Twas the Night Before Christmas...in Walt Disney World

My Christmas traditions have been the same for 21 years. A big all day Christmas party with family and friends on Christmas Eve, church at midnight, early morning travel on Christmas Day to my family in NY, watching the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade with my cousins, and a huge family feast with cookies for breakfast the next day. It's a routine I could do in my sleep. This year was not so routine. I worked with the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella during the day on Christmas Eve, then met up with my four closest friends here to exchange presents and feast at the classiest restaurant...Denny's (yes, that is sarcasm but it was delicious), watched the parade on Christmas morning and knew many people in it, and then went to work with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy in Epcot that evening.

Gifts for the Fab 5 (my 4 best friends on the program and myself)

Even though I didn't get to celebrate my traditions, I was able to help so many families celebrate their own holiday traditions. Mickey and friends have the tradition of course of welcoming everyone to the parks with the Christmas Day parade. They all get dressed up in their best holiday apparel and saunter down Main Street USA giving out happy holiday greetings. Even Santa came around for the big day! It was truly magical. Everyone working was in high spirits too because even though we couldn't be with our families on the holiday, we were with our Disney family. Even some of the other College Program participants in my apartment complex were able to keep their spirits high by caroling throughout the complex. But they were not singing traditional holiday tunes, but rather in true Disney fashion, they were singing verses from one of the new songs from Frozen "Do You Wanna Build A Snowman". It was absolutely adorable and appreciated by all.

I was told by all my friends and family back home that it snowed for the holidays. Well it snowed here too! During Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Main Street USA was filled with big snowflakes that looked perfect for everyone's holiday Christmas card pictures and every night in Hollywood Studios during the Spectacle of Dancing Lights snow would descend from the tops of the buildings as Christmas lights danced to the classic holiday tunes. I was lucky enough to work during one of the evenings. Goofy, dressed up as Santa would turn on the lights each night and meet and greet with guests during the evening. And one of the funniest things I have ever seen is Goofy dancing to songs from the Nutcracker while dressed as Santa. If you hang around long enough you never know what you'll find in Walt Disney World!

Hope you're having a magical day, I know I am!

The Final Countdown

As December encroaches, my program comes closer and closer to an end. That means the first of many "lasts." I had my last class this week. Which consisted of all the groups presenting their final projects. The assignment, generally speaking, was to create a product and sell it to a specific audience. The entire presentation was the pitch to that audience. So with each project, we had to pretend to be a different audience. There were pitches of organic stores to young activists, new concepts for a reimagined Hollywood Studios to Disney executives, and a new pair of eye glasses that also make coffee to a room of college sophomores.

Usually group projects are the vain of my existence. But I had been working well with the other people in my group since the beginning of the class. We all worked well and balanced each other out which is why we decided to do the final project together. Our teacher gave us three weeks to work on this because one week was Thanksgiving and she knew we would all be working too many hours to devote a decent amount of time and energy to her class.

So we immediately got an idea into our heads so we had plenty of time to come up with a fully formed product and work out every little detail. We decided to sell a small cupcake shop to Starbucks executives to create a business partnership. We met a few times throughout the three week time period, divided up the work evenly, put together the presentation, researched the Starbucks company, and each baked a dozen cupcakes to share with the class.

When we walked into the classroom we immediately won everyone over because we brought free food but then we got up there and began our presentation. Everyone in the class took their audience role to heart and asked us some really tough questions while in character about our proposal. It was challenging and fun all at the same time because it was something that we had invested a lot of time and thought into and we had an answer for everything.

After the presentation was over the class broke character to give us feedback and they said we were very professional and we had really thought of everything. One of our classmates told us that he used to work at Starbucks and he was really impressed that we had researched that company in order to convince them the partnership was a good idea. And then of course, we got to eat the left over cupcakes. It was a great way to end an awesome class!

I learned so many skills I can use in the real world in that class and I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to take it. It was absolutely worth my time and it was nice to just be able to think creatively with a group of new people that I had never even thought to talk to before that. I have heard nothing but good things about all the Disney offered classes on the College Program and would definitely recommend them to anyone considering whether or not to take them.

Hope you're having a magical day, I know I am!

