Lydia's DCP Experience

I'm Lydia and I am going to be a Merchandise Cast Member at Walt Disney World for the 2014 Fall Disney College Program! This is a little blog to let all my family and friends back home know what I am up to while on my College Program.

[lydiascp]

One Month To Go!

One month from today I will be back on a plane to Oregon. I thought I would do another bucket list update, to let you know what all I've done.

2. Go to all 4 parks in one day

I posted already about the doing the 4 Park challenge, if you wanna here more about that, you can check out that post.

4. Eat at 1900 Park Fair

If you read my last bucket list post, I technically have already completed it. However, yesterday I was able to go the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at 1900 Park Fair. Not only was the breakfast buffet delicious, but we met Tigger and Pooh (twice!), Alice, Mary Poppins and The Mad Hatter.

5. Eat at Belle's Castle

I have also already done this for lunch, but I got to eat there for Dinner!

(This was the AWESOME chicken I forgot to take a picture of before I started eating it.)

10. Go to Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party.

I also made a whole post about this.

12. Go to Universal

Universal is awesome, and I've gone like 3 times. I visited Harry Potter and rode a bunch of fun rides.

13. Ride the Hulk at Universal

This ride is crazy, it goes upside-down like 6 times. I've rode it 4 times, but the last time was just about enough for me. 

21. Go to the Osborn Spectacle of Lights

I've been here a few times, but every time it is amazing. If you ever go to Disney World a Christmas this is a must see!

I've done some more things, the internet is just acting up, so its not letting me post pictures. I'll post more later!

[lydiascp]

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

I went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party in the Magic Kingdom this last week. It was pretty fun, but I am partial to the Halloween party, just because I feel like there is more to do with Halloween entertainment-wise. And the Halloween parties I went to weren't sold out, so they were less crowded, while this Christmas party was sold out (on a Thursday in November- I know crazy) and was INSANE and extremely crowded.

There were some fun things though.

Of course Elsa lit the Castle, and it snowed on Main Street.

We wore festive lights and ears - as seen here on my roommate and I.

The fireworks were beautiful and timed to Christmas Music of course. 

But a highlight of the night was walking up to Be Our Guest and seeing if they had any cancellations, and they did! If you know anything about Be Our Guest for dinner, you know that booking 180 days in advance is vital, but we were lucky that night!  

We carried Lumiere to our seats.

We had the privilege of sitting in the secretive west wing.

And the chicken I had was blessed by the Heavens. It was absolutely the most delicious thing I had ever tasted. Obviously, I couldn't even wait to take a picture before I started eating.

And at the end we got to take a picture with the Master himself, the Beast!

And then we did the parade and looked at the characters in their holiday getup, but the lines were so long we didn't wait in line to see any of them. We also took advantage of the free hot chocolate and cookies (or apple cider and apple cider for the gluten and lactose free)

So all in all it was fun and festive!

[lydiascp]

Four Park Challenge!

My birthday was the other day and my roommates is soon, so we ate at Trail's End Restaurant at Fort Wilderness. 

There were Mickey waffles involved and delicious hash browns and fruit! And we ate underneath a stuffed bison. We drank out of mason jars and off tin plates. It was very quiet and relaxed, not crazy like most disney restaurants. I had never been to Fort Wilderness and it was a cool place, very different and secluded from Disney Property.

Next we had a plan: to do the Four Park Challenge. Which is basically you do all four parks in one day, which seems a lot easier than it was. It was exhausting. What we did was park at Magic Kingdom, take the bus to Animal Kingdom, the bus to Hollywood Studios, the boat to Epcot and then the monorail (that was the plan, the monorail broke down that night so we ended up taking a bus) to Magic Kingdom. We didn't get started until afternoon because of the delicious breakfast we had.

First Stop: Animal Kingdom

We went straight to Expedition Everest, and the very sweet cast member at the front gave us fast passes for a birthday! Yay, Magical Moments! And then we took a picture with safari Mickey and Minnie.

And then we walked around a little bit and looked at the big tree, because we hadn't spent much time looking at all the detailed animals carved into the tree.

Next we moved to Hollywood Studios!

We rode the Tower of Terror twice that day, my favorite. And we also ran into a bunch of characters! There was a bunch of characters over by the Tower of Terror, behind the large gate that opens up to Fantasmic! People didn't know about it so we got to meet all the characters. 

Also there was: Mulan, Robin Hood, Aladdin and Jasmine, Stitch, and Pocahontas. It was AWESOME!

Next we went to Epcot.

We ate a bunch of delicious things a Food and Wine of course. Then David Cook was playing at the America Theatre. So we listened to him for a while. And we hung out at the Chase lounge. 

My favorite pudding from Ireland! 

Lastly, we went to Magic Kingdom.

We rode Mine Train, and enjoyed the Christmas Decorations at Magic Kingdom and watched the night show where Elsa lights up the castle!

It was freaking awesome.

But by the end of the day we were absolutely exhausted! But it was great day!

