What I'm Looking Forward To...

So, there are a lot of things that I'm looking forward to about this program. I can finally go to the parks that I've never been to before! For free! I've never been to Animal Kingdom, or fully explored Hollywood Studios. I can get into Magic Kingdom all I want and explore EPCOT ALL the time.(I wonder if I can get into Disney Quest for free... Hmm. That would be AWESOME.)

• Disney Quest is the four-story arcade in Downtown Disney. They have all different kinds of games and "attractions" inside. For example: There is a whole floor dedicated to virtual reality Pirates of the Caribbean games. When I found this out, I FREAKED. There is also a floor where you can design your own roller coaster, then RIDE it. (Virtually, of course.) But still! How awesome is that? Ah, the inner nerd in me is having a freak out happy moment. I don't know what the other two floors consist of. But I'm sure they're full of awesome.

• Animal Kingdom- I have never been there. I know, I know, that is such a sin for any Disney lover, but I've never been a big fan of zoos, and thus, Animal Kingdom has never interested me before. My parents didn't see the point of paying for the tickets if no one was really interested. But I have always wanted to experience it ONCE and ride the ride with the Yeti. I'm sure I'll do the Safari ride at least once. I want to see the shows there and see the Tree of Life. The DCP gives me the opportunity to do this. (For free. As many times as I want.)
• Hollywood Studios- I haven't properly explored this park. I went for the first time last year, and I after I left, I found out that I only explored HALF of the park. I didn't know there was more. Once I got to Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster, I didn't leave that area. It was kinda awesome and sad at the same time. I kind of want to work here too. I loved the Art of Animation section of the park, I learned how to draw Pluto and Dopey like a pro.  

Other than getting into the parks for free, I found out that I can go on specific Cast Member tours/events in the park. Like, riding Space Mountain with the lights on, or taking a tour of Haunted Mansion with the lights on!!! How cool would that be?! I could also get discounts on tours and even do the Cast Member only tours.

• Cinderella's Castle Tour- It's just something I've always wanted to do, to see the suite that people can stay in at the Disney resort. I mean, how does that work? Do people actually stay in there? Or is it a tease? Imagine if you stay in there and the park closes, and suddenly you want to go ride It's a Small World? Could you do that? Idk. It'd still be awesome.

Since I'll be there in the Fall, I'll get to be at Disney for the four major holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. I've always wanted to see the parks during the holidays, but usually the tickets are a little more expensive, and my parents don't understand why I would want to go to Disney World for vacation. ("Vacation time is to relax, Katie." I call shenanigans on that.)

(This is the show from last year, and I reallllllly hope I see it this year. :D )

• Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween is something that I've always wanted to see with my own two eyes. It's obviously around Halloween, and the characters themselves are in "costume" and the villains walk amongst the guests! I am a HUGE fan of all of the villains. (My absolute favorite being Dr. Facilier from Princess and the Frog. :D)  There is also trick-or-treating for the guests! You go to a ride, and you get candy. Not just one piece, but roughly 4 or 5 per ride. Crazy! The inner-child in me is freaking out now too.  
• Disney at Christmas- I think this is pretty much self-explanatory. Magic Kingdom decorated in thousands of Christmas lights, there are carolers everywhere, the parades are supposed to be fantastic, and in Hollywood Studios, it SNOWS. In Florida. They make it snow every day. Sure, it's soap flakes, but still. I'm a huge Christmas fan, and I can't think of anywhere else to bring ALL of the magic of Christmas to life than Disney.

I don't actually know what they do for Thanksgiving or New Years, and this will be my chance to find out! There isn't a whole lot more to say about how excited I am, but this is just laying out the specific things that I know are going to happen while I'm down there.

I'm Officially Accepted!

Yay!! I got this email today! I'm so excited! Now I get to explore the website to the fullest and get all of the information I need! I have a LOT of documents to fill out and they have these two guys who talk to me through videos and of course they're super cheesy. One looks like Jonah Hill before he cut his hair, its actually kinda hilarious.

I have the option of filling out a roommate survey, but I'm not entirely sure that I want to do that. According to that, I'd be stuck with that person no matter what, so if we do meet before the program and we don't like each other, we're stuck. Hm, maybe I will. I can also play a mini-game thing, called "Mission Time Keeper," which is where you can test your knowledge of Disney history. :) I'd like to think I'd be good at it, but for some reason I can't sign into it. Lame.

Well, that's really as exciting as it gets for right now. I get to spend my time filling out documents and making sure I have a passport. Aha. That will be fun. I also realized that I have to save all of my money from now to August. No more movies for this girl! Sad. But totally worth it. :3 Only.... 6 more months!

Welcome to my blog!

Hey everyone! What does one say about this blog? Hmm, well lets start off with why this blog exists.

My name is Katie, I'm 19 years old, and I'll be spending my Fall 2012 semester of college in the Disney College Program, (DCP). I'm not going to go into much detail about what the program is, but if you're really interested, this is the website: disneycollegeprogram.com. :) This blog is mainly for the purpose of keeping my friends and family updated on what happens in my life while working at Disney World, and to educate anyone else who might be interested in knowing what the DCP is like.

While I'm at Disney World, I will be working attractions. As an attractions cast member my responsibilities include:

1. Working in one of the Disney theme parks with any one of the “rides” or theatre shows;
2. Loading and unloading Guests from an attraction;
3. Operating sophisticated ride systems;
4. Memorizing and delivering lengthy narrations on a microphone to large groups;
5. Handling the evacuation of an attraction when necessary;
6. Monitoring Guest flow and providing a safe Guest experience;
7. Assisting with audience control, including during parades;
8. Operating a motorized vehicle;
9. Cleaning areas surrounding attractions;
10. Working with FASTPASS ® systems

Whoa. That sure sounds like a lot, huh? I can't even begin to describe how freaking excited I am! I really want to work at either Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios. I always wanted to be one of the Jungle Cruise skippers, or one of the creepy people who work Haunted Mansion or Tower of Terror. Not only are they super clever with their death puns, and are super awesome at being creepy, the costumes are fantastic! Especially around Halloween. (You get to have cobwebs and extra creepy makeup added to your costume.) Example:

"Fill in all the dead space." "Step lively." "Step into the dead center of the room."

(Ahahaha. Death puns. Classic.)

Or, I'd like to work Pirates of the Caribbean, cause anyone who knows me knows that I could totally be a pirate all day every day without any complaint. Haha! But the ultimate nerd in me wants to work the Star Wars ride. I've never ridden it myself, because when I went to Hollywood Studios, it was closed, but I know it exists and I'm so excited!

I leave for Disney World, August 20th, so I still have a ways to go, but I'll be keeping the blog updated until then. This blog gives me something to get all of my excited feelings down on virtual paper. Haha! Until next time!