Traveling the World in Search of Friends!

One great thing about working in entertainment is the fact that I get to know those famous Disney characters very well. I love getting to spend the day with them and hang out with them. Of course, I have to visit them on my days off! So there were still a few I had not met yet that I needed to check off my bucket list. I enlisted the help of one of my other attendant friends and we made our way through World Showcase meeting just a few of our friends before my shift that night.

It is still a magical moment every time I meet a character and they reach out for a hug! No matter how bad my day was or how many times I've met them it never fails to make me happy. Our first stop of the day was right at the front of World Showcase, Duffy! Duffy is possibly the most adorable teddy bear anyone could ever have. Kudos to Minnie for making him that way. I still need to buy a Duffy to take with me on my travels just like Mickey does. But when Duffy came out to meet us, he was dressed for Christmas in his little Santa coat and hat. Sorry Goofy, Duffy makes a better Santa than you! He was so cute we just HAD to give him kisses!

Then we went over to the United Kingdom to meet with our friends Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. I've met them before but I have yet to work with them. I have had many encounters with them in the parks though so I had to go say hello. Pooh was so adorable asking us if we brought him any honey but we told him we were sorry and our honey was all gone and then Tigger bounced right over to us for big hugs and all honey-less thoughts disappeared. We are bigger Tigger fans than Pooh so we had to get a picture with just our bouncy buddy and he insisted on kisses as well. It was so heartwarming to be loved by such memorable characters!

We eventually made our way over to Norway to meet some new members of the Disney family. Anna and Elsa, the new royal sisters from the movie Frozen. Of course, they wouldn't reveal any secrets about their story but just their personalities were enough to make me glad to have them as part of our ever growing family. Anna's dress is so detailed and as practical as a dress can be. Elsa's resembles ice in so many ways, it reflects the light and just glistens with every movement. They were sweet enough to autograph my bag and we had a great time meeting them for the first time.

Our last stop was a surprise visit by Flynn Rider! He was searching Epcot for Maximus. It was great to be able to visit with Flynn without Rapunzel there. I love Rapunzel but Flynn is just so much fun when he's not acting like a proper prince. We asked him if he was keeping Rapunzel's crown safe and he said that he always keeps it with him and then he showed it to us. It was absolutely beautiful! He also had apples in his satchel to help get Maximus to his duties as head of security.

We stopped in France for lunch and to get some goodies to take home for later. I love French food! I would eat there every day if I could! It was a great morning in Epcot. I love being able to go into the parks without a strict agenda or small time frame. I like not being rushed to get everything in the parks completed.

Have a magical day, I know I am!

The Last Limited Time Magic

All year Disney has been doing special Limited Time Magic events. I have had the privilege of seeing a few of them but I had yet to be a part of one of them. Today I finally got my chance!

This week the Magic Kingdom has a Secret Santa. We have welcomed Duffy to Main Street USA as our Secret Santa and he has provided all the characters in the park with holiday autograph cards to give out to their guests.

I was able to help Duffy with his holiday surprise on the first day with the Tremaines (aka the Step Family from Cinderella) and the Fairy Godmother. Duffy made sure each card had a theme that matched the characters' personalities which made them super cute and the fact that our secret Santa is Duffy just makes it adorable!

I've already had the pleasure of meeting Duffy in his Santa outfit and he wins Cutest Teddy Bear by a million points! The cards are such a cute idea to do around the holidays. It keeps up the holiday cheer every day and not just during the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.

Holiday cheer is reaching each park and resort slowly but surely and is getting everyone ready and excited for the holidays.

Hope you're having a magical day, I know I am!

Making Holiday Magic

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is a special ticket event that goes on through November and December to celebrate the holiday season. Special characters, shows and parades and of course, free hot chocolate and Christmas cookies. So far I've gotten to work four parties and visit one as a guest. Each time I've worked, I've experienced something new.

At the first one, I worked the dance party at Cosmic Ray's. This during-the-day quick service turns into a dance club with free hot cocoa and cookies for the holidays. Pluto, Goofy (dressed as Santa) Chip and Dale rock it out all night long with kids of all ages. Watching Goofy and Pluto dance to "What does the Fox say?" while chip and dale argue to keep it on or turn it off was one of the most entertaining things I've ever seen at a dance party.

