Move In, Check In, & Casting

I've had a busy few days since my last post! On Monday I moved into my apartment with my roommates, Allie and Megan. It was a crazy day of unpacking, shopping, and assembling furniture! The day was even crazier because a Tropical Storm came through the area. Luckily, I was able to get all of my furniture and belongings inside before it started raining, so I stayed pretty dry during the storm!

We moved into a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom apartment in Davenport, Florida, which is about 20 minutes from Disney property. The area is very nice and the apartment is fantastic! I had a blast decorating and trying to make my bedroom my own. We still have some more decorating to do in the common areas, but the apartment is definitely coming together very nicely and I'm thrilled to be living with Megan and Allie again.

I also had to say goodbye to my parents and sister this week. They left the day after move-in, so the night before they left the four of us went out to our last family dinner for a while. We ate at Olivia's which is the restaurant at Old Key West Resort. Dinner was really good and we even experienced a magical moment while at dinner. My parents actually became Disney Vacation Club members and owners at Old Key West during their honeymoon 25 years ago. When we were talking to the waitress about this, she decided to make some magic for us during dessert! They made a toast to my parents and brought them out complimentary champagne and gave them a customized picture of the resort as a gift! We also all took a picture together with the chef, the manager of the restaurant, and some of the Cast Members working. It was honestly so much fun and I was so excited that my family got to experience a magical moment before leaving Disney!

Thanks to the amazing staff at Olivia's for making some magic for my family!

So, after moving in, saying goodbye to my family, and getting reacquainted with the Orlando area, I officially started my internship experience today! I had a Casting appointment at 11:30 this morning where I was fingerprinted, hired, and given more information about my training schedule. Basically, once you complete your Casting appointment, you are officially hired on by the Disney Team (assuming you pass your background check, of course!) Casting was so easy today. I was in and out of the building in less than 20 minutes, which is pretty incredible considering that during my College Program it took me two hours to get through Casting. I think the process is much easier and quicker for PI's because there are fewer of us, which is great for me! 

The Casting Center

Now I am officially checked in and ready to begin my internship. Tomorrow I will attend The Gathering to meet up with the fellow ASE interns and meet the ASE managers. I'll get the rest of my training schedule tomorrow before I have Traditions on Saturday morning. Be on the lookout for many more posts coming soon because the next few weeks are going to be so exciting as I start my dream internship!

Check In and Casting

I'm finally here and my college program has begun! After spending the entire day in the Magic Kingdom on Sunday, my mom and I woke up early Monday morning and my adventure began! I want to give you all an idea of how the day went, so here it goes!!

My roommates and I all met in the parking lot of the Walgreens across from Vista Way, which was our check in location. We met at 8:00 and probably were in line by 8:15. There were a ton of people in line already when we got there. We got cute little sticker name tags while we were waiting in line. It took us about 2 hours to get to the front of the line, where we officially began the check in process. First, we were given program guides to the DCP which they informed us were also known as the "DCP Bibles" because it had everything you would need to know inside. Once inside the building, we received our housing assignment! My roommates, Allie, Megan P., and Danielle and I are living in a 2 bedroom apartment in Chatham Square, which was our first choice! From there, we got our housing ID pictures taken, received the keys to our apartment, and registered our cars.

After doing all of the housing things, we went outside to wait in more lines. After finally making it to the front of the line, we found out our work locations!! Ready for it??? I'll be working... THEATER OPS AT DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM!!!!!!! I'm not entirely sure what this means, but I'm assuming that I will be working at one of the shows in Animal Kingdom. I'm really happy about my assignment because Animal Kingdom was my first choice of work locations! My roommates also found out their locations as well. Allie will be working at Magic Kingdom with the new Fastpass Plus system, Megan will be a hostess at the Contemporary Resort's California Grill Restaurant, and Danielle will be working in the gift shop of the All Star Resorts!

Obviously, finding out our work locations was the best part of the day. From there, we were all split up into smaller groups. We received our itineraries for the rest of the week and went over them with a cast member so that we understood the expectations. Afterwards, we had a quick stop at banking, and then outside to learn about education and safety! All in all, we finished around 11:15, so we were "checking in" for about 3 hours. It was a long time, but getting to know my roommates in line made it go a little quicker.

The first roommate picture!

Afterwards, I went to my apartment for the first time and moved my stuff in! Check for a post coming soon with apartment pictures and all that good stuff!

I had a drug test at 4, and then my mom and I went shopping, ate, and finished moving me in. It was a really long and exhausting day, but I had fun!

This morning I had my appointment at casting at 10:00. Nothing too exciting happens at casting, as you're basically just doing background checks, getting fingerprinted, and handing in all your forms. I did receive my training schedule, and my training begins on Sunday, which is January 19th. I have what they are calling "DAKlimation" (Disney's Animal Kingdom) and then find out the rest of my training schedule from there!

The inside of the Casting Building

Tomorrow, I have a housing meeting, I am free on Thursday, and Friday I have Traditions, which is my first official day on the job!

Stay tuned for more posts with pictures and the rest of the details from this first week! I hope you all are having a completely magical day!!