Holy Crap!

I've been slacking with the updates again. I titled this post "Holy Crap" because I've had several of those kinds of moments the past few weeks, especially the past few days.
Again, I've been working a ton of hours. I was only scheduled 45 hours, but I was going to be getting 11 hours of overtime. I worked from 6am to 8:30pm on Monday. I was exhausted by the time I got home. The only thing that made it worse was the locks to my apartment had been changed that day, & by the time I got home, I couldn't get a new key, so I didn't get into my apartment until 10:30.
My 21st birthday was on Tuesday. I had a pretty good day. Definitely better than my bday during my last program, but not as good as when I'd come for the weekend with my mom in high school. I got my new ID (without the Under 21 sticker!), and went to Magic Kingdom. I rode a few rides there, before deciding to come home for a little while. I ended up working on homework. I then went to Epcot for a little Food & Wine Festival. I had a few of the food things, & got the Grand Mariner Orange Slush from France. After that, we went to the Polynesian to watch Hallowishes from the beach.
I've been working on homework for my online classes a lot lately. I take it to work with me, I do it before work, and after work. I finish everything, I just feel like all I ever do lately is work and do homework. I haven't gone to the parks nearly as much this program as I did last time.
Last thing, in the housing email CPs get every week, they had the dates for the extension auditions. The auditions are November 3rd & 17th. I'm guessing I'll be able to apply to extend sometime in the next few weeks and know if I get to extend by the beginning of December. I'll also be hearing back about my campus rep application by the middle of November.

Almost 3 Weeks without an Update!

I havent updated this in almost 3 weeks! I've been super busy since then, so I think that's a pretty good reason.
I've been retrained at Block Party Bash & Fantasmic since I last updated, so I've been working one of those places pretty much every day. The day after I finished my training at Block Party, I was training someone. I have trained at Block Party at least once a week for the past 2 weeks. I'm training someone at Fantasmic next week Thursday, so that will be fun.
I picked up 2 extra shifts this week, so I'm working a total of 58 hours, before they take out for my lunches & stuff. I picked up a shift for next week, so I have 49 hours I think. I've also been doing my online classes, so my life pretty much consists of work & homework (which I usually take to work to do during my break.)
I went to the Halloween Party at MK last Saturday & it was AMAZING!! I love Halloween at Disney & it just made my week. Last Saturday was also the last time I went to a park. I'm thinking I'm gonna go to Studios for a little while before I work tonight. (I'm at Fantasmic at 3:30, so I've got a few hours.)
That's pretty much it for now. I'll try to update more often, but I'll definitely update around my birthday once I figure out what we're doing.

So Busy

I have been here for 4 weeks already & it feels like I just got here.

I have been super busy lately. I've been scheduled for at least 40 hours a week since I've been here, sometimes its an hour or two more, but usually about 40. The past two mornings, I've started work at 6am, which means I had to be up & at the bus stop for a 4:50 bus to work. I've been going to the parks alot lately too, which is awesome, but also very exhausting after having been up since 3:30am.

My online classes started last week. They were pretty easy last week, but I know they won't stay that way. Relating to school, I've decided I'm definitely going to get my A.A. in event management since it's only a few more classes in addition to what I need for hotel management. By having both degrees, I think I'll have a pretty good chance at getting a professional internship at Disney after I finish school.

I went to Hollywood Studios today after work to ride Star Tours one last time. I'm not a huge fan of the ride, but I felt the need to go one it one more time before it closes tomorrow. I'm off this week Wednesday & Thursday, which works out perfectly since the Halloween parade cast preview is Wednesday night. I'm planning to do laundry & work on homework tomorrow after I get off work and hopefully finish up my homework for the week on Wednesday & relax before probably having dinner with a friend & going to the parade.

I talked to one of my managers last week about getting my skills refreshed at Block Party Bash & Fantasmic, so I can pick up shifts at those places again. I do my refresher training on Saturday at Block Party & then work there Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday next week. I then do my retraining at Fantasmic on Thursday night, so if you go to see it next Thursday, I'll be backstage somewhere, making the magic happen.

That's it for now. Now that my classes have started, I don't know if I'll be updating as frequently as before, but I'll definitely try to.

How Time Flies...

As of tomorrow, I will have been checked in for 3 weeks already. It feels like I've been here so much longer than that.
I've had off the past two days. Friday, I went resort hopping with Kristin, Wayne, Dana, & Lauren. We ended up doing the Vacation Club tour thing. I've wanted to join DVC for awhile, but I'm gonna have to wait till I have a more steady income. We also went to Magic Kingdom that night, where we almost got stuck on Pirates. The weight in the boat wasn't distributed right, so the boat was leaning to one side & we kept hitting the gaurd rail things really hard. We did get stuck at one point, but eventually got going again before they had to shut down the ride.
Yesterday, I took a "me" day. I slept in, went over to the outlet mall, came home & worked on homework for a little while, went to Walgreens with Deirdre and then made dinner with her, made cookies, worked on more homework & went to bed. It was a pretty good day, even though it did start to rain on the way back from Walgreens. That's 2 days in a row that I've gotten drenched, just walking from security to my apartment.
Today is my Monday & Friday. I'm off tomorrow, then I work 4 days, then I'm off again. I just saw my schedule for next week. I have three 6am starts in a row at character room at studios, then I'm off for 2 days, then I work till 10:30 at epcot, then I'm back in at 6:30 at epcot again. I really hate early shifts, especially the ones at epcot ops. The only nice thing about them is I'll have lots of time to get homework done after I get off.
That's pretty much it for now. Oh yeah, I'm really hoping we start to get some new costuming CPs at studios soon, since the ones we've been getting have all been ICPs, while they're great, they don't really talk a lot and it gets kinda boring sitting in laundry with them for 8 hours.

Not Much New Here

Not much has happened since my last post, except for working alot. I was scheduled to work 4 days at Studios, then 2 at Epcot, then 3 more at Studios before having a day off. The days at Epcot were 6am-2pm.

