Still to do at Disney...

Disney To-Do List

 

Magic Kingdom

• Character Meet and Greets:
• "Talking Mickey" at Town Square Theatre.
• Princess Fairy Tale Hall.
• Ariel's Grotto in Fantasyland.
• Characters from Toy Story at Splash Mountain Exit.
• Characters from The Princess and the Frog at Liberty Square Bridge.
• Disney Fairies at Tinker Bell's Magical Nook.
• Attractions:
• Enchanted Tales with Belle. 
• Watch the parades and fireworks many more times (Celebrate the Magic, Main Street Electrical Parade, Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party, Wishes, Dream Along With Mickey).
• Dining:
• Cinderella's Royal Table.
• Be Our Guest Restaurant.

Epcot

• Character Meet and Greets:
• Epcot Character Spot in Future World West.
• Duffy the Disney Bear.
• Aladdin & Jasmine (Morocco).
• Alice in Wonderland (the U.K.)
• Belle (France).
• Chip 'n Dale near Epcot Character Spot.
• Donald Duck (Mexico).
• Mary Poppins (the U.K.)
• Mulan (China).
• Aurora (France).
• Snow White (Germany).
• Winnie the Pooh (the U.K.)
• Attractions:
• Captain EO.
• Illuminations.
• Dining:
• Sunshine Seasons in Future World West.
• Chip 'n Dale's Harvest Feast at The Garden Grill.
• Mexico - La Hacienda de San Angel.
• Norway - Kringla Bakeri.
• China - Nine Dragons Restaurant.
• Germany - Sommerfest, Karamell-Kuche.
• The American Adventure - Liberty Inn.
• Japan - Tokyo Dining.
• Morocco - Restaurant Marrakesh.

Hollywood Studios

• Attractions:
• See Fantasmic more times.
• Beauty and the Beast Live Show.
• The Little Mermaid Live Show.
• Dining:
• Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano.
• Character Meet and Greets:
• Disney Friends at the Sorcerer's Hat.
• Mickey Mouse at the Magic of Disney Animation.
• Monsters University Characters near the Studio Backlot Tour.
• Phineas and Ferb at Mama Melrose's.
• Stars of Cars 2 at Streets of America.
• Stars of Disney Junior at Animation Courtyard. 
• Toy Story Friends at Pixar Place.

Animal Kingdom

• Attractions:
• Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade. 
• Flights of Wonder.
• Dining:
• Restaurantosaurus.
• Character Meet and Greets:
• Canine Pals near Triceratops Spin.
• Disney Friends at Camp Minnie Mickey.
• Friends from the Hundred Acre Wood at Discovery Island.
• Mickey and Minnie at Discovery Island.
• Pocahontas at Camp Mickey Minnie.

Downtown Disney

• Play:
• Splitsville Luxury Lanes.
• Characters in Flight.
• Dining:
• Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant.
• Shop:
• Curl by Sammy Duvall.
• Something Silver.
• Disney's Candy Cauldron.
• D Street.
• World of Disney.
• Basin.
• Arribas Brothers.
• Team Mickey Athletic Club.
• Trend-D.
• Once Upon A Toy.
• Disney's Pin Traders.
• Mickey's Pantry.
• Marketplace Fun Finds.
• Little Miss Matched.
• The Art of Disney.
• Disney's Wonderful World of Memories.
• Disney's Days of Christmas.

My Magical Disney Birthday!!!

A blog in progress...

Hello My Lovely Readers!

I come again with a new blog post! It's been another month in paradise. In the last week, I've celebrated five months at Disney with my arrival group. It's hard to believe it's been that long. Before I know it, I'll be halfway through my program! I went to dinner with two of my UK lasses, Danielle and Melanie. The three of us have celebrated together for the last two months. They are lovely and we were making plans for me to come and visit them in the UK - something I've wanted to do for years. Also in the last month, Danielle and I celebrated her passing her service test and becoming a food runner/server. I took her to Le Cellier, Canada's restaurant at Epcot.

My friend Robyn and I went to Magic Kingdom to find Long Lost Characters - Disney characters whom you don't normally find in the parks. There were four groups - characters from Robin Hood, Chicken Little, The Princess and the Frog and Song of the South; better known as the characters from Splash Mountain. It was lots of fun. Once we were finished, we had lunch at Tony's Town Square Theatre - a Lady and the Tramp themed restaurant on Main Street.

A few weeks later, Robyn, Stephane and I (all cast member in the Canada Attraction), did a character hunt at Epcot. We met Alice in the UK, Aurora and Belle in France and Mulan in China. Character hunting is one of the things I enjoy most about the parks. I've met the Epcot characters several times since I've been here.

I should write something about my friends in the Attraction. There are ten of us - Robyn, Rebecca, Stephane, myself, Zac, Matt, Vicky, Nicole, Jeremy and Allison. In the last month, Jessica completed her program. It's always hard when someone leaves. We went to Magic Kingdom on her last day of work to watch Wishes - it's something of a tradition here when someone leaves. The Attractions crew are a tight family because we're a small department. We are also quite close to Merch as they have the same number as us and we for the most part make up Games on Monday nights.

