Living the Disney Dream - Week 1

Good evening from sunny Orlando!! This is the fifth time I have sat down to write my first post from down here and I am determined to finally start sharing the journey I am currently on. I feel like I am in a dream - I still have not finally come to terms with the fact that I am living and working in Walt Disney World but I could not be happier. I am in the middle of training right now but have a few days off in between my shifts so I am taking some time to soak up the sun, enjoy the parks and rest up before I start the "work" part of my Disney experience.

I arrived in Orlando two Tuesdays ago. I sat beside a really friendly man on the plane who was on his way to Kissimmee Beach to surprise his girlfriend and 3 month old daughter. I had been planning to catch up on sleep during the flight but ended up talking to my new friend the entire 3 hours. I can now tell you everything about him...except for his name. While on the plane, I overheard the 2 girls sitting behind me talking about Disney and they looked about my age so I turned around and asked if they were on the Cultural Program as well. When they said that they were, I was so happy because I had someone to get off the plane with. At the bag check we slowly starting congregating with all the other ICP participants on our flight - i.e. we looked around for other 20 or so year olds who were own their own - and then all took the airport shuttle to Vista Way, which is one of the 4 housing complexes for Disney staff. Once we got there, we got our housing assignments and housing IDs and were taken to our new apartments. I am in Patterson Court in a 2-bedroom apartment. The other two complexes are Chatham Square and The Commons. PC, CS and TC are are located close together and Vista Way is about a 15 minute bus ride away.

When I arrived, 2 of my roommates were already here, Anne, from Montreal, and Samantha, from Toronto. Anne and Sam helped me settle in and then we went for a walk around the complex. We saw a poster for a pool party happening at the Patterson pool that night so went and changed into our bathing suits and made our way to the pool. Our 4th roommate Mercedes arrived later that night and met us at the pool party. Following the party, a bunch of the Canadian ICPs met at the Polynesian Beach Resort to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks. It was a very long first day and I was so happy to finally make it to my bed that night. 

My roommates - Sam, Mercedes and Anne! 

Watching fireworks on the beach with my fellow Canadian ICPs! 

On Wednesday, I had to get up bright and early to go for a Drug and Alcohol test with all the other lifeguards and operations staff. In other words, we had to give a urine sample. As strange as it sounds, standing in line chugging water was a good way to bond and meet new people and I made a couple new friends that morning. In the afternoon, we had a welcome to housing information session at the Commons clubhouse where they explained the rules of living in the Disney dorms. Living in the dorms is a lot like living in a university residence. The housing team here puts on weekly events for us, such as pool parties, day trips to beaches and sporting events, learning sessions, etc. So far, I have been to 3 of the events! 

After the housing session, my roommates and I went through the outlet mall to the local grocery store, Publix. Having an outlet mall right behind the housing complex is DANGEROUS!! And the Premium outlet mall has sooo many stores. I need to build up a resistance to going there. After grocery shopping, we went to the Disney Boardwalk to the ESPN Club to watch the Habs vs. Bruins game. We went with a group of Canadians, including my friend Amanda from Bishop's and we picked up two boys from Boston on the bus. The ESPN Club was so cool! The entire restaurant was divided between Habs and Bruins fans and the screen to watch the game was huge. We got lucky and were seated right by the big screen. It was a great night and the Habs winning was icing on the cake of a great day!

On Thursday, we had an Immigration information session in the morning to begin the process of applying for social security numbers. After the session, my roommates and I came back to the apartment for lunch and while we were here, I got a call from Disney that my urine sample from the day before was unable to be processed and I would have to go back to the clinic to give another sample. So, after attending another paperwork-filled session in the afternoon, myself, along with two other girls, Becca and Laura went to the CentraCare clinic to give another sample. It felt like we were there forever but luckily we made it back to the dorms in time for Laura and I to go to our lifeguard testing that night.

