Suzie, you've just graduated. What are you going to do next?

Now, I know what you’re thinking…long time no see. Right now I’m sure there’s a whole new bunch of people getting excited about their upcoming adventures in Orlando, Florida while I have been blissfully uninvolved. I say blissfully because in many ways this point in the adventure would be full of ups and downs as you try to book flights and insurance and worry about when your Disney folder will be arriving and so on. 

So what have I been doing since my last post in October? Well mostly been a grown-up Mouseketeer and working but on my days off I’ve been able to hang out with a couple of CPs from my Epcot days in London. Every now and again Disney comes bounding into my life - a colleague playing Disney songs, someone spotting my Mickey Mouse watch, Sherpas from Everest appearing on This Morning and so on.

Last week I finally graduated from university having first started my excursion into Higher Education back in September 2005. With the things I’ve done since I wouldn’t have had it any other way but still 6 1/2 years is a very long time. Shockingly, despite all the time I donated to the cause my graduation gown excluded a hat (Vivienne Westwood designed gown, health and safety, yada yada yada) so in protest I took along my own, and got a few jealous looks as a result.

So what’s next in my Disney themed adventures? Well I’ve got a few things lined up, the first of which is….

Disneyland Paris!

I’ve been twice before when I was 10 and 14 which means it’s been over 10 years since I was last there and back in my day there was only one park and no Earl of Sandwich. So what could make a trip to Disneyland Paris better than just being a trip to Disneyland Paris? 3 things:

1) I get to go with not 1 but 2 awesome WDW Cast Members that, quite frankly, help make every day more magical than the one before.

2) No flying. Well I actually kinda like flying these days but no flying means driving and driving means…. ROAD TRIP!!!!

3) It’s my BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!! I’ve always been jealous of people that have their birthdays conveniently located during school holidays because they potentially could be spending it somewhere really cool, like a Disney park, but  I’ve spent most  of mine in a classroom (with the odd exception when I was sick or it was a snow day) so this year will be the very first time that I will be celebrating my Birthday in a Disney park and I … can’t … wait!

Last time I was there my family didn’t own a digital camera, so unfortunately my computer is extremely lacking when it comes to photos of DLP so I’m sure that this is something I will have to make up for. 

So until then, here’s a photo of me on a roller coaster. 

As always, if you have any questions about Disney parks or the Disney International College Program then send me a message either via the comments section, the Facebook page or twitter.

Some adventures have only just begun...

It’s now 37 days since my second ICP finished and I returned to the UK.

What some might call a blogging fail, I prefer to refer to as being super busy and barely taking any time to stop. I was barely back 48 hours when my next adventure began and quite frankly I haven’t stopped since. To my amazement, even after I had left the magic of Disney World I was apparently still being spotted there so let assure you of 3 facts right now…

1) I have been in the UK since 3rd September

2) I do not own a pair of pink mouse ears with my name on.

3) Agent P is only ever visible in my backpack when he’s travelling internationally (it makes life easier at passport control :P )

Before I launch into a bit of a catch up I shall say this. If you have been reading my blog, watching my videos, or following my adventures via the Facebook page and have been thinking about having your own Disney adventure applications appear to be currently open on the Yummy Jobs website http://www.yummyjobs.com/opportunities/programmes/14/disneys-summer-work-experience/ and I can’t recommend the experience enough. In all likelihood I shall never have the opportunity to work directly for the mouse again but the 6 months I had were 6 of the most incredible months of my life and I would encourage everyone to apply.

Right…well that’s enough of that!

Around the time of my last post the mountain was going through a bit of a CP exchange, the old Cps were leaving and the new ones were arriving and I can safely say that I wish I’d been able to spend more time with both groups of people. There was mini golf, parks, steak and shake, sweet tomatoes, TGI fridays, fireworks and more and I loved every moment of it except for the leaving part. There were rumours that during my last few shifts some tears were sighted and I can safely say that was true.

