Beach Bunnies

So last night, our friend April asked us if we wanted to drive to Daytona Beach after work to see the sunrise (all three of us got off at around 4:00 a.m.). And we went for it! It was a lovely, spontaneous adventure and we had a great time.

If you're considering doing the college program, let me just put in a plug for Bringing Your Own Transportation: it may be a pain to get it to Florida, work out insurance, et cetera, but it is worth it in the end. If we weren't friends with sweet April and her spectacular car, we never would have had this opportunity.

We were all pretty tired after pulling an all-nighter, but it was so worth it.

A Day in the Life of an Outdoor Foods Vendor

If you are a student that gets accepted into the Disney College program, there's a fairly good chance that you'll be working in Food and Beverage. About one-third of all college programmers are placed in Quick Service Food & Beverage, in fact, and I am one of those!

First of all, forget whatever horror stories you may have heard of QSFB. It isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Yes, it's hard work, and yes, the hours are long, but so far I love my role and I'm glad I was placed where I am now--Outdoor Foods at the Magic Kingdom.

A typical shift for me ranges from six to fourteen hours. It really just depends on the season, what land you are in, and whether or not you will be cleaning a wagon at the end of the night.

Outdoor Foods at the Magic Kingdom is responsible for vending three items: ice cream bars, popcorn, and cinnamon-glazed almonds. There isn't much prep involved in any of those, so I handle food less than you may think. In ODF, your main responsibilities are handling money and handling guests. You are placed in a certain section of the park for a day and usually work only two or three wagons in a given shift.

One of the biggest advantages of working ODF in the Magic Kingdom is we get to move around the park. I have can wear seven different costumes, one for each land in the park, plus a costume worn when I am acting as a breaker or a stocker. When you work ODF at Magic Kingdom, you get really familiar with the park, more than you would if you were zoned in a certain area (Tomorrowland Merchandise or Main Street East, for example).

Other pro's of working ODF:

-We get a lot of hours. This is great if you are needing the money.

-Like I said, we don't have to stay in one place, which keeps things interesting and helps expand our knowledge of the Magic Kingdom.

-You get to be pretty independent; some days you will have a whole wagon to yourself, all shift. This can get boring, but if you like to work alone, it's a dream.

-In most of our locations, we can see the fireworks, the parades, and other outdoor entertainment the Magic Kingdom provides. Every day.

Some cons of ODF:

-We work hard. This isn't a role where you can slack off. You are busy, you're outside, it's hot, and you'r constantly dealing with guests. It can be a challenge if you aren't a hard worker.

-Sometimes guest interaction can be limited. You want to work quickly to keep your line down and provide good service, but sometimes that means you can't have a ten-minute chat with a little princess about how her day is going.

Ultimately, though, I am very satisfied with the role I was placed in. I don't mind the work and I love the people I've met so far. If I were to do another program, I would probably asked to be placed in MK ODF. It's an excellent role if you're willing to work hard at it.

Out of the Blue

These guys ... are our guys.

Here's a free tip for anyone considering the college program: it's a lot of work. Typical shifts for food and beverage and custodial range from eight hours to fourteen hours, depending on the day. On average, you may get two days off per week, but that can change dramatically, depending on the busy-ness of the season and your need for cash.

In a roundabout way, I'm trying to explain our blogging silence. THERE ARE NO EXCUSES, I know. But it's hard! We work a ton! A ton a ton! And after a few weeks, I start feeling too guilty to even try to update the blog, at least for a few months, where I mentally vow to turn over a new leaf. And then the whole process starts all over again.

I apologize for our absence, of course. And I wish I could say it won't happen again, that Tash and I will be better about updating this blog from now til August 5th (our departure date). But I just can't promise anything!

We just had to another picture with Mary Poppins! She's the best!

They have the fountain from Splash in the back of Hollywood Studios. Tasha and I have a very special relationship with the movie Splash, so we had to take some pictures.

Lotso! What a guy!

Character Update

So our Disney goal of taking a picture with every character seems impossible now that we are actually here. There are so many character meet-and-greets in all the parks, we probably aren't even aware of most of them. It seems unlikely that we'll actually accomplish it.

But we're still crazy enough to try!

We recently took pictures with Frontierland Donald Duck and Tiana + Naveen:

Tiana and Naveen had the cutest chemistry. She is my favorite princess, so we had to stop by for a visit on my birthday.

The mystery is why I make stupid faces every time I see a camera. WE MAY NEVER KNOW.

We're back on the wagon

Wow! Did you all think we were dead or something? Well, we're not, no worries!

It always used to annoy me back in Utah when one of my favorite Disney College bloggers stopped posting once they actually got to Florida. And now I am one of those people! I have become what I once despised. It's the circle of life.

Florida is still great. The Magic Kingdom has picked up and is getting to be more and more busy. Presidents Day weekend was INSANE. The hours are getting longer and longer, and it's warming up quickly. But it's still a lot of fun and we are both so happy to be here. I feel like I am learning everything and toughening up. After this college program, ordinary jobs will feel like a breeze.

