Monday, August 29, 2016

DCP Bucket List: What did I actually complete during my college program with Disney?

So here is my bucket list from one of my previous posts, lets see what I actually accomplished!
Those in red I completed!


1. Do all of these things in Magic Kingdom
picture in front of castle
picture on empty main street
picture with Walt and Mickey on main street
Go during the day
Go at night
Rent a boat to watch fireworks from Seven Seas Lagoon
Rides/Parades/Shows:
Astro Orbiter
The Barnstormer
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak Station
Cinderella Castle
Country Bear Jamboree
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Enchanted Tales with Belle
Frontierland Shootin' Arcade
The Hall of Presidents
Haunted Mansion (ride with lights on and off)
It's a Small World
Jungle Cruise
Liberty Square Riverboat
Mad Tea Party
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Main Street Vehicles-Themed Area
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Mickey's Philharmagic
Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor
Peter Pan's Flight
A Pirates Adventure-Treasures of the Seven Seas
Pirates of the Caribbean
Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom
Space Mountain (ride with lights on and off)
Splash Mountain
Stitch's Great Escape!
Swiss Family Treehouse
Tom Sawyer Island
Tomorrowland Arcade
Tomorrowland Speedway
Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover
Under the Sea-Journey of The Little Mermaid
Walt Disney World Railroad-Fantasyland
Walt Disney World Railroad-Frontierland
Walt Disney World Railroad-Main Street,USA
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress
Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
Celebrate the Magic
Captain Jack Sparrow Pirate Tutorial
Dapper Dans
Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade
Dream Along with Mickey
Electrial Water Pageant
Flag Retreat
Magic Kingdom Welcome Show
Main Street Electrial Parade
Wishes (from Mainstreet in park,behind castle, Contemporary Resort/other beach resort
See the Kiss Goodnight

Food
Aloha Isle-Dole Whip
Be Our Guest
Cinderella’s Royal Table
Gaston’s Tavern
Main Street Bakery
Pinocchio Village Haus
Plaza Ice Cream Parlour

Events/Tours
Disney’s Family Magic Tour
Disney’s Keys to the Kingdom Tour
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
New Years Eve
Night of Joy (worked)
Walt Disney: Marceline to Magic Kingdom Tour

2. Do all of these things in Epcot
call/answer Epcot payphone
Get an Epcot passport and have it stamped in every country
Picture in front of ball
Go during the day
Go at night
Food and Wine Festival
Have a drink in as many countries as I want/sound good

Rides/Parades/Shows
Advanced Training Lab
The American Adventure
American Heritage Gallery
Bijutsu-kan Gallery
Captain EO
The Circle of Life
Disney Phineas and Ferb: Agent P's World Showcase Adventure
Ellen's Energy Adventure
Gallery of Arts and History
Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
House of the Whispering Willows
ImageWorks - the "What If" Labs
Impressions de France
Innoventions East
Innoventions West
Journey into Imagination with Figment
Kidcot Fun Stops
Leave A Legacy
Living with the Land
Maelstrom
Mexico Folk Art Gallery
Mission: SPACE
O Canada! (film)
Project Tomorrow: Inventing the wonder of the future
Reflections of China
SeaBase
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Soarin' (ride front, middle seat)
Spaceship Earth (Epcot)
Stave Church Gallery
Test Track
Turtle Talk with Crush
Acrobats
Illuminations
Mariache cobre
*Frozen Ever After (added after CP)
    
Food
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Biergarten Restaurant
Block and Hans
Chefs de France
Coral Reef Restaurant
Funnel Cake
Gelati
Kringle Bakeri of Kafe
L’artisan des glaces
La cava del tequila
Liberty Inn
Le cellier steakhouse
Refreshments cool post
Rose and Crown Pub
Via Napoli Ristorante e pizzeria

Tours/Events
Backstage Magic
Behind the Seeds
Candlelight processional
Epcot Divequest
Disney’s Dolphins in Depth
Epcot Seas Aqua tour
Holidays of the World
The Undiscovered Future World

3.Do all of these things in Hollywood Studios
picture in front of hat
go during the day
go at night

Rides/Parades/Shows
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame
American Film Institute Showcase
The American Idol Experience
Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
Block Party Bash
Disney Junior
Fantasmic!
The Great Movie Ride
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Movie Set Adventure
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! (Volunteer)
Jedi Training Academy
the legend of captain jack sparrow
Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show
The Magic of Disney Animation
Muppet*Vision 3D
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
Studio Backlot Tour (volunteer)
Toy Story Midway Mania
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Walt Disney: One Man's Dream

