Thanking My Visitors

As my program comes to an end, I've been reflecting back on my entire 7 months here and all of the fun times I've had. One of the best parts of my program has been having people come visit me throughout my time in Orlando! I wanted to dedicate a post to all of the people who have visited me during my program.

My brother, Joey

My sister, Colleen, her friend, Katie, and my parents

Clemson friends Allie & Kaitlyn

My mom and dad

My friend from home, Emily, and her mom

My sister, her friend, Jenn, my mom, and my dad

My best friend from home, Sara, and her family

The Panzer Family

The Todaro Family

All of these visits really made my time here so much better. It seems like every time I was down in the dumps or needing a pick me up, it just so happened that someone would come down and visit, and it completely turned my whole week around. I want to dedicate this post to all of the people who have come to visit me at Disney World these past 7 months. You all have no idea how much it means to me that you wanted to spend your vacation with me! Thanks to all of my family and friends for the support during my Disney College Program, and I can finally say, see you real soon!

Goodbye, Megan

This is a hard post to write - my roommate Megan, who some of you may also know as one of my best friends on this program, left this morning to return to Texas and end her college program. Megan's managers granted her an early release from her program because she had a lot of things she needed to get done at home before she left to go back to school in the beginning of August. I've known Megan was leaving early for a while now, but to be honest, it still hasn't really hit me that she's gone. I'm still expecting her to come home from work later on tonight and ask me about my day! It's sad that I had to say goodbye to such a great friend and a wonderful person, but honestly, the two of us are so close that I know there's no way that this was actually goodbye.

To celebrate Megan's last day, my other roommate, Allie and I agreed to spend the day with her doing the 4 park challenge. Unfortunately, I had to work in the morning, so I only made it to three parks, but it was still a great last day! We went to Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom, met lots of characters, went on all of Megan's favorite rides, and ate a nice dinner at Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet!

We came home, helped Megan finish packing, and then said our goodbyes last night and early this morning. I was so sad to see Megan go, but as I said before, I know I will definitely see her again. I'm excited for all of us to move on to the next chapter of our lives, but it's extremely sad to close this chapter. I've made lifelong friendships on this program and I know for certain that these people have changed my life for the better. Megan, I miss you already and you are forever in my heart of hearts.

As I say goodbye to lots of people and places around Disney World, the lyrics to "We Go On" in Illuminations stick in my mind:

"We go on to the joy and through the tears, 

we go on to discover new frontiers, 

moving on with the current of the years, 

we go on moving forward now as one, 

moving on with a spirit born to run, 

ever on with each rising sun, 

to a new day we go on."

Update on My Deployment

I just wanted to update everyone on how my deployment to Hollywood Studios has been going. I am still doing the same thing as before - handing out Olafs at the main entrance of Hollywood Studios. As I stated in my previous post about HS, the job is somewhat boring and mindless, but I have grown more accustomed to it. I do certain things to make my day more interesting and to pass the time. I really like talking to people, so if at all possible, I try to engage people in conversation about the park, Frozen, etc. instead of just handing them an Olaf and having them walk away. The little kids are also really cute, and it's fun to see how excited they get when I give them an Olaf and tell them all about the Frozen Fun events. The coordinators at the main entrance are all really nice and try to be as helpful as possible; one coordinator even gave me a Four Keys Card the other day to thank me for all of my hardwork and helpfulness. All in all, it's a job that I have to do for two more weeks. I'm trying to make the most of it, but I would be lying if I didn't say that I really do miss my old job at Nemo.

The good thing about my deployment is that it has made it easier to transition to the end of my program. I don't have the connections or emotional attachment to the people or park of Hollywood Studios that I did at Animal Kingdom and Nemo, so it's not going to be as hard to say goodbye in two weeks. I've received my final workweek schedule and my family is arriving for their last trip this Friday, so I'm excited to see them and spend time with them. Although my program is coming to an end and I am going to miss my friends and being in Disney World so much, I know that my time to leave has come. I've learned so much during my DCP and I'm ready to go back home and then back to Clemson and get back into the "real world" and put my skills that I've learned here to good use.

