Week One | Working For The Mouse (CEP/DCP)
Saturday, September 09, 2017
Whilst I was in Disney World this summer, I kept a diary of all the things I was doing each day, mostly so that I could look back at every little thing that I did, but also so that I could share it all on here. If you are interested in doing the Cultural Exchange Program (or just love Disney World) then this should give you a good idea of the kind of things you get to do in your free time and days off. Some days are a bit boring and all I did was go to work, but other days are absolutely packed with fun in the parks. Disney weeks go from Sunday to Saturday but I arrived on a Saturday so the weeks in these posts will be Saturday to Friday. I'm hoping to get one posted every Saturday for the next 10 weeks but we'll see how that goes once I'm back at uni!
Saturday 17th June - Arriving in Florida
The day I had been waiting for for 3 years had finally arrived; I was going to Disney World! I was flying with Courtney, who I had met at the first interview and we actually ended up next to each other in the queue for the car park!
We went to go get checked in and after dropping off our bags we said goodbye to our parents and headed through to security. I thought I was going to be really emotional leaving them but I think I was just too excited for us to be on our way after months of planning together. Once we were through security we met some other girls who were also on our flight, and 2 of them were actually sitting next to us on the plane!
Our flight was a little bit delayed but we were just so excited to all be together and on our way that we didn't really care. The flight felt quite long but I kept myself occupied by watching a couple of films. The second half of the flight went a lot quicker and we were all just talking and getting to know each other.
After we landed we had to wait for ages in the queue at immigration but we finally got our bags and got on the magical express to Port Orleans Riverside. We had planned on having a look around the resort but we were so tired when we got there that we just got some chicken nuggets from the food court and then went straight to bed.
Sunday 18th June - Exploring the resorts
After not much sleep, we woke up really early and got the bus over to Hollywood Studios and then a boat to the Boardwalk resort for our breakfast reservation at Trattoria Al Forno. This is the new character breakfast with Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, Ariel and Prince Eric and it was incredible! Both the characters and food were so good. We had some pastries to share and then we both had the 'tower of pancakes.
After we'd eaten we had a look round The Boardwalk and then walked around the lake to The Yacht and Beach Club resorts. Then we got the bus to Epcot and got the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. Obviously we couldn't go into the parks yet, so we got another boat over to the Grand Floridian to have a look around.
When we were there we met up with Courtney's roommate and a couple of her friends and we did a bit more exploring at The Polynesian and The Contemporary. After that we went to Disney Springs and had a look round all of the shops, then we got some dinner from Wolfgang Puck and headed back to our hotel. We got into bed and waited for our other friend Chloe who was staying with us for the night before check in the next day.
Monday 19th June - Program check-in
Luckily all three of us were living in Patterson Court so we got an uber together and went to check in. This was pretty easy and stress free, we just had to show our DORMS barcode which was scanned and we were given our program guide and told what apartment we would be in. I was in a 6 person 3 bedroom apartment which I was really happy with. Then we queued to get our picture taken for our ID, got our keys and headed over to our apartments. My apartment was on the third floor so it took me a while to drag both of my cases up the stairs and I was very sweaty by the time I got there. 4 of the 5 other girls were already there, including Esme, my roommate who I met when we went to get our visas. Our 6th flatmate arrived about 10 minutes later and we all introduced ourselves and had a bit of a chat. My other flatmates names were Cat, Jenna, Kayleigh and Katie. It was a bit awkward at first because we were complete strangers who were now living together for the next 2 and a half months but they were all so lovely and we became friends pretty much straight away.
We all went to our rooms and got unpacked then we got an uber and went to Walmart. It was massive and we were there for ages because we had to get everything from bedding to tin foil. On the way back it started chucking it down with rain and we got absolutely soaked getting everything from the uber to the flat. It was definitely a bonding experience and it is something I don't think we'll ever forget! After drying off and finishing unpacking, we got the bus to Disney Springs and had dinner at Raglan Road, which is an Irish style pub. They had live music and Irish dancing and the food was amazing!
Tuesday 20th June - Meetings and Universal
I had my first housing meeting on this day and it was really boring. It was in The Commons, which is another of the housing complexes so I walked over there with Chloe. This meeting was just to remind us all of the rules of our visas and they also told us about how we had to submit a cultural activity on DORMS every month. After this meeting I went to Universal with Cat, Jenna, Esme and Katie and we got our annual passes. We went on a few rides and ate dinner at Krusty Burger in The Simpsons area. There's not a lot for me to do at Universal because I don't like big rides but it was so nice to spend some more time with these girls and get to know them better.
I had 2 more meetings which were just as boring as the one the day before, all about the rules of housing and how to stay safe when walking outside of the housing complexes. I also got given my training schedule for the next two weeks which was pretty exciting and made it all feel very real. In the evening we went to Chatham Square housing to see some of Cat and Kayleigh's friends and we ordered Dominos. We were originally going to go to The Boardwalk and watch the Epcot fireworks but there was a thunder storm so we just stayed in instead.
Thursday 22nd June - Traditions day!
This was the day I had been waiting for, the day I became an official Disney cast member. My traditions was in the afternoon so I had a lie in then put on my business wear and got on the bus to Disney University. I was in the same class as one of the girls I had met on Sunday so we sat together on the bus. I had been to Disney University with my sister when she was a cast member but it was still really surreal to be there for myself.
The actual class was pretty long and quite boring but we got to go to Magic Kingdom and see backstage which was really cool. When we got back to the classroom, we got given our name badges and blue IDs which meant we were officially cast members!
Having our blue IDs meant that we were able to finally go into the parks but by the time we got back home and changed it wouldn't have been worth it. Half of my flatmates had their traditions the next day so they couldn't get into the parks yet, so we ordered IHOP off of Uber Eats and watched Love Island.
Friday 23rd June - Magic Kingdom day
I got so lucky with my schedule, and I had the day after traditions off, so me and Courtney went to Magic Kingdom for the day.
We went on Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Little Mermaid, as well as meeting Ariel, Rapunzel and Tiana. We watched Festival of Fantasy parade and Move It Shake It, then waited right in front of the castle for over an hour so we had a great spot for Happily Ever After. Both my flatmates and Courtney's flatmates joined us for the fireworks and they were absolutely incredible (I cried. A lot.)
After the fireworks, my flatmates left because they all had training things in the morning, but Courtney and I both had the next day off as well so we stayed and did the Tangled lantern photopass that we had seen pictures of online.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for week two next week!
Amy xxx
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