"Another Mickey Waffle!"

     “If you can dream it, you can do it!”  

  These words from Walt Disney were in my head, so I decided to apply for the Disney College Program. Some people dream their whole life of working for Disney. I was one of those. Being from a small town in WV, I didn't think that dream would ever come true. Disney's quote proved me wrong! I got the chance to intern for Disney World and their College Program. Working for Disney has always been my #2 dream job. This experience was the best seven and a half montrhs of my life! I met and friended people from all over the world! Literally anywhere I met Orlando natives like Kim, Rodrigo from Brazil, and Majie from New Zealand. Some of who I am still in contact with; for example, Christine from Illinois is my first and only pen pal! #oldschool Three components of the DCP is live, learn and earn. I'm gonna hit on all these three and more.

 The process is long. You apply. Then, you have a web interview. Next up, you have a phone interview. Then, you wait. Usually I'm a patient person. The wait was almost three weeks; however, it felt like three months. On March 1st, 2014, I got the email that would change my life, more than I would ever know. Then I had to wait almost three more months to move. On May 25th, I was off to Florida knowing I wouldn't be back in The Mountain State until after the new year. I was too excited to be nervous! I was going to have three roommates, I didn't know. (2 from NY and 1 from MA.) Of the three, I thought I was going to like Rob and Jason; however, ended up liking all three. Matt and I had little in common. A really long walk to Panera started our friendship. I have many great memories with my roommates. Like seeing multiple Bob Jackson shows, to singing Backstreet Boy songs half the night and movie and dinner nights.

 We lived in Disney housing. There are four apartment complexes. I lived in Vista Way, which was not that spectacular; however, I have some fond memories. As my roommates know, Tuesday was always curry night. I had lots of movie nights with roommates and friends. There were karaoke nights and grocery bingo. I played grocery bingo twice. Once was inside and I won the other time was outside.  One memorable moment was going to a party where most people spoke Portuguese. One girl sung "County Roads" to me! I had instantly fallen in love. I had a Christmas Eve party and about 20 people showed up and crowded in my tiny apartment living room.The party was over, I had everything cleaned up and was in bed when Katlyn, from MD, text and said is the party still going on? I got out of bed and talked to her for about twenty minutes. I spent all day in the kitchen preparing food. Other people brought food as well. I had leftovers for days. If I would've had to spend this night alone, I would've been extremely homesick. It's safe to say I made a little family for myself while I was there.

I ended up working at a resort. This was heartbreaking at first; however, I ended up appreciating it. This kept visiting a park fresh. I worked at Disney's All Star Sports End Zone Food Court. (Long name, right?) I walked into work at 5am on June 3rd with my new friend Liz, from Jersey, where we were greeted by two Jamaican sisters, who are as sweet as they are sassy. (Esmina and Carol) I thought "Please don't wake up Nicholas!" Well the dream continued for exactly seven months. Most of the people I worked with were nice. Joyce from China was probably the nicest person I've ever met. (I did, however, butt heads with one lady constantly.) Sometimes the dream turned into a nightmare! The lines while serving food was so long sometimes I wanted to say "go away and leave me alone!" But I had to stay in Disney character and keep smiling. I'm glad I took one semester of drama in high school. I became a fill in trainer towards the end, whenever someone who was supposed to train didn't show up I filled in. While there I friended some wonderful people like, Andrea and Parker from NY. Over Memorial Day weekend, I saw them again when I went to visit Matt. I didn't get paid the greatest  wage; but , typically it was enough to eat and have fun.