Games is something that takes place on Monday nights. It's sort of the mellow version of Happy Monday - drinking night for the CRPs. It's made up mostly of Attractions and Merch with a few awesome Food & Beverage people, including the lovely Victoria Schut, who is in fact the Prime Minister of Games alongside Allison, who is the Governor General. It's lots of fun and a good way for us all to hang out together.

I was dealt a blow last week during Games - one of my dear friends here at Disney, Allison Baxter, has been offered an opportunity back home and has decided to accept it thereby ending her program. I'm incredibly sad to see her go, but I'm also happy for her new opportunity. It's undoubtedly the right thing to do, and I'm sure I would be doing the same thing in her position. She is leaving in less than two weeks, so we are going to be making the most of the time she has left. I'm sure I will have lots to update on in that time.

Until then, see ya real soon!

I live!!!

Hello all you lovely people!

I bet you're wondering what I've been up to the last four months. Well, after quite a long hiatus, I'm returning to my Disney blog! Just to let you know, it was never my intention to abandon this blog. It was just a matter of life taking over. Life here at Disney is very busy. You really have to make priorities, and this blog was just not on my top list of priorities in the last while. It's actually taken me quite a while to fully grasp my bearings. When you're not working (which is most of the time), you're out making other experiences. And there is just so much to do! I never realized how big Disney really is or the endless supply of things to do and see before living here.

I think the first and most important update I should mention is my department switch. When I was hired by Disney, I was hired to be in Food & Beverage. I have since made the switch to Attractions. About two months into my program, my managers approached me and informed me that both the Merchandise and Attractions departments in the Canadian Pavilion were understaffed, particularly Attractions. Apparently, they were so understaffed that they reached out to Food & Beverage and asked to recruit from their pool. Food & Beverage is always adequately staffed, so they could easily spare one or two cast members. My managers let me know as much, and since I hadn't taken any service training yet, asked if I would be interested in switching to Attractions. To be honest, this was welcome news. Although I would have been content to stay in Food & Beverage, I found the environment to be too fast-paced and stressful for my liking. After all, I came to Disney to have a good time. With this in mind, I told my managers that I was interested in switching departments. A few weeks later, the switch took place and I've been there ever since.

So what exactly is the attraction? Well, in the Canadian Pavilion, the attraction is a circle vision movie called "O Canada!" Circle vision means the screens cover the whole theatre. The movie is a fourteen minute-long tour of Canada, narrated by Canadian actor Martin Short and featuring a song by 2006 Canadian Idol winner, Eva Avila. That's pretty much what we say when guests ask about our attraction. There are three positions that we occupy - Greeter (greeting the guests at the entrance), Theatre (actually running the movie) and Kidcot (this is where guests can choose either a Duffy the bear or a Perry the platypus and get an official stamp from every pavilion. It's sort of a passport for World Showcase). It's been about two months now since I've been working in the attraction, and I'm happy with my decision. I love my co-workers and I'm enjoying the much more relaxed environment. It also allows for more guest interaction which was lacking in my Food & Beverage days.

In the last week, I celebrated my four-month anniversary of living at Disney with my arrival group. It's hard to believe it's been that long! My arrival group and I have made very good friends. We started this journey together and have remained close months on. We've made a point to celebrate our anniversary every month. This program has allowed me to meet some of the best people I've ever met in my life; from Canada and from all parts of the world (or at least the ones featured in World Showcase!) I know the friendships I make here will carry over long after I finish the program.

There is so much more I could update on, I hardly know where to start and where to end. I think this will do for now. At the very least, it's putting me in the practice of blogging again. Now that I'm feeling settled, I think it will be easier for me to update more regularly. For this blog post, I must give credit to my friend, Alex Cassels, for reminding me that people did follow my blog when I posted it originally and that I should continue updating it.

Until next time! :)

Long time, no see!

Hello My Lovelies!

It's been far too long! I've been here for over two weeks now, and so much has happened! Where do I even begin? Honestly, I feel like I've lost track of all time and place. The days have been so busy and there's been very little break time in between.

If you've been following my blog, you're probably wondering how I've made the adjustment from Ontario to Florida. Well, in a nutshell, I can say that it's been an adjustment. A very big adjustment...for me. My experience here, particularly the living arrangement, is quite different from what I'm used to. At home, I'm used to being on my own schedule and having a lot of privacy. That's pretty much out the window now. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It's all part and parcel of the CRP experience. Please keep in mind that I can only speak from my own perspective. What's stressful for me may not be stressful for you and vice versa.

I'll talk a little bit about the first couple of days. My flight from Toronto to Orlando was smooth. There were no delays or inclement weather conditions (thankfully). The immigration part of the trip, which I was nervous about beforehand, was fine as well. It took maybe five minutes for the immigration officer to talk to me and stamp my visa. 