The next night I got to work the castle show, Celebrate the Season. It would have been a much more fun night if rain hadn't cancelled the last show and parade of the night. But I still got to see the show once and watch the fireworks from inside Cinderella's castle. It was a truly magical moment. And because it was raining the park cleared out much earlier that it's closing time so I was able to take pictures of lots of families in front of the frozen castle. It was nice to see that despite the weather, people were still having fun. It definitely made my night more fun to see them having a good time.

I also have worked with Donald, Daisy, and Scrooge McDuck. Scrooge was taking up a collection that evening and by the end of the night he had collected a whole eleven cents. Someone gave him a dollar but we gave that back to him because the little kid was very attached to it.

I also got to work with the Country Bears from the original Country Bear Jamboree attraction. They were some of the funniest bears I have ever seen! People have no idea who they are so they just goof around all night. It was so much fun and a great way to spend time working while everyone else was enjoying the party festivities.

Hope you're having a magical day, I know I am!

Christmas Already? Where'd Thanksgiving Go?

Here in Disney World, it changes from Halloween to Christmas overnight. Literally. Each park and resort is transformed to the holidays overnight. Our last Halloween party was on November 1st and our first Christmas party was a week later. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party may be one of the most magical things I have ever seen in Disney. I had the privilege of going as a guest last week. From the minute you walk into the park, there is holiday cheer everywhere! It was about 70 degrees the night I went and it was snowing as you walked down Main Street USA. The castle was lit up with icicle lights and there were projections of snowflakes all over the buildings.

Yes that is snow...in Florida. #DisneyMagic

The first thing on our agenda was to watch the holiday castle show, Celebrate the Season. Mickey and the gang welcome you to the party with fabulous dances and familiar holiday songs. He even gives Minnie a present, a tribute to the Nutcracker, which of course Goofy, Donald, Pluto, Chip and Dale have to be a part of. Everyone comes out for the celebration. Teddy bears, reindeer, snowmen, carolers, and all of Mickey's friends show up during the show. It was a perfect way to get everyone in the holiday spirit!

After the show we rushed over to Frontierland to watch the parade. The parade was awesome! They had ice skaters, skiers, candy cane dancers, all our Disney friends and of course Santa as the Grand Marshall! We had a front row view so all the characters were coming up to us to say hello. It was so magical!

Cinderella in her wedding dress during the parade?!

During the Christmas parties, they give out hot chocolate and snicker doodle cookies, which we stopped for very often throughout the night. In our time before the fireworks, we went around to see some of our friends. We met Captain Jack Sparrow, Peter Pan and Wendy, Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. We didn'st stop to visit but we saw Snow White's dwarves, Minnie Mouse, Mary Poppins, Bert and a couple of their penguin friends, and the Country Bears. We stopped into the dance party in Cosmic Rays in Tomorrowland to say hello to Santa Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale as well and the dance party in Frontierland to say hello to Woody, Jessie and Bullseye.

Then it was time to find a good spot to watch Celebrate the Magic and Holiday Wishes. The projection show on the castle is always magical to watch and the fireworks display was absolutely amazing. Better than the Wishes show they do on a regular night. Watching any fireworks show is always magical and inspirational because it is so perfect and is true Disney magic. I still get butterflies every time Tinkerbell flies from the castle to kick off the fireworks.

When the fireworks were finished we decided to watch the parade again because we loved it so much the first time. So we went back to Frontierland and made sure to stand on the opposite side of the parade this time so we could see the other half of the parade. We had all the characters come up to us again...because we were in the front row. And we had lots of characters blow us kisses. Our favorite was Woody though. We were blowing him kisses and he was so excited because he recognized us from the dance party. He kept telling us that he loves us and he was trying to lean over the railing to get to us. It was the cutest thing. He wins for our favorite character interaction of the night.

Our final stop of the night was Princess Fairytale Hall. We went to see the princesses and their princes who were visiting for the evening. Cinderella, Prince Charming, Aurora, Prince Phillip, Snow White and her prince, and Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. Phillip was telling us about how he's training Charming to be able to slay two headed dragons and Flynn showed us Rapunzel's crown. It was a great last stop of the evening.