Food
50’s Prime Time Café
Hollywood Scoops
Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano
Pizza Planet and Arcade
Sci-Fi dine in theater Restaurant

4. Do all of these things in Animal Kingdom
picture in front of tree
go during the day
go at night

Rides/Parades/Shows
Affection Section
Boneyard
Conservation Station
Cretaceous Trail
Dinosaur
Dino Sue
Discovery Island Trails
Expedition Everest
Finding Nemo the Musical
Flights of wonder
Habitat Habit!
It's Tough to be a Bug
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safaris (ride first safari of day)
Maharajah Jungle Trek
Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade
The Oasis
Pangani Forest Exploration Trail
Primeval Whirl
Tree of life
TriceraTop Spin
Wild Africa Trek
wilderness explorers
Wildlife Express Train
Festival of the Lion King
Rafikis planet watch
tam tam drummers of harambe
viva gaia street band

Food
Flame Tree Barbecue
Pizzafari
Restaurantosauras
Yak and Yeti

Tours/Events
Backstage Safari
Wild Africa Trek
Wild by Design

5. Go to all 4 parks in 1 day
6. Visit Every Resort
picture in/at every resort
Value:
Disney's All-Star Movies Resort 
Disney's All-Star Music Resort
Disney's All-Star Sports Resort 

Disney's Art of Animation Resort
Disney's Pop Century Resort
The Campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort

Moderate:
Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort
Disney's Coronado Springs Resort
Disney's Port Orleans Resort - French Quarter
Disney's Port Orleans Resort - Riverside
The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort

Deluxe:
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
Disney's Beach Club Resort
Disney's BoardWalk Inn
Disney's Contemporary Resort
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Disney's Polynesian Resort
Disney's Wilderness Lodge
Disney's Yacht Club Resort

7. Do all of the following things in Downtown Disney
Cirque du Soleil-La Nouba
Disneyquest
Go at night
Lego Store
World of Disney
People watch
Go out to eat
Ghiradelli Ice Cream
Earl of Sandwhiches
House of Blues

8. Visit Blizzard Beach
summit plummit
Ride lazy river around the whole way

9.Visit Typhoon Lagoon
snorkel
ride lazy river around the whole way

10. Meet and get autographs/take pictures with as many characters as possible


Alice in Wonderland
Anna
Elsa
Ariel
Aladdin
Jasmine
Genie
Belle
Beast
Gaston
Cinderella
Prince Charming
Lady Tremaine
Anastasia
Drizella
Fairy Godmother
Merida
Mickey Mouse
Minnie Mouse
Donald Duck
Daisy
Goofy
Pluto
Chip
Dale
Peter Pan
Wendy
Tinkerbell
Tiana
Naveen
Tigger
Winnie the Pooh
Eeyore
Piglet
Buzz Lightyear
Woody
Jessie
Marie
Mary Poppins
Mulan
Princess Aurora
Snow White
Mike
Sulley
Wreck it Ralph
Vanellope
Baloo
Louie
Pocahontas
Rafiki
Russel
Doug
Rapunzel
Flynn
Stitch
Lilo

Special characters:
-Mickey and Minnie in every park and as many outfits as possible
-Talking Mickey




11.meet character I am Disney bounding as and take a picture with them
12. Disney Bound
13. Be first one in a park
14. be last one in a park
15. go to a park by myself
16. go to all 4 park openings/rope drops
17. Watch a custodian paint a water picture
18. go to Boardwalk at night and during the day
19. Roommate picture
20. collect all of the buttons
21. meet or see a celebrity
22. Take monorail through Contemporary Resort
23. Ride the train
24. ride the boats
25. people watch
26. Eat a Kitchen Sink with friends
27. Eat a mickey bar
28. eat a funnel cake
29. Cupcake Crawl
30. Go to park on 4th of July (MK Fireworks)
31. Go to park on Halloween
32. Go to park on Thanksgiving
33. Go to park on my birthday
34. Go to park on Christmas Eve
35. Go to park on Christmas
36. Go to park on New Years Eve
37. Go to park on New Years Day
38. Make a Magical Moment
39. Work a shift in every park (Magic Kingdom,Epcot,Hollywood Studios only)
40. Buy a picture from a ride that myself and friends are in
41. Watch the following Disney movies before/during DCP


(i couldnt remember which of these we did and didn't watch, probably most of them)



42. Collect a map from each park (every holiday etc..)
43. Go to entertainment audition for fun
44. Go to Mickey’s retreat
45. Buy the following Disney souvenirs
Minnie Ears (more than one?)
Something from where I work
Mug
Vinylmation
Alex and Ani Castle Bracelet
Plain silver stud Mickey ears earrings
Castle throw blanket/other blanket
Some kind of castle souvenir
Disney shirt
Picture frame
Snowglobe
“A dream is a wish your heart makes” pillow/ “once upon a time…” pillow
Disney Name tag
Other discounted items
Castle ring?-->other ring from ring carver
Disney sweatshirt?/hoodie?
Various pins?
Hat?
Photo album?
Mickey Mouse Oven mit?

46. other souvenirs
wooden surfboard for wall/picture frame/beachy sign if I go to the beach
Harry Potter World souvenir? chocolate frog and butterbeer at least
47. Go to Sea World
48. Go to Universal (Harry Potter World)
49. Universal Halloween Nights of Horror
50. Watch Disney movies with friends
51. game night with friends
52. visit friends at work
53. go to CP graduation/ pic with Mickey/Minnie
54.Go to housing events
55. go to every apartment complex
56. Embroider graduation ears
57. go to the beach
58. go to Miami
59. go to the pool at the apartment complex
60. take Environmentality and Sustainability Pilot
61. take Disney Heritage
62. Earn a 4 keys card
63. Go to Gatorland
64. VoluntEAR/get shirt
65. Kennedy Space Center
66. Keep a blog/journal of DCP (at least write down important/stand out moments)
67. Keep a ride count


Wow looking back at this list I have accomplished most of this! Of course once my college program ended, I started an entirely new Florida bucket list which I am currently working on. Let me know if you would like to see a list of those things! Its weird seeing how much of the stuff at Hollywood studios especially isn't there anymore and to see what other stuff has opened since making this such as Frozen Ever After, the new Soarin' overlay and all of the new nighttime Animal Kingdom entertainment things!

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Blue Springs State Park: Orange City, Florida

One of the top items on my Florida bucket list was to see a manatee in the wild. Ask any of my friends and they will tell you JUST HOW EXCITED manatees make me haha. But really, manatees are one of my favorite animals now after moving to Florida. Just look at their little noses!!! They are so majestic!


One of the locations you can have a chance of seeing wild manatees in Florida is at Blue Springs State Park in Orange City, Florida; located about 45 minutes from Orlando. Your highest chance of spotting some manatees is usually in the winter months between November and March when the manatees migrate to the inland warmer rivers and springs. I went in May and I still saw 3 manatees; 2 adults and a baby.

Also be aware of alligators at all times when swimming and just hanging around near the water. This is Florida and this is their territory.

There are very fine guidelines when swimming or snorkeling with manatees to be aware of. When I was at Blue Springs, the park rangers were continuously yelling at people to get out of the water and out of the manatees way and to not go near them. I have heard at some other state parks you are allowed to swim with them closer but I have not personally been to any of those yet.




Along with swimming and snorkeling, there are also opportunities to rent tubes and tube down the spring to the beginning of it. The spring gets deeper the further down you swim. At the end there is a large crevice where scuba divers,snorkelers and tubers alike can explore and enjoy.


























If dry land is more your thing, just a short walk down a boardwalk through the trees there are boat,kayak and canoe rentals to go out on the St. John's River. The change in water clarity as you get closer to the river is a very interesting thing as well. The closer to the river you get the more opaque the water gets and as you work your way back to the spring, the clearer. There are also multiple viewing areas along the pathway to spot wildlife such as manatees,turtles,fish or alligators.





Saturday, August 27, 2016

Cocoa Beach Highlights

Cocoa Beach, only about a 50 minute drive from nearby Walt Disney World and Orlando, is a great day trip to get away from the busy theme parks. There are some tolls along the way so be prepared and have quarters or a Sunpass ready!
Once you arrive, there are many different areas you could park. There is street parking with meters, the Cocoa Beach Pier with meters or pay cash to park in a lot, or there are a few hidden free spots including Ron John Surf Shop or Lori Wilson Park; any of these have quick beach access.

The Atlantic Ocean is quite a contrast to the warmer Gulf Coast beaches in that it offers both colder water and bigger waves for surfing and other water sports. The nearby pier includes a restaurant, stores,fishing and restrooms, while the beach right outside has volleyball courts, chair and umbrella rentals and many photo opportunities!

