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

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! 

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. 

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.

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.) 

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

Photo credit: Disney photopass

Over the past few months I've been thinking about all the things that I want to do whilst I'm there, and slowly adding them all to a list on my phone. So, here is my Walt Disney World bucket list for my CEP 2017;

Parks

      Magic Kingdom

• Eat dinner at Be Our Guest
• Eat at Cinderella's Royal Table
• Get pixie dusted
• See the Kiss Goodnight
• Take part in Enchanted Tales with Belle
• Buy a Mickey balloon
• Ride Cinderella's horse on the carousel
• Get 999,999 on Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
• Watch the Rainy Day Cavalcade

• Try all of the drinks at Club Cool
• Visit all of the pavilions
• Eat around the world
• Go to Food and Wine festival (this starts the day I leave so we'll see if that ends up happening!)

• Do both versions of The Great Movie Ride
• Win at Midway Mania
• Watch The Music of Pixar Live!

• Become a Wilderness Explorer
• Do a nighttime safari
• Go to Pandora

• Visit every resort
• Have a 'staycation'
• Stay at at least one Magic Kingdom resort
• Eat at 'Ohana in the Polynesian
• Eat at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian
• Have dole whip at the Polynesian
• Watch Happily Ever After from the Polynesian beach
• Eat the Kitchen Sink at Beaches and Cream
• Go to the Hoop-dee-doo Revue

Thanks for reading!

Amy xxx

I am currently in the middle of my exams and unfortunately blogging has had to take a backseat for a while. Every so often I get an idea for a post and then I think about all of the revision I need to be doing and that idea has to get put on hold for a while. Even though I only have 2 exams this year, my second one is on the very last day of exam season, meaning I still have a whole 2 weeks to go before freedom. Whilst I don't have much time to write blog posts these days, one of the things getting me through my revision is planning for Disney World this summer (I check in to housing 4 weeks today!!). The American Disney Store website has a whole section of merchandise from the Disney parks so the other day I spent much longer than I should have done scrolling through every single section to see if there was anything on there that I wanted to find in the parks when I'm out there. And there definitely was. So here is my (very condensed) Disney World merchandise wishlist, of things that I don't want to come home without. 

1. An Alex and Ani bracelet - I don't own an Alex and Ani bracelet currently but I really like them and would love to get one when I'm there. I'm not entirely sure which one I want at the moment, but I do really love this Tinkerbell one which says "believing is just the beginning" 

2. The WDW 'four parks' jumper - I tried to get the Disneyland Paris version of this when I went in April but it is incredibly popular and was sold out everywhere. Hopefully I'll have more luck finding this one as I've had my eye on it for quite a long time!

3. The teacup tsum tsum - I don't have a giant tsum tsum collection but I do own quite a few and I know I will definitely be buying more than just one when I'm in Orlando. I mostly just buy ones that I think look cute and this one definitely fits that criteria! I also really like that it is a Disney parks exclusive one, and one that I wouldn't be able to get anywhere else.

4. A pillow pet - Like the bracelet, I don't know which pillow pet I want, I just know I want one! They look super cute and comfy and it will be great for soaking up all my tears on the plane home (I'm only partly joking). Also from what I've seen from vlogs and blogs, have you really done a Disney college program if you didn't buy a pillow pet?!

5. This Inside Out pin set - Like with tsum tsums, I wouldn't call myself a pin collector but I have a reasonable amount at home, mostly of characters from my favourite films or ones that I thought looked cute. I will definitely end up with more than just these pins, but these ones stuck out to me on the website. For Halloween last year, me and my family dressed up as the emotions from Inside Out; I was Joy and my mum was Sadness. As she's going to be out in Florida for her birthday I thought it would be nice to buy this set so I can have the Joy pin and she can have the Sadness pin as part of her birthday present.

6. This Marie MagicBand - I'm staying in a Disney resort before checking in for my program so I'll get a free MagicBand then, but Marie from The Aristocats is my favourite Disney character so I have a feeling I won't be able to resist buying this one as well!

The parks merchandise on the website is only a fraction of what will actually be in Disney World so these things definitely won't be the only things I buy (I think I might need to take an extra empty case just so I can fit in all the mugs I'm sure I'll end up buying). I already know that there are some other things that I've seen in vlogs and Instagrams that weren't on the website that I will be keeping an eye out for. You can look forward to a very large haul post when I get back in September (but I don't want to think about that just now). 

Thanks for reading!

Amy xxx