A Universally Good Time

Dana and I had been in contact with Josh about going to Universal on our day off this week. Since I had just done pretty much all of Universal Studios with my mom a few weeks ago, I really wanted to conquer Islands of Adventure. The only things I had done in the months since I had gotten my Universal pass was Hogsmead.

Dana and I headed out around 10 and on our way there we saw two gators! One was hiding in a pond and only I saw him. The other was HUGE and was out of the water sunning by a pond near a CVS. Dana luckily was able to catch a glimpse of him too without crashing.

We got there much earlier and started off in the direction of Seuss Landing. We went through the If I Ran the Zoo play area. We had super fun. lol. Then we went over to the Cat in the Hat ride and had to fight off the urge to by the things (especially mugs) in the gift shop. Then we went on the One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish ride. It shoots water out as you go around so we tried to avoid it. I unfortunately was on the side with the water and I got wet. Next we headed off to the Caro-Seuss-el. Dana had her eye on this pink elephant. As she was taking a picture of it, two girls pretty much pushed her off of it. So we found another elephant and I got on a flying fish. Last we finished out journey in Suess Landing by going on The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride! It was cool since it went over the whole land and through one of the dining areas. They only were using one side and I want to know what the other side is like. Before we left, I got some pop.

The next land was The Lost Continent. Poseidon's Fury had a long wait so we decided to skip it. We also checked out the price of Mythos Restaurant (which is very highly rated) wasn't actually too overpriced. We checked and The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad Stunt Show was going to start in a few minutes so we decided to check it out. It wasn't super awesome. It was cool too see but wasn't really worth seeing again.

We were walking through Hogsmead and Josh and crew were supposedly nearly there, but Dana and I were hungry, I was in the mood for burgers, and Dana knew that they had some in Jurassic Park. I was so happy since I love that movie!!! Josh and his new girlfriend Amber and her friend Allie (I think...) met us and got some food too. I got a combo which came with fries and a shake and I paid to get some cheese. Totally delicious and worth it. Next we headed back to Harry Potter Hogsmead and rode Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and we actually got to see the bubbly snow in the charms classroom. Flight of the Hippogriff had a bit of a wait so we skipped it and headed to the Dragon Challenge. Josh didn't want to do it so he held all of our purses while we went on the last row of blue coaster. I haven't ridden the red coaster so I will have to do that next time. We debated going to take the Hogwarts Express over the Diagon Alley, but the wait was 20 minutes and I still wanted to check out more of Islands of Adventure.

We decided to head back to Jurassic Park and rode the Jurassic Park River Adventure which Amber and Allie hadn't gone on. It was pretty good. I would totally go on it more often, but it is a water ride. I totally got the least of the water, but the drop was so worth it. So much better than the Splash Mountain drop and a better lead up, too. Pteranodon Flyers looks awesome but you have to be a kid or the parent of a kid to go on it. :( We decided we were going to pay some parents to let us borrow their children. We skipped the next two rides Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges and  Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls since they were both water rides. I totally want to do them sometime though.

The last land was Marvel Super Hero Island. First was The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. It is a lot like the Transformers Ride in Studios. Next Allie, Dana, and I went to Doctor Doom’s Fearfall. The shoot up was pretty cool but the drops were super lame. Josh had run into someone we knew and had given him and Amber some free hot dogs (apparently weren't good) and I got a free coke refill. Last up in marvel we went to The Incredible Hulk Coaster Amber and Josh skipped out again. It had a ton of loops. It was crazy. No one wanted to go on  Storm Force Accelatron besides me so I'll have to go back. We checked to see if Captain America had come out so Dana could get a picture with him, but his line as closed. I luckily got the last picture with Woleverine, though.

Allie really wanted to go on Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, but that is Amber and Josh's "no" ride so she had never gone on it. So even though Dana and I were ready to leave we headed over to Studios to go on it with her. It was down when we first got there so we headed over to The Mummy which is Amber (or was it Allie's?) and Dana's favorite ride. It confirmed that some of the effects weren't working right when we went on it. We headed back over to Rockit and it had a bit of a wait, but it was even better than before. I wasn't as tight so I had a more free ride. I even thought I was going to fall out at the beginning. I chose "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence. It was a good song choice.

It was a great day. We did almost everything in the park, so I think with another day I can finish everything from both parks I haven't done yet. So pumped.

I'll add pictures later.

VoluntEARS: WE Gives Back event

So today didn't start off great. I had some crappy children and crappy families when I started at flamingo, and after I took my 30 min break and headed to tracking it didn't get much better. I was swamped with people and within the first 5 min I was pushed by some guy since I was apparently in his way of taking his kid's picture. Because asking to move is just too much work, am I right? So after an hour and a half of tracking, when I went to lunch I was in a pretty foul mood. I felt super nauseous and couldn't eat anything so I got some Jamba Juice and ate some popcorn. I am normally a pretty patient person and normally like my job, so maybe it was because I was sick, but the day wasn't going well. I got to Animal Call and Forestry and felt like I was going to throw up on the children and was going to ask to go home but it was so busy I didn't get a chance to call Core Team. I even got ipaq'ed by Krystal and didn't even get a chance to talk before she gave me a thumbs up and walked away. I made it through that hour and a half and took a quick break offstage to compose myself before heading to Gibbon. I didn't make as much as an effort to recruit people or go up to guests, but I still had some decent conversations as I tried to keep myself together. I got to my second 30 min break and pretty much feel apart but figured I just had headquarters to go so I could push threw. Headquarters ended up being the best part of my day and closing went pretty easy (Anastasia even came by to help out since I had helped out with her signal 70 while she was at Animal Call) and I got a second good ipaq for the day/week from Krystal. 