The testing took place at Mickey's Retreat which is the cast recreation area across from Chatham Square. There is a lake for canoeing, kayaking and paddle boating there, barbecues, two pools and a park and only cast members and their families can go there. For the lifeguard test, first we had a vision screening test which luckily, I passed!!! I was so nervous! After that, we were divided into deep water and shallow water guards to do our swim tests. For the deep water guards, they had to swim 8 lengths of the pool, tread water for 2 minutes without hands and retrieve a brick from 8 feet deep. I was hired as a shallow water guard, so I had to swim 2 lengths and retrieve the brick from 5 feet deep. Again, I passed and became the newest lifeguard at Disney's Pop Century and Art of Animation resorts!

Because of the complications with my D&A test, I was unable to go to Traditions on Friday with all the other International Culture Program Participants (ICPs). Traditions is the official welcome to the Walt Disney World Company session, so Laura, Becca and I were so sad that we could not go.  We were also extremely on edge that day because we were waiting for the results from our test to find out if we could go to Traditions on Saturday. If the results were slow to be processed, we would not be able to go until Tuesday which would delay us being able to work. We spent the morning at the pool, regularly calling the office to find out about our results with no luck. We met up in the afternoon to go to the outlet mall and right before we left, we all got the call that we had passed and could go to Traditions the next day. At the outlet mall, we bought jumbo gummy bears to celebrate. That night, while all of our friends were at the parks (you receive your park pass at Traditions), we went to downtown Disney and then took a boat to the Port Orleans French Quarter Resort. The resort is mardi gras themed and is also the resort Laura will be working at. Becca introduced us to beignets which are deep fried dough cakes covered in icing sugar and they are made fresh when you order them at the resort. We ordered a box to split before heading back home to rest up for Traditions.

Celebratory gummy bears! 

Eating beignets! 

Saturday we finally got to go to Traditions, which I am calling our non-traditional Traditions. Since the other ICPs had gone the day before, we had Traditions with the Professional Interns. It was still fantastic! We learned about the history of the Disney company and about the 4 keys of the Disney business model - safety, courtesy, show and efficiency. If you participated in answering questions, you received a small Disney figurine. I got three - Mickey, Minnie and Daisy. After that, we went on a walking tour of the Magic Kingdom to observe Disney cast members in action. Finally, we all received our first pair of Mickey ears and our official name tags! We were finally Disney cast members!

Earning our ears! 

Following Traditions, Becca, Laura and I spent the day at Magic Kingdom which was amazing! I am such a Disney girl and was so excited to be in the park! We got to check out the new Fantasy Land and see the Beauty and Beast castle. We did not stay to see fireworks as we had to get up early on Sunday to go to Operations training at Disney University. At Operations D, we learned about safety in the work place and focused in more on the 4 Disney keys. Sunday afternoon, I had Intro to Recreation, where we learned about all the different roles in the recreation category. These include lifeguards, children's activity coordinators, pool attendants, marina attendants, etc. If I was not a lifeguard, I would loooveee to be a children's activity coordinator. They coordinate the children's centres in each resort, run the poolside activities and run the nightly campfires. Unfortunately, no ICPs were hired for that role. To finish the day, we had to do 2 online modules before we could clock out. 

After training, I wanted to go to EPCOT with my roommates to go to the last day of the Flower and Garden festival, but unfortunately, since I had gone to Traditions on Saturday, the office to pick up my park pass was closed until Monday so I did not have my pass to go through the cast entrance. I was able to get into MK because I had gone through guest relations but at EPCOT I could not get through the cast entrance to get to the front of the park to guest relations. So, I got back on the bus and was trying to get around to the front of the park but along the way I ran into my friend Ashley and we ended up going to the Magic Kingdom, where guest relations let me in again. YAY! We stayed for the fireworks show, Wishes, and got spots right in front of the castle! It was unreal! We stayed at the park until closing and had a magical time!

Ashley and me on Buzz Lightyear!

Ashley and me on Space Mountain! 

So that was my first week in Disney World and my second week has been just as fabulous! I promise to write about my second week soon but do not want to overwhelm you with all of the fun I am having! As an update, I have my park pass now so am able to get into all the parks and am taking full advantage of my unlimited access to all that Disney has to offer! 

Talk to you soon! 

Have a magical week! 

All my love, Erica xoxoxoxoxoxoxo 

P.S. Mickey says hi as well!