Then we met up with the rest of the group at the castle and had a little photo shoot. It was a magical evening and definitely got me in the Christmas spirit. Who needs Thanksgiving when you have Christmas in Disney World! I am very excited to be able to work the party. I can't wait to work with all these amazing Disney characters that come to celebrate the Holidays with all of us!

Hope you're having a magical day, I know I am!

To the Mall...for Class?

One part of the College Program is the "Learning" component. Disney offers specialized classes for us to participate in to earn college credit while on the program. My class, Creativity and Innovation, is unique because it is all about thinking creatively and how to innovate in a professional atmosphere.

This week we were focused on taking everything we've learned over the weeks and observing how companies, other than Disney, add these ideas into their daily operations. So we headed to the Florida Mall. We were given questions to ask at 6 or 7 stores in order to observe how their creative process works. We visited so many different stores with different outlooks on creativity and sales. It was very interesting to listen to the employees of different companies to see how they are encouraged to add creativity to their stores. Every store was different and most of the employees were happy to talk to us.

After we observed a variety of stores, each group had to come up with a new store concept that combined at least two concepts we saw played out in the mall. We took the color organization process from Charming Charlies and aspect of product scent from M&M World and combined them to create a store concept for a cupcake shop organized by cupcake flavors and scents. We had so much fun coming up with the idea and by the end we were wishing that it would be something real.

This class has been full of creating new ideas and thinking about how to creatively improve not only things we see outside of Disney but also new ideas that would creatively enhance our own workplaces. We have also been required to keep an idea journal throughout the entire class and it has allowed my mind to expand on a few creative ideas I had thought about in the past but then never came back to. Each week we would learn about something new in the world of creativity or innovation and by the end we found out that everything built off the thing we had learned during the previous week. I have really enjoyed this class and now we are starting to work on our final group projects. My group is sticking to the store idea and for our final project we will have to pitch our idea to a specific group of people. Challenge accepted.

Hope you're having a magical day, I know I am!

You're Cut Off! (Food and Wine Festival 2013)

Epcot is the park every adult loves. Especially the World Showcase and especially during the Food and Wine Festival. Every fall Epcot hosts Food and Wine. Booths from all different countries are set up all over the World Showcase and the purpose of the festival is to celebrate and try food and drinks from all over the world. As a guest, it is an absolutely wonderful festival. They have been doing it for so long and have perfected it along the way. Cast members who work in Epcot are on high alter for very "festive" people during this time of year and in my role, I have to make sure that they don't annoy my characters too much. Some of the people are harder to deal with then others and sometimes I get a really entertaining story out of it. Here are two of my favorite moments from working Food and Wine 2013.

While working with Duffy (Mickey's teddy bear Minnie made for him to travel with) we got a lot of shout outs from people passing by. Duffy is located right at the end of Future World and the beginning of the World Showcase, so everyone passes by him, although he is not as popular here as he is in other countries so his line i never very long. It was a few days before Halloween and Duffy wanted to wear his Halloween costume so he was dressed as a pumpkin, which was absolutely adorable. We heard the normal shout outs such as, "Duffy! My man! I love you!" and "Hey you look like a pumpkin! Awesome!" But one stood out because it was absolutely ridiculous. Duffy and I were going back inside to get a cookie and as we were walking through the large crowd of people a man who had been enjoying more drinks than food shouts out, "Hey! Chipmunk! Over here! Chipmunk!" then turns to his friend and says, "the chipmunk ignored me!" As we passed by him I said, "that's because Duffy is a teddy bear." The guy and his friends were sitting down as Duffy and I passed by on our way back to his gazebo after getting a cookie and Duffy tried to wave to him and give him a high five and the guy shook his head and said, "nope! You ignored me! No love for you chipmunk!" I again reminded him that Duffy is a teddy bear, not a chipmunk. Someone needs to cut him off from the "wine" part of the festival.


