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!

Easter on the DCP

What are the holidays like on the Disney College Program? Well, to be honest, not that much fun. I would have much rather been home for Easter and spent the time with my family, but since I was here, in the happiest place on Earth, I decided to make the most of my time and try to enjoy the holiday.

Easter morning started out early with my roommate Megan and I getting up to attend 7:30 mass at Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine. The church is literally right around the street from our apartment complex, and it was nice to go to church and see all the people gathering together. However, the early wakeup call did not make me too happy!

I hid Easter eggs around our apartment for my roommates to find, so when Megan and I came home, our other roommate, Danielle was awake, so they had an Easter egg hunt while I watched and gave hints! Danielle also made an Easter basket for all of the roommates to split, so we got to open that up and eat some of the treats inside!

I worked from 11:45 to 7:15 on Easter. I actually picked up a longer and later shift that day, because I did not want to be sitting in my apartment bored and sad that I wasn't at dinner with my family. Work was fine, but it didn't really feel like Easter, it just felt like a regular day at Animal Kingdom. My coordinators and coworkers were nice enough to make us little Easter bags with candy, which was a special treat!

After work, all of my roommates were home, so we decided to make fun plans with some of our upstairs neighbors and try to make Easter as much fun as possible! We decided to head over to the Boardwalk and rent the surrey bike and ride it around the Boardwalk! It was so much fun, but we joked that with six people on it and having to go up hills, we were more paying to exercise than anything else. Still, we had a blast and it was a great experience. After having worked up a sweat, it was time to go get some ice cream from Beaches & Cream. We ended up sitting outside and talking about all of our jobs and sharing stories: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

While it wasn't a traditional Easter by any means, it was definitely a unique one and surely one that I will remember. I'm glad I got to spend Easter with such great friends and that my coworkers at Finding Nemo tried their best to make Easter as special as possible. Nemo is truly one big family!

Oh, and for those of you interested in knowing if Disney does any Easter decorations, they had an Easter egg display in the lobby of the Grand Floridian. All of the eggs are completely edible and weigh between 12 and 16 pounds. Check out some of my favorites below!

The whole display

Cinderella & Prince Charming

Queen Elsa

Rapunzel and Flynn Rider

Ariel

Lady & The Tramp

Valentine's Day in the Magic Kingdom

Can you imagine a more magical place to spend Valentine's Day than the Magic Kingdom? I sure can't. I mean sure, I was with my brother instead of my prince, the crowd levels were beyond crazy, and I didn't witness a single proposal, but still, it was an awesome experience nonetheless!

Valentine's Day at the park was just like any usual day. I was expecting some big celebration, but in reality, it was just another day of normal operations for the Magic Kingdom cast members. There were opportunities to take pictures in front of the castle with signs that said "Be Mine" or "Hug Me", but other than that, the park wasn't decorated or special in any way. Although, Cinderella did wish me a Happy Valentine's Day when I met her, so I guess that's more than most people can say :)

Because Valentine's Day this year happened to fall on the same weekend as President's Day Weekend, the parks were a little more crowded than usual. My brother and I arrived mid-morning and met some characters, did a few rides, grabbed lunch, had ice cream, visited my roommate, Allie, while she was working, and then headed home. It ended up being a really nice day, we just had to wait longer for some things than we normally would have. The longest line I saw today was 165 minutes to meet Rapunzel and Snow White and 105 minutes to meet Cinderella and Aurora! That much time is completely insane, and luckily, we got fastpasses to meet Cinderella and Aurora, which took us literally less than 5 minutes, so we were super lucky in that sense. The longest we waited in line was probably about 40 minutes, which isn't bad considering how crowded the park was. 

All in all, today was simply another magical day at the Disney parks. I guess you could just call today another perk of working in The Most Magical Place on Earth (: