Amy Beatrice

In 2017, Christmas

Christmas Pinterest Favourites 2017

At the start of the year I said my aim was to write a favourites post every month but then I moved to America for three months and that plan fell through a bit! Since coming back I've been ridiculously busy with university and coursework so I haven't had time to do much writing for my blog. I would really love to do blogmas one day but I currently have 8000 words worth of essays to write during December so that's definitely going to have to wait another year. I still wanted to have at least one festive post this year though, so I thought I would show you all my Christmas Pinterest favourites for this year. I really love scrolling through Pinterest when I feel like I need a bit of inspiration, but especially at Christmas time!

This gingerbread cake | These Santa cookies

This Christmas market | This ice skating rink

These snowman marshmallows | This Christmas wrapping

This shop window | This hotel entrance

This decorated porch | This Christmas tree

You can follow me on Pinterest here

Thanks for reading!

Amy xxx

0Comments

, by Amy Beatrice

In America, CEP

Week Three | Working For The Mouse (CEP/DCP)

Check out weeks one and two

Saturday 1st July - Stocker/fryer training and Studios

I was working a 6am - 2pm shift today so I had to get up at 3 again to get the early bus. I was trained in stocker and fryer which involved frying the potatoes, fries and chicken nuggets, and making sure both of the windows were always stocked with food throughout the morning. This was actually quite hard because you're constantly on the move and there were so many things to remember. Because I was there so early I got to have breakfast on my break and I got Mickey waffles! After work I met Esme in Hollywood Studios (she worked there at ABC Commissary) and we went to Backlot Express; I had a bacon cheeseburger and some carrot sticks for dinner. We went to watch Voyage of the Little Mermaid and then I went home because I had to be up early again the next day.

Sunday 2nd July - Mickey Waffles and Disney Quest

I had to get up super early again today but during breakfast I got to make Mickey waffles which was super fun! After breakfast I was trained on greeter which involved taking people's food orders and it was good but actually a lot more confusing than you'd think it would be (there were a lot of buttons to memorise on the tablet). This was definitely my favourite day of training! I finished work at 2:30 so I went to Disney Springs afterwards to meet Cat and Katie at Disney Quest for it's last ever day before it closed. This was like a massive arcade with loads of small games and simulators and we went on Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean and the rollercoaster simulator. I made the most tame rollercoaster ever and Katie made hers go upside down 8 times! We had so much fun and then we were joined by Esme and Jenna and went to House of Blues for dinner. I had the bacon chipotle Mac and cheese which was incredible and a mocktail (the joys of being under 21).

Monday 3rd July - More training

Today was a bit of a boring day, I'd had quite a few days of getting up super early for work so I had a nice long lie in in the morning. I had work from 4pm-12:30am and I was trained on afternoon stocker fryer which was pretty similar to the morning one except you have to set up for dinner and get all the food from the main kitchen. This was probably even harder than the morning one because there was even more to have to remember!

Tuesday 4th July - Fourth of July at Epcot

Today was the Fourth of July and somehow me and Esme managed to both get the day off (usually CPs are practically guaranteed to be working on days like that) and decided to go to Epcot as we knew Magic Kingdom would be absolutely packed. The transtar bus (the cast bus) drops you off outside cast services and when we walked through we were given free Mickey premium bars because of the holiday so our decision was already worth it. When we got into the park we made our way to World Showcase because I had been told that there were some special characters in the American pavilion to celebrate. On our way there we stopped at the UK pavilion and met Mary Poppins, who neither of us had met before. We then carried on to the American Adventure where we met Chip and Dale and Mickey in their 4th of July outfits. We were actually in a queue to meet Mickey, Goofy and Pluto but it started raining after meeting Mickey so they left and we went to find somewhere indoors. We went to the China pavilion and I had my second orange chicken of the summer before going on Figment and then heading home for a bit of a break.

Esme had seen the special 4th of July fireworks the night before but I had been working so I went to the Polynesian by myself and watched them from the beach which was really lovely.