Since my departure it has been announced that Animal Kingdom will be getting some new residents. Something similar happened over at Epcot after I left and I can only assume that each time I leave a gaping hole is left and that the only way Disney can fill it is through millions of dollars worth of investment. Epcot got Duffy and now Animal Kingdom will be getting the Navi, a race of giant blue humanoids from Pandora that featured in James Cameron’s documentary: Avatar. If you’ve seen Ferngully or Pocahontas you can basically just replace the fairies/native Americans with blue people and save yourself a couple of hours. That film is also the reason everyone insists on bringing films out in 3D, giving me a migraine in the process.

I shall be continuing this blog because there is much about the summer that I haven’t talked about and because Disney World is an ever changing place that occupies a high space in my heart. Until next time I shall leave you with two  photos from the summer.

We interupt your regular broadcast....

...to talk about films!

What can I say? I'm a film student and as soon as I stop studying them I enjoy going to the cinema even more!!!!

But first there is an important thing to mention here...that I am in no way affiliated with AMC or indeed any of the people that make the films I'm about to mention. Well...except for Disney but they aren't paying me to promote their films.

This week I have been to the cinema 3 times. Well actually, it's been 3 times in the last 24 hours and I would have gone a 4th time but figured I should leave something for me to watch in the next 3 weeks! One thing I LOVE about the AMC is how cheap it is to go and see a movie. With a flash of the old Cast ID a ticket is $8 which is A LOT cheaper than I'm used to paying in London where you can easily pay $20-25 a ticket. That means that those 3 films cost roughly the same as me seeing just one film at home. CRAAAAAAZY! One thing I don't love about the cinema, and let's face it, it's pretty much a universal thing, is the price of food and drink. Today I bought a large soda for $5.25 which entitled me to a free refill. Usually I don't bother with the large soda because that thing is way too huge for one movie but as I was seeing 2 back-to-back I figured why not? Well...I never even got close to finishing it by the end of the second movie. Even by the time I walked back to the bus stop I hadn't actually finished the thing so that means you'd need at least 3 people to be sharing it to finish it within 1 film and don't forget you then get a free refill on top of that so really you need 6 people. Mad isn't it!

Despite the soda I thoroughly enjoyed all 3 films I saw so if you want some entertaining then go and check out Cowboys and Aliens, The Change-Up, and The Smurfs! They are all as ridiculous as each other but in a good way.

The other source of movie fun that I love having here is the Disney Learning Centers. There's one at Vista Way and then ones at the various theme park cast service centers. There's a whole range of stuff to choose from (not just Disney!) and it's a free service. Vista Way lets you check out 2 films at a time for up to 4 days each (but not in the last 2 weeks of your program) which means you can leave those DVDs at home (Don't forget that you'll need to set your laptop/DVD player up to play Region 1 discs though!).

Well, I think that's pretty much it from me for today. Sayonara!

For Sarah

Today's post is dedicated to Sarah who says she's slaving away over her MA Dissertation and would appreciate hearing about how much fun I'm having in Florida. She genuinely asked me to blog more so it's not just me rubbing it in.

So far I haven't posted many pictures on here and there is a reason for that that I won't go into right this second but shall become clear once I've returned to the UK. One thing I can say about doing my second program at Disney is that I have continued to experience new things and go one new adventures. I didn't know how it would compare to my first program but it has been a completely different experience and I have made entirely new discoveries about myself and what I am capable of doing.

So with that said let's talk about some of this "fun" that Sarah thinks I'm having :P

Last week I got to go on the Wild Africa Trek at DAK (Disney's Animal Kingdom) that usually costs about $189.95 + tax but I was lucky enough to do for free as part of some DAK cast appreciation thing. There were 6 of us (all cast members) plus two tour guides: Bethany and Chapin, and many, many photos were taken.

One of the best things about the day was that I got to share it with 3 other cast members from Everest. Also....if anyone ever offers you jungle juice at Disney World then I highly recommend trying it.