So, for the next two weeks, if anybody happens to be at Hollywood Studios, stop by the Main Entrance and get an Olaf from me! As always, keep on dreaming!

Opening Day at Diagon Alley in Universal Studios

So, let's take a break from my depressing posts about leaving Nemo and handing out Olaf and talk about something super exciting I did last week: OPENED DIAGON ALLEY AT UNIVERSAL! On July 8, Universal Studios had its grand opening of Diagon Alley and King's Cross Station. My friends and I took the day off and decided to go to Universal to celebrate opening day with all of our fellow Potter fans.

Opening day at Diagon Alley

Gringotts Bank (The dragon breathed fire)

Inside Gringotts

We arrived at 6:30 AM (the park didn't open until 9) and did a lot of waiting around. Luckily, we arrived early enough that we were among the first few hundred people to get into the land. At 8 AM, they opened only Diagon Alley, and did a fun opening ceremony where they shot off fireworks. Even with being some of the first people there, we still had to wait 3 hours to get on the ride inside Gringotts Bank. It was a long three hour wait, but finally we got inside Gringotts and onto the ride. Honestly, I found the ride to be disappointing. It definitely was not worth the three hour wait and certainly not worth the 7 hour wait it was later on in the day. Part of the problem may have been that we stopped in the middle of the ride, which took away from the experience, but it still was mediocre at best. Personally, I prefer the ride inside Hogwarts.

Diagon Alley

Although the ride was a slight disappointment, Diagon Alley, King's Cross, and the Hogwarts Express were all really impressive. It was a lot of fun to look around the stores in Diagon Alley, and the ride on the Hogwarts Express was really cool. It was a unanimous decision that the best part of the day was the Butterbeer ice cream (AMAZING). If you're a Harry Potter fan, I definitely recommend checking out Universal Studios and all of the Harry Potter fun there. It was a great (but exhausting) day, and I am so glad that I could have this experience with my Disney friends!

Butterbeer ice cream

Ride selfie

Our new Gryffindor souvenirs 

The First Few Days at Hollywood Studios

If you read my last post, you know that I'm currently working at Hollywood Studios. My official title is "Main Entrance Support" and by that, they really mean handing out Olafs at the main entrance. I was deployed from Animal Kingdom to help out with the Frozen Summer Fun Event. In all honesty, the job is not the most exciting thing in the world. I literally have 6-7 hour shifts where I only hand out Olafs to guests. The one thing I like about the job is that I have a lot of guest interaction; people are constantly asking me questions about the park, how to get places, and about the Frozen Summer Fun events. However, I hate having to be outside in the heat all day, especially since I'm both mentally and physically exhausted after my shift is over. 

With my new job I also have some new hours. I typically work one of two shifts: 9-3:30 or 3:30-10. I like the morning shifts because I finish and have the whole afternoon to do things, but I like the afternoon shifts because I can sleep in and I get to watch the Frozen fireworks at night. 

I am still really missing my job at Nemo and just working at Animal Kingdom in general. I still don't feel 100% comfortable with everything at Hollywood Studios, but I'm learning to just take it one day at a time. I have less than 20 days left in my program, so I know I can get through anything in that short period of time!

If anyone has any specific questions about my deployment, or about deployment in general, let me know!