I woke up this morning around 3:30, since I needed to catch a bus at 4:35. I had a headache & just wanted to go back to sleep, so I called in. I know I could have gone to work & asked for an ROS (release of shift) when I got there, but even that sounded like it was going to take too much effort, so I will have a point from today. After falling back asleep, I woke up again around noon, feeling much better, so I did my laundry & went to Walgreens. I had looked at their sale paper online & they had a printer for $29. I brought one with my that my dad had gotten from somewhere, but it turns out that it didn't work as well as he thought it would. Since I called in, I can't go to the parks or any place where I would use my ID, so I've been hanging around the apartment all day except for Walgreens & I'm going crazy. We also had a guy come fix our TV, so we now get more than 20 channels.

Anyways, that's pretty much it for right now. I've had 3 days off since I've been here & I didn't even go to the parks all of them because my friends were all working. I'm off this Friday & Saturday and again on Monday, so if you wanna go to the parks or something, let me know.

It's My Saturday!

Yes, it's Monday, but it's my Saturday. If you're not here yet, your days off won't always be on Saturday & Sunday, so it's not uncommon to hear people say that it's their Friday, even though it's Tuesday or something. I was off today & will be again tomorrow. I then work 9 days straight. 2 of those days are at Epcot character room, I wasn't happy when I saw Epcot on my schedule, but I'll take it if it's all they have for me.

I've been here for a week & it's been rather eventful. I posted last week, so I'll just update on what's happened since then. My roommate Dana is still wondeful, but our 2 apartment-mates aren't so great. They're loud, don't care if you're sleeping, & just plain rude. I had brought a TV with me & put it in the living room. After coming home from work everyday to find one of them & at least 3 of their friends watching my DVDs on it, I decided to move it into my room. My parents also bought me a wireless router. After setting it up, I gave Dana the password, but didn't give it to either of them since they have a desktop computer. Yesterday, I took out the garbage, but they had decided to take all of their cleaning things out of the kitchen, since they felt we were separating everything in the apartment anyways. That's fine, except I bought the garbage bags & dishwasher detergent that they had taken. They also left a note on the dry erase board bascally saying that we should just keep everything separate. Also, Dana worked this morning, but around 10, while I was still sleeping, I heard my bedroom door open & then close rather quickly. I'm just guessing that it was one of them trying to come in my room for something since my roommate was at work.

Anyways, Dana & I want to move to a one bedroom as soon as we can. We both turn 21 by November, so with a one bedroom, we can have alcohol in the apartment after we're both 21. It will just prevent so many problems since it would just be us.

I've been trained on both the morning & night runs at character room. Last night was my first night doing the runs by myself. I think I did pretty well, since I didn't forget anything. The runs consist of me going to Muppets, Monsters Inc, & Toy Story. They're not really hard, you just don't have alot of time to do them in since you have to be back to finish the laundry before leaving.

Since today was my day off, I went to property control & cast connection. I got a nice jacket at property control. I haven't figured out what's wrong with it, but it was raining & I didn't have an umbrella or anything & it was cheap. It then went over to cast connection where I got a backpack & tshirt. I also got some apples since they were 25 cents each. They have a bunch of food stuff there now. I think if I need to get fruit or bread or something, I going there instead of walmart since it's way cheaper there than walmart.

I think that's about it for now. I'll try to update with how work & the rest of my training is going, but I can't guarantee that I will before my next days off, which is next Friday & Saturday.

All Checked In!!!

I got to Orlando Saturday night. After the gps decided to send us to the cast parking lot at Magic Kingdom, we got to the hotel. I got us checked in & took off for Magic Kingdom to see the Nightastic fireworks right away.
Sunday I was on my own. My parents went to Tampa for the day, & I went to Hollywood Studios. I watched alot of the shows & picked up my costume since I knew I was gonna start work right away. As I was walking out of on of the stores, I looked up & saw my friend Cole walking past, so I had lunch with him during his break. I went to the meet & greet dinner that night. It was fun & quite a few people showed up.
I checked in on Monday. The day was rather uneventful. I got to Vista about 6:55 & they let us in around 7:45. I had an apartment & was on the bus to casting by 8:30. I got a 2 bedroom at Chatham. My roommate Dana is wonderful. We didn't know the other two girls before hand at all. So far, they seem nice. I haven't talked to them a whole lot yet. Dana didn't get to the apartment until late afternoon. She unpacked enough to find clothes to change into & we went to dinner & then to walmart. I wanted to get home early since I had to work the next morning.
Tuesday was my first day of work. I was working at the character room (The Show Must Go On/ TSMGO) at Hollywood Studios. The day was pretty easy. It was my "off line" training day, so I didn't have a track to learn, just get familiar with the area. My trainer loved that I had worked at Epcot character room, so the day was really easy for her. After work, I went  home & took a nap, before meeting my parents for Fantasmic.
I tried to sleep in this morning, but they were doing some work in the laundry room in the next building, so I didn't get to sleep too late. My parents picked up a wireless router for me, which I tried setting up earlier & finally got to work. I went to access control & turned in my seasonal ID for a CP one. My parents & I then went to Magic Kingdom, where I got my mom to go on Space Mountain for the first time since 1978!
That's pretty much all that's gone on here. I work 6am-2pm tomorrow, so I'm heading to bed in a little while. I have the On With the Show class on Friday morning, which is just the park orientation for Hollywood Studios. I'm meeting up with a friend from my last program after that. I think we're spending the afternoon at Epcot & then the evening at Magic Kingdom. I just know that we're having dinner at Kona at the Polynesian.

Last Post Until DIsney!!!

This is going to be my last post before I leave for Disney. I'm leaving Friday morning, sometime between 2 & 5am. My parents are driving me down, so we're just gonna leave whenever my dad gets up & wants to leave. The plan is to get to at least Nashville the first day, but we're gonna try for Chattanooga or Atlanta, so the second day isn't that long. I should be getting to Disney sometime Saturday afternoon or early evening.

As I said in my last post, I'm almost all packed. There are a few things I can't pack until the last minute, but it shouldn't be a big deal to pack them. I'm glad everyone found my packing blog so helpful. Feel free to use the list to help yourself out.

I'm going to see Wicked on Wednesday night & I can't wait! I have wanted to see it for over a year since one of my friends always played the music, which got me hooked on it.

My parents are going to go to Tampa on Sunday to visit some family, but said I can stay back at Disney so I can go to the meet & greet dinner at Pop Century that night. I'm looking for people to spend the day with, so if you're gonna be there that day & wanna hang out, let me know. Either comment on here or send me a message on Facebook.