I wasn't going to stay for the VoluntEAR event Krystal had set up, but talked myself into staying. I had signed up and really wanted to do it and felt bad backing out. I also figured I would reward myself with the pizza we ordered at the event. It was a ton of fun. We used old t-shirts (some grey ones from textile services and other colors) which was a cool way to recycle. I guess they have diverted over 500 tons of the entertainment shirts from landfills which is pretty exciting and the doggies at some shelters will get some cool handmade toys! First we cut some shirts into strips and we used a square stitch sort of thing I used to use all the time for the lanyard things I made at Kids Kamp when I was younger to put them together, so I caught on really quickly and was the first to finish so I made so more. It was fun to eat good food, chill with my fellow Wilderness Explorer Troop Leaders, my manager, and the leader from the Nutrition center who taught us how to make them. She is apart of the blanketEARS group which does a lot of crafty things so I might join if I end up staying another semester. At the end we even celebrated Christina's birthday with a cake and everything!

The one dog toy that I made! Super easy and super fun.

So ultimately, while today started on a sour note, it ended on a good one hanging out with people at the event while also giving back.

Trying to be a Good Blogger

So I started this blog as all people do, with the best intentions. While it may appear abandoned, like I previously said, I actually have been good about trying to update my bucket list and ride count pages. I have also done a decent job at keeping a record of what I have been doing as well. It is more of a bullet point style that I have kept as drafts all of this time. Therefore, since I was home sick today (stupid fever/flu I have been dealing with since Saturday evening), I decided to be a good blogger and try to actually make those notes readable and post date them. So starting today I have a few "new" posts for June and am going to try and keep updating like this so I have a better record for myself. If others ever find this blog and actually read it, it will also hopefully be more helpful for them as well. Right now I will continue with catching up on some early days stuff, but I might transition to real time posts as well. 

After my fever broke after hours of sleeping, I got bored.
Hence, I channeled my inner 5 year old and took a selfie with my stuffed animals. 

Going back and writing this stuff in complete sentences and adding pictures is helping add to the realization that I only have 2 and a half months left down here and have been here over 4 and a half months. Dana and I were having a conversation about it today and how there are so many things we have left to do while we are here since we possibly could never be back. She leaves in exactly 2 months. I have 3 more weeks than her, but it doesn't seem like a lot at this point. I haven't been going to the parks as much recently and have gotten into a routine with work and coming home and watching Netflix (granted the last month or so was pretty crazy for a few reason out of my control that prevented me from doing much at one point). So we were making a list of some of the things we have yet to do. Luckily we have the same days off now and can hopefully conquer some of these things together.

Here is the list of some of the things we talked about:
-seeing the manatees as they head this way for the winter
-going to the beach before it gets any colder
-exploring the rest of Islands of Adventure (since I have only been to Hogsmead)
-deciding about getting tickets for Very Merry Christmas party (I am definitely going but Dana wants to make sure it is worth it)
-Seeing the Candlelight processional (maybe one that we know people singing in the choir!)

I'm going to end with a picture. I never got a good picture of our apartments massive Halloween decorations (thanks to Amber), but in true Disney spirit I put up our first Christmas decoration this evening (thanks to my mom).

Leah said she wanted to see it everyday.
So she decided it should be prominently hung from the fan chord!

My Apartment and Roommates at Falcon Square

So back in June I never made a housing post, so I figured it would be better late than never, especially since acceptances for the next wave of internships are rolling out so people (including myself) might be thinking of where they might be living in January if they get the exciting news of an offer.

Well, the day we got into Orlando back in June, my dad and I drove through Independence to check it out. I took a picture with Tigger in front of one of the Falcon Square buildings, and come to find out, that is the building I ended up living in!!!

Tigger on my building sign the day before I moved in!

Unfortunately our building is the furthest one away from all of the others, so it can be quite the hike to pick up mail or visit anyone else. I ended up driving to visit my friend on the complete other side of Falcon when he was here during the summer since it was such a walk and that way I wouldn't have to do it in the dark either. I haven't been to the pool at all, which is sad, but the weather is looking like it is turning back around so I might try and spend some time reading by the pool in coming weeks. We also always try and check our mail when doing errands. When it was nice I would go on post-work walks and get the mail (especially after my best friend down here went back to school and I suddenly had a ton more free time) but nowadays we check it less frequent since it isn't really convenient.

Pic of my room taken back in August

Anyways, that was a bit of a tangent, I chose to live in Disney sponsored housing since it was very hard to find reasonable places that offered short term leases, especially ones that were furnished. My rule was that I was only going to live off site if I could find something that would be cheaper. I did get close to getting a vacation home, but it didn't end up working out. Disney housing is nice since rent is taken out of our paycheck, it is furnished, utilities are included, didn't have to worry about signing a lease with other people, etc. It does stink a little that if you look at how much we are paying for a 2 bedroom apartment between 4 people it is a lot, but it really complicated finding housing down here. The apartments are decently sized, and I never really feel like we are on top of each other. Different apartments have different layouts, too. I like the area where we live in a lot. It is really peaceful and doesn't have that touristy feel a lot of other areas with apartments do. While Animal Kingdom is furthest from our apartment, the area by Magic Kingdom is 5 minutes away. Everything seems like it is 20-30 min away from Falcon, but honestly, I feel like that is how it is around Orlando. I just don't think they had a very good civil engineer plan their road ways so things might look close on a map, but the accessibility seems really inefficient wherever you go in the Disney area.