On With the Show at Disney's Hollywood Studios

So, as I explained in my last post about my last day at Nemo, I have just been deployed to Hollywood Studios. Hollywood Studios recently kicked off its "Frozen Summer Fun" event, which essentially is a summer-long celebration at Hollywood Studios to celebrate Frozen and have people visit the park and participate in all the new events. There is a parade with Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff, a sing-along, an ice-skating rink, and a dance party every day. My understanding of the situation is that Hollywood Studios decided that they would need more people to staff this event, and that Animal Kingdom theater ops decided they were too over-staffed, so they shipped all the CP's from theater ops over to Hollywood Studios (and a few to Magic Kingdom). I wasn't given too much information about my deployment from Animal Kingdom, so when I went to Hollywood Studios this morning, I was really looking forward to getting some answers. I went in with a really positive attitude, thinking that it would be nice to have the opportunity to perform two separate roles in two different parks and it would make me a more versatile Cast Member and person. However, my experience today at Hollywood Studios was certainly an interesting one and not entirely what I was expecting.

Let me start at the beginning. When I arrived at Hollywood Studios this morning, the first part of my On With the Show class began with a park tour. We did a 2.5 hour tour of the entire property, and our leaders informed us about each attraction, restaurant, and merchandise location. I did find this part a little bit boring, especially because I am pretty familiar with Hollywood Studios and I didn't feel like they were telling me anything that I didn't already know. However, I got paid to go on a park tour, and even to ride the Great Movie Ride, so I can't complain too much about that! After our park tour, we had a quick break and then went into the classroom for a brief session about working at Hollywood Studios and being a Disney Cast Member. Since I was deployed from one theme park to another, I felt like a lot of the information was stuff I already knew from working at Animal Kingdom, but still, I understood the need for them to share this information with us, and it was interesting to see how another park handles their orientation and park tour. However, throughout the whole tour, I couldn't help but feel as though I just didn't belong in that park. I love working in Animal Kingdom, and being a conservation biology major, I feel as though that's where I truly belong and feel the most comfortable.

After the park orientation and information session is when the day really took a turn for the worse. I learned that I essentially didn't have a "job" to perform at Hollywood Studios. As of right now, I am scheduled for Olaf distribution shifts at different areas in the park. Basically, another part of the Frozen celebration is that they are handing out Olaf on a stick to people throughout the park and encouraging them to selfie with Olaf and then put the seflies on social media and hopefully have a chance to be displayed during the nighttime fireworks. So, yes, as of right now, my job for the remainder of July will be to hand out Olaf on a stick. Nothing else. Now, that's not to say that tomorrow, when I report to my first real day on the job, that things won't change, but as of now that is what I am scheduled to do. The more disappointing part of it is that no one at Hollywood Studios seemed to have any answers about what we were doing. It actually seemed like someone just made up this job. They weren't sure what costumes to give us, what shoes to have us wear, where to have us meet in the mornings, and they weren't even aware that we were scheduled to be placed all around the park. I understand that my deployment was thrown together very quickly, but I was really disappointed in my whole deployment experience. However, I am extremely hopeful and I have faith in the Disney Cast Members that things will eventually work themselves out. I hope that as the Frozen celebration continues to grow and expand that I will find my place and be happy making magic for the thousands of guests visiting Hollywood Studios. So, for now, look for me handing out Olaf's throughout Hollywood Studios! I will update everyone more once I actually begin to work.

And hey, as for my experience today, some of my favorite Disney characters may fondly remind me to "Let it go..."

My Last Day at Finding Nemo

Well, I have quite the shocking update for those of you who have been following my blog: as of yesterday, I no longer work at Finding Nemo The Musical. Apparently, because It's Tough to Be a Bug is closing for five weeks, the management team decided that the remaining theaters ops attractions would be too "over-staffed" so they decided to deploy all of the college program participants to other parks. As you can probably imagine, I was extremely upset by this news, and not only by this news, but by the way that the news was presented to me. I came into work earlier this week, and found a training schedule with my name on it sitting next to the computer where I clock in. Honestly, at first I thought it was a mistake. I have less than one month left in my program, and I couldn't believe that they would make me leave Nemo, especially since Nemo will still be operating normally for the remainder of my program. However, that was not the case, as I soon discovered that my deployment to Hollywood Studios was NOT a mistake, and I had to begin there almost immediately. I had two days notice that I was leaving Nemo.

