely the highlight of the day for me. We had butterbeer, bought chocolate frogs, and rode the ride inside Hogwarts! It was great. I also got to check out some other cool rides, including ET, Men in Black, Spiderman, Dr. Seuss, and many, many others. Universal is broken up into two parks: Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Islands of Adventure has more of the thrill rides (and Harry Potter), while Universal Studios has more of a variety of attractions. I really liked both parks, so much so that I bought an annual pass! Basically, it didn't make sense for me to only buy a one-day-two-park pass, since I am planning on coming back at least one more time before I leave. If you go twice, it's worth it to buy an annual pass. Plus, now I have free parking and 10% discounts at restaurants and merchandise stores in the theme park!

Obligatory first Butterbeer selfie

Hogwarts Express Conductor

Hogwarts

It was also awesome, because we had a lot of celebrity sightings while there! Matthew Lewis and the Phelps twins (Neville Longbottom and George & Fred Weasley) were there doing a press event to promote the new Harry Potter areas opening soon. Jimmy Fallon was also shooting The Tonight Show in Universal all that week, and his musical guest was Pitbull, so I got to see a mini Pitbull concert and see Jimmy Fallon join him on stage! It was really cool to see some celebrities so close. I've now officially seen more celebrities in Universal than I have while working at Animal Kingdom!

Jimmy Fallon & Pitbull

The Phelps Twins & Matthew Lewis

A big part of the reason I bought an annual pass was because on July 8th, the new part of Harry Potter is opening. They are opening Diagon Alley, Gringotts, King's Cross, and the Hogwarts Express, so I am really excited to go back and check out the new additions to Universal Studios. 

So, yes it's true, Disney Cast Members do cheat on Disney; we even buy annual passes to competing theme parks! Jokes aside, Universal was a great time, and I'm so glad I got to spend some quality time with my roommates in the parks. 

Vacation Destination: Home!

This past week I was fortunate enough to have some time off so that I could fly home to Pennsylvania and help my sister celebrate her high school graduation! I requested the time off as soon as I got here in January, so by the time my week rolled around I was approved off for 6 out of the 7 days I requested. For the one day that I was scheduled, I gave away my shift, which meant I was free for all 7 days! However, I was able to squeeze some more time out of my vacation home by going home a day early (they scheduled me off that day) and then by staying an extra two days (they gave me off the second day, I called in the other day). So, all in all I was home for 11 days, and I enjoyed every minute of my time in PA.

It's funny to think that I left my normal vacation destination, Disney World, to go to home for a "vacation." However, I truly NEEDED the time away. I love Disney, I love being a Cast Member, and I love my life here, but I believe that we all need to step away for a while and have a break. This was my first time being home since January, which is the longest amount of time I've ever been away from home. It was so nice to see my extended family, friends, and my pets, and to be able to actually spend some quality time with them. I also enjoyed having my own room with a big bed!

Seeing my best friend for the first time since January

My cousins and I reunite at the graduation party

It was also really important to me that I was able to celebrate my sister's graduation with her. I was able to attend her awards ceremony, her graduation party, and her graduation ceremony. It was nice to be able to watch her finish her high school career, and I'm thankful to my parents for allowing me to come home (and paying for my airfare) so that I could be a part of the celebration!

My sister and I after her high school graduation

Being a part of the college program is an amazing experience, but it is nice to take a step back from all things Disney and college kids, and get back into the "real world" for a short period of time. I had a great trip home, but I am looking forward to my last SEVEN (can you believe it?!) weeks here in Orlando! Look for lots of upcoming posts about my end of program activities and all of the magical things that happen here in the happiest place on earth!

The Hub

The hub is basically the portal to all things Disney Cast Members. When you become a Cast Member with Disney, you are given a userid and password that allows you to log in to the website and get access to everything such as your work schedule, Cast discounts, special events, and many other things.

The two things I use The hub the most for are to check my schedule (it comes out every Sunday for the following week) and to request time off of my schedule. For example, this Thursday I am going home for a little over a week for my sister's high school graduation. When I first gained access to the hub in January, I immediately put the request in to have those days off. Immediately, the labor center approved Sunday-Friday, but they put me on the waitlist for Friday and Saturday. The waitlist means that the time requested is not available, but may become available. Eventually, I was approved for Friday as well, so by the time the schedule came out last week, I only was scheduled to work Saturday. Luckily, one of my coworkers was able to pick up my shift (which I requested through the hub as well) for Saturday so I now have the next nine (!) days off of work to go home, celebrate, and spend time with my family. Basically, the moral of the story with requesting time off on the hub is - DO IT EARLY! The earlier you request time off, the easier it is to get it approved.

You are also able to pick up extra hours on the hub. If there are any untrained positions that are available when you are not regularly scheduled to work, you can pick them up on the hub and add them to your weekly schedule. These include shifts like parade audience control, Fantasmic, special event greeters, and ESPN Wide World of Sports positions. These are a great way to get extra hours during the week, but they don't often show up, so it's important to pick them up right away if you want them and they are available!

The hub also has special Cast Member contests, gives information about costuming, shows your paycheck, details your record card information, and so many more things. It's one-stop-shopping for all things Cast Members could possibly need to know about anything Disney. I do have to admit that the hub is a bit difficult to navigate, so it takes some time to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, it is a wealth of information, and a necessary bookmark on your computer if you are a Cast Member!

Saying Goodbye & Saying Hello

Recently, I've had to say goodbye to many of my favorite people and things at Walt Disney World. The people who were just doing the spring program left throughout the month of May, with the last departures occurring May 30th. It was hard to say goodbye to some of the friends that I have made here, especially because I don't know if I'll ever see them again. It's crazy that you go on a journey with these people and spend all of your time either working or hanging out with them, and then suddenly they are gone. I'm definitely already missing my friends, and wishing them happy and fun summers.

Another sad goodbye occurred at DAK this week: we had to say goodbye to Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade. It was the longest running parade at Animal Kingdom, and now with its departure, the only park with a parade is the Magic Kingdom. I'm sad to see the parade go because it was such a nice break from Nemo during the middle of the day. However, I'm glad I won't have to work the parade during the hot summertime!

The Last Jammin' Jungle Parade Crew

With all of the goodbyes did come some hellos! The fall advantage program people have arrived, and one of those people is my friend, Franklin from Clemson! We have a lot of new neighbors and I'm excited to meet some of my new coworkers.

We also get to say hello to FOLK, or Festival of the Lion King at Animal Kingdom. FOLK has been down since January because they rebuilt the theater in Africa. It used to be located in Camp Minnie Mickey, but since Avatarland is being built where the Camp used to be, the FOLK theater had to be moved to Africa (where it truly belongs). I've been inside the new theater already, and it's beautiful (but very similar to the old theater), but I haven't seen the show yet. Rumor has it that the show is the exact same, but I'm still excited to see it in its new home. I'm also excited that I don't have to answer the "what happened to Lion King" question anymore at Nemo!

So, there you have it. The beginning of summer has been a series of goodbyes and hellos here at Disney World. While it's sad to say goodbye to all the memories, it's exciting to think that there are new memories to be made. I'm looking forward to enjoying my last two months here, and I hope you continue to enjoy me on my Disney Dream!