Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The beginning

About a year ago, I figured out that I would be able to graduate early. Four months ago, I was accepted into the Disney College Program. Two months ago, I was cast as a character performer in the parks. And yesterday, I began my four-month stay in Disney.

We arrived at 7am for check-in. Lucky that we did because as the minutes passed the line got longer and longer. We were finally allowed into the complex at Vista Way to begin the process of getting our housing assignments. The three girls that I had been talking to (Allison, Kirsten, and Alex) and I were fortunate to get exactly what we wanted: a two-bedroom apartment at Chatham Square.

Once housing was completed, we were bussed over to casting where we had to go to numerous stations to finish the process. During the middle of this, I got stuck at the fingerprinting station. Apparently, my fingers just don’t work when it comes to electronic fingerprinting? Maybe because they are so small… Well, finally they just let me fill out a form for a background check so I could continue through casting and get back to my roommates. The rest of the day was filled with unpacking, a housing meeting, a trip to walmart, and TGIFridays (where cast members get a 15% discount!) It was a long but productive day.

While at casting, we were told that Tuesday would be a “settle-in” day and Traditions would start on Wednesday. To this apartment, “settle-in” day ended up translating to Harry Potter world! What can I say about this place except that

it is absolutely great. The Forbidden Journey ride is truly one of a kind. It really felt like I was flying along on the Quidditch field with Harry and Ron. Other parts of the trip to Hogwarts included visiting Ollivander in the wand shop and trying some butterbeer in Hogsmeade. We visitied other parts of the Island of Adventure too but none of them came close to the experience in the wizarding world. I look forward to them expanding in the future so that the trip can last longer.

Tomorrow, I go to Traditions which is a Disney employee orientation session and then I am off again until Friday when I start my role training.

Until next time, have a magical day :)

* The Alice in Wonderland doors at casting *

0 comments: