2 weeks on the DCP...

Move-in was only two weeks ago, and it feels like we have been here a LONG time!

January 22nd

Move-in day was nerve-wracking and exciting! I had been talking to Sarah, Sami, and Katie for a while, and I was so excited to finally meet them! We knew that we were going to be put with at least 2 other girls, but we had no idea who they would be. But Disney did a great job when they matched us up with Autumn and Jessica.

After check-in, I headed to my apartment to check it out. We had been put in a 3 bedroom, 6 person apartment, which was one of our top choices! As I was leaving check-in, I saw a familiar face in the line. It was Sami! I was so excited to finally meet her! Sarah had already met Autumn, but they had to go to casting so we wouldn't see them until later.

I headed to my apartment at Chatham Square, and there was another familiar face when I arrived. It was Katie! We started moving in our stuff, and as we were moving in our stuff, we got to meet Jessica, our other roommate! We continued moving things in, and Mom, Dad, and Anna brought my other stuff. Then, I had to head to Casting to fill out some more paperwork and get my picture taken for my ID.

Casting is an amazing building! The parking lot in front of it was being renovated, so that is why there is a scrimmed fence in the top left picture. The doorknob that is on the front door is just like the one in Alice in Wonderland. After entering, you go through some hallways, fill out some paperwork, and take your picture for your BLUE ID.

After that, you go through a BEAUTIFUL hallway filled with different murals. My favorite one (along with many others) is the one with Walt looking through a window at EPCOT. After the beautiful hallway, there is more paperwork, and then you are done at Casting!





When I was done at Casting, we headed to get some lunch and to go to the grocery store. Then, Mom, Dad, and Anna had to leave, but don't worry, Anna has assured me multiple times that they will be back when I get free tickets.



Once we were all settled into the apartment, we decided that we had to show Jessica some part of Disney World, because she has never been before! We decided to go to Disney Springs for a little bit!

We were telling Jess about Disney World all night because she had only ever been to Disneyland.

Disney Springs was truly just a taste of all the magic that was to come.
P.S. Check out Sami's youtube to watch some of our fun adventures:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBW1Hk72Rns&t=406s

January 23rd

As a cast member, you have to go through Traditions, which is a welcome orientation to the Walt Disney Company. When you go through Traditions, you receive the beloved blue ID, which gets you access to the parks. We didn't have Traditions until Saturday, January 26, so we had to do some fun stuff that didn't involve going into the parks. 

Wednesday morning we all just hung out at our apartment, but Wednesday night we decided to go resort hopping! Katie, Sami, Jessica, and I headed to the Contemporary (Sarah had met up with her friend for the day, and Autumn was hanging out with some of her new lifeguard friends!). 

We arrived at the Contemporary, so we looked around at the shops and told Jessica about the Instagram wall that was at the Contemporary. She was kind of confused about what we meant by the Instagram wall, but once we showed her, she understood a little bit more. It is just a wall that you take cute pictures in front of. The one at the Contemporary is called the "Neon Mickey Wall."

After the Contemporary, we hopped on the Monorail and headed to the Polynesian. When you are at the Polynesian, you have to get a Dole Whip!


After the Polynesian, we hopped on the Monorail again and headed to the Grand Floridian. We went in some of the shops and checked out the beautiful lobby! We got to watch Happily Ever After from the dock at the Grand Floridian, too!

After our fun time resort hopping, we headed back to Disney Springs to check out some more of it. We checked out the Coke store, which has another Instagram wall on the top floor (I think it is called the "vine wall" or something like that). We also met the creepy Coke polar bear.
We also checked out Disney Style which has super cute merchandise in it!

January 24th

We hung out at the apartment that morning, but that night we headed to the Boardwalk and Beaches and Cream.

We ate at the ESPN club for dinner before heading over the Beach Club for our dessert.








If you have never seen or heard of the Kitchen Sink sundae, I will just tell you what is in it. It has scoops of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, cookies and cream, and mint chocolate chip ice cream; all of the toppings that they have (which included chocolate syrup, pineapple, banana, oreos, pieces of cake, chocolate chips, cherries, and so much more); and a WHOLE CAN OF WHIP CREAM!
It was so good though, and we did finish the whole thing!