I'm going to make more posts about my deployment to Hollywood Studios, but I wanted this post to be dedicated solely to my last day at Nemo. For those of you who know me personally, you know how much I loved my job; and for those of you who don't know me, I hope this blog has conveyed my adoration for Finding Nemo and the Cast Members there. I've always bragged that I had the best job in the college program. So, as you can imagine having to leave Nemo before my time was over, and especially with such short notice, was extremely difficult.

The CPs attempt to make an arrow on stage for our last day together

To make our last day somewhat memorable, we had a mini party for the CPs. We brought in food and desserts and took pictures during the show breaks with all of the Cast working that day. I made sure to say goodbye to everyone that was working, and there was lots of hugging and wishing one another good luck in the future. It's sad to think that I may not see some of these people ever again. It's even more sad that because I had such short notice, I wasn't able to say goodbye to those people who weren't working or who were on vacation. I do plan to visit Nemo again before I leave Disney for good, but visiting just isn't the same as working there. Even though my last working day wasn't even that great (I had all outside positions, I never even saw the show), I was very sad to leave at the end of the day.

My coworkers on the CP's last day at Finding Nemo

To those of you who I said goodbye to and left at Nemo, I miss you already. To those of you who I didn't have the chance to say goodbye to, I hope to get the chance to say goodbye to you before I leave in August. I miss my "Nemo family" already, and I can't believe I won't be back to work again. Working at Nemo has been a true privilege, and I can't imagine my college program without all of you having been a part of it. The Cast at Nemo are remarkable people, with unique personalities that make it an awesome place to work. I hope all my fellow fish remember to always go with the flow!

"Bye Dad"
"Bye son... *big sigh*"

End show.

4th of July in Walt Disney World

The 4th of July is one of the biggest holidays in Walt Disney World. The parks are busy, the resorts are busy, and everyone gathers in the happiest place on earth to celebrate America. Obviously, I was excited to be able to celebrate the 4th in Disney, and I was lucky enough to experience not one, but two, fireworks shows!

On July 3rd, I went to the Magic Kingdom and watched their fireworks show. Because the Magic Kingdom is so popular and usually reaches capacity on the 4th (which it did this year), they began to offer their fireworks display on both the 3rd and the 4th, so that more people could experience it. They were called "perimeter fireworks" because they happened all around the park and the surrounding Bay Lake/Seven Seas Lagoon area. I enjoyed the fireworks display, but I do have to admit that the amount of people there detracted from the show. I was overwhelmed by how many people were crammed on to Main Street, and by the fact that I had absolutely no personal space. I was expecting it to be crowded, but it was so bad that people could barely move. It took me an hour and a half to get back to my apartment from the Magic Kingdom, when it normally only takes me about a half hour! Nevertheless, it was really fun to be able to see the patriotic display, and to sum it up I would say that I am glad I saw it, and I'm glad I never have to see it again!

On the night of July 4th, my coworkers and I went to see Epcot's fireworks display. It was actually really good that we planned it that way, since Magic Kingdom reached capacity during the early afternoon! Anyway, we went to Epcot after work. Epcot was extremely crowded as well, and especially because everyone had to be crowded around the World Showcase Lagoon to see the fireworks. Their fireworks show was a continuation of Illuminations, which is the show every night at Epcot. After Illuminations, they continued with a musical tribute to the United States of America. We were able to get some ice cream, hang out, and then watch the fireworks show at 10:00. We didn't have an awesome view of the fireworks, because there were so many people who had camped out for hours to be in the front row, but the majority of them were in the sky, so it worked out. 

I honestly preferred Epcot's fireworks to Magic Kingdom's. I thought that Epcot's were more patriotic and it was more of what I was looking for on the 4th of July. They had sayings from presidents and other famous Americans, and then in the middle of the fireworks show, they played "I'm Proud to be an American" and the entire park started to sing! It was very moving, and exactly what I was looking for on the 4th. 