Another spot I recommend checking out is Lori Wilson Park. This park hosts many varieties of flora and fauna. During my time there I spotted a turtle and a raccoon. There is a nice boardwalk nature walkway through the trees that leads up to a nice overlook of the ocean. Lori Wilson Park also is also a well known pop culture stop for those “I dream of Jeannie” fans. This show, set in and around Cocoa Beach has its on roadway in Lori Wilson Park named after it: I Dream of Jeannie Lane. So stop by for a quick photo op!

Whether you prefer water sports or just lounging on the beach with toes in the sand. Cocoa Beach has it all for a quick trip away from the city!

Friday, August 26, 2016

Wekiwa Springs State Park: Apopka,Florida

Ever since moving to Florida I have been dying to explore the outdoor attractions that we just don’t have in Pennsylvania. One of those being the natural springs around this area. I have been to Blue Springs State Park in the past where I saw some manatees but for this post I want to talk about my experience at Wekiwa Springs State Park.
First some stats!
Location: Apopka, Florida
Distance from Disney World (Magic Kingdom): 38 miles (about 45 minutes)
Price: 
Admission: $4 single occupancy vehicle, $6 2-8 people per vehicle
Tolls (to and from): $7 (make sure you have quarters for change only tolls!)
Also account for gas prices
What to do: Wekiwa Springs offers many activities! While I was here I snorkeled in the crystal clear water and explored a nearby boardwalk pathway. They also offer kayaking, canoeing,a nature center, camping and numerous trails to explore. Some amenities include nearby restrooms and a concessions stand!
Time Spent: About 2 hours (left early due to rain)





My day started around 11am when I started off on my way to Wekiwa Springs. The roads were not too busy, just make sure you have quarters for those tricky change only tolls! Luckily I had some to spare! I am not looking forward to the day I unexpectedly come across one with no quarters in sight. What a mess that will be! Anyway, it was a nice easy drive. When I arrived I quickly found a parking spot, gathered my towel and bags and headed down to the spring. I set up a nice spot on the hill where I could watch everyone snorkeling and swimming. It was a nice view of the beautiful spring while I ate my picnic lunch.
After lunch I snorkeled a bit in the refreshing 72 degree water. There were a few little fishes and a nice sandy bottom to look at. I heard some teenagers exclaiming how they had spotted a bigger fish, so they are there as well!
When I tired of snorkeling I took a nice stroll around the outside of the spring where I spotted a nearby raccoon. I hurried away from it in case it got any closer and soon found myself at a nice wooded deck walking trail. I followed it for a while until the sky started becoming a bit dark. So I turned around, passing the Kayak and Canoe rental area on my way out. By the time I got back to my towel and other belongings, there was a rumble of thunder in the distance and rain had started to fall. I gathered my stuff and began trekking up to hill back to my car. I made a quick stop at the nature center to admire the turtles and passed another trail head where I read a warning sign about black bears. Next time I will be sure to bring a friend before heading out on that trail! Can never be too careful!
Overall, it was a great day trip and I will definitely be returning to either rent a kayak or head out on the trails!

Check out this video I made of my day!


August 2016 UPDATE

Hey everyone! So its been a while since I have made a blog post on here, but that is about to change ASAP! Since the Disney College Program I have continued to stay in Florida. Look for future posts on what I have been exploring and doing in my free time as well as Disney Updates and posts on my other travels as well! As always, thanks for reading and i'll talk to you all again soon!

Monday, November 17, 2014

Extending my Disney College Program and Professional Internships

I am officially extending my Disney College Program into Attractions! I am excited to know which attraction I will get assigned to! I am also still in progress for two professional internships so I should be hearing back from them within a week or two! It has been busy down here. I went to Mickeys Not-So-Scary Halloween party twice and have been to Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party twice. I also had my first cookie and hot cocoa shift last week during a Christmas party which was a lot of fun. I hope to be able to pick up more of those shifts! Its been weird having it be so warm down here in the middle of November, meanwhile it is snowing at home.

Monday, August 25, 2014

So I picked up some PAC shifts....

