For the First Time In Forever....

My apologies, I haven't updated my blog in almost a month. Unfortunately I've been without my computer for a few weeks. I'll be creating some new posts in the next few days. My new posts will be about....

• My training experience
• The first few weeks actually working 
• Life as a Disney Cast Member
• Guest experiences (good and bad)
• An overview of my first month here

Be on the look out for my new posts, I should have the first one out tomorrow.

Thanks for reading,

Katie

Where Dreams Come True

My first week in the DCP has been great. I checked in on Monday morning, had my drug testing and housing meeting on Tuesday, and then Disney Traditions on Thursday!

Disney Traditions is the first paid day as a CM. It's kind of like a class where you learn the heritage and culture of Disney, which is incredibly important. It's all about how your role fits into the Disney Show. I have always admired everything about Disney and to see how I get to impact the Disney story was really cool. Traditions is held at Disney University, which is located behind Magic Kingdom. 

The Disney University building is pretty cool on the inside. The hallways are lined with photographs from Disney movies, Disney parks and resorts, Disney broadway shows, and other various Disney-related things. The ceiling tiles also have Disney characters hanging down from them. 

The beginning of Traditions was all about safety. How to be safe as a cast member, what to do in an emergency, etc. Then we talked about the company's common goal, how to achieve that goal, and the Disney heritage. I'm won't tell any spoilers, but there were definitely some fun surprises. 

The next part of Traditions was a tour of Magic Kingdom and we got to tour the famous Utilidors. We weren't allowed to take photos but it was what you would expect. It's just a system of tunnels under the park but it's still really cool to see in person. Since I'll be located in Magic Kingdom, I'm sure I'll be spending plenty of time down there. There's a cafeteria in the tunnels for cast members, but I didn't see anything else. 

After our tour, we received our nametags! We talked about all the opportunities available to cast members and how Disney can help us reach our goals. Overall, it was a great class. I may or may not have cried three times. 

Nametag!

Mulan in Epcot

Perfect way to celebrate a day off!

Lucky for me, I had yesterday and today off. I went to Epcot and Magic Kingdom yesterday, but I'm taking today easy. I wanted to stay home and prepare for my upcoming week. I have the next two days of orientation tomorrow and Monday, then I'll begin training at my location. I'm really excited but nervous too. Wish me luck.

Thanks for reading,
Katie

Check-In

First off, sorry for the double post. I've been busy and didn't have a chance to finish up my last post from vacation until today. But.....

The Disney College Program is finally here! After 5 months of waiting, I can't believe I'm actually here. Yesterday was my check-in. The process was quite exhausting. My check-in time was 8-9 am. I arrived at 7:45 am and made it through everything by around 8:40. During check-in I got my photo taken for my Housing ID and given my housing and work assignment. I'll be working Main Street at Magic Kingdom!!!! My Casting was scheduled for immediately after check-in. At Casting, I just filled out paperwork, had my background check then received my schedule for the next couple of days. I'll be at Traditions Thursday then training Sunday and Monday of this upcoming week.

After Casting, we set up the apartment an did some grocery shopping. It was a long day, but we survived! I still can't believe I'm actually here! I'll update late with photos of our apartment. We live at Patterson Court, which is what Jordan and I wanted!

Can't wait to get started. Here's to the most magical 5 months of our lives!

Thanks for reading,
Kate

'Ohana Means Family

Hi there,

Sunday was the last day of our Disney vacation! It's been fun getting to relax and have fun with my family before the DCP starts. It was my first time staying at the Polynesian Resort and I loved everything about it. I have always wanted to stay here, but never had the chance. We were originally going to be staying at the Boardwalk Inn Resort this vacation due to construction but changed our minds. Although there is construction, we are still having a great time here. A few of my favorite things about this resort:

-The View

• Staying close to Magic Kingdom and being able to see Cinderella's Castle from the resort is great. The resort has a beach on Seven Seas Lagoon and you can watch the Wishes fireworks show from the beach. It's nice not having to deal with the mad rush of people leaving the park once the fireworks end. There's also an Electrical Water Pageant at night in the Seven Seas Lagoon. 

-The Monorail

• I've never stayed at a monorail resort but I'm obsessed now. You can take the monorail to the other monorail resorts (Grand Floridian or Contemporary) as well as Magic Kingdom and the TTC (transfers you to Epcot). It's fun riding the monorail to the parks instead of riding the busses. The worst part about the monorail is the line to after the parks close. We had a character meal at Chef Mickey's and 1900 Park Fare so it was fun riding over to the other monorail resorts and being able to explore. 