My sister came down for the day a couple of weeks ago which was fun but also ridiculously busy. We visited Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney all in the space of 24 hours and got to meet some of the great people she works with at Hilton Head Island. Here are a couple of photos (I didn't take nearly enough though!)

This summer I've been trying to do things I haven't done before and it turns out there was quite a bit of DAK that I hadn't seen before including Rafiki's Planet Watch which is right in the back of the park and is only accessible via the Wildlife Express Train over in Africa. One thing that surprised me a little was that they have character meet and greets there so I got the chance to hang out with.....

....My consicience - Jiminy Cricket and Rafiki (who was in a very flirty mood by the way and was making some very odd noises!)

THere were also lots of animals that you could see up close: frogs, turtles, lizards, 10ft pythons, etc. Actually the snake seemed to be enjoying staring at everyone through the glass and had a surprisingly small head considering how big he was.

I also took some photos of Pandas...

:P

Once I returned to Africa I met, hands down, my favourite animal of the trip so far

This hippo was hilarious and clearly enjoyed showing of and having his picture taken. I haven't yet worked out whether it was Hans or Henry (who I met at the Wild Africa Trek) but H was awesome nonetheless.

Oh and then i did this....

So I have this fabulous ride counter app on my phone (made by wdwmagic.com) which basically does what it sounds like so here are some stats of the trip so far...

I have done 155 rides.
My 5 most popular rides are:
- Expedition Everest (36)
- Disney's Bus Transportation (9)
- Rock 'n' RollerCoaster (6)
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (6)
- Space Mountain (4)

The monorail would be on that list but it counts the different colours separately!

So yeah....that's all you're getting for now. I'm heading off to Animal Kingdom soon to say goodbye to some of the CPs that are leaving :'( and then heading off for dinner in a super secret location which I have been instructed not to talk about. I'd tell you, but my roommate kinda knows where I live!

Mountain Climbing

I've literally had the first 2 sentences of a blog post on my computer screen for the last 2 weeks and have failed to write anymore than that.

I'm now approximately halfway through my ICP program and have been having an amazing time. I've been hanging out with people from Everest, met up with my sister for an action-packed 24 hours and have spent a fair bit of time climbing the same mountain over and over again.

Now, I could go into loads of detail about every day so far but quite frankly I think I'd bore myself. So instead I'm going to talk about some of the differences between this year and last year, starting with............

MY ROLE!!!!

Obviously I have no idea what's going to happen in the next 5/6 weeks but as life stands I have loved working in both Attractions and Merchandise but they are very different.

Last year I spent a lot of time talking to guests whereas this year I spend a lot of time using a raised voice and repeating the same things over and over again while learning very little about the people I'm coming into contact with. Phrases such as "How many in your group?" and "Please pull up on your lap bar" are now a permanent part of my daily routine.

Side note: If a cast member ever asks you to "pull up on your lap bar" please do just that. Thrusting your pelvis in their face achieves nothing and will only mean them continuing to tell you to pull up on your lap bar or forcing them to push further down on it themselves.

Other differences that I've noticed is that guests get far more upset when something is wrong with something that is included in the price of admission than if they have to pay extra for it, which surprises me a little. So attractions requires a lot more skill in the damage control department because we can't issue refunds in the same way that you can in a store but on the upside we don't have to handle money on a daily basis so you don't have to concentrate on whether you're giving someone the right change or not while trying to converse with them at the same time.

One potential bonus of attractions (depending on what attraction you get) is that you'll get to ride your attraction - a lot! So far I've ridden Expedition Everest over 28 times and get to do so most days that I work (all for health and safety reasons, of course!). If you don't like riding the attraction you're working on then I can imagine this getting a bit boring after a couple of ride-throughs but so far I've not got bored of my mountain.

Before I sign off again I would like to state a few facts about my ride that I'm questioned about on a daily basis.