When I arrived at Orlando International Airport, I met up with a group of people who were also starting on the 5th and we checked into housing together. We had planned to do so via chats on Facebook. This was great because none of us had to check in alone. Here's a happy piece of information - I can say that everyday I've met new people and they've all been very nice and welcoming. If you're a future CRP, I would suggest chatting with people from your start date because they'll be in the same position as you. It's great to have support when walking into a new experience like this. It certainly helps take some of the pressure off.

The first week or so was almost entirely orientation. I'll give you a heads up, you'll receive a lot of new information in a short amount of time. I was a little bit overwhelmed by it, but again, I can only speak from my own perspective. Change is never an easy thing, and we all have our own ways of dealing with it. My advice would be to just take it one day at a time and not look too far ahead.

It helps to know that everyone who's already here has been through this process too so they know what it's like. And on nights or days when you're not working, you get to spend time with new friends at the Disney Parks! What could be better?

There's a lot more that I could say about my first few weeks, but this will do for now. I just wanted to give you guys a general update. I will try to put aside some time every week to update this blog. It's important to me to keep you updated and to document this experience for myself.

On a parting note, if you're a CRP arriving in the next couple of months, here's the best advice I can offer - be very organized in the days leading up to your program arrival. Pack early and have all your official documents in order. Also, try to get as much rest as possible beforehand. This will help make the transition as stress-free as possible. I can't wait to see you guys here, and until then, take care!

A Journey Soon Begins...

I am now a week and a half away from my start date. It's crazy how fast the time has gone! It doesn't seem possible that my interview was over three months ago. Recently, I've been spending a lot of time with family and friends. They've all been really supportive and happy for me, which is great. This weekend I'll be seeing one of my best friends whom I haven't seen in a long time. She lives in Toronto, so I'll be able to say goodbye to some Canadian landmarks as well.

 

I've been so excited up until this point (and I still am very excited), but the bittersweet aspect of leaving is starting to kick in. I'm sure all of the CRPs are feeling this way. Everything I've done in the last little bit has been for the last time. Also, I can feel the trepidation building. The Disney experience has been built up and built up for so long (seven months), and now I'm finally going to be taking the plunge. It's a little scary. But mostly in a good way. I'm telling myself that I really wanted this experience and I feel it will be good for me. I'm just going to keep an open mind and a positive attitude.

 

In the next week, I'll be tying off loose ends and spending as much time as I can with people. With each new day, I'm getting closer and closer to my imminent and long-awaited journey...!

Disney Weekend!

The weekend of January 11th - 13th I hosted a Disney weekend for myself and two of the girls I met at the interviews, Laura and Victoria. Through Facebook, we had planned to get together once before we all leave for Florida. Victoria, a.k.a. Tori, was the first of us to go. She started at Disney on January 29th in Food & Beverage. Laura, who it turns out lives not far from me in Waterloo, will start on April 9th, also in Food & Beverage. They're both really lovely and this weekend we spent together was a lot of fun!

 

On Friday night, I drove to the bus terminal in Kitchener and met up with Laura and Tori. It was great to see them again. It had been exactly two months since we met at The Olde Spaghetti Factory. We got into my car, the girls each taking turns in the passenger seat, and drove to Turtle Jacks for dinner. We had a great time talking about how amazing the year ahead was going to be and reminiscing about the whole application process. We also made several plans for our time at Disney, including Once Upon a Time Tea Parties where we'll catch up on episodes of the show Once Upon a Time and drink tea. Just my thing!

 

After dinner, we drove home where we had the basement to ourselves. We spent the night gabbing about Disney and everything in between. The three of us have a lot of similar interests e.g. books, movies, music, etc. We could have easily talked all night, but we wanted to at least be functional the next day. We finally went to bed around 3:00 or 4:00.

 

In the morning, we went to Tim Horton's for coffee and made plans to see the film Les Miserables in the afternoon. I had already seen it once before (I'm a big fan of musical theatre). I cried the first time, but for some reason the emotions were hitting home a lot harder the second time around. There were several points where I could hardly contain myself. I was sensing the same from the girls. In retrospect, I feel a little bad that part of our Disney weekend was spent in tears, but honestly the film was brilliant. It deserves every accolade it's going to receive this award season.

 

After the movie, we needed something to lighten our spirits. Tori has quite a collection of Disney board games, some of which she brought along for the weekend. We played Disney Music (my favourite), Disney Pictionary, Disney Wheel of Fortune and a Disney Haunted Mansion board game. I offered up a version of Finish the Lyric with my Disney CD collection in which we played Disney songs on shuffle play and see who can finish the lyrics to the song once it stops playing. We got really into it! I got to show off my masterful drawing skills (not really) during Pictionary and nearly epically failed to correctly identify the phrase, THE SWORD IN THE STONE during Wheel of Fortune.

 

Between the Disney experience and all of our shared interests, we didn't have any trouble keeping busy that weekend. It went by in a flash. On Sunday morning, we had a final Tim's run and I dropped the girls off at the bus terminal. Laura's boyfriend was there to pick her up and we watched as Tori's bus left for Barrie.

 

All in all, it was an awesome weekend. The three of us hit it off really well. I look forward to many more great times at Disney.