Check out Week One here

Saturday 24th June - Epcot and Magic Kingdom

I had the day off so Courtney and I went to Walmart in the morning to get some food and other bits before heading to Epcot for the morning. This was our first time going to Epcot and we managed to get lost on the way in because we didn't know that you had to get a second bus from cast services to the main guest entrance! Once we finally got into the park, we went to the China pavilion and had orange chicken for lunch (my favourite Disney quick service meal). After we'd eaten we met up with a couple of Courtney's friends and we went on Soarin' for the first time which was such a good ride! I then left the others and got the monorail over to Magic Kingdom to meet my flatmates who had the afternoon off. We went on thunder mountain, the people mover, Monster's Inc laugh floor and small world before getting something to eat at Cosmic Ray's. Me and Jenna went home early because we both had work in the morning but we got absolutely soaked on the walk to the bus at the Contemporary! Our bus was late so we ended up watching the fireworks from the bus stop.

Sunday 25th June - First day of training

This day was my first day of training at Disney University; I had welcome to operations in the morning and then welcome to food and beverage in the afternoon. The classes were really boring (in welcome to operations you get taught how to correctly pick up a box) but it was pretty exciting to start training. I felt a bit homesick on this day because it was my sister's birthday but me, Cat and Jenna went to Hollywood Studios for dinner which helped cheer me up. We went to Mama Melrose's and I had the chicken parm which was really good, and we had a great server as well.

Monday 26th June - Epcot

Today I went to Epcot again for the day with Cat, Esme and Courtney and we had such a nice day. We went round world showcase and ate lunch in Japan; I had the kids teriyaki chicken and shrimp and a cookie for dessert. We managed to meet Pluto, Donald, Aurora, Baymax, Joy and Sadness and we went on the Gran Fiesta Tour, spaceship earth, living with the land, the seas with Nemo and friends, and soarin'. We had such a packed day but we had work the next day so we went home before the fireworks and watched Love Island before going to bed.

Tuesday 27th June - Orientation and Cast Connections

Today was my Animal Kingdom Lodge orientation! We got to take a tour of the whole resort and  saw all of the different restaurants and pools and saw what the rooms look like; it's such a nice resort! AKL has wild animals roaming its grounds and we saw a few but apparently there were a lot less animals about than normal. During our session we got to try Zebra Domes (an AKL specialty) and they were better than I ever imagined. When I got back home, I went to Cast Connections with Esme and Jenna which was such a cool experience. Cast Connections is a giant warehouse full of discontinued or faulty merchandise that's sold for a fraction of the price it would be in the parks. The only problem was it took about an hour to get there on the bus. In the evening we went to a housing event at Chatham and we got free pizza but we didn't stay for long because it had been raining.

Wednesday 28th June - First day at work

Today was my first day at The Mara and my first day in my (absolutely horrendous) costume. Even though I was at my location, I didn't actually do any work, I just had to do some e-learning and then was given a tour of the restaurant and everything backstage. Throughout all of my training I got given free food to try so I could make recommendations to guests so today I had a turkey sandwich and fries which was really nice. 

Thursday 29th June - Dining room training

This day was my first proper day of training where I was actually being trained on the job. I had a 6am start so I had to get up at 3 to get the first bus! Not only was this super early but I had to get ready really quietly and without the light on so I didn't wake up Esme. I was doing dining room which is things like clearing tables, refilling condiments and cutlery and that kind of thing. Unfortunately I really didn't like this part of the job and I felt quite negative and homesick when I came home after this day. My flatmates cheered me up though and we watched the Lizzie Macguire movie in the evening which really cheered me up

Friday 30th June - Lazy day and Disney Springs

I had this day off but I was really tired after a lot of early starts this week so I had a nice lazy morning in the apartment. None of my friends had the day off with me so in the afternoon I went to Disney Springs by myself and had a look round all of the shops. I found a little stall called Aristocrepes and seeing as The Aristocats is my favourite film I knew I had to get something so I had a smores crepe for my dinner which was delicious but so sweet! 

This was a bit of a boring week because of work and training but stay tuned for the next few weeks where I get up to a lot more exciting stuff!

Thanks for reading!

Amy xxx

When I was younger, I absolutely hated the characters at Disneyland. Like, run-away-kicking-and-screaming-if-they-were-even-in-the-same-room-as-me hated them. When I go to a Disney park now though, it's 100% my favourite thing to do. I know the queues are normally very long and it might not be as exciting to some people as the rides, but I love how it's a different experience every single time and that I can have an interaction completely unique to me. But I know that some people don't like meeting characters because they find it really awkward, or don't know what to do when they meet them, so here are some of my tips for meeting characters at the Disney parks.

Get an autograph book

I think some people think that autograph books are just for children but they're definitely not. Not only are they something that you can keep after your holiday to remember all the characters that you've met, but they're also a great way to start an interaction with a character. If you're a bit nervous then saying 'could you sign this for me?' (please don't just shove it in their face!) is the perfect way to get things going with them. Some of them have really fun autographs as well, so you could start a conversation with them about how cool their signature is and go from there.

Wear character specific clothes/ears

Obviously you can't wear a different character specific outfit for every single character you meet, but if there's a certain character that you know you are going to meet that day then wearing something to do with them or their movie is the perfect way to get a good interaction. The character will normally notice it themselves and ask you about it (or point to it if they can't talk) but if they don't, don't hesitate to show it to them and ask if they like it. Some of my best character interactions have come out of wearing certain character ears, and I often keep 2 pairs of ears in my bag at once. Marie from the Aristocats is my favourite childhood character, so I have a pair of Marie ears that I wear whenever I meet her. When I went to Disneyland Paris last year, I was wearing them in the queue and she came over to me whilst we were waiting and gave me a big hug and fussed over me before it was even my turn to meet her!

A lot of people find it really awkward to talk to the fur characters because they can't talk back to you, but that doesn't mean you can't have a great interaction with them. As long as you don't ask them ridiculously complicated questions, they are able to answer you with gestures and movement and you can easily have a full conversation with them. If you're not sure what to say, simple things like telling Minnie Mouse that you like her dress or asking Chip and Dale if they've had any acorns today are perfect ways to start up a conversation. There's nothing worse than seeing someone queue for an hour just to walk up to a character, pose for a picture and leave without saying a word!

Suspend your disbelief

Let's be honest, as adults we all know that the characters at the Disney parks are just people in costumes. But, if you want to have a good interaction with them, you need to forget about that and act as if you really are talking to Winnie the Pooh or Peter Pan. It might seem a bit silly at first but you'll feel so much less awkward and you'll get a much better character interaction out of it. No one is going to think that you look stupid, these people are paid to be those characters and most of them absolutely love what they do. They know their characters inside out and will be much more responsive to you if you treat them like the character that they are.

Thanks for reading and I hope these tips help!

Amy xxx