Another view of our room.
Including out closet, which you can walk into and is actually very spacey

I ended up choosing 2 of my roommates before and we were able to list each other. We met through a Fall 2014 Animal Programs Facebook group and it ended up working nicely. I am kind of glad that I chose ahead of time since I knew who I would be living with, and we have similar interests, but at the same time I would have loved getting to know interns from other areas of the company. We did hang out with a few Imagineering interns a lot in the summer, but once they left for school/got another job, we were left to our Animal Programs selves again. I liked getting to meet Nick's roommates, too, who were all pretty much engineer/imagineer people since they were more math-y like me and were fun to talk to.

My desk

We have had 2 other roommates in the course of our internship. The first was an Engineering intern who had been here since May and had lived with 3 Ed. Presenters but apparently they moved them to another apartment for the last 3 weeks of their internship (I was never told this would be a possibility since our internship is longer than all of the others, but apparently Amber was. I hope that we don't end up having to move. I might end up trying to fight it since I wasn't told upfront). Her internship was through August, but she ended up extending through December and moved out to a house with some friends in August (and she ended up being offered a full time position in late September/early October!!!). Our second roommate is still in college and is an Industrial Engineering Intern in the Safety division from August-December. She is from Ohio and is pretty awesome. Since our first roommate had done a previous internship and had been here, she had her own friends she hung out with and when she did hang out with us I was often hanging out with my friend Nick who was only here for the summer. Our second roommate was new and she hangs out with the other engineering people too, especially since none of us have traditional weekends and she goes home more often then the rest of us, but we still hang out with her quite a bit. 

My bulliten board from back in August. (everyone in Falcon gets one)
A few more DWCF buttons have been added since then

Anyways, I am glad that I chose to live here this semester. It allowed me to meet some awesome roommates, be close to a ton of other interns (even if I haven't been able to meet many others besides my Animal Programs friends), got to hang out with Nick when he was here this summer, and overall, it has been a lot less stressful than living in another place would have been (one friend has had nothing but problems, and a few others ended up paying more than us per month even though initially it would have been less). If I get another internship for next spring, I am thinking of finding a vacation home to rent with a few other people if some of my Animal Programs friends end up staying around and are interested.

Also, I just realized I never took pics of the common areas of the apartment so I'll want to do that before I leave and will perhaps try to put them up here eventually (but no promises).

Working at Disney World

If you ever want to know what cast members go through some days, this SNL Indiana Jones skit video is a good example. Many people who come to the parks don't speak English, and even those who do sometimes say/do the most ridiculous things. As a presenter, sometimes people just don't get how to make a W or be a bird (and some children honestly don't even know where they are from, let alone what animals live there). I love working with families from all over the world, but sometimes when it can get frustrating not being able to communicate (especially if they are intent on not every trying to listen/watch you do a badge by hand motions or broken Spanish) sometimes it can be good to have a good laugh at some of the interactions you end up having, because they can actually look kind of like this video sometimes.

Indiana Jones SNL video

I'm a Stereotypical Blogger

So I have been awful at actually blogging. The thing is, I am not completely terrible, just pretty awful. I have been trying to keep up to date my ride counts and my bucketlist and I have been semi-consistent with keeping track of what is going on in a journal type format in some unpublished pages, but I haven't updated since the beginning of my internship. I am now half way done and it is crazy to think of all that has happened since June 11th. Right now we are having some inspiration weeks in our pre-shifts to get us excited when many of the presenters are getting worn down with our job. I will perhaps try and backdate posts for people who might want to read things in the future about this PI and the PI process, but for now I am just enjoying working at Disney, trying to weave through this application cycle again (yep, I'm applying to some more PIs for next spring to try and stay down here!), and just keeping myself semi-reliable with journaling my days on a regular basis.

Quick Update

So the last few days have been super busy and awesome, so I promise to post more about them later, but I figured I would get a quick post in before I head off to work in a little bit. So Wednesday-Friday of last week we had our in parks training shadow and pair days. It was super fun to be out there in the park doing what I will be doing the next 6 months, but it will definitely take a while getting used to the heat and all of the time on my feet. I only had a one day weekend, which was yesterday. I was hoping to get a bunch of errands/chores done, but since it was the last day a bunch of us will have off together in a while I had a fun filled packed day. I am glad that I worked late shift today so I could sleep in a bit today! Well, I have to leave soon and I need to go make my lunch, but wish me luck as I start my first few days riding solo starting today. I am super nervous, yet excited...

"Last" Training Day

Today was our last training day. Like I said before, we were told to come to work in guest clothes. we started off the morning by taking our assessment. There was short answers, T/F, and a practical. It was not as bad as I think most of the presenters thought it would be. I got almost all of them right, and the rest I was at least 75% right with my answers. We were given 2 hours to finish, but 6 of us finished within an hour. So one of our managers took us over to Cast Services Center in the employee cafeteria to check us off on all of our computer training. 

Then we were sent off to go and get as many Wilderness Explorer badges as we could! We had previously gotten the 10 that the Troop Leaders (us Education Presenters) give out through our training. Our group headed in the direction of Everest and got a few Africa Badges and most of our Asia badges (and HAD to ride Expedition Everest to complete to Yeti and Everest Badges.) Then we headed to DinoLand to get the 2 we needed there and rode Dinosaur. Afterwards, we headed back and got the rest in Africa and Asia (mostly Trials related ones). At this point we had collected all but the ones up at the Conservation Station and we didn't have time to go up to Rafiki's planet watch. Therefore, we have 26 out of our 31 badges! Now one of these days I will have to go and get my last 5 badges to become a Senior Wilderness Explorer!!! Then we broke for lunch at Pizzafari and even got a Conservation button for donating to the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund!