I have found out where exactly I'm going to be working. I knew I was going to be at Hollywood Studios, but wasn't sure where exactly, since there are like 12 places for costuming there. My schedule was finally posted on the Hub yesterday. I'm going to be working at TSMGO, or The Show Must Go On, which is the character room there. I am working there 3 days the week I check in, including two 6am shifts, one of which is the day after I check in. I'm guessing I'll have a few days of training there & then be trained somewhere else, since CPs at Studios are rarely trained in only one location.

Since I have an early shift the day after I check in, I probably won't post another blog until after I get off work that day. Since my roommates won't have their IDs to get in the parks yet, we're probably just gonna hang out unless I decide to use my main gate to get them into the park.


I have property orientation at Studios the Friday of the week I check in. It's only a 4 hour shift, which is basically a walking tour of the park. I already know the park like the back of my hand, so it won't be that bad. After I'm done with that, I'm gonna try to meet up with one of my friends for lunch, so I'll be taking a change of clothes with me so I don't have to go back to the apartment, just to go back to one of the parks.

That's pretty much it for now. I can't wait till I'm there & get to know everyone.

Packing!

I am almost completely packed. Yay!

My parents & I are leaving next week Friday morning, probably between 4 & 5. I went online tonight & found a bunch of coupons for really cheap hotels. They’re not the trashy hotels that you think of when you hear cheap hotels. They’re for like Days Inn, Best Western, Red Roof Inn. I’m not sure how far we’re going to get, so I printed them out for pretty much the entire way between Nashville & Macon, Georgia.

Anyways, the main point of this post is what I am bringing with me to Disney. I have made a list & taken pictures as I was packing. There are still some things I need to pack, but won’t be able to do that until sometime next Thursday.

The items marked with * are things I either bought after I got there last time or had my parents ship to me after I checked in. The items marked with ** are things that I did not have during my last program. A lot of those items are things I bought for at school last fall & decided it would be good to have at Disney. I’m also going to post a list of things that I’m going to be buying once I get there since it’s easier to get there.

I hope this helps you if you’re not sure what to bring with you.

Clothes
7 shorts
1 winter coat** (not really heavy, but warmer than a sweatshirt)
5 Hoodies/zip ups
3 polo shirts
2 pairs of dress pants
6 pairs of jeans/khakis
2 cardigans
2 sweaters
4 dress shirts
3 dresses**
5 PJ bottoms
17 tank tops/ camis (I wear them under my work shirts)
21 t-shirts
1 skirt
8 non-t-shirt, but not really dressy shirts
2 swimsuits
14 pairs black socks
14 pairs white socks
14 pair underwear
10 bras
2 pair pantyhose
2 pairs black sneakers
2 pairs dress shoes
1 pair white sneakers
3 pair flats
1 pair converse
1 pair slippers

1 pair rain boots**

Bedroom Stuff
1 comforter
1 mattress pad**
1 mattress cover*
1 set sheets
2 blankets
2 pillows*
1 alarm clock
Bed risers**

Bathroom Stuff
3 bath towels
3 hand towels
3 washcloths
1 beach towel
Pads/tampons*
Shampoo/ conditioner*
Body wash*
Deodorant*
Hair Spray*
Hair Dryer*
Hair Straightener
Make Up
Nail polish remover*
Hand soap*
Contact Stuff
Razors*
Sunscreen/ aloe*
Hair dye*
Medicine/ first aid stuff*
Shower curtain** (my roommate & I last time didn’t care about the shower curtain)

Laundry Stuff
Small mesh laundry bag**
2 boxes fabric softener sheets*
2 boxes Shout color catcher sheets*
3 packs Purex 3 in 1 laundry sheets*
Pop up laundry basket*
Hangers*

Kitchen Stuff
1 nalgene water bottle
9 reusable grocery bags*
1 George Foreman grill**
Tupperware stuff*
1 cupcake tray*
Ice packs
1 Nonstick frying pan**

Cleaning Stuff
Swiffer set*
Small vacuum**

Fun Stuff
Disney Parks Monopoly*
Disney Scene It**
Batteries
TV**
DVD player**
Power strip*
Christmas decorations*
Picture frames
3 books
Blank CDs
Dry erase board (with markers)
Bulletin board
Magnets (for fridge & dry erase board)
DVDs

Technical Stuff
Computer
CD drive for computer
Printer**
Printer paper**
Cable cord**
Ethernet cord
Small tool set**
3M command strips & hooks
Masking tape*
Flashlight
Sewing kit

School Stuff
Pens, pencils*
Markers*
Note cards**
Textbooks for online classes**
Notebooks**
USB drive
Backpack
Lunchbox (for work)

Buy There
Garbage bags
Baggies
Saran wrap
Foil
Dishwasher detergent
Dish soap
Sponges
Dish towels
Dish rack
Hot pads
Toilet paper
Paper towels/ napkins
Paper plates
Bleach/cleaning spray
Clorox wipes
Toilet brush

Clothes

Shoes

Bedding, Towels, Etc.

Random stuff 1

Random Stuff 2

So Little Time, So Much to Do...

As I am sitting here typing this, I am thinking of everything I have to do before I leave.

I have to go to the bank on Monday to cash in some of my savings bonds so I can make my first tuition payment. My aunt said she can lend me the money, but not until Friday or Saturday & it's due on Monday. By cashing in my bonds, I can mail the check instead of going in & standing in line all day Monday to pay it. I was going to cash them in before I left anyways. I'm going to use the money from the bonds to pay my tuition & the money from my aunt for my living money for the first few weeks I'm in Florida. No matter which way I do it, I'm gonna end up owing my aunt some money.

I have to finish putting everything back in my room. I moved some stuff around last week & still haven't put everything back.

I have to finish packing. I'm mostly packed already, but there are some things that I have to wait to pack.

I'm going to see Wicked two nights before I leave. I'm seeing it on the 4th & I leave in the morning on the 6th. I have wanted to see it for probably a year & a half, it's finally in Milwaukee at the same time I am, so I can see it. My best friend from my last program would always play Wicked in the car, so I already know all of the songs, even though I've never seen it.