-Food

• Holy yum, the food at the Polynesian is so good. I've eaten at 'Ohanas before for the character breakfast as well as the Spirit of Aloha Luau (which is so cool, btw). The sweet bread is to die for. It's a bread with coconut and pineapple and YUM is all I gotta say. We had dinner at 'Ohanas for my brother's birthday and it was delicious. Everything is served family style and I couldn't get enough. The best treat at the Polynesian though is the Dole Whip. This stuff is life changing. There's only a small number of places in the world you can get this stuff. A Dole Whip is soft-serve ice cream with pineapple juice. I guess it's like a pineapple juice float. You can get vanilla or pineapple soft-serve. It's delicious, there's a reason these are so famous. You can't get Dole Whips at the Polynesian right now, but once Captain Cook's is renovated (which is very soon) then they will be back. 

I had to say goodbye to my family on Sunday morning. We had breakfast with Lilo and Stitch at 'Ohanas then they were on their way back to Oklahoma. I hate goodbyes but I can't wait to start my DCP!

Thanks for reading,

Katie

Sanaa

Hiya,

Last night we ate at Sanaa at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and it was incredible. It serves African and Indian cuisine. We normally don't eat at more "exotic" places like this, but someone recommended it so we took the risk. Sanaa is located below the lobby of the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The AKL has savannas with giraffes, zebra, ostriches, gazelles, and many other animals. We were seated next to a window so if it wouldn't have been dark outside, we would've been able to see all theses animals while we dined.

While we waited to be seated, we walked around outside to get a closer look of the savannah. The Cast Members working (Vimbai and Johnson) were great. Vimbai was from Zimabwe and Johnson was from Botswana. They chatted with us about their home countries, the animals on the savannah, African culture, and working at Disney. They were very interesting to talk to and definitely made our night.

For our meal, we ordered naan with 9 accompaniments (my favorite was the Spicy Jalapeño-Lime Pickle). This stuff was so good we had to order extra pieces of naan. We would've been happy with this just being our meal. I ordered the Lamb Shank and it was pretty good. I normally only eat chicken, but I enjoyed the lamb. I wish I would have asked for rice as my side instead of the sweet potato it came with. For dessert, I ordered Kulfi which is an Indian ice cream. I loved this place and can't wait to come back. I really stepped outside of my box and it payed off.

With a giraffe outside the AKL

A tortoise walking around outside the window while we waited to be seated

Our naan

The Lamb Shank 

Banana cheesecake dessert

Kids turtle dessert-so cute

If you ever find yourself at Walt Disney World and looking for something interesting to try, go to Sanaa. You won't regret it. 

Thanks for reading,
Katie

Curiouser and Curiouser

Hi there,

I've been in Florida for a few days now. We got on Disney property Sunday late afternoon and checked in to the Polynesian. All we did that night was Chef Mickey's for dinner. Yesterday we went to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. We dined at the Tusker House for lunch and it was incredible. I can't believe we've never been there before. The food was great, especially for a Disney buffet. The characters were fun too- Mickey, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy in cute safari costumes.

We had our character breakfast at 1900 Park Fare this morning. This consists of Alice, the Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins, and Winnie the Pooh. I’m obsessed with Alice so this was the meal I was probably most excited about on our vacation. Not to mention the Grand Floridian is beautiful. The food was good, just your typical breakfast food. The Grand Floridian has this strawberry soup that's supposed to be great so I tried and I'm not the biggest fan. The characters were very fun, they all had quite large personalities. My favorite was definitely the Mad Hatter. He's hilarious. He was cracking all sorts of jokes and we couldn't stop laughing. We couldn't even get a decent photo because we were laughing the entire time. 

Kisses with Pooh (1900 Park Fare)

My brothers and I with Mary Poppins (1900 Park Fare)

My home girl (1900 Park Fare)

Always laughing (1900 Park Fare)

Goofy (Chef's Mickey)

Sassiest Daisy (Tusker House)

Out of the three character meals, Tusker House was my favorite when it came to food but 1900 Park Fare was my favorite in regards to the characters. Chef Mickey's is great because it's the only place you get to meet the fab 5 (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto) but the dinner food was not that great. Everything depends on the experience you're looking for. All character meals I've been to have been fun and have great character interaction, but the food is not always great. 

Thanks for reading,
Katie

And I'm Almost There...

Sorry for not posting, there's very little going on in my life at the moment. That's about to change though because......