Then all of the presenters met one of our Core Team leaders at It's Tough to be a Bug and we watched it as a group. Unfortunately, Hopper didn't work, but it was a ton of fun to see everyone's reactions. I don't think that I have heard so much screaming at it before. Then we walked around a bit and saw the kangaroos and giant shark catfish before going over to watch Flights of Wonder. It was an amazing show and I can't wait to go back to see it again! Anastasia even got picked to be a volunteer. At this point we went back to the classroom to go over our assessments and learn the last few things before getting done a little early.

A group of us (Amber, Allie, Diana, and I) wanted to find the Company D by Animal Kingdom (and failed to do so before it closed for the day) but we were able to get the appropriate rain gear from costuming and I grabbed another pair of shorts to see if they would fit. Then we headed back to the park and met up with Megan and Amber's friend Nick (who is pretty awesome!) and rode Dinosaur twice. After Megan left to go home we also rode Everest (we rode in the first few rows which is a completely different experience!) and Safari (we saw a ton more animals then I expected for how hot it was. We even saw some hippos fighting and a rhino was just a couple of feet from our vehicle).

I am sooooo tired. I got home and watched Pretty Little Liars with Dana (and Amber, but she doesn't know what is going on completely...), ate a delicious bowl of cereal with peaches, took a shower, and am pretty much falling asleep typing. Today was a ton of fun, but being out in the sun was exhausting. Tomorrow is our first shadow day and first full day out in the park in our costume. I am going to sleep well tomorrow. Luckily I have a later start on Thursday since I am supposed to meet up with my cousin and Aunt at Magic Kingdom tomorrow night. Well, time for an early trip to bed!

Ride Count

Also, I forgot that I have added a Ride Count tab so I can keep track the number of times I ride each ride. I have downloaded a Ride Counter App, which is pretty good, but isn't up to date with the newer rides and whatnot. Therefore, if you are interested in following how many times I do each attraction just take a peak. (currently Hollywood Studios is the winning park and the top three rides are:  The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (5), Rock 'n' RollerCoaster (4), Star Tours (3).

Hello, My Name is Sandy and I am from Vernon, CT

First off, I promise I will go and post about the last week and a half, but I figured I would at least try to post consistently now to not get tooooo far behind. So I'll start off from yesterday (the day off that I pretty much did nothing but watch Ghostbusters 1 and 2 on TV, uploaded photos to my laptop/Facebook, and didn't get out of my PJs until around 6pm).

Sunday Night (HS)

Last night we went to Hollywood Studios, but not as many people showed up as we wanted, but a good group of people came, including some of the Seas interns, which was fun since we don't get to see them that often anymore. Some of us went on a quick ride of Tower of Terror as we waited for Allie to show up and the wait was really short. We were going to head over to do single rider Rockin' RollerCoaster, but Allie said she was entering the park so we went to wait for her and a group of the Seas interns that said they only wanted to ride Tower once so had skipped the first time. This allowed us some time to shop around the store. Amber went and got the picture from the day before (Saturday) when a bunch of us had been on the ride and I got 2 ToT pressed quarters! When everyone met up we went on ToT and we were on a car with a bunch of first timers and there was so much screaming on that ride. Then we went and rode Rockin' and pretty much walked on in the regular standby line so we all got to ride together. A bunch of people left at this point, but Amber wanted to ride Star Tours to see how it was with a different scenario and Allie had never been on it (we barely made it on the last ride of the night. this was my 3rd time riding and it was a bit of a mix of the other 2 times I went on it). Then we headed home to get a good nights sleep (but apparently Allie got in an accident on her way home. eek!)

Monday

So today on the way to work I realized I forgot my name tag. Therefore, I got one of the extra presenter ones. One of my leaders, Josh, asked if I wanted to be from California or Connecticut and I didn't have too much of a preference, so he handed me Sandy from Vernon, CT. So all day we were joking around about me being Sandy. I confused Matt (the current Core Team intern) and Critter decided he was going to call me Sandy for the next 6 months. 

We started off with some info on the animal positions that we staff and then we headed out for a scavenger hunt to familiarize ourselves with the park (eg. nearest bathroom, smoking locations, break rooms, badge locations, animals, etc.). My group was one of the only ones to get done, pretty much since Tara had worked custodial at DAK before on a CP so she knew her way around. Afterward, we met at our trailer and split into our 3 tour groups again to tour our animal locations. We lost our leader Bethany today to another group, but got Matt. It was nice to get a different person's point of view and he even did a couple sample presentations. We got super sweaty and then broke for lunch.

After lunch we went back to the classroom and went over different emergency situations, met with a primate keeper (who was awesome!), did some practice conversations, and played a jeopardy review game for our assessment. Talking with the Primate Keeper made me think of how cool it would be to work with the SSP (Species Survival Plan) and make breeding recommendations based on a data and whatnot!

After work Allie, Amber, and I headed home. We chilled most of the night. Lexi, Dana and I watched some TV together and I made reservations for my family to visit next month (which ended up being a big mess). Tomorrow we have our assessment in the morning and were told to dress in "guest clothes" to go and do some stuff out in the park. Some of us have been guessing what we are doing (riding rides, earning non-Troop Leader badges, etc), but I am excited for tomorrow!