My cousins from Oklahoma are coming on Aug. 5th. They will probably get here around dinner time, so that means my last meal at home will most likely be a big family deal. Before my last program, my mom & I made our dairy free pizza & watched Gilmore Girls on my last night at home before my cousin called & asked if I wanted to go get some custard, so it's gonna be quite a bit different this time.

I printed off & filled out all of my on-boarding paperwork this afternoon. I put it the envelope with my purple folder in it. I also found where the Dollar Stores & Aldi's closest to the apartments are. There's so much stuff from the Dollar Store that I still need to get, but it's random stuff, like hot pads, that one of my roommates might have brought, so I'm not gonna buy until I get there. If you don't know what Aldi's is, it's a discount grocery store. None of the stuff is name brand & it's all pretty cheap. There weren't any in Orlando during my last program, but now there are a few, but they're not really close enough to the apartments to get to without a car. I also printed off some of my comp tickets for my parents to use. If you are seasonal, part time, or full time, you can get 2 comp tickets up to twice a year. Since I worked as seasonal after my last program ended for a few days, I got 2 of them last summer. I also got 2 this summer since I worked in January. Since I don't know what my work schedule is yet, my parents are going to use those in case I'm working in the morning & they want to go to the parks.

Since I don't drive, I walked to Walgreens today. It's not quite a mile, so its not too far. I decided to wear my converse slip ons with out socks today. I managed to give myself blisters on the back of both heels. It hurt to walk home, but at least I now know that I have to wear socks with them if I'm gonna be doing any amount of walking. Anyways, the reason for me going to Walgreens was because they had printer paper on sale for $1.99. I was gonna need to get some anyway since I'm taking a printer with me cuz of my classes I'm taking.

Last thing, I swear. As I've been packing everything, I've laid it out on my bed & taken a picture of it. I then take another picture after I have everything packed. I'm going to put them all together in a packing blog. That will probably be up sometime by the end of the week.

I leave in 12 days, & 8 or 9 hours. I hate getting up early, so I'm probably not gonna sleep the night before & just sleep in the truck while my parents are driving.

17 Days till I leave!

I leave in 17 days & I'm gonna be busy.

First, I finished my online class this afternoon. I was taking Local & State Government. I'm pretty sure I'll be getting a B- for the class. I would have liked to have done better, but I got a 45% on one of the quizzes, which is what really killed my grade.

Second, my role has disappeared from the CP website. I was on the Hub the other day (since I'm seasonal, I still have access to it) cuz I was trying to figure something out with my record card. All I'm gonna say is that I think I know where I'm gonna be working. Before anyone who reads this starts to tell me that I shouldn't know is at the top of your record card, it says your work location & it does not say the same thing that it has said since August 2008.

I have been working on cleaning my room since January, when I moved out of the dorms at school. After my sister moved out of the dorms at her school 4 years ago, we decided that it would be a good idea to put up the loft bed that she had at school. She moved out about 3 years ago, but the loft stayed up. It was basically turned into shelving, as I started putting plastic bins & a bunch of random stuff on it. I have been going through the stuff in my closet & the stuff that was on top of the loft, so I would be able to take it down before I leave. I leave in 17 days & I'm finally going to be taking it down!

The rest of my family is going up north to go to the cabin for the weekend & I'm going to be staying home with the dogs. They don't play well with others, so we can't put them in the kennel. My parents are coming home on Sunday sometime, & my brother is going to be up there the rest of the week. I'm so glad that he'll be gone. The past few days he has been really annoying, constantly poking at me, just be a typical little brother. He was like that before I left for my last program too, but I was at camp up until a few days before I left & I got my wisdom teeth out a week before I left, so he wasn't as bad. He actually said last night that he's gotta be extra annoying now since he's only got another week & a half to do it.

That's pretty much it for right now. I'm already trying to figure out if I'll be blogging at all after I leave, but before I check in. I might have wi-fi at the hotel the night I leave, but I know for sure that I won't from Saturday morning until after I'm checked in.

So Close...

I really started packing this week. I had everything that I was taking just kind of thrown in a few boxes. I went through it all, organized it, & packed it into 2 boxes & 2 milk crates. I also packed my bedding & towels into space saver bags. I'm planning on doing a more formal packing blog once I'm mostly finished packing. I've even been planning ahead for it & took pictures of everything before & after I had it all packed & organized.

Some of the August 9th arrivals roles have disappeared from the CP website. That means they have been assigned a work location & can now be looked up in the Hub. I am neither for or against finding out your work location before arriving, but just remember that it could change before you arrive. Also, just because I have Hub access, that does not mean that I'm going to look you up. It might seem bitchy, but I didn't know anyone with Hub access before my first program to look me up. It's not like they're going to change your location before you get there because you don't like the idea of working somewhere. Please don't hate me for that, but that's my thoughts on it.

My roommate is flying down & is supposed to land at 10:30am on check in day, so I'm not going to meet her until after we're all moved in. I'm probably gonna go to check in with my friend that I want to share an apartment with & her roommate so we can all get the same apartment.

Anyways, I have 6 more chapters of government left, so I've been reading a chapter & taking the quiz for that chapter every day. I can't wait till I'm done with that class! The Full House at Disney World just came on, so I'm gonna watch that & attempt to do some homework.

37 Days!

I will be back in Florida in 37 days!

My past few weeks have been filled with cleaning my room & going through just about everything I own. Since April, I have taken probably 10 garbage bags & boxes of stuff to Goodwill, most of it being clothes that I hardly ever wear. I still have one bin of clothes that I can't get rid of, even though I barely wear them. It's all my clothes for camp, so mostly tshirts I got for free from school & don't care if they get ruined.

I have also started packing some stuff. I have 2 boxes & a duffel already packed. I have a pile of other things that I need to pack, but I don't know if it's gonna be packed in a box or if I'll have room in one of my suitcases. I have a list of things that are gonna be packed, but I'm most likely going to use/need in the next 5 weeks.

I had been taking 2 summer classes: nutrtion & goverment. I decided to drop the nutrition class the other day. The teacher required us to use a different browser to take the tests & quizzes in. Everytime I opened the other browser, my computer would freeze & stop responding. I ended up getting zeros on a quiz and one of the tests because of it. I figured even if I got 100% on everything else for the rest of the semester, I would still only end up with a 71% in the class. Since I changed my major, I can take the 100 level nutrition class, which has a different teacher than the 200 level class.