Germany is one of those countries that people go to for drinks rather than food during the festival so being with a character in Germany all day, I knew I'd get some good laughs, but I am always surprised by guests an what they will say. I had spent the whole day with Snow White and the "festive" people had pretty much left us alone. We got to the last few minutes of her greeting guests and she had a completely full line. A group of four adults came up to me to see if they could slide their way into the line. Of course the answer is no but they tried very hard. It was a group to two women and two men. The women had a beer in each hand and the men (one younger and shorter and the other older and taller) each had a beer and food selection in their hands. One of the women comes up to me and asks, "is there any way you can let us in? We love Snow White." "I have already turned others away so unfortunately I cannot let you in the line" I responded.
She continued to try by saying, "please! What do I have to do? I'll give you a dollar?"
"I'm not allowed to accept bribes."
"How about this, I'll give you the first sip of my beer!"
"No, I'm sorry. That's your beer. You paid for it. You shouldn't give up any of it."
"Well come on, look at him (pointing to the taller, older man) he's on his last days. His final wish is to meet Snow White. Look at him he's so old!" she continued.
"He's not old! He's got years left in him! I'm sure he'll get another opportunity to meet her."
She then tried another excuse. "What about him? (pointing to the shorter male in the group) he's a midget! He's had a rough life!"
"No, I know much shorter people than him. Have you seen Snow White's dwarves?"
"Yes! He's a dwarf he has to see Snow White." she tried as well.
"Well if he's a dwarf then she will see him later at the cottage. In the mean time why don't you all go back to the festival and try some of the food at the Germany booth. Snow White said it's her favorite booth," I responded and then turned to Snow White and said, "how about we go for a walk?" We then took the long way back to her cottage through the Germany pavilion in the World Showcase so she could say goodnight to all of the guests.
When Snow got back to her cottage she said to me, "the people who choose to celebrate the 'wine' part of the festival should also try the food, that might help them a little bit at least."
It was definitely an entertaining way to end the day.

I am glad the festival is over because it will be a little calmer in Epcot but we will always be on the look out for people choosing to "drink around the world" in the World Showcase. Walt Disney World guests will never fail to surprise and entertain me.

Hope you're having a magical day, I know I am!

SURPRISE! GO GREEN TERROR!

Homecoming is one of the most fun weekends at McDaniel. The campus is full of students, alumni, and our families. My first Homecoming I spent with my new friends and met so many new people that would end up being some of my favorite McDaniel people. Sophomore year, I woke up to a blizzard...on Halloween/Homecoming. Getting to see all the recent grads I had befriended the previous year was great and spending the day celebrating team spirit...in the snow...created some awesome memories. Last year I knew even more alumni and even more students so it was even better than the previous two years. This year the only thing I was really sad to be missing was Homecoming. After talking to all my recently graduated friends and hearing their plans for going back for the weekend, I knew I just had to get there somehow.

Start of the game. Look at those silly visitors sitting on the bleachers.

I started planning early and was able to book a last minute flight for pretty cheap. I only told 2 people about my plans, the one picking me up from the airport and the one I was staying with. The surprises started as soon as I was picked up at the airport. Three of my favorite people came to get me! As soon as I got to campus I was able to surprise some of my favorite faculty members and some friends I've had since Freshman year. The rest of the evening was spent visiting friends...they all had the same reaction, "hey! Wait. Aren't you supposed to be in Florida?" Everyone was so happy to see me and I was so excited to be reunited with everyone! It made the weekend even better.

Sorry Kelsey, there weren't many pictures to choose from. :)

The game Saturday afternoon did not result in a win, however, the tailgating that we all love did not fail and we had a great time anyway. Sunday I was able to go to brunch with a few of my closest friends before catching my plane back to Florida. And then after a long day of travel, I was finally back in the warm state of Florida and ready to get back to work the next day. As much fun as it was to go back to campus and see everyone I have grown so attached to, it was also great to come back to Florida and know that I love the reason I am here. January is going to come too fast but I am glad I have one more semester on campus with all my friends. See you in January McDaniel!

Johanson's Brunch

Hope you're having a magical day, I know I am!

The Magic of Magic Kingdom

Working in Magic Kingdom can be stressful because of all the people, but it can also be the most fun all at the same time.