Last week I picked up 2 Parade Audience Control Shifts at Magic Kingdom. They were both for the same day. One was during the 3:00 parade, and the other was at night for the first electrical parade and wishes. I had a few hours break in between to relax. Because I normally work in Magic Kingdom I was not too worried about the shift, it did require me to figure out where to meet and clock in at. It was a little confusing because I think you can clock in at a lot of different places, then you have to find what building to meet in. For PAC South shifts you meet in once place and for PAC West shifts you meet somewhere else, so I finally figured out where to go for each one after asking a bunch of different PAC people but it all worked out! For Festival of Fantasy I worked South and got a position right near the hub in front of the castle. It was a lot of fun and I got to learn all about how PAC works. It was a really hot day and I did not have a water bottle, but it was still so much fun to get to see how other roles work in MK. After the parade passed our area, the girl who was in a position near me and I took our poles and put them away then we got to join in the parade at the back and wave to the crowd! We were in the parade!!!! Then after that we had a meeting to go over how everyone did. It reminded me of marching band, where we would have a game plan and talk before and after to discuss what happened. For the night time parade, as we were getting ready to go out and set up it started thundering and lightning so we went back inside to wait. They first electrical parade ended up being cancelled, so I only got to work Wishes. For that I stood in front of the castle and told guests to stay to their right and keep moving to not block the pathway. Overall, PAC was a really fun experience and I can't wait to do it again! I really want to do it for the Halloween parade some time so I am going to keep looking for that! I also signed up to work a Frozen Parade shift at Hollywood Studios this friday, so that will be a new experience. I have not worked at another park yet and I don't know my way around there as well yet, so hopefully everything goes well!

Saturday, August 9, 2014

1st Beach Trip

After being here for a little over 2 months I finally made it to the beach with my roommate! We went to Cocoa Beach yesterday. It was such a nice day! As it got later storm clouds began to roll in and we got stuck in a huge downpour on the way home. There was also some intense lightning! We made a wrong turn and got a little lost on our way home, but we found a Chipotle to go to for dinner so it was worth it! My roommates and I have been planning more trips and made reservations at a few places to eat so we can start experiencing more things here instead of just going to work and the parks all the time.

This week was also a sad week because a lot of my international friends went home because it was the end of their program. A few are still left, but they will be leaving soon too. I am also excited to start meeting the incoming Fall college program people. I also booked my parents room for when they come to visit so our plans for that are starting to come together which is exciting!

Friday, July 25, 2014

Getting into a routine

So I feel like I am finally getting into a routine! I feel like I have been here a lot longer then a month and a half. I know where I am going, what bus to take, where to go at work. It is nice feeling like I am in a routine. This week I started my back of house training to learn the different roles in the kitchen. It is nice learning the back of house assignments as well as the front of house assignments so I can see how we all need to work together and what goes into the back of house jobs. My assessment is not until sunday, so in the meantime I have a few front of house shifts as well as another day of BOH training. I have been getting to the parks on my 1 day off a week which is nice. I actually had 2 days scheduled off for next week but I only had about 32 hours, so I decided to help my friend out and picked up her shift on one of my days off. So that brings me up to 41 hours and only 1 day off. I have been having a lot of 6 hour shifts, which is nice, but that means I get less days off. I need to go grocery shopping soon, but it is hard because the buses take so long to get to Publix. I will probably try and go tomorrow after work so I do not need to rush to get back. I actually plan on buying real food and not microwavable things. I am going to try and cook real meals. I figure I need to start somewhere. So I am going to start out simple. We will see what happens. Everything has been going great at Disney so far and I can't wait until I get to explore more. I hope my roommates and I can go out to eat as a group or something soon, we have all been having different days off. The times we hang out most are at 1am when we all get home from work. So we stay up late, sleep late then go to work at night. I only have 1 closing shift next week and the rest are during the day so it will be nice to be able to actually cook a real dinner!!! I hope everyone else out there is having a great experience so far too!

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

WOW! What a month!!!

I cant believe I have already been down in Florida for a month!! Where did the time go??? I have been working soo much! With only having 1 day off a week I havnt gotten to do too much, but I did get to go see the 4th of July Fireworks on July 3rd! So they were the 3rd of July fireworks? They were amazing with the 360 degree fireworks! I even got to see them on the 4th while I was working. I just happened tobe bussing tables outside so I got to watch! I forget if I ever said where I am working. I am working at Pecos Bills Tale Tale Inn and Cafe! So far it is going great! I am starting to get friendlier with people from work which is nice. I havn't gotten to see my roommates all tha much since we have all been working a lot. Tomorrow is my next day off so I am planning to either go to Epcot or Hollywood Studios. I have yet to see Fantasmic or Illuminations so I want to see one of those tomorrow. Maybe I will park hop so I can see the Frozen event at Hollywood Studios then go to Epcot. We will see! I will try and keep this blog more updated but it is really hard when I am working this much!