     I rarely worked past 1:30pm. In the afternoon, I'd go home, take a nap, and head to the parks in the evening. I rarely got more than 4 hours of sleep a night, so that 2 hour nap in the afternoon was necessary. Getting in the parks for free for seven months is a daily gift from Mickey! If you wanna hop to all four parks in one day, ya can! I also got to see and explore every disney resort hotel. One day with my friend Elaina, from Ohio, I got up early headed to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and back to Magic Kingdom, all in one day! (No Epcot today.) Our six roommates, and another friend, Lane from Florida, met us up throughout the day. Being in the parks so often gives you the opportunity to see things you don't notice on a one-time vacation. You get to see people experience things for the first time. You get to see the spark in a child's eye when they see their favorite character for the first time. You get to see Make-A-Wish families often and while it's heartbreaking it is also touching. You get to the point where you don't get upset if you don't get to do everything. You don't have to rush to see everything. I think people realize you work there, even on your day off, because people asked me to take their pictures or asked me for directions all the time.

     But the magic still stays alive for you as a cast member! I got to meet Goofy's son Max for the first time on my birthday at this moment I turned into a 4 year old. Max doesn't spend a whole lot of time in the parks; so, that was magical. Especially since it was while I was celebrating my birthday. One day Andrea and I were sitting on a bench in Epcot in Canada and about 7 random characters came out for meet and greets. So we met characters and didn't have to wait in lines at all!

While being in the parks almost daily, I ran into people I knew. I ran into Jon, of PA, who I met at college who was working at EPCOT. (I had no clue!) I also ran into other people I knew from WV , or other people I knew from Disney. One day I sat down next to this guy and I whispered to my roommate Matt “this guy is from my hometown.” He said “yea right!” In a few seconds he looks over at me and says “You look familiar.” I said “I'm from WV.” He said “No way! Me too!” I turned back to Matt and gave him that “told ya” look. I met a family from WV almost every week. It really is a "small world!" Being from WV, there is a lack of diversity. I got to learn so much about other cultures and other people. I learned a lot just from talking to people. I also took a class but I learned more from meeting people and having conversations with them. My high school Spanish teacher told me I had a terrible Spanish accent but one day I had a fluent conversation with a lady in Spanish. I was proud that I overcame barriers of my southern twang to do this.


        I did other cool things while I lived in Florida for seven months. I went to visit my family in Siesta Key. I also explored my adventurous side by Skydiving with my roommate Matt and two of his coworkers from Hollywood Studios. I went scuba diving in the huge tank at EPCOT with Parker and Chris. I also visited Universal about ten times with my season pass! Bethany and I went to Karaoke at Universal and I sang "Dock of the Bay" with their live band and background singers!

      Again not everything is magical. I had several guest at the resort who were not friendly. There were days after work I wanted to pack up and go home. One day I was at Animal Kingdom and a storm tore through and tree limbs fell everywhere. You notice everything that doesn't go quite right in park shows because you've seen them so much. I clocked out of my last day of work and went to Magic Kingdom. Parker had never been on Splash Mountain, so we decided to go. A vast majority of this ride is inside and during a small part outside a very nice bird decided to drop a present on me from the sky. Parker said my face was priceless. I also have an embarrassing moment that still makes me blush every time I think about it.

 

     I did pick up three shifts in the parks. 2 in Magic Kingdom and 1 in Hollywood Studios. (On New Year's Eve night I got paid to watch the fireworks, while doing crowd control, to the side of the castle I had the best spot in the park!)

   It sounds pretty great, why did I leave? I was offered to extend. I fought with myself; however, I wanted to finish my bachelor degree. I came home and did that. I was depressed for about 3 months. But if I had stayed I wouldn't been teaching right now which was my #1 dream job. My 2014 birthday I was working my #2 dream job and my 2015 birthday was my first day as a teacher. I consider this a great accomplishment. I credit my time at Disney for a lot of things but most importantly, I regained my love for life. Working and college had kinda sucked the life out of me. I had so many wonderful experiences while I was in Orlando. I recommend this to anyone in college. Whether you like Disney or not. It is a great experience! (There is also a professional internship for people out of college!)
       Feel free to like and comment! 

Andrea (left), Majie (right) and I watching Into The Woods on Christmas Day!