My Family's Last Visit

My family's fourth and final visit coincided with the last week of my Disney College Program. They planned it out so that at the end of their visit, my mom would be able to stay and drive home with me and all of my stuff. I'm really glad that they were all able to come down for one final time and we could spend some time together in Disney, especially since it will probably be a few years before we are all in Walt Disney World again. Since this was the longest period of time that they were with me and also because it was the end of my program, their visit was jam-packed with a lot of fun activities and time well spent.

This visit my family was able to stay in the Grand Floridian Villas, and the resort was BEAUTIFUL! It's definitely my new favorite place to stay. It's super convenient since it's on the monorail line and the grounds are gorgeous.

The Villas Lobby

The Grand Floridian Resort

This visit was also particularly nice because I was able to spend a lot of time with my roommate Allie and my family together. We went on a horse and carriage ride through Port Orleans, visited the parks together, ate at Be Our Guest (twice!), watched the Frozen Fireworks Spectacular, saw Fantasmic, ate dinner at Mama Melrose with Allie's family, and they visited me at work. It was a busy, but fun visit. 

Horse and carriage ride through Port Orleans

Dinner at Be Our Guest

Meeting Mickey

Visiting me at work

Although we had a lot of fun together, I was working a lot too, since it was my last week, and I had my last clockout during their visit. It was a weird experience, I was sad that I was done being a Cast Member, but I was happy to be done work at Hollywood Studios. I think if I had still been at Nemo, my last day would have been different, but nevertheless, it was a weird experience clocking out for the last time. 

The last clockout

Clocking out for the last time

The best day with my family was definitely my last day in the parks, but I'll blog about that in another post dedicated solely to my last day. I want to thank my family once again for all of the time they spent traveling down to Florida to visit me, and for supporting me every step of the way during my Disney Dream. It's been a pleasure working for the mouse, and I'm so thankful to have a family that is so supportive of my dreams. Look for a few more posts coming from me about my final goodbyes and last days in Disney World. Until then, keep on dreaming!

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."

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 

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!

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. 

3rd Family Visit

Over Memorial Day weekend, my family came down again to visit me in Disney World! During this visit, we stayed at the Beach Club Resort. I was able to get to spend 2.5 entire days with them, and during those days we spent time at the pool (which is the largest resort pool on Disney property), did a little bit of shopping, and of course, went to the parks! I also was able to spend time with them before/after I worked, which was nice. It's so much better to go back to a nice resort and good dinner after work than back to my apartment where I make myself a lackluster dinner!

Outside the Beach Club

When I went to Animal Kingdom with my family, we got VIP seating to watch Finding Nemo! We also ate at Yak & Yeti and went on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. In Epcot, we ate at Coral Reef and Le Cellier and watched Illuminations. At Magic Kingdom, my sister's friend, Jenn, was celebrating her 18th birthday, so my family was able to spend the entire day together, including eating breakfast at Cinderella's Castle with the princesses and riding the Seven Dwarves Mine Train on the first day it opened! Finally, before I drove them to the airport, we had breakfast at Cape May Cafe with Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. It was awesome to spend some time with my family and show them what it's like to live and work in Disney. 

Breakfast in Cinderella's Castle

The best part about saying goodbye to my family this time is that I get to see them again in less than a week! This Thursday, I am flying home for a week to help celebrate my sister's high school graduation. Obviously, I am beyond thrilled to be going home for a mini-vacation and to be able to see my extended family and friends from home, and MY DOG AND CAT!!!! 

Stay tuned for more exciting posts, and as always, keep on dreaming!