Training Schedule Part 2

Sorry that I haven't been good at updating! I have been making notes each day and I plan on writing more in depth about this past week or so. Today is on of my days off and the beginning of a new week. We got the rest of our schedules for the next two weeks yesterday. Today is the last day for the rest of the semester that all of the presenters have off together. We are planning on getting together tonight to go on Tower of Terror and trying to get a full elevator of animal programs interns and maybe make some signs or something.

This next week is still full of more training, including finally getting more in the park training. Then next week we start full time in the parks as the current presenters leave. Here is my work schedule for the rest of my training:

June 23-24: The last two days of classroom training, including our assessment (whatever than entails...)

June 25-26: Shadow days in the park in small groups with the current presenters.

June 27: Last day all of the Fall presenters will work all together. Time training in the park

June 28: Final day of On the Job training in the park!

In a little bit Amber, Dana, and I are planning on heading out to meet other Animal programs interns at Hollywood Studios. Hopefully, we will have a good turnout!

Post-DAKlimations Adventures

I decided to make a separate post for rest of the day after our DAKlimations class since the other post was getting a bit long.

We had already planned to go to the park, and since we got off early we got changed and headed to DAK as a guest (I changed in the car, because while everyone else was changing Amber had locked my stuff in her car. oops!). It was our first visit as guests to the park that we would be calling home for the next few months! We decided to get our wilderness explorer books from headquarters to check out our future job! We even went and got 2 badges at the Asia WE booth. We missed part of the lesson and were a little disappointed that we didn't do the whole activity.

Then we headed over to Everest. I was so excited! My family didn't get to go on it the last time we had come since it had been hit by lightning and closed down. We waited about 25 min as group to go on. It was so much fun! We went right again in single rider and was about 5 min. It was hot so we stopped by a blue ice cream truck thing. I didn't really want ice cream, but I did get my first glass of free ice water.

First ever ride on Everest!!!
Amber and I in back row
Then Allie and Lauren, 
Then Anastasia and someone random person

Single Rider for my second adventure

Next we headed over to dinosaur and afterwards Anastasia left to go let out her dog. Everyone thought it was pretty scary, but I don't really get it. The scariest part for me is right at the end and the picture part never is, but whatever. It's fun to see peoples' reactions.

First time on Dinosaur as a PI.
Amber, me, and Allie in back row. 
Anastasia and Lauren in next row.

Next we went on Primeval whirl and we were all screaming as we went around the turns. The forecast said it was going to rain and looked dark out. So we headed over to It's Tough to be a Bug since we figured if it started raining everyone would rush there. Waited for next show and had fun. I think lauren left at this point since she was really hot since she still had dress pants on because she didn't bring clothes to change into.

After the rain we decided to hit up the triceratops ride since it was one of only ones we hadn't gotten to and had a bit of time before the Nemo show. We went to the 6pm Finding Nemo Musical show and had a blast. Was first time Amber and Allie had seen it so their reactions were great to see. It was just as great as I remembered it. Then we headed back to Everest for one last ride. We literally walked right up to ride!

One last Everest ride of the day

We decided to go on Kali since we were leaving and it was one of the last rides we hadn't gone on. Allie got us a locker and we waited only like 10 min. We didn't get AS wet as we thought we would and headed out for the night. We came home and ate dinner and watched Pretty Little Liars with the roommates. Then I took a shower since I was gross from being in the heat at Animal Kingdom all day. I called mom to give her an update and wrote all of this stuff down, before heading off to bed!!!


Note: was published on 11/3

DAKlimation

DAKlimations Day! aka our park orientation. Almost everyone in our class were Animal Programs PIs but there were a few other people too. First off our trainers did a Disney look check. We hadn't had them in our other two days of training, but they were pretty strict with this check. I wore a black and white dress that I had bought at Carson's and it had a little bit of a sheer top, so I decided to wear my blazer with it just in case. I am glad I did, not because I think I would have failed, but it was better to be safe than sorry. We spent some time in the classroom. Watched some videos including the VP of the park welcoming us to the team. Talked about how Walt took animals and the environment seriously. I think we talked about the 4 keys more, because who couldn't get enough of those things? lol. They had people read things, so I volunteered and got a DAK 15th anniversary button (AWESOME!!!) 

Probably my favorite thing was we went and took a private safari. It was still relatively early in the morning and the animals were all pretty active. Everyone was saying we were super lucky because almost all of the animals were out and visible.

We then split into two groups and walked over the park (besides Rafiki's) and went over the theming a bit (she said if she sees us in Discovery Island that we better say Viva Gaia since not many people use the themed greeting). One of the most interesting was the story of the new Festival of the Lion King area. Apparently no one knew the story when it re-opened recently, so they called over to the Imagineers who told everyone and we apparently were some of the first ones to know about it. Ends up it was an old Portuguese Fort and it wasn't being used so the people of Harambe came together and made it a place where they celebrate the native animals and use their talents to tell the story of the Lions. Our facilitator also went over Dino Land theming quite a bit too. There are two sections: the Dino Institute and Dino-rama People found some dinosaur bones. Paleontologists moved in and grad students turned the local dinner into a dorm (hence the chairs on the roof. It turned back into a dinner when the Dino Institute built their official area (where Dinosaur is). Then the locals Chester and Hester decided to make some road side attractions to profit including turning the gas station into a gift shop and having fun games. They even built a ride as a spoof of Dinosaur and one of Dumbo. 