[lydiascp]

My Parents Came to Visit

So my parents came to visit in... October, but I'm just getting around to posting now.

When my parents were here we did lots of fun things like go to Mickey's Not So Scary:

and visit lots of parks and do other fun things!

We got to eat at Be Our Guest for Lunch and it was delicious! 

It was fun to have them visit and get to show them the park from my point of view after working here, and for me to have a break and spend times enjoying the parks instead of just working!

[lydiascp]

Halfway?? :(

It's almost half way through my program (crying). It's absolutely insane how fast this has been going. It's already October and I started in August. I feel like there is still so much to do! But today I'm going to focus on what I have done. These are all things that I put on my Disney College Program Bucket List and that I have completed so far!

#4 Eat at 1900 Park Fair - My mom and I did this before the program even began. We had dinner with Cinderella and the stepsisters and Lady Tremaine. I even danced a little with Prince Charming.

#6 Get a Chocolate and Carmel covered Marshmallow from Germany - These things are my favorite! I may have completed this task more than once so far ;).

#7 Watch Illuminations - Illuminations is the fireworks show at Epcot. I have now seen this show from a number of different places thanks to working at Epcot. I've seen it normally from around the world showcase, I've seen it from the strollers location while working (only the top of the fireworks, and I've seen it from backstage (where if you don't know its coming it will really freak you out with the loud booms).

#8 Ride in the Globe thingy at Epcot- Really this is called Spaceship Earth, and I had never been on it before. It's like a ride through attraction where you go through the eras of the world and the hallmarks of humanity. It's nice and air-conditioned and is kinda fun to realize you're literally riding around in the giant "golf ball".

#9 Go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party- I've already done this once with the Roomies, but I'm going to do it again this Friday when my parents come to visit! The fireworks show was AMAZING and we went to the Villain's Dance Party. If you've never busted a move with the Evil Queen you're really missing out!

 #17 Watch the Festival of the Lion King - This show is amazing. I've seen it once while I've been here, I'll see it again for sure. Those acrobatic monkeys are just too cool!

#18 Go on the Dinosaur Ride- This ride is kinda similar to Indian Jones in the sense that its a very bumpy car ride, but it's not as cool. But it has some super scary Dinosaurs. I had never been on this ride before, and that produced this pretty awesome ride photo. (Middle Row)

Ps It was not any less scary the second time (Back Row)

#19 Go Resort Hopping - My mom and I did this when we were waiting for my check in day, it was when I fell in love with the Grand Floridian <3.

#20 Ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train- I get more and more impressed with this ride every time I go on it, but I'm still a bigger fan of the classic Thunder Mountain Rail Road.

#35 Eat a Dole Whip - Pretty much every time I'm in Magic Kingdom.

#43 Get a Picture with TINKERBELL (aka my favorite) -My excitement was too much.

#45 Get a Treat from Goofy's Candy Company- Well I work here, so thats pretty much me daily.

#55 Earn a Four Key's Fanatic Card- These are given to you when a coworker, coordinator or leader notices you doing something displaying safety, courtesy, show and/or efficiency. I've received 3 so far on my program, one for cleaning up and giving a new Goofy Glacier to a guest that had dropped theirs, one for bringing samples of Goofy Glaciers to Guest relations when the line was long, and one for giving a very upset young man stickers to make him smile, when he was having a bad day battling his illness in the parks (that one almost made me cry).

I've done a lot of awesome things, and I plan on doing more, and adding even more to my list while I'm here!

[lydiascp]

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

[lydiascp]

Update & Epcot's Food and Wine!

I've been doing a poor job a updating this...

But anyway, I've been working at Epcot for the last week, and its nice, but I really hope to go back to Goofy's sometime, I miss making candy and treats! I've been busy at Epcot renting out strollers, ECV's and wheelchairs though.

I went to food and wine at Epcot for lunch one day with one of my roomies and it was SO GOOD. I wish I would have taken pictures, but we sampled from a few different places, all of which offered naturally gluten-free options.

First we went to Africa and tried their Beef Tenderloin Tips Berbere-style with Okra, Jalapeños, Tomato and Pap. I didn't know what that meant, but it was so good! My favorite part was the pap. I have no idea what it is, but it was like a grain (but somehow like a mush?), but it was really delicious and seasoned well. I thought the jalapeños would make it spicy but they really didn't.

Next stop was Brazil, where we had Brazilian Cheese Bread. I was shocked that it was Gluten Free, because it was like some creamy cheese inside a bread like crust. It was really good, the cheese tasted a little fake-y, but when you haven't had cheesy bread in a long time it was good, and had a bread like texture.

After that was dessert at Ireland. It was DIVINE. It was a Warm Chocolate Pudding with Kerrygold Irish Cream Liqueur Custard. It was tiny, but my roommate and I shared it and that was more than enough because this thing was RICH. The texture was more of a half cooked brownie, and I wasn't the largest fan of the custard on its own, but it was good on top of the pudding.