I've been doing some sewing projects for vaious family members. I have to shorten 3 pairs of pants for my aunt and I have to fix 2 skirts for my grandma. It's not that hard to do either, I just have no ambition to.

Summer, Packing, & Halloween

I'm taking two summer classes & they started this week. So far, neither one of them seem too bad, they're both online classes. The professor for my nutrition class has everything available online already, so I can work at my own pace, I just have to have stuff done by the due dates. I took my first government quiz yesterday & got a 90% on it! The majority of my summer is going to involve those classes.

I emailed the recruiter I talked to last month about switching roles because I still hadn't gotten a letter for costuming. She said if I didn't get it by the beginning of this week, to let her know & they can send another one. Since it was Flag Day yesterday & we didn't get mail, I'm gonna wait till tomorrow before I email her to let her know I still haven't gotten it.

My mom brought home two big boxes from her work for me to use to pack. I packed one of them last night with stuff that I've boughten for the program or already had, but won't be using between now & August. I keep looking at the pile of stuff in the corner of my room & thinking that it seems like a lot of stuff to be taking. I then realize that a lot of it is stuff that I bought after I got there for my last program, so it's not really a lot of extra stuff cuz I would end up with that much stuff after I get there.

One of my friends said something on Facebook about how they wanted to sign up to work the Halloween Parties since the sign up sheets were on the Hub. I submitted my interest sheet on Sunday to work the Halloween Parties. It doesn't gaurantee that I'll be working them, it just lets them know that I'm interested in working them. Speaking of Halloween, I know I want to go to the Halloween party at least once. I'm not sure who I'll be going with yet, but if the people I go with decide to dress up, I've already got my costume figured out. I'm gonna go as Russell from Up. I have brown shorts & a yellow tshirt. I have to make a brown sash with patches on it, I found my Brownie sash from Girl Scouts, but it's too small.

2 Months!

Exactly 2 months from now, I will be done checking in & will either be unpacking or grocery shopping & getting other stuff I need for the apartment.

A few days ago, I decided that I didn't really want to work the day before I checked in. I had only requested to work that day so I would have longer to have to work again to keep my seasonal status active. Since I'm gonna be working in costuming, I don't have to worry about keeping my seasonal status for now. I started to look for a breakfast reservation for my parents & I that day that I could use my 50% discount from Christmas on. I was able to get reservations for breakfast in the castle for he day before I check in & I can use the discount. Breakfast for the 3 us is only gonna cost $100.

I was one of the people who got the email yesterday about changing my arrival date to Sept. 6th. From what I could tell from Facebook, people from pretty much all the arrival dates got the email. I already have a roommate for Aug. 9th, the hotel is paid for already, & I have reservations for the castle for Aug. 8th, there was no way I was going to voluntarily change my arrival date. In case you were one of the lucky ones who didn't get the email, it's posted at the bottom of this post. I blacked out my applicant number on it.

That's pretty much it for now. I realized that I've posted 3 times in the past week. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep posting this much all summer, or if it's just cuz I don't have classes or anything right now. My formspring is over there, so ask me stuff & I'll answer it. <-<-<-<-<-<-<-

Quick Update

I'm back from camp in case you were wondering. I had fun, but I'm exhausted. They don't joke about it being work week. You work hard. (It was my 3rd year helping, so I knew it would be a lot of work.) I spent 12 hours yesterday sewing bug nets & then putting them up over the beds in the units. Before I left this afternoon, I reminded them that I'm available to help over the summer if they need it.

I got an email this morning from my nutrititon professor saying that the Blackboard site was open & we could start working on everything right away, even though the class doesn't actually start for another week.

Now that I'm done with my random updates, what's new on the Disney front? My roommate Dana & I did the roommate matching thing, so we are officially roommates. She posted her packing list on her blog, so we were talking earlier about who's bringing what & what kind of shower curtain we want & all that fun stuff. I was also giving her some advice about some of the things that were on her list that she doesn't really need or stuff she didn't have & probably would need/want. I hope she doesn't think I'm being bossy or anything like that when I'm telling her that stuff. I just didn't talk to anyone who had done the program before my first program, so I brought stuff I didn't end up using & didn't bring stuff I ended up buying or having my parents ship down.

That's pretty much all for now. I havent had any good formspring questions in awhile, so ask me stuff. It's right there. <-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-

Role Change

Hello to anyone who actually reads this.

I emailed Disney last Tuesday, asking if there was any way to switch to costuming. I explained that I was happy with merchandise and grateful to have been accepted again, but I would really prefer to be in costuming again since I'm already trained in several areas. I asked if I could switch to costuming if someone else turned down a costuming position.

I got an email from Sarah at recruiting asking when would be a good time to call me to discuss changing roles. I emailed her back right away saying I was available all afternoon today and all day the rest of the week.

My phone rang about 20 minutes ago. When I saw it was a 407 area code, I immediately muted the tv & answered the phone. It was Sarah from recruiting. She had spoken with her supervisor & explained that I had worked in costuming before & am seasonal in costuming as well. She then told me that she was able to get me switched to costuming.

They'll be sending me a new offer letter in the next few days. I'm so happy to have been able to get my role switched. I'll be back with all my friends who stayed after their programs ended and us costuming people are a special group (there's only about 40 costuming CPs.) I'll know what to expect & hopefully be back to trainer status fairly quickly at character room & ops.

That's all that's new with me for now.

A Little Update

I'm sure that everyone who reads this & pays attention to the CP groups on Facebook will know that the first group of Fall Advantage CPs checked in this morning. The wonderful group of girls I was going to be roommates with is all checked in. If I had gotten into Fall Advantage, I would have checked in today.

After getting accepted for merchandise for the Fall program, my mom suggested that I email my costuming managers and recruiting to find out if there's anyway I can switch to costuming. I was told when they called to tell me I had been accepted that there weren't many costuming spots available for CPs and even though I'm seasonal in costuming & my skills are still good, there just wasn't a spot open. Yesterday afternoon I finally emailed recruiting, asking if there's anyway I can be put on some sort of waiting list in case someone who had accepted a position in costuming changes their mind about doing the program. I basically asked that they consider me if a spot in costuming opens up. I still haven't heard back from them, but I'm not expecting to for at least a few more days.