After our class was over, everyone went their separate ways. The Conservation Education Presenter team had a 1 hour break at the cast cafeteria, Pride Rock. When we got there we saved a table so we could sit together which was right near cash registers. While everyone else immediately scattered, I got to see the VP of DAK buying food. Wasn't sure if it was him at first, but had just seen him in a video at DAKlimations and looked him up to confirm. So cool to see VP Josh D'Amaro my first day! I ended up buying a slice of pizza even though I had a lunch (it was delicious!!!)

After our break a few of our leaders met us over to costuming to get our costumes (It think it was Core Team Josh and Manager Erin). Nothing fit right and the sizes were limited because of the current group of presenters still being around. Can't wait to get better stuff when the Spring group returns their stuff. Got off early afterwards since our schedule said four. 


Note: was post published on 11/3  

Training Schedule

At our Animal Programs meeting on Wednesday, we went over our training schedule a little bit. So now we now when we are working over the course of the next week.

June 12-13: We have Thursday and Friday off to allow us to get settled in and for our background check to go through (or so the rumor is...). However, all of the AP interns that scuba dive as part of their job had to get a diving physical on Friday.

June 14: On Saturday all the PIs that checked in June 11 have traditions. All of the Animal Programs interns have it in the morning, while everyone else I think is split up between the morning and afternoon seasons. I think all the AP interns have other training in the afternoon. I think we were told that Education Presenters have computer training after lunch, whereas my roommate that is in the Vet Hospital has to get a TB test and the first of the rabies vaccine shots. Our day is supposedly from 7:45 am-4:30 pm.

June 15: On Sunday we have Welcome to Ops at Disney University. I am in a different letter than my roommates Amber and Dana. Our day is supposedly from 7:30 am-5 pm. This is also the day we are planning to go to do an Animal Programs Tower of Terror event.

June 16: We have DAKlimations. Everyone who works at Animal Kingdom has to do this park orientation. I think we get our costumes this day, too. Our day is supposedly from 7:30 am-5pm.

June 17: First day of on the job training. 8 am-5 pm

June 18 and 19: Days off. The only time all the Ed Presenters will all have the same days off the entire 7 months

June 20-21: Second and third days of on the job training. 8 am-5 pm

Different areas all have different training schedules, even within AP. For example, the Living Seas people I spoke with have Friday and Saturday off (and our new MI friend, Josh). My roommate Dana (Vet Hospital Intern) has Tuesday and Wednesday off. Also, our days have typical work hours, as do those that work in offices, but not all do. One of the guys I met today (Patrick, who is doing a Guest Relations PI at MK) even has a training shift from 7pm-3:30am!

Check-In Day

Sorry that this is a SUPER LONG post, but a ton happened my first day at Disney! I will hopefully keep future posts shorter after the craziness of the first week. I just want to remember all the details myself! I will also try and post pictures later!!!!


Housing Meeting
So today began bright and early, well earlier than I am used to at least. I got up around 6:30ish to make sure that I had plenty of time to make myself look nice, check out of my hotel, and so I could get to the housing meeting a little early. I did my hair once, then I went outside to get some ice and my hair went crazy again. Luckily I got it to look presentable before I headed out. I wasn't very hungry and only ate a part of a muffin before heading over. I got to Vista Way around 8:15 and was lucky to get a parking spot right next to the building that we had our housing meeting in. When I got "in-line" (we were really more of a mob) I was right beyond Joey, a kid I went to high school with. It was a little awkward since I hadn't spoken to him since graduation, but it was nice to see a familiar face. We were given name tags and waited a bit longer before we were allowed to head inside. 

Once we got in we handed over our DORMS paperwork and got a housing packet (including out key) and got our picture taken for our housing IDs. We don't really use them much unless we want to go to housing events, from my understanding. This is also were I first met me roommate Amber. We had been talking on Facebook beforehand, but it was nice to meet her in person. We had a pretty quick 15-20 min talk over a few housing things, signed a sheet saying we understood the rules and we were on our way. Overall, Vista Way and the housing process was different than what I expected. I guess I had just read things from CP blogs, but it is WAY faster than I thought it would take. We also got free donuts!

Casting Check-In
So I was scheduled for a 10:15 check-in, but just decided to go straight to Casting after the housing meeting ended. I really didn't have enough time to drive Falcon and was already checked out of my hotel. I went in and no one said anything about me being early. First we passed through the doors, which have doorknobs like in Alice and Wonderland. Then you enter an atrium with tall white pillars with golden Disney characters on top. I didn't wait here long though.I then was led down this hallway were I waited some more, talked to a few people (including an Aquaculture intern named Brett) and met a managers at Liberty Inn who was super nice (she started as a CP, then did an MI, and she also managed the food trucks in DTD). Then we truly got started when we got handed a folder with two sheets of paper, one with our traditions time (I am in the morning) and the other with instructions on changing our address on the Hub once we get access. Then we signed some confidentiality agreements, went over our I9s (which we filled out before we arrived) and got fingerprinted. When I first tried to give my fingerprint on the computer thingy the guy didn't really give me instructions and I was putting my hand down too hard, but then didn't have a problem with getting my prints after that. He kept having a hard time entering y information into the computer system though. Near the end we were in a line and this lady told the guys that they were cooking dinner for the girls. I am waiting for my dinner Matt! lol. Lastly, we went over the Disney look and were sent on our way! I ended up getting out of Casting around the time I was supposed to start.

