Seaworld

DCP - Day 47 - September 29, 2012

Today Abby and I went to Seaworld.  We started the morning watching the dolphins and feeding the sting rays. 

 

 

Then I spent a few minutes trying to convince Abby to ride Kracken. I was finally success and after the ride…I was the one who wasn’t sure about the second time. Made me just a little dizzy. I’m getting old. Haha.

 

Abby and I also got to feed the sea lions and seals and some sharks.  The sea lions and seals were so cute. 

Abby kept getting annoyed at the angry birds that would try to steal the fish we were feeding the animals.

 

 

We also got to see the Shamu show and the Clyde and Seymour show.  They were both very good.  The dolphin show however was...interesting.  The dolphins just weren't in the show a lot so it was a little weird.

 

I had such a wonderful day with my roomie!

 



 

 

 

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade

DCP – Day 44 – September 26, 2012

So today I met the Noble family at Animal Kingdom for lunch.  While we were eating, a park operations guy came to our table and asked if we wanted to be in the parade.  AND SO WE GOT TO BE IN THE PARADE.

 

Easily one of the best thing that’s ever happened at Disney.  It was so cool to ride around in the back of the parade float with MICKEY MOUSE and see everyone waving and getting all excited that Mickey was there.  I love my job.

 

I also love Expedition Everest.  Especially with Rebecca.

 

 

 



Countdown to Fun

DCP – Day 36 – September 18, 2012

So today I worked the outdoor cart but thanks to a thunderstorm that hung around all day, I didn’t actually have to work outside.  I was stuck on door duty where I went to the closest store and told people to stay out of the doorway and be careful.  But all the fun happened after work when my suitemate, Erika, met me at the Studios.  We had a blast. 

Like riding Tower of Terror.  You can’t really tell but Erika, the one in the red on the far right corner, was holding on to the cage of the elevator.  I told her to hold her hands up and she did for a second…before chickening out and grabbing on to the cage.  It was hilarious.

As was when we were riding Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster and we decided to do the ‘Erika Pose,’ which is when you hold on for dear life on a ride.  Well, I did the ‘Erika’ but Erika did the random peace signs.

And then we got introduced to our new best friend, R2-D2.  He decided to ride Tower of Terror with us.

And R2 loved it.  Although, I’m not sure I can say the same about Erika.

 

Wild African Trek Pics

DCP - Day 33 - September 15, 2012

 

I finally got my photo CD from the Wild African Trek I took a few weeks ago.  Here are some of my favorite pictures!

Me at the Hippo exhibit

Hippo!

Me on the swinging bridge over the crocodiles

Me and the Crocs

Our tour group on the Savannah

Giraffe!

Me on the Savannah

Cheetahs

 

Keys to the Kingdom

DCP – Day 30 – September 12, 2012

I did something today that I’ve never done at Disney today.  This morning, my roommates and I did the Keys to the Kingdom tour at Magic Kingdom and it was amazing.  I had heard about the tour before but never knew anyone that did it until I met my suitemate, Erika.  She had nothing but great things to say about the tour so I knew I had to take the tour.  And I was definitely not disappointed.

The morning started at City Hall for check in and to get headphones to hear our tour guide over the crowds along with special pins with our names on them.  Then we gathered outside to start the tour.  Our tour guide, Claire, started the tour by talking about the Four Keys Basics, so it felt a lot like my Traditions class from earlier in the Disney College Program.  But it was still cool.

After that, we walked up Main Street and learned about all the names on the windows on the various shops and their significance.  It was so cool to see the small details that are there that everyone just rushes past.  When we walked up to the castle, Claire talked about the Partners statue and how the sculpture made it.  The same guy that did that also did all the sculpting for Pirates and Hall of Presidents, as well as many other projects around Disney World.

Next we made our way to Adventureland and got to ride The Jungle Cruise.  Claire was our skipper and told us a ton of awesome facts about the ride.  This is one of my favorite rides and I loved seeing and hearing all the small details in the ride.  Like in the scene when the natives attack the boat and call out random war chants, one of them says, ‘I love Disney,’ but it’s talking so fast you have to listen really close to hear it.