Wednesday 5th July - Grab and Go training

Today I had a really chilled out day and just had a lie in and did some laundry in the morning before heading to work from 4-12:30. I was training on grab and go which I loved because you just have to stand in the fridge all day and make sure that all of the coolers are stocked with desserts and drinks. It does get super cold but it was so easy so it was great. I had a really great time with my trainer Chris as well, he was the same age as me so we got on really well, whereas the rest of my trainers so far had been quite a bit older than me.

Thursday 6th July - Social Security and Pizza training

I had my social security meeting this morning so I had to be up at 5 to then be at The Commons at 6. This was super boring and we had to sit and wait for ages in a freezing cold building to then talk to someone for about 5 minutes so we could get our social security number. When we got back home I went back to bed and then went to work from 4-12:30 again. I was trained on pizza today which was a lot of fun but it was quite stressful when it got really busy. I didn't actually finish work until gone 1am because we had to stay to help clean everything but one of my friends gave me a lift home and we sang Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton in the car which was much better than getting the bus!

Friday 7th July - Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios

I had the day off today so after a bit of a lie in I headed to Animal Kingdom for the afternoon by myself because it was the only park that I still hadn't been to. I watched Finding Nemo the musical and met Mickey and Minnie in their safari outfits which were so cute! I had some food at Yak and Yeti which was delicious and then I got the bus over to Hollywood Studios to meet Courtney and Chloe. We were planning on watching Fantasmic but it was cancelled because of the weather so we went on Toy Story Midway Mania and Star Tours before getting the bus home.

This week was a bit more interesting than the last one and in my opinion they just keep getting better and better so get ready for seven more weeks of Disney fun!

Thanks for reading!

Amy xxx

2Comments

, by Amy Beatrice

In 2017, America

Week Two | Working For The Mouse (CEP/DCP)

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

0Comments

, by Amy Beatrice

In America, CEP

Week One | Working For The Mouse (CEP/DCP)

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.

Wednesday 21st June - More meetings and pizza

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

0Comments

, by Amy Beatrice

In CEP, Cultural Exchange Program

Let's Have A Catch Up

Hi everyone, long time no see! (2 and a half months to be exact) In case you didn't know, I spent my entire summer in Florida, working at Walt Disney World. I had planned on writing a couple of posts over the summer to keep you all updated but all of my spare time was spent sleeping or playing in the parks and I had no time to sit down and write anything. So this post is to catch you all up with what's been happening with me and what I'm planning for my blog over the next couple of weeks/months.

I had the summer of a lifetime and had so many incredible experiences that I can't wait to share on here. I'm planning on making a haul post of all the merchandise I bought, sharing some of my favourite photos, and doing week-by-week diary posts detailing all the things I got up to each week. My plan is to write one regular blog post and one diary post every week but we'll see how that goes. Before I left, I wrote a Disney World bucket list that I've been updating over the summer so check that out here to find out what I managed to do (turns out I was a little bit optimistic with how much free time I thought I would have!)

I'm super sad that I can't just hop on a bus and be at Magic Kingdom within the hour anymore, and it's a lot colder in England than I'm now used to, but I am excited to be back and blogging again and I'm really looking forward to starting my final year of uni in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for plenty of Disney posts over the next few weeks.

Amy xxx

0Comments

, by Amy Beatrice

Newer
Stories

Older
Stories

Pages

Christmas Pinterest Favourites 2017

Week Three | Working For The Mouse (CEP/DCP)

Week Two | Working For The Mouse (CEP/DCP)

Week One | Working For The Mouse (CEP/DCP)

Let's Have A Catch Up

About Me

Search This Blog

recent posts

Blog Archive

Popular Posts

Pages

Christmas Pinterest Favourites 2017

Week Three | Working For The Mouse (CEP/DCP)

Week Two | Working For The Mouse (CEP/DCP)

Week One | Working For The Mouse (CEP/DCP)

Let's Have A Catch Up

About Me

Search This Blog

recent posts

Blog Archive

Popular Posts

Subscribe