1) Everest is 3.5 minutes long.
2) You do NOT go upside down.
3) It is both indoor and outdoors.
4) The yeti is real, she does exist and her name is Betty.
5) The yeti is still in the same place as she was when the ride first opened.
6) The yeti is DEFINITELY there.
7) You do NOT go upside down.
8) It's a bit like Big Thunder Mountain except better, smoother and with a backwards section.
9) You only go around the mountain once.
10) There's only one drop and that's the one you can see from next to the bazaar
11) Yes I have been on the ride.

BTW if you want to feel like you're going upside down then the best place to sit is the front of the train. If you want to go faster through the double spiral then sit in the back of the train.

A Week in the Himalayas

The last week I've been waking up at some ridiculous time in the morning to head over to Animal Kingdom for training at Expedition Everest.

The first day was a bit "Aaaaaaaargh" because for the first time I got to do a ride at Disney with the lights on, got to see Betty the Yeti up close, walked all over the mountain and was trying to absorb a lot of information very quickly.

Occasionally I had to clear up some differences in wording of things. For example, Patrick (my trainer) kept saying stuff about trains being backed up and it took me a while to realise he wasn't talking about trains reversing but being stuck in a sort of traffic jam.

Over the first week I was taught how each position worked and where everything is in the mountain. On Monday, after 5 days of training, I had my assessment day which is apparently always done with a trainer that hasn't trained you. There was a written test, some oral questioning and then I had to show that I could perform each position correctly.

Attractions is completely different from Merchandise. Obviously, you're operating a ride so safety is more of an active concern but also the way you interact with guests is completely different. Very rarely am I able to wish people a happy birthday because most of the positions simply don't have time to do it or you have to be focussed on something else so can't do it.

One thing that I love about Everest is that you're only on each position for about 45 minutes with a break roughly every 2 hours and almost every position has you moving constantly so while I have suffered with blistered feet this week they're never suffering because I'm basically standing still for 3 hours which would happen in Merch. Some of the positions are pretty straightforward in a kind of "watch the train and hit a button" way while others can be a little more overwhelming at first because it feels like there's a lot you're trying to juggle at once. I've found that the key is sounding like you know what you're doing even if you're not 100% sure.

As for everything not work related....

Today lots of people had their social security appointments. Thankfully, I got to just sleep in instead because I'd already done that stuff before. I've been going to the parks a lot during downtime - either on days off or after work and then in the evenings we've mostly just been chilling in the apartment.

This week I've been to Earl of Sandwich twice which was obviously awesome! Those sandwiches taste soooooooo good!

Oh....and yesterday I found out my degree classification - 2:1 which caused me to burst into tears so I celebrated with a trip to the Magic Kingdom with Kirsty where I FINALLY went to Tom Sawyer Island. The place astounded me because there's so much detail there and some of the stuff was quite fun too, especially the barrel bridge and waving to people on Big Thunder Mountain and the paddleboat.

For those that are interested I have, in the last week, ridden Everest 10 times. It'll be interesting to see how many times it'll have been by the end of the summer.

Downtime

Last year I had maybe 1 day off between my park orientation and starting at Towers. This year I've been given 4 days off. Now, if I'd only finished uni 2 days before I arrived in Orlando that would be fine but honestly, I just want to get working now!

Today has been spent "coaching" Joanne for her run in September, chilling by the pool, sorting out housing stuff, packing and skyping. Fear not loyal followers I have no intention of leaving Orlando yet. I'm actually just moving apartments which was always on the cards since I found out that 3 of my roommates are finishing their program next week. I'm not moving far though and have 3 days to move my stuff. Hopefully it should only actually take about 30 minutes or so to move it all but it's nice that they've given me more than enough time to move. Good thing I haven't really bought anything yet!

I STILL haven't eaten at Earl of Sandwich yet but hopefully that should be resolved within the next week. If I have to I'll send the yeti out to get one for me!