January 25th

Today was more chill because we didn't go anywhere at all. We hung out at the apartment, again, but then we had our housing welcome event! Where they hold the events is right behind our apartment, so we didn't have very far to go!

The welcome event was Aladdin themed, so there was a meet and greet and plenty of photo opportunities (as you can see)!

January 26th

Today was the day! It was finally Traditions day! I didn't have Traditions until the afternoon, so we didn't have to leave the apartment until 1. 

We got to Disney University, and we got to learn all the Disney secrets. Plus, we even got to take a quick trip to Magic Kingdom, which gave me the most magical moment to date.

Story Time: During Traditions, your class takes a trip to Magic Kingdom. You enter from the Utilidors that runs right down Main Street USA, and you come out of the Utilidors right beside Tomorrowland Terrace. Before we went on-stage (in view of guests), our teacher asked if anyone had never been here before. Jessica had never been to Magic Kingdom before, so she waited backstage while we did a special something for her and the two other girls in our class that had never been there. We created a tunnel for them to run through and at the end was Cinderella's Castle! I'm not going to lie, there might have been a few tears in my eyes.



It was so magical, and the magic wasn't over yet! After Traditions, Sami picked Jessica, Katie, and I up and we headed to Magic Kingdom to see Happily Ever After! You can check out our night here on Sami's vlog:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRvFvHjC0U0

We watched Happily Ever After, and the first ride that we rode was Pirates of the Caribbean. We also rode the Peoplemover, and all 6 of us sat in one car. 

I also got to watch Kiss Goodnight for the first time ever!

 January 27th

I had more training classes, and it rained all day! Autumn and I headed to Animal Kingdom, and we met up with Sami and Sarah.

I got to see Pandora for the first time at night, and Autumn and I walked onto Navi River Journey. We then met up with Sarah and Sami on Dinosaur. We also walked onto Everest, two times.


We ended our rainy night with dinner at Yak and Yeti. It was so good, and I'm so glad that we had this empty park adventure.

 January 28th

I had more training classes, but then I headed to EPCOT where I would eventually meet up with my roomies! 

 I got to ride Mission: Space and Test Track, and I also got to try this festival slushie that had boba on top. I met up with the other roomies in Morocco, and we had an awesome dinner at Restaurant Marrakesh. I had Salmon with mushrooms, tomatoes, and hummus, then we got free desserts because our waiter was the best!

We also got to take some cute photos with the lamp in Morocco and the lamp with Tinker Bell in it in the UK pavilion.

January 29th

I had my first day of On the Job Training, and I had a pretty chill afternoon and evening. I just went to Disney Springs after work, but when I got home Sarah and I were matching! Too cute!

January 30th

Today was a Magic Kingdom day! I got there about an hour after the park had opened, but it was already kind of busy. I got to meet Daisy, Pluto, and Mary Poppins. I also got to try Lefou's Brew from Gaston's Tavern (it was alright... Butterbeer is better). 

Then, I decided I wasn't done with the magic, so I headed over to EPCOT.

It was a little less crowded at EPCOT. I rode Soarin' and got stuck on Living with the Land. I also got to meet Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy! 

January 31

I had my orientation at Art of Animation today, but after that, I met up with Sami at Hollywood Studios.

I came face to face with some Stormtroopers... It was kind of scary. 

Sami and I got to ride Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and Star Tours before we met up with Sarah, Katie, and Jessica. 

 We got to watch Fantasmic that night, but we made the mistake of sitting on the front row. We had a nice mist during the whole show!

 Katie just really loves Kylo Ren.

February 1

 I had the day off before I started my early morning training (which involves getting up at 4:30 a.m.).

I headed back to Magic Kingdom! It was still pretty busy, so I didn't ride much. I did get to meet Rapunzel and Tiana.

I also got to enjoy some coffee from Starbucks and finally see the Dapper Dans perform!

It has truly been a magical 2 weeks! 

Next blog post: first time in Toy Story Land and first time on Flight of Passage!