I decided to switch who my roommate is going to be. The first person was really awesome, but we were both going to be doing merchandise & we had both requested to work at Villains in Vogue at Hollywood Studios. I know there are going to be times when I'm going to need to get away from my roommates or the people I work with, and that's really hard to do when I'm living with a coworker. I've found a new roommate & she seems really chill. I think we'll get along well, we're both organizers and not really into parties & drinking. She's in quick service food & beverage, so I know we won't end up working together.

That's pretty much all the updates I have about the College Program for now. Check in is in 82 days & I'll be back in Orlando in 80 days. My request to work the day before check in was approved, so I'll have some extra money on my first pay check.

I managed to get tickets to see Wicked for August 4th, I'm leaving the morning of August 6th, so I think it will be an amazing way to spend my second to last night in town. I'm going with one of my best friends from high school & camp, so I know it will be fun.

Formspring me. It's right over there <-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-

I'm Going to Disney World!

I got my folder this morning! I'm really going. I picked my check in date and everything right away. I'll be checking in August 9th for merchandise.

I think I'm gonna need to find a roommate. I'm hoping I can live with one of my friends from my last program, but she already has a roommate set up, but I can still be apartment mates with her.

Now I've gotta figure out how I'm getting there. My check in date is the day before my parents' 25th anniversary, but my parents can't really afford for both of them to go down with me since they want to go in November or December to see all the Christmas stuff.

Anyways, here's my purple folder picture.

93 days, 21 hours, & 30 minutes

That's how long it's been since my interview for the Fall 2010 Disney College Program.

I got off the phone half an hour ago with Disney. They were calling to let me know that I have been accepted for merchandise for the fall program!
They asked me if I still want to work at Hollywood Studios since that is where I wanted to work for costuming. I said I would like to work there for merchandise as well & if at all possible, I would like to work at Villains in Vogue.
I realized after hanging up the phone that if I get trained in that store, I get trained in all the stores in that section of the park. That section includes mrchandise for Fantasmic! I would love being able to work at Fant every night again.
They said I should get my email on Monday or Tuesday of next week most likely & that my folder should be getting mailed by Monday.

D - 48 hours

Less than 48 hours & I'm supposed to have a decision from Disney.
If you've been reading my blog, you might remember how one of the recruiters called me a few weeks ago to see if I could do fall instead of fall advatage & then told me they should have a decision for me in a few days.
Well, that was almost 3 weeks ago, so I called Disney yesterday. I explained the situation to the person who answered the phone, who looked me up in the computer. He asked who I spoke with a few weeks ago & said he would transfer me to one of the actual recruiters. I think he transferred me to Lisa. I explained the conversation I'd had with Kathy to her. She said she would email Kathy to have her call me back today.
Lisa ended up calling me back today. She ws letting me know that she hasn't gotten any new info for me, but she was trying to get ahold of someone. She said that they would call me tomorrow with some "definite info."
Over 13 weeks of waiting & 11 weeks of pending and it's finally looking like I'm actually going to get an answer! After this is all done, I'm planning on sending Lisa a nice thank you email. She has been so helpful with all of this.
Hopefully I'll be able to post a new blog in the next 48 hours saying I've been accepted.

Dreams...

They say "a dream is a wish your heart makes," but if that's true, I do, but I don't want the dream I had last night to come true.

It was one of those dreams that seems so real, that when you wake up, you're not sure if it happened or not & try to figure out if it was real or just a dream.

I walked into the living room & saw someone else had brought the mail in. I saw a large envelope from Disney, looked at my dad & said "Why didn't you tell me I got something from Disney instead of just letting it sit here?" I started freaking out before I even opened it because they never send bad news in a big envelope. I opened it & it was a light blue folder. I thought that was strange because Disney doesn't have a program the uses blue folders. (CP=purple, CS=yellow/orange, PI=red) I started reading the letter, looking for the role I would be in. I wasn't finding it, so I sat down since I was still dancing around the room. I really started to read the letter & it said something along the lines of "We're not able to offer you a position in Concierge at the Disneyland Resort in California. We are also not able to offer you a position in hospitality at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida." I immediately got really confused because I hadn't applied for either of those positions, and the fact that they were rejecting me for both coasts in the same letter. The confusion grew when I started looking through the other papers in the folder and there was one about arriving a few days before new CPs so I could be a group leader because since I had done the program before. I know Disney would never do something like that, which really confused me. The only thing I could think of a group leader for was like my freshmen orientation group at Edgewood, but I couldn't figure out why on earth Disney would set something up like that. I mean, when people get to check in, they are given a schedule of when they have to be at everything & are told how to get to the different places.

Anyways, when I woke up, I immediately ran downstairs to check the mail. No one had brought it yet, but there wasn't anything from Disney for me.

I'm almost positive that the dream means I'll be getting something from Disney soon. I had a dream a few days before I got my folder for my last program & I was working in the pin store at Downtown Disney. It was where I really wanted to work if I got merchandise. I didn't get merchandise, but that's beside the point. I've talked to some of my friends and they had dreams before they got accepted where they were working in different roles from what they got accepted for.

A Phone Call of Answers & Possibilities

I got a phone call from recruiting on Thrusday about some things, but I am going to explain what led up to the phone call.

Last Wednesday (a week & a half ago), I emailed recruiting to change around my role check list. This past Wednesday I drove to Kentucky to spend the weekend with my family who lives there. While we were eating lunch on Thursday, my phone started buzzing in my pocket, but I figured it was an email, so I ignored it. After lunch, I checked my phone & I had gotten an email, but I also had a voicemail and a missed call. I listened to the voicemail and it was one of the CP recruiters. She had gotten my email & wanted to talk to me about changing my role check list and possibly my program season. She asked that I call her back and leave a voicemail with when I would be available on Friday for her to call me back and gave me her direct number. (Which is now saved in my phone in case I need to talk to ehr again.)