Lastly, we went to Canada for the creme-de-la-creme, the "Le Cellier" Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle Butter Sauce. Oh. My. Goodness. This thing was AMAZING. It wasn't cheap for the size of it, but I have never had meat literally melt in your mouth. LITERALLY MELT, like it was chocolate. It was so good I can't even describe. I don't like mushrooms, so I pushed those to the side, but oh my, it was amazing.

There are still many gluten free options that I haven't tried yet, so I look forward to my parents coming to visit and going back to Food and Wine and eating everything else on my list!

[lydiascp]

Epcot!

I have officially been deployed from Goofy's and am working in future world north in Epcot! Which entails strollers, the gift shop and the camera center! Today is my first day so we'll see how this goes.

[lydiascp]

Had some fun at magic kingdom with my roommates and Gaston. Working a lot. Mostly closing shifts. Which means I don't get home until after 1 a lot! But the other day we gave a free slushy and balloon to a lady who's 40th birthday it was. She was very excited and was like "I thought I was too old for this." So it was fun!

[lydiascp]

I've been working hard and playing hard these last couple days. I had a fun magical moment the other day where we called the birthday hotline for these 3 little girls. They were so excited to hear from goofy! Also, I've had my first couple days without training! I've been working the register by myself. On my first day of work a girl dropped a glacier (like a slurpee) on the floor. So I grabbed her a new one and a started cleaning the floor. Later one of my coordinators gave me a Four Keys Fanatic card, which is like a compliment card that goes on your record. So that was really exciting! (The picture above has the Elsa I drew at Hollywood Studios and the one I won from the animator) We also had a fun moment with Phineas and Ferb. Those characters don't often have a long line so they can spend a lot of time interacting with guests. So it was really fun interacting and dancing with them!

[lydiascp]

Update

The past week has been full of training. It's been a lot of fun, but a lot of long hours and information.

The register freaked me out the first couple of times I used it, and I messed up the "disney count" when giving back change. However, with a lot of practice I'm getting pretty good at it. 

The other day some birthday girls came into the shop and we called up Goofy to give them a special birthday message, and they were really excited about it and it was too cute.

I've already had my first hiccup as well, when my alarm didn't go off for my 6 am shift, and I woke up at 4:30, threw on my clothes (grabbed my already packed lunch - yay!) and made the 4:45 bus. Go me. That was very lucky.

Today is going to be my first shift off training! It's a little scary to not have someone there to guide you through everything, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it! I'm working in the shop, so mostly register. It should also be crazy because it's labor day weekend.

[lydiascp]

Just had my first closing shift (4:30 to 1am) and I learned how to make the specialty apples. These are my first Minnie and Goofy apples! The Goofy is the hardest one to make (and matches my outfit perfectly). I also worked the dip station where I did the custom dipping of people's apples, Mickey Rice Krispies, marshmallows and more! So that was crazy. We had like 10 orders at once during one point. But we did it. I even got to be a part of a magical moment where we gave a couple celebrating their 10th anniversary with bride and groom chocolate covered strawberries! That was fun. I also learned to clean the onstage kitchen, less fun. So far I'm loving getting to make treats! It's fun and people (and children especially) get so excited about their treats. I'm seriously exhausted and I'm on the bus ready to pass out when I get to my apartment!

[lydiascp]

It's 4:37 am and I'm waiting for the bus! I have my first 6am shift and so I had to request special transportation to get to work because they busses don't run that early for downtown Disney. Tomorrow I have the closing shift, so I'll get to experience both ends of the spectrum!

[lydiascp]

So the past couple days I've had a lot of training, basically training on Disney guest services, cash register, and other merchandise-y things. It's mostly been in a classroom. I did have some training on downtown Disney, where we went on a walking tour so we can give directions and recommendations to our guests. Other than that I have spent a lot of time at the parks, taking it in as much as possible! I'm going to be training at a lot of crazy hours, like 6 am to 2:30 and 4 pm until 1 am. So it should be interesting. But I have to be trained to make all the delicious treats they make at Goofy's! I'm having a great time so far (except for the heat- oh my goodness, I've never felt this heat in my life!) but I've heard the heat starts to die off in September, so I'm looking forward to that.

[lydiascp]

I haven't posted anything for a while, because I've been having too much fun! When in not training I've been spending time in the parks! We got our name tag at traditions and I love it so much. I'm so happy to be part of the Disney family.

[lydiascp]

My mom leaves today so we are spending one last morning resort hopping. We've been to almost every hotel on Disney Property! I plan on posting some pictures of my apartment later on this week. Tomorrow I have traditions and get my Disney ID and then on Friday I think I'm going to go the the parks! Then I officially start on Saturday.

[lydiascp]

Goofy's Candy Company!

I have finished check in and casting! I’m working at downtown Disney at Goofy’s candy company. So I will be on a sugar high forever! Casting really didn’t take that long, about an hour so that wasn’t bad. Next is the hard part. Moving all of my stuff in!

I don’t have traditions until Thursday (bummer) and then I start training Saturday!