Recently I have had the pleasure of working with Peter Pan and Wendy, Cinderella's Stepfamily, Aladdin and Jasmine, and Lotso. All of which have been so much fun to work with. Each one gets to create magical moments with guests every day. An important thing to remember is that the Magic Kingdom is the most magical in the morning before it is flooded with the thousands of people that walk around all day.

Every time Peter Pan and Wendy come back to take more pictures. They skip their way through a part of Fantasyland. They surprise people and make them smile while distracting them from staring at the map and making them realize that if they just look up and experience the atmosphere, they can see some of the most magical things Walt Disney World has to offer. After all, Disney wouldn't be a magical place if it weren't for the characters and stories it is created around.

Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, and Drizella start every day by riding Prince Charming's Carousel with three lucky families. The sisters go on the hunt for their own prince charmings and Lady Tremaine finds a fun family. It is such a great moment for those kids to be able to ride the carousel with characters they have most likely never met and only seen through a television screen. To bring that magic to life and create a great first experience of the day is something not many people can do.

Speaking of early morning surprises, Aladdin and Jasmine get to ride the magic carpet ride every morning with a lucky family. They head up to the ride and pick a family to sit with. When the ride is over, they bring the family over to their photo spot for some pictures and autographs. The smile on that first kid's face is like nothing else. It is that pure magic just beaming through to the surface. They are able to make a truly unforgettable experience for one family every single day.

Now, my experience with Lotso was a little different. He only makes meet and greet appearances for the Halloween party and since he is not one of the villains included in the Boo to You parade, he gets to watch it with all the guests. The first parade of the night, Lotso found a family to stand with that had an elderly grandmother in a wheel chair and the grandmother turned into a child again. It was absolutely adorable! Everyone in the parade would find Lotso in the crowd and wave to him and it gave them that extra burst of energy. Lotso especially loves the Villains unit. All his friends are there; Maleficent, Cruella DeVil, Big Bad Wolf and so many more! Even the pirates were happy to see Lotso. The dancing cowboys even said "howdy" to Lotso as they passed. Everyone standing around the large huggable bear had so much fun not only watching the parade, but also watching Lotso. During the second parade, Lotso found a little girl in a wheel chair to watch it with. But by the end of the parade, she had gotten up and started dancing with Lotso. It was absolutely magical! It is worth it to pay for the extra special events Disney has throughout the year because there are less people in the parks for them which means you are more likely to have these very special moments with the characters throughout the parks. I can't wait to see what magical moments the Christmas parties bring to the table!

If someone ever says to me that Disney World has lost it's magic touch, I have evidence to prove them wrong and I'm sure all the other cast members, especially ones that work closely with the beloved characters, that magic happens all day every day in the parks and you just have to be lucky enough to find it.

I hope you are having a magical day, I know I am!

My First Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

"Boo. To you. Boo to you and you and you. And you and you and you. Happy Halloween!"

Yes, I've heard the parade go by over and over. I finally got to experience it a as a guest. I got to follow candy trails, ride rides, visit rare characters, and experience all the Halloween only magical entertainment experiences. As soon as I got into Magic Kingdom (dressed as Drizella for the evening) I found Lotso standing in the corner with a generally small line so I hoped right in. Yes his tail squeaks and is one of the most adorable things I have ever seen!

After catching up with a few friends, we went off to find candy trails. One of them had never been trick or treating so we had to change that. We all visited friends and roommates that were working at various attractions and then went on an adventure to visit characters you can't normally find in the parks.

We ended up finding Woody, Jessie and Bullseye at the dance party in the Diamond Horseshoe and danced with them for a while which was really fun! I had never met Bullseye before so that was awesome! We also got to meet Tarzan, Jane, and Terk at the Adventureland Veranda. They were a lot of fun because I am not very familiar with Tarzan so it was funny to see these characters talking about what they know and not being familiar with it. I need to watch Tarzan again. Later we went over to Town Square Theatre and met Mickey and Minnie dressed in their Halloween costumes as vampire and a witch. And at the end, we were walking down Main Street and the Tremaines spotted me from the top of the train station and demanded I wait for them to come down the stairs. They ran down and gave me hugs and were so happy I had dressed up like one of them. We walked over to Main Street to get a picture right in front of the castle. It was a great way to finish our hunt for characters.