I got up on Friday to try calling her back before she called me (I had called her with when I was available, but I thought it would be better to try calling her too.) She finally called me back around noon. She wanted to double check that costuming was still my first choice of roles. She also asked if I would be okay with doing the fall program instead of fall advantage if it meant I could work in costuming. I said it would be, but fall advantage was still my first choice of programs. I also told her that I would gladly accept whatevere they offered me. She said she was pretty sure I would be okay with doing fall since there weren't that many positions in costuming and because she knew how much I wanted to be back in costuming. Before hanging up, she told me that they should have a decision for me in the next few days!

I'm not sure if that meant they had a position for me in fall, but they had to make sure that it would be okay with me to do fall, but that's kind of what I'm thinking it meant.
If I end up doing the fall program, I have to try to find a summer job. I want to enjoy my summer if I'm not at Disney. I have worked at the same Girl Scout camp for 4 summers and I'm not really sure that I want to go back. If I don't spend the summer at Disney, I might go back to camp for a few weeks, but I know I don't want to spend the entire summer there.

I'm really hoping to get an email in the next few days. Good luck to everyone else who is still waiting.

Day 37

Today is day 37 of my wait for a purple anything. If I don't hear anything by next Thursday, which is also the day of the campus presentation I'm going to, I will have waited longer this time than I did 2 years ago for Career Start.

At this point, I'm trying to stay optimistic about being accepted, but it seems to be dwindling quickly. While I was waiting 2 years ago, I was so confident about being accepted. I was buying stuff & packing before I was even accepted. This time, even though I know I might not find out until less than 3 weeks before the first arrival dates, I keep looking at my suitcases in the corner of my room & think I shouldn't start to pack anything so if I don't get accepted, I don't have to unpack it all.

As the wait has gotten longer, I have also been losing any ambition I did have to do my homework. With all online classes, I have alot of homework every week. This week, I have to watch a French film that has subtitles, which means I can't even try to do other homework while I watch it cuz I actually have to watch it, instead of listen to it like I usually do.

More Waiting...

I got an email from Disney earlier & the subject line said "Disney College Program Interview: Status Update." I knew it probably wasn't an acceptance email because I thought the people who had gotten accepted said the subject was "You're Invited" or something like that.

It was a pending email. I should hear something back from them by April 30th. That's almost 3 more months of waiting! I hope they're not waiting for my last reprimand to "deactivate" because I got it on April 22nd or something like that.

The Interview

My interview was yesterday at 1:45pm. The phone rang at 1:44. Some people from the Facebook group said their calls were late.

My interviewer asked me aboout my seasonal status & having done the program before. She asked me about messy roommates & I said that I would remind them about inspections & how we would get charged if the apartment was even a little messy. She then asked how much the fine was when I said we didnt pass one inspection. She couldn't believe how strict they are about inspections. She asked me about my history working in costuming, both at Disney & for my work study when I was at Edgewood. I told her I wanted to work at Creative Costuming some day, so that's why costuming was my top pick. She asked me a few questions about full service food & then asked if I had any questions for her. I asked if she could make a note that if I get placed in costuming, I would really like to work at Hollywood Studios again since I'm already trained there.

She told me I should hear back in 3-4 weeks. It's gonna be some of the longest weeks of my life. (The only ones that might seem longer was when I was waiting for a letter the first time I applied.)

Good Luck to everyone who is still interviewing.

The Journey has Really Started Now

The e-presentation, application, & presentation schedule have all been posted to the CP website. I had been refreshing the website on my computer all day, but decided to try to get some cleaning done & started checking the website on my ipod. I refresh the page & it's different from what it had been all day, so I run downstairs to get my laptop. By the time I log in & get to the website, its the same page as it had been all day. Refresh a few more times & everything is there.

I started the e-presentation right away. It was the 4th time I've seen one of the videos. I went to a presentation 2 years ago before I decided to apply for Career Start. I had to watch the Career Start one when I applied for that. I needed a "Disney fix" last fall so I went to a presentation, but didn't apply.

I didn't have to do the web based interview that everyone was talking about last semester. I heard they were going to be using it again, so I'm not sure why I didn't have to do it. I got to the page to call to set up my phone interview 45 minutes after the College Recruiting office closed so I have to call back in the morning.

Walt Disney World Trip Report!

If you have read my other postings, you would know that I was going to Disney World January 6-13. I'm back & I have decided to write a trip report. Oh yeah, I've also decided that 4 months is way too long to wait to be back down there full time.

My flight left Milwaukee at 7:35am on January 6th. My mom & I both thought security was going to be kinda bad, so we left my house at about 4:45am. I was to the airport by 5am & after checking my bag, through security by ten after five! I was going down with one of my friends from school, Nichole, who had also been a CP last year. She got to the gate about 20 minutes before the flight started to board. We didn't sit together on the plane, but that was ok, we both wanted to sleep. The person I ended up sitting next to had also been a CP and was on her way down to work for a week as seasonal. We got to Orlando International Airport about half an hour early & had to circle for a while before we could land. I saw the Dolphin hotel, the Contemporary, and Spaceship Earth from the plane. I had never seen Disney from the plane before.

We took Magical Express to Pop Century, where we stayed in the 70's section. We had to go to Magic Kingdom first so my friend could go to Access Control to get her seasonal id. I used the free ticket I got with my Holiday packet to get her in. We got fastpasses for Space Mountain right away when we got there. We had to go to Pinocchio's Village Haus so Nichole could talk to her manager about getting her seasonal ID & possibly getting scheduled to work while we were there. I really wanted to watch the 3 o'clock parade, so we watched it on Main Street. After the parade was over, we headed back to Disney University so Nichole could get her ID. Her manager hadn't emailed them yet, so we ended up sitting there for almost an hour before she finally got an ID. We went back to MK, rode Space Mountain with our fastpasses & got another fastpass for it for right before the park closed. Before heading back to the hotel, we also rode the Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, got Dole Whip for dinner, and watched Wishes.