After Adventurland we went over to Frontierland and got to go backstage to see the parade floats and the Splash Mountain reservoir.  So awesome.  The parade floats are all kept together, according to which parade they are in.  We got to see the Celebrate Today floats up close and go inside when the Spectromagic parade float is stored.  We also got a glimpse of the Halloween party float before heading a few yards over to the reservoir.  It was huge and filled with eleven feet of water that cycles its way through the ride.  At night they drain the ride and the reservoir is filled full and reaches about 22 feet high.

Then it was time for lunch. We walked back onstage and made out way to Columbia Harbor House in Liberty Square.  We preordered our lunch when we checked in so everything was waiting on us when we got there.  I had chicken nuggets, fries, and a sweet tea.  Also waiting at our table was our Key to the Kingdom.  So cool.

After lunch, we walked across the way to the Haunted Mansion.  Claire gave us a ton o facts about the ride before we got to enter the ride through a special door.  We learned that – Disney Magic Spoiler alert – the room actually stretches up instead of us going down.  The original attraction at Disneyland does indeed go down because the railroad track is in the way.  But that wasn't a problem at Walt Disney World but the Imagineers wanted to keep that part of the attraction the same.

After the Haunted Mansion, we went back to Cinderella’s Castle before making our way to Crystal Palace.  If you look at the restaurant, you can see that on the left side toward Main Street looks very Victorian while the right side toward Adventurland looks more adventurous.  Just more subtle Disney theming.

Next we got to go into the Utilidors.  I hadn’t really been in the Utilidoors much so it was kinda cool to get to go down there.  It’s nothing too spectacular to look at but when you think about how innovative that was when it was built in the 1960s, it’s crazy to think about. 

In the Utilodors, Claire stopped at old picture from Walt Disney World’s history and told us the stories behind each of them.  Not gonna lie, I cried when I saw a trio of pictures.  One was a picture of Walt Disney World before anything was really built, another was opening day, and the last was also from opening day when Roy has his arm around Mickey.  The story behind the last one was while Roy was giving his speech, he got too chocked up about it and asked someone to bring Mickey up with him because he felt that was the closest to Walt he could get on that day.  The story of Walt is so inspirational and gets me every time.  I’m so blessed to get to carry on his legacy.

Our tour ended back at City Hall where we returned out hearing devices and said our goodbyes to our amazing tour guide Claire.  If you have never done the Keys of the Kingdom tour, I would highly recommend it.  It is amazing and you will love it and you will come away truly inspired by the legacy of Walt Disney.  If it wasn’t for him and his dreams, we wouldn’t be here right now.

My roommates and I after the tour.

The Magnificent, Marvelous, Mad, Madam Mim

DCP - Day 27 - September 9, 2012

 

So since I started working here, I thought the soundtrack that played in the Villains/Sweet Spells store was on a loop that repeated every twenty minutes or so.  I realized tonight that I was wrong.  Way wrong.  The music loop is about an hour and fifteen minutes of villain music.  I actually enjoyed getting to hear the music tonight since we were so not busy.  One of the songs, The Magnificent, Marvelous, Mad, Madam Mim from The Sword in the Stone, is stuck in my head and there’s no sign of it leaving.  Until I hear The Siamese Cat Song from Lady and Tramp that is.

 

 

Night of Joy

DCP - Day 26 - September 8, 2012

 

:)

 

Halloween decorations on Main Street

 

Third Day

MercyMe

 

 

 

Rainbow

DCP – Day 25 – September 7, 2012

Not a lot happened today really.  I went in to work at 4 and it started to rain.  No.  Scratch that.  It started to pour.  People packed into the store to keep dry and we sold ponchos like they were going out of style.  But after the rain came this awesome rainbow that made me think of Noah.

On a completely random note, I’m incredibly excited about this new show coming to ABC in a few weeks.  And I think you should get excited too.