My coworkers and me in Epcot for the fireworks

It was fun to be in the parks to celebrate the 4th of July. Although it was crazy and extremely crowded, the fireworks were spectacular. I am way too spoiled with Disney fireworks, and I'm definitely going to miss them when I leave! While I am always proud to be an American, celebrating in Disney World made me also proud to be a Disney Cast Member!

Proud to be an American & a Disney Cast Member!

One Month Left

I'm actually cringing as I write this post, but the time has come when there is only ONE month left in my college program. Can you believe it, one month?! I sure can't. It seems like just yesterday that I was packing up my stuff and driving down to Florida with my mom, and it certainly couldn't have been six months ago! To say that the time has flown by would be an understatement.

Nevertheless, it's here I stand with exactly one month left in my DCP, and it's time to start prioritizing the things I want to do and deciding how I want to spend my last month. My friends and I have started doing a lot of things we've been talking about since we got here: bowling at Splitsville, going to Universal, eating dinner at Dick's Last Resort, watching the fireworks and eating dessert at California Grill, and the list goes on and on. It's been a blast doing these things, but also exhausting at the same time, since I'm constantly running between work, my apartment, and the surrounding Orlando area.

I'm starting to feel bittersweet about a lot of things. Sure, I'm really hot and tired at work, but in one month, I won't ever have to work again, and that's depressing. I've spent six months of my life living every day with these girls in my apartment, but in a month, we're all going to go back to our hometowns, and that's even more depressing. I think the most depressing part is that I won't be able to say I live in Disney World anymore, the happiest place on earth, and my favorite place on the planet.

So, there you have it. It's July 1st. I leave August 1st. My college program is officially winding down. However sad it may be, I'm excited to go out with a bang, so look for lots more posts about the end of my Disney College Program, and all of the fun things I'll be doing between now and August 1st. As always, keep on dreaming.

How Megan is Handling the Florida Heat

For those of you who have been to Disney World before, or really anywhere in central Florida you will know that it is HOT during the spring/summer. If you vacation in Walt Disney World during these hot summer months, you receive some special treatment such as air conditioning blasting inside, lots of water refills when you eat at a restaurant, and fans located throughout the park blowing air and misting water onto you. All of this is fine and well, and most guests can get through their days with only a minimal amount of discomfort from the heat. However, I CANNOT say the same for all of us Cast Members.

So, you may be asking yourself, "how is Megan handling the Florida heat?" And, my answer to you is: NOT WELL. I'm a Pennsylvania girl; when it gets super hot we usually do indoor activities, and the humidity is no where near what it is in central Florida. When I am at work, we have five inside positions and close to ten or more outdoor positions, so let's just say I pray for inside positions whenever possible! It is extremely hot when you are working outside in the sun. There is some shade that we can find to stand in, but as you can imagine, the shade changes all the time, and we can't all chase the shade the entire day. I've begun to hope for rain each afternoon, just so that it will cool off a little bit! The combination of the Florida heat and humidity has not been good to me. I come home from work super sweaty, a little sunburnt, and exhausted!

Now, let me be clear, I am in no way tortured at work. If ever we are feeling overheated, we have the opportunity to go inside and cool off for a few minutes. We have fresh water available to us at all times, and we can carry water bottles with us wherever we are. We do have those five inside positions, which allows us to be inside for some time. Also, we do get breaks during the day, usually one about every two to three hours. So, while I am extremely hot and uncomfortable at times at work, it's not the end of the world, I promise.

The heat and humidity combination is something everyone should take into account when working in Walt Disney World. Yes, it's the opportunity of a lifetime, but it does come with other factors, such as the weather, that have to be considered! However, I do have to admit, dealing with the heat and humidity of central Florida is just a minor bump in me achieving my Disney Dream!