From the Diamond Horseshoe porch we watched the Boo to You parade and it was so cute. To see all those great characters, heros, villains, sidekicks, dancers, and classic friends all looked fantastic! We also got to the see Hallo-Wishes Fireworks Spectacular and Celebrate the Magic. They were really cool. It was all Halloween themed, even the specific fireworks were Halloween themed. Disney magic strikes again!

I had such a great time and I can't wait to hopefully go again next year! It is definitely an awesome event Disney throws!

Hope you are having a magical day, I know I am!

This Week's Crew

Hugs, perfection and sorcery are the only words to describe my week last week. I had great experiences working at Epcot with Goofy and Mary Poppins and at Hollywood Studios with Mickey Mouse.

I was up bright and early to work at Character Spot with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy the other day. It was my first day there having Goofy instead of Pluto. The poor puppy has been moved to the front of the park in the sun. Instead, Goofy has now taken over the center spot at Character Spot. The three of them are great fun to work with. Goofy is always causing trouble and running around the room. Minnie makes sure Mickey is behaving himself and Mickey tries to keep Goofy in line. My morning started with a big hug from Goofy and after that, as we would wait for guests to visit us, we would just dance and have a great time. We had so much fun!

The next day I was with Mary Poppins in the United Kingdom. She really is practically perfect in every way. She was such a joy to work with. We had two little girls dressed up like Mary come through the line twice and then another little girl had on a perfect replica of the Poppins dress and was even more adorable than the two previous girls. The challenge of the day: working in the World Showcase while people were enjoying the "wine" part of Food and Wine. But like every challenge thrown at me, I worked well with Mary to make sure she stayed safe while the grown ups enjoying the festival came to visit. Over all it was a practically perfect day (pun completely intended).

Then, the day of the Tower of Terror marathon, I got to work at Hollywood Studios for the first time ever but with my friend, Mickey. He was so cute dressed in his sorcerer outfit. That mouse knows how to dress for an occasion, that's for sure! It was a fun day and I had a great time working with the boss once again. I will definitely work at Hollywood Studios again. 


Have a magical day, I know I am!

Games for Credit

Today I had the third class for my Creativity and Innovation class through the Disney College Program. Today was focused on looking into the future when thinking about new creative and innovative ideas. So to help us, our professor placed two different games on each table before class started. Now, before we knew what it was for, two people at our table decided to play Jenga on the break. Well it turned into the most intense Jenga game ever! We had the entire class circled around the table (including the professor) watching these guys play. Finally they got to a point in the game where it would come tumbling down no matter what they picked so they decided to call it a draw and we left the tower up for the rest of the class (it was not until someone was leaving after class ended and accidentally hit the tower with her bag that it finally came down).

Once everyone got back on topic, we were told that the games were there for us to deconstruct and create something new out of. We had Jenga and cards. So after brainstorming many complicated ideas we came up with a simple, yet challenging one minute game. The object of the game was to build the strongest tower out of Jenga blocks. However, the cards you were dealt were the way you figured out how many blocks you got to work with. But, you only had one minute to do everything. It was so fun, I think we were having the most fun out of the entire class.

It was a really fun class and we got to talk about trends in our specific passions at the end of class so we talked about the Youtube star trend and how easy it is to find new and creative talent from all over the world with just a few clicks on one website. We discussed ways that that could be improved in order for it to continue to succeed in the future. We also were able to share ideas we had all come up with in our creativity journals. Many ideas steamed from things we had seen in the parks that we thought could be improved. My table had a lot of ideas to improve Hollywood Studios, some other groups had ideas on making the MagicBands even more magical, and others even had ideas for ways to improve some of the entertainment aspects of the parks. Overall it was a really informative and fun class.

I love that for four hours a week I am required to think creatively and come up with new innovative ideas for anything I want whether it has to do with Disney or not. It helps my mind stay balanced with work and creativity. It is a great class! If anyone is on the border of whether or not to take a class while on the College Program, I say do it! You only get to learn from this company once so why not take advantage of that opportunity!

Have a magical day, I know I am!