 

 

 

Random Musings

DCP – Day 24 – September 6, 2012

DCP applications for the spring semester became available today which made me thing about when I put in my application.  I did it spur of the moment.  All I knew was that I needed a break from school.  And I had nothing to lose by applying so I figured, what the heck?  And then I got in.  And it’s been a great journey ever since then.

But I can’t get Nashville off my mind.  That’s where I want to work.  That’s where my heart lies.  In the streets of downtown and in the old Ryman Auditorium.  Even since I went to the CMA Awards last year, it’s like I’ve been bitten by the Nashville bug.  Country music has always been an integral part of my life and I know that I want to work in that area one day.  Whether it’s in journalism or in tour managing.  I don’t care.  I just feel like that’s what I ultimately want and need to do.

But as for right now, I’m called to be here, in this town at this place, for a reason.  I don’t really know what the reason is yet but it seems every day I’m finding a new reason why I’m here.  The people I’ve met and the friendships I’ve made will be ones that will last forever.  And I’ve learned a lot about myself as well.  Like that I shouldn’t buy bread because I don’t eat it and let it go bad but I should buy a gallon of chocolate milk because it goes too fast. 

And that I need a new umbrella because neither of mine can stand afternoon Florida storms.  Like the one today that started right when I parked my car.

Tonight I worked at Toy Story again with an awesome fellow CP named Taylor.  This is my second time working with her and I feel like I’ve known her forever.  She is awesome.  What is not awesome is my bow tie I have to wear now since it’s after Labor Day.  But hey.  I'm working in Disney World.

 

Wild Africa Trek

DCP – Day 24 – September 5, 2012

You know how you feel when you finally get to do something you have wanted to do for a while and then you’re doing it and you’re like, am I dreaming?  Well that happened to me today when I did the Wild Africa Trek at Animal Kingdom.  

I had wanted to do it since last time we were here and I saw the people walking on the bridges over the safari tour.

And today I got to be that person.  And it was amazing.  For those of you that know me well, you know I do no hike nor do I like anything that really has to do with the great outdoors.  I mean, my favorite thing to do outside is go inside.  But despite this, I made my way to the check in spot at Animal Kingdom and got suited up in hiking gear, complete with a harness to keep me from falling off the course into the animal exhibits. 

We then hiked from our check in point behind Tusker House Restaurant to the Pangani Forrest trail.  From there, we took a private little dirt path into the safari ride.  We arrive after five minutes or so of ducking under tree limbs and tripping over roots to the hippo exhibit.  We hooked our carabineer hooks to this cable that was our lifeline if we fell and walked out on to this ledge over to hippos.  It was amazing.  I was like 20 or 30 feet from these massive animals and the only thing separating us was the ledge we were standing up on.  It was so amazing. 

The reason my pictures from the adventure are lacking is because a photo cd was included in our tour price but it takes 3-4 weeks to get here.  I promise I’ll put these pics up when I get them.

Anyway, after the hippos, we made our way through the forest again to these swinging bridges where we walked above the crocodile exhibit.  It was so awesome to see the view from up there.  I can’t even really describe it.  You just need to do it.  Seriously.

After the bridge walking, we boarded a private safari bus which took us around the savannah.  We saw tons of giraffes, my favorite.  They were so cute and I love them.

Next we went to this private hut on the savannah that had an absolutely amazing view on the savannah.  The pictures just don’t do it justice.

If you ever get the chance to do the Wild Africa Trek, I highly recommend it.  It was absolutely amazing and I will never forget it.  This easily ranks in the top three hours of my DCP.

After the safari, the roommates and I went to Property Control and I bought some more stuff that I really didn’t need.  Later on, Jeannine, Abby, and I went to Hollywood Studios for a few hours.  The place was dead, as it has been for a few days.  We walked right on to every ride, even Toy Story Mania.  One of the best things was doing Tower Of Terror right before closing.  It was amazing.  Overall, today’s been a great day. 

Jeannine and I are on the far left