Falcon Square Apartment
After Casting I drove to check out the apartments. We actually were in the furthest building, which was actually the building my dad and I had driven by the day before. When I got upstairs Dana and her boyfriend were unpacking her stuff. We also did some creeping on our forth roommate since we only put 3 names down on the sheet. Her stuff was pretty much all set up, but there wasn't a lot of food. Therefore we thought she might have been there for a while but weren't sure. I tried taking some stuff up stairs, but it was really hot and humid and going up the 2 flights of stairs was tiring. I made it my goal to bring all of my stuff in from the main part of the car. Then I headed to Chick-Fil-A since I had only ever had it once at Cedar Point. It was super crowded and there were probably over 50 kids running around. I then headed back and had a little bit of time before we had to head to our Animal Programs meeting.

Animal Programs Meeting
Dana, Amber, and I jumped in Amber's car and drove back to casting for our Animal Programs meeting. We almost got lost, but made it just in time. We all waited in the atrium again, but it was SUPER crowded. Then all 68 Animal, Science, and Environment interns headed into a room where we confirmed our phone number at the door and were given a folder thing with a binder thing, a pen, a Disney Conservation button and a thing about the conservation fund. We were introduced to our leaders, played an icebreaker where we were supposed to organize ourselves alphabetically by last name (it didn't work and it was taking too long so we stopped), went around the room to introduce ourselves, and then split up into groups based on role to go over our training schedules. In all it probably took about an hour or so. It was fun to meet people we had been talking to on Facebook and Yammer and finally find out more about what we are doing. We were told to brush up on scientific names and I had read in the past they did an icebreaker involved them, and some people were nervous, but we didn't end up doing anything with scientific names at all.

Exploring
After we got done with casting, we decided to figure out how to get to Animal Kingdom and time how long it took to get back to our apartments. It was fun to drive around property. We went to the Animal Kingdom guest gate and met the CP I had talked to the day before and she said we could drive around the parking lot, so we did. She gave us some other instructions we didn't understand and ended up driving around the parking lot in circles. We decided to park and get a picture in front of the Animal Kingdom sign. It was funny that Amber and Dana had to get their bags checked, but we walked right back out 5 minutes later. We then exited the parking and tried to find the cast parking. Instead of turning where we were supposed to, we went straight and ended up at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. So we decided to park and explore the hotel a little. I loved it! I would love to be able to stay there someday. It was fun to just walk around and see animals so close. I really want to go back to explore the grounds, animal watch, and get a picture in front of the sign.

The rest of the night
Lastly, we timed our way home and drove to Publix to get some food. We found it to be super expensive so we decided t hold off on buying a lot. We finally headed home for the night and met our last roommate Lexi. She is an engineering intern from Texas who started a summer internship in May but will be extending till December. She said she might leave Falcon Square at the end of the summer. She was really nice even though we have barely seen her yet. She had also done a Project Management internship last fall and stayed at Falcon Square than as well. We all finally settled in. At this point I was past hungry and didn't feel like eating dinner. Lexi went to a friends to drink and invited us, but we all decided to stay and unpack some. 

It is amazing how much we did our first day and it was definitely better than the day before!!!!

Arrived!

So today has been super stressful. It was all good until we got around Disney. We ended up deciding to drive by the apartments the PIs live in. They are super nice, but we decided to get an idea how far they are from Animal Kingdom, and while we took a wrong turn or two, it seemed to take FOREVER! I am really wishing that the non-Disney housing I tried to line up had worked out. We did check to a CP at the gates to Animal Kingdom parking and she was super nice and helped us get re-directed and asked if I was starting a CP, too. Then we checked into my hotel. It is really nice and I am glad I stayed here over the Holiday Inn that a lot of people recommended since I saved $20. After checking out my room, we decided to find where I needed to go tomorrow, so it won't be as stressful. I luckily am pretty close to Vista (housing check-in) and Casting. Afterwards, we drove around property a bit more before heading toward Kissimmee. 

Tigger at breakfast at the Days Inn hotel (he is confused since it says that the Tiggers at Kansas City was postponed, when the Tiggers actually played the White Sox....)

I plan on it!

Since we had time before my dad had to go to the airport, we stopped to get my oil changed since I was due for it. It was looking good, until we got on the toll road and the check engine light came on. My dad got out and looked at the oil and it looked good. We were going to try and head back to where I got my oil changed, but didn't have time. So I dropped my dad off at the airport and headed back. Unfortunately, a big monsoon hit and I could barely see in front of me. Then my brakes started acting funny. I luckily somehow made it back to the oil change place right before they closed. They ran a diagnostic on it and said it should be safe to drive but I will need to get it checked out. After more stressful, rain filled driving, I finally made it back to the hotel and just didn't want to deal with the rain and decided to just make dinner out of the food in my car (potato chips, cookies, and muffins, ftw!). 

We made it to Flordia!

I spent a chunk of the night super stressed trying to find a car place and all the Chevy dealerships are further away than I would like. My mom found a mechanic closer to my apartment that has good reviews so I might try to call there or the Chevy dealerships tomorrow to figure out where I will take my car. Hopefully they can figure out what is wrong on my two days off before training on Saturday! After a shower and listening to music I am much calmer, but still a little anxious with having to deal with so much in a new state when I already have everything else (casting, moving in, grocery shopping, etc) going on. Despite today, I am super excited for tomorrow!

The hotel pool

Some birds by the oil change place

Made it to Disney!!!

Our hotel for the night. Tigger gets one bed and I get the other

My future workplace!!!