We started our first class, Creativity and Innovation. The instructor is Tricia Garwood; she's fun and enthusiastic, and has a lot of interesting stories. Today we are starting our second class, Disney Heritage. Hopefully we will have a post soon fleshing out our learning experiences more thoroughly.

I promise we are recommitting to blogging. No more months of silence! Just remember we are having a great time, and now we have all sorts of experience, so if there are any college-programmers-in-waiting with any questions, send them our way!

Magic Kingdom Fun

Today, Tasha and I both had work off, and we decided to take the opportunity to play in the Magic Kingdom, our favorite park! Photos galore!

Good news, everyone! My hair gets poofier than poofy here in Florida, isn't that the best?

A sweet merchandise CM took this photo commemorating my first pineapple Dole whip! It was delicious.

The wicked stepsisters are our favorite face characters. Drusilla was so great in the "Celebrate A Dream Come True" Parade.

And finally, we got one picture closer to meeting our Disney goal of getting a picture taken with every character in the park! Mary Poppins waltzed right past us while we were wandering Fantasyland and we had to chase her down. She was the cutest!

Speaking of our Disney goal, at the Arabian Nights party at Vista Way last week, Tash and I got our pictures taken with Abu and the Genie. So now we have three characters crossed off the list.

Thanks for reading! Maybe someday we will write a blog post about our actual jobs, who knows.

We're finally here, part two!

After a six hour plane ride, nine suitcases (!), two nights in a hotel, and a loooong check-in, we finally moved into our Chatham Square two-bedroom apartment. (Come visit us!)

Exciting news: Tasha and I both got placed in the Magic Kingdom! She is doing Custodial in the Streets, and I am in Quick Service Food and Beverage, outdoor. We're excited that we'll be in the same place and in our favorite park!

We made it through Traditions, Disney's program to introduce every new employee to the company philosophies and parks. We each did some e-training, I went through park orientation, and Tasha is doing hers today. Later today, I am going to suit up in my costume and go work on location. Tash should be getting her costume today, so perhaps we'll have a picture post later this week.

Florida is fun. It's different. We are having a few money stresses, and the transportation is hard to get used to, but once we get the hang of it things will be great.

This is a short post, I know, especially after such a long break. More is coming, I promise! In the meantime, here is my training schedule (for those of you who are interested in what the hours are like down here):

Monday (today) the 24th: 15:15 to 23:30

Tuesday the 25th: OFF

Wednesday the 26th: OFF

Thursday the 27th: 13:15 to 21:30

Friday the 28th: 11:15 to 19:30

Saturday the 29th: 8:15 to 16:30

Thanks for reading! Another post is coming soon, I promise!

We're finally here!

The first week here in Orlando Florida has just been absolutely lovely! Here are just a few pictures of our first adventures at the hotel and at Downtown Disney.

I painted Kelsi's toes at the hotel! There is nothing like cute toes!

When we were out and about we found a cool truck with this amazing logo.

Early morning swim at our Hotel!

Ready for some apartment shopping!

At Downtown Disneyland everything smelled so good it made us hungry for the magnets.

The Lego shop was so cool and Kelsi is in love.

Packing, Packing, Packing

Tasha and I will be flying out of Utah in about 39 hours.

Personally, I'm terrified, sad, excited, and ecstatic all at once. I've said a few hard goodbyes already, and more are on the way.

Mostly, I'm afraid to start packing, because I've so successfully managed to avoid it for the past few weeks. Not sure if I'm ready to face the magic quite yet.

After Monday, we will certainly post a travel update (maybe with photos?), and give this blog the kick-start it needs.

Thanks for reading! See you later!

I can already smell the magic!

Food is an important part about living away from home, and it's something that Kelsi and I have been discussing a lot recently. We'll be splitting grocery costs and cooking duties, and we're ready to start making some magic in the kitchen!

Already Kelsi and I have great plans for what we are going to be eating in Florida! First and most importantly, we're hoping to eat cheap, healthy food for our everyday meals (rice, pasta, veggies, et cetera). I love making ratatouille and Kelsi's specialty is taco soup, which both fit into our "healthy and cheap" criteria. On fancier occasions we can't wait to make some rainbow pancakes and baked french toast, and we are excited to bake chocolate chip cookies and colorful cupcakes for our neighbors.

However, we will definitely be partaking in the bounteous deliciousness that Disney has to offer. I have already made some reservations for some of Disney's finest dining:

The number one on our list is Le Cellier Steakhouse, a fancy-schmancy place in Epcot Canada. You have to book reservations WAY in advance, but it'll be totally worth it. Bistro de Paris is another one. I'll definitely be taking a look at their pastries. We have also looked into the Coral Reef Restaurant, Via Napoli, and Teppan Edo. (One of our Disney Goals is to eat around the world at Epcot, you know).

Can't tell you which restaurants we are for sure going to though, because it's all a surprise for Kelsi! I booked all the reservations on my own, without telling her where we were going--because the best kind of prize is a surprise!

Thanks for reading!