Thursday was the day that I had planned ahead of time with several of my friends from during my CP. Nichole & I slept in & didn't leave the hotel until almost 11. We went to Epcot, where we started "character hunting," in other words, meeting the characters. We met Daisy & Stitch right inside the main entrance. We met Goofy & Minnie at the Disney Visa card meet & greet. We fastpassed Test Track & started around the world for characters. We found Donald in Mexico, Belle & Beast in France, and Pooh in England. We picked up our free photopass picture from the Visa meet & greet before heading to Hollywood Studios to meet my friends for Fantasmic. We saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Beauty & the Beast & went to get in line for the second Fant show. Meanwhile, one of Nichole's friends had met up with her & was going to join us for the show. Including myself, Nichole, and her friend, 11 of watched Fantasmic from the 2nd row. It was so good to see many of my friends from last spring. We went to TGI Friday's with Nichole's friend for dinner. It was so fun, but also made miss everyone from last spring who couldn't see Fant with us cuz we all went to Friday's for dinner on our last night of the program.

Friday was another late start for us. We spent the entire day at Hollywood Studios, character hunting. By the end of the day, we had met 27 characters, & gotten autographs from 25 of them. After watching Block Party, which was a rain parade, which means that they didn't do the show stops and just went right through, like a regular parade would, we went back to Art of Disney Animation building because I knew that several characters would be out there starting at about 5 o'clock since there wasn't a Fantasmic that night. We met several characters that only really do meet & greets there. I had worked with several of the characters at both Block Party & Fantasmic during my CP and they recognized me. I got an extra hug from Goofy & Dale. We were supposed to go to Ohana's for dinner that night, but not only was I exhausted, I felt kind of sick, which I think was from TGI Friday's the night before. We went back to the hotel & called it an early night, which was good because I was able to pick up a shift at Epcot Character Room for 10-6 on Saturday.

I left Pop Century at 7:30 on Saturday morning because of the marathon, I knew it was going to take longer than usual to get to Epcot. The buses couldn't get directly to Epcot, so they were going to the Ticket & Transportation Center at the Magic Kingdom where I had to take the monorail to Epcot. I got to Epcot a few minutes before 9am, right as they were starting to let everyone through the gates. Marathon runners were still running through Epcot, so we were able to get as far as the Fountain of Nations, directly behind Spaceship Earth. When there was a break between groups of runners, everyone was able to run across the path to get to the side by Test Track. To get backstage to go to the character room, I had to head towards World Showcase & head through a gate near the Odyssey. Overall, my day at work was rather uneventful. I was supposed to be on laundry for most of the day, but ended up doing builds because the coordinator knew I was a fast worker & I would put together everything I could before I stopped. After getting off work, I met up with my friend Deirdre, who I had met during my CP & became one of my best friends. We were going to go to Magic Kingdom to watch Spectro & have dinner at Tony's Town Square to use up the rest of her dining plan meals. We got to Magic Kingdom a few minutes before Spectro started. Once the parade was over, we decided to see if we could get in for our reservation early. The reservation was for 8:05, but were seated around 7:40. I had never eaten there before, but I'll probably go back at some point because I enjoyed it so much. Deirdre was going to stay for a few more days with another friend, but had no way to get to her apartment right away, so she came back to Pop Century with me until almost midnight.

I was working at Epcot 10-6 on Sunday again, except at ops instead of the character room. It wasn't too bad until I was at check out the last 4 hours of my shift. Earlier in the week, had I given myself blisters and standing in one spot for so long made them hurt so much. I called my mom, practically in tears because they hurt so bad. I ended up buying really soft socks from Mouse Gear, hoping that would help to cushion the blisters. After buying them, I decided to ride Spaceship Earth so I could sit for a few minutes before heading down to the bus, because Pop Century was the very last bus stop. When I got back to the hotel, I got some dinner & headed back to the room to watch some TV with Nichole for the night.

On Monday, I was still really tired & sore from work and I didn't really want to go to one of the parks for the entire day. We started out going to Downtown Disney. Once we started walking around, I started feeling a lot better. Nichole wanted to go to Company D, so I thought the one at Holleywood Studios would be open. I got there right before Block Party started & decided to watch it since it had been a rain parade earlier in the week. Nichole met up with me right after Block Party. She had to go back to the hotel to get something, so I told her I'd meet up with her there. Company D ended up being closed. From Studios, we caught a bus to the Contemporary & took the monorail to Magic Kingdom. We met Tinker Bell, Fawn, & Terance to add to the list of characters we had met. There was Spectro that night, even though I hadn't thought there was. We watched it from across from the Diamond Horseshoe in Frontierland. It was another early night for us and we left before Wishes even.

I told Nichole that I was able to get another shift on Tuesday. I met up with Deirdre instead of going to work. I wanted to spend my last full day & her last day there with her. We went to Property Control & then to Magic Kingdom to meet characters. We met Alice & the White Rabbit by the Teacups on the way to meet the Princesses in Toontown. We also met the fairies, Princess Tiana & Prince Naveen, Lilo & Stitch, and Aladdin & Jasmine. We went to the Studios so we could have lunch, watch Block Party one last time, and visit one of our friends who is working at Creative Costuming now. We went to the learning center to try to print our boarding passes. After printing them, we said our good byes and promised to be back this summer. I went back to Magic Kingdom to meet up with Nichole so she could meet Ariel. I went back to the hotel so I could finish packing while Nichole tried meeting up with one of her friends to go see Illuminations. They ended up not going to Epcot, but came back to the hotel & we all watched the American Idol premiere.

Wednesday was a sad day when I had to leave. My bus was supposed to leave Pop Century at 11:15am because my flight was scheduled to leave at 2:27pm. I was at the bus stop when the 11 o'clock bus got there. The driver said it was practically an empty bus & asked if I wanted to go early. As soon as he put the bus into gear & pulled away from the front of the hotel, I started to cry. I cried most of the way to the airport. Once again, I breezed right through security & ended up sitting at the gate for almost 3 hours. My flight got into Milwaukee a few minutes early. After stopping to get some Starbucks and getting to baggage claim, my bag was just coming up the conveyor belt.

Overall, it was a fun trip, cold, but fun. I can't wait to go back. I'm planning on doing the Fall Advantage program, but I'm not going to pick the first arrival date. By picking one of the later dates, I have a better chance of being able to extend and stay for up to a full year. If my original arrival date & extension departure date overlap by even a day or two, I won't be able to extend.

Hopefully the applications will be up in a few days. I just realized that this has taken me almost an hour & a half to type.