My apartment complex 

The Journey Down with Tigger

Well, we have made it to our hotel for the night! We left around 6:30 and drove most of the day. I had a really hard time saying goodbye to my dogs, my mom, and my sister. I know I will see my family at the end of July and can talk to them, but it is hard knowing they are on the opposite side of the country. I have lived a by myself for the majority of the past 4 years, so I know I won't have to deal with how to cook, etc, but Florida will be very different from the Midwest and the comfort my parents were just a few hours away just in case. With my dogs, I won't see them until I come home in January, so it was almost harder saying bye to them than my family. Especially since my old dog, Bailey, isn't doing well so I am worried I won't see her before she has to be put down. I hope that I can see her again. :(

Currently we are about 4 hrs away from Disney! I slept for a large part of the day while my dad drove, but I took a little stint at the wheel. I took pictures with my Tigger stuffed animal throughout my journey. Pretty much all of the other animal programs interns were also taking pictures with stuffed animals as they traveled. It is kind of cool that we all ended up with different ones! 

Saying goodbye to my dogs. :(

Tigger and I are packed up and ready to go!

Tigger, dad and I ready to pull away!

Driving through Ohio

Lunch in Kentucky

Driving through Tennessee

Entering Georgia

Tigger with the Olympic Torch in Atlanta

Stopping for dinner in Georgia

All ready for a good nights sleep in Southern Georgia!

Last Days Living in Livonia

Friday 6th
So on Friday I woke up a lot later than I planned and chilled for a chunk of the day. I had to finish a few things up for my work for the Hope College Chemistry department, so I worked a few hours on that. I also got my information for housing check-in on Wednesday. Instead of checking in at The Commons, where Spring 2014 people did, we will be checking in at Vista Way. It will be an interesting, long day, since I will have to head right to Casting, then hopefully have a bit of time before the Animal Programs meeting, and then finally move into housing. Friday evening, my family went to a graduation party for one of my sister's friends. It was fun. They had pretty good food catered and even had a bartender. I ended up getting a margarita and tried a sip of my mom's Long Island Ice Tea (wasn't a big fan...) 

Then my best friends Mary and Ashley joined me at this restaurant at a local golf course called the Tin Cup for a last goodbye. My mom had been there a week or two ago and recommended it to us. Since I had just eaten at the grad party and Mary was coming from a dinner with her aunt who was in town, Ashley got a burger (which looked pretty good) and I ordered a side of sweet potato fries, which were good and had honey on them, which I never thought to try. The big highlight of the evening was out drink order. We split an 100oz Power Tower. Only Ashley and I were there when we ordered it and got some funny looks from the other people in the restaurant. 

The Power Tower

We had a great time hanging out, and they even bought me some Michigan themed gifts! We even tentatively planned them coming down the week after Ashley graduates in December! After finishing, we decided to call my parents to pick us up so they came and got us and drove my car home. Mary and Ashley left theirs overnight since we asked and they said they lock a gate. They decided to sleep over, so we played our favorite game, 1313 Deadend Drive, and slept on the couches in the basement (well Mary decided to sleep on a bunch of body pillows instead...)

1313 Deadend Drive...Our favorite game!

Saturday 7th
We woke up really early (6:30!) and talked for a few hours before I drove Mary and Ashley back to the golf course to pick up their cars. We hugged goodbye and drove separate ways. It was hard, but we are used to not seeing each other for months at a time, so I know that we will keep in touch and see each other sooner than we know!

I then spent part of the day doing errands with my mom. At night my family hopped to 3 different parties. The first one had the best food. It was catered and probably the best grad party food I have ever had. The second party we didn't spend a ton of time at and didn't eat much. The third we spent a ton of time at. They had catered greek food and stuff. It was pretty good. The best part was the deserts. I joked with the mom that she needs to send me care packages of her deserts (they are soooo good!). I only half jokingly said I wanted to come pick up some extras the next day (I really wanted those deserts!) Megan stayed longer, but my parents and I were tired and getting attacked by mosquitos, so we decided to head home.  I went through my clothes with my mom making sure I didn't forget anything important and then crashed since I was exhausted.

Sunday 8th
My dad rotated my tires and made sure I knew how to change a flat. My mom and sister had to do a bunch of errands for her grad party next week. We went to yet another grad party (I am seriously going to miss getting all this free delicious food in Florida!) and finished going through my stuff. My dad and I even stopped by the storage unit and found my Tigger! I will be taking pictures of Tigger on my drive down. I went by my Grandma's house and picked up some cookies she made for me and said goodbye. It was really hard. I tried to hold back tears and put on my sunglasses before she could see. I just am worried that something will happen to her and it could be the last time that I see her. I didn't have time to stop by my other Grandma's assisted living. I feel bad, but she barely knows who I am anymore and wouldn't understand what was going on. I said goodbye to her on Thursday at my sister's birthday dinner, but I hope that nothing happens to her either since it will be probably harder to talk to her on the phone and everything. She has Alzheimer, but is otherwise really healthy, so I hope that I won't have to have more regrets about not being able to say a final goodbye to her. Lastly, I ended the night watching the Tigers game and making a no-sew blanket. My mom and sister gave me some material, but I ended up being the one to spend my last few hours making it! lol.

Well the car is all packed up and ready to go, so I should get a few hours of shut eye until I leave bright and early tomorrow morning!

Tigger has been rescued from the storage unit

The pictures weren't uploading right, so I put reminders in to put them up when I get a chance. I promise to finish my PI application posts soon! I had written a bunch up in advance since I knew how crazy these last few days would be, but I got to one that I needed to type up and haven't gotten a chance to. Well, almost set to begin my exciting journey to Florida bright and early tomorrow!