I LEAVE FOR DISNEY IN ONE WEEK. 

I can't wait! Almost everything is ready to go, I've just have a few minor things to take care of. We're leaving late next Friday night and should be in Florida in the early evening on Saturday. The drive from Oklahoma to Orlando is brutal, but well worth it. We're having our family summer vacation for a week, then my program will start. My parents changed the reservation a million times, but we're staying at the Polynesian. We were originally at the Grand Floridian, then the Polynesian, then the Boardwalk, and now the Polynesian. 

My goal is to post once a day during vacation but who knows if I actually will. My brother and I like to make a list of things to accomplish during our Disney vacations but I haven't had any motivation to make a list since I already have my own bucket list for the DCP. But we are doing the Disney Dining Plan (DDP) so hopefully I can post about our dining experiences. We are going to be at the Disney parks for 4 days as well as spending a day at Universal Studios (Harry Potter World-get ready for me). 

I'll post my packing list later for kicks and gigs, if anyone has interest to know how I managed to pack only one suitcase for 5 months. It was not a fun task but I got it done. 

Running update: There's very little happening here as well. Running 3-4 days a week, just 20 minute runs. My runs have been short since it's been over 100 degrees around here lately. 

German update: Yah...the struggle is real on learning a foreign language. I know the alphabet and a few basic phrases. Still practicing my pronunciation, it's improved but I haven't gotten the hang of it yet. I probably won't update about my German unless I start getting better at it. 

I know my blog is currently the definition of lame, but I do nothing but work so there is not much to post about. 

Thanks for reading,
Katie 

Adventure Is Out There

Hiya,

I leave for Florida in 21 days. Twenty-one short days. It seems as if I've been waiting a lifetime for this experience. And my program officially starts in exactly 1 month. I am crazy stressed about packing and making sure everything I need gets to Disney. I made my packing list about 2 weeks ago and tried to see what all I could fit in my bags but I'm still stressing. I'm only taking a suitcase, my backpack, and then a box of my housing stuff.

I've looked up several different packing lists for the DCP and have a fairly good idea of what I'll need while down there, but I'm known for overpacking (I filled an entire large suitcase for 3 days in New Orleans...why?). I just want to take everything with me, which isn't realistic. I found this great link (http://www.pinterest.com/stylebookapp/travel-packing-wardrobe-tips/) that's helpful with packing and organizing for travel. If anyone has any advice for packing a large amount of stuff in a suitcase, please help a sista out.

I talked to my work today about my options since I'm moving to Florida for 5 months. And it went about as good as it possibly could so I'm beyond excited. Everything has been falling into place for me and I couldn't be more thrilled about what the future holds for me.

Running Update: My marathon training starts September 8th. The schedule isn't terrible, I start with only 23 miles a week but I'll go into 40-50 miles per week later in training. My long runs seem manageable too...normally in the 10-16 range with a few 20 milers in there. My biggest concern is running two days in a row every week. I may have to change that up and take some days off. Once again, please send prayers for my body during this 18-week challenge.

My goal is to post weekly on this blog to let everyone know what's going on with my experience working for Disney. If anyone has suggestions about what they want to hear or any questions about working for Disney in general, always feel free to comment. :)

21 MORE DAYS UNTIL THIS IS MY OFFICIAL HOME

Thanks for reading,
Katie

Willkommen!

Hi,

I've started this blog to keep my friends and family updated with things going on in my life. Warning: I'm not a great writer, so no judgement please.

I'm moving to Florida in a few weeks to start my experience with the Disney College Program! I will be working for the mouse from August to January! Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with anything and everything Disney. There's a large chance this blog will consist of pretty much only Disney stuff, especially while I'm down in Florida.

Other exciting things going on right now...I will start training shortly for the Goofy Challenge. Basically it's the WDW Half Marathon on Saturday and then the WDW Marathon on Sunday. 39.3 miles of Disney magic. Prayers for my legs will be much appreciated. I will try to keep updates on my training and how that's going for me. Another thing, I am currently trying to learn German and it is quite the struggle so far. I just started but I still have yet to get the alphabet and letter pronunciation down. Hopefully I will meet some CM's (Cast Members-aka Disney employees) who speak German and can help me out!

My family also has exciting things happening right now. One brother is getting married in November and another brother is starting college next month! I can't wait for the wedding in November, it'll be great to be back in Oklahoma for a weekend even though I'm still waiting to hear back from Disney on whether my request for time off is approved.

Thanks for checking out my blog!

Katie