It All Starts With A Wish: A Disney College Program TR NEW 9/3

[KGeeLovesDisney]

It looks like you're incredibly busy. Thanks for taking the time to keep us updated.

Getting to the front gate of Magic Kingdom was such a tease. I wanna be where the people are…

I wanna see, wanna see them dancing...
I love the Magic Kingdom. I don't know if I could resist being that close and not going in. It's my absolute, all time favorite park

They didn’t pipe the music in, but Catherine had the soundtrack on her phone, so we lined it up with the fireworks.

Wow, way to go, Catherine!

 

[RGirl]

Courtney, my friend, I just wanted you to know that I am all caught up. You know I won't be posting much here, but I will read and talk with you elsewhere. But I had to say how much I enjoyed your updates and how happy I am for you. Seeing your CM nametag just about brought a tear to my eye - which is NOT easy to do.

 

[belle79]

i have read your other trip reports and think this is such a cool way to remember your dcp!!!! maybe I will see you during my sept trip!

 

[ElenaJane]

Can't wait to find out which attraction you are on! Hope everything is going great! Drink lots of water, I hear Orlando broke 100!

 

[SeattleSteve]

Hi Courtney,

I've greatly enjoyed your TRs and wish you the best of luck. Somehow I know you'll be taking full advantage of the perks of the program!

 

[courtneybelle]

June 14-16, 2015: Magic Kingdom Life

I woke up the morning of the 14th and decided to go to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours. What a life.

My first order of business was meeting Princess Tiana—she is my dad’s favorite princess, so for Father’s Day I wanted to get a picture with her. She was more than happy to hold up this sign with me:

And I got a pic of just the two of us!

After that, I went to meet up with my friend Danielle! Danielle and I went to college together, and she was in WDW this week. We caught up before her lunch at Cinderella’s Royal Table, and it was so nice to see her!

I headed home after that because it was so hot out, but first I treated myself to some ice cream on Main Street.

The 15th and 16th were my first days of work at the Magic Kingdom! I learned so much over the course of these two days—primarily that for many people, the Magic Kingdom IS Disney World, and so they expect a lot about the cast members that work here. I was also able to tour the park and ride all the rides in Frontierland…it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

I also learned what you’ve all been waiting for…my work location. I will be working at…drumroll please…

SPLASH MOUNTAIN! I cannot believe I am working at my favorite attraction! I will never get Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah out of my head and it will be glorious!

(Just a quick PSA: I am super excited for people to come visit me at my attraction, but sometimes I will be in positions where I can’t really have a conversation because my focus has to be on the safety of our guests. Please know that I’m really happy to see you even if I can’t talk!! And of course if you see me out and about in the parks please say hi!)

Keep scrolling for the next update!​

 

[courtneybelle]

June 17, 2015: Frozen Summer Fun

Today was my first day of on-the-job training at Splash Mountain! There is so much to remember that this first day was kind of overwhelming, but still really exciting!

After work Katie, Catherine, and I decided to go to Studios. It was the first day of Frozen Summer Fun and as someone who is still obsessed with Frozen I was VERY excited.

Our first stop was the Frozen Sing-A-Long, which has moved to the theater where American Idol used to be. I think the new space is absolutely gorgeous, and allows for much cooler effects!

The show itself was absolutely hilarious. The storytellers are such talented people and tell the greatest jokes! When Kristoff came on the stage, they screamed, “OH MY GOSH!!! IT’S JUSTIN BIEBER!!” I was crying with laughter pretty much the whole time. I could see myself going to this show once a week, honestly.

Next, we went on Star Tours and took a fabulous 3D glasses selfie. None of us got to be the Rebel Spy, which is our goal for the program!

After that I was craving a Frozen cupcake, so we headed to the Trolley Car Café (featuring Starbucks Coffee) and got cupcakes and water! The CM asked if I wanted Anna, Elsa, or Olaf’s name on my cup, and of course I went with my favorite…

We got a table in front of the Café that gave us a perfect view of the fireworks! They were absolutely fantastic. The songs go so well with the fireworks and I loved every minute.

Keep scrolling for the next update!​

 

[courtneybelle]

June 18-20, 2015: Class, Work, and Epcot

I had Thursday off because of the class I am taking, Exploring Disney Heritage! This is a class all about Walt Disney’s life and the history of the Walt Disney Company. This is an extremely popular class so I was lucky to be able to take it! Our first day was mostly introductions and information about the class, but we also discussed Walt’s family tree and childhood in Marceline. I am really excited to learn all about Walt over the next few months!

That night Katie, Kristen, Gavin, Hayley, and I saw Jurassic World, and I got judged for buying such large portions of food:

In my defense, I shared the popcorn with everyone. Jurassic World was awesome, by the way. Chris Pratt was at Splash Mountain one of the nights I wasn't working and I almost cried I was so sad I missed him.

I worked on Friday and Saturday, learning more about the mountain and trying out the different positions CMs work. On Saturday night, I went to Epcot with Katie and Kristen. Our first stop was Spaceship Earth!

Katie and I took a fabulous scuba-diving vacation.

Next, we did The Seas with Nemo and Friends and spent some time looking at stingrays and dolphins. Kristen is a zoology major who really wants to work in the Seas one day, so it was fun hanging out there!

After that we treated ourselves to Mickey bars and ice cream sandwiches.

Finally, we grabbed a spot for Illuminations, which I actually haven’t seen since 2011. It was really good! After my program I’ll be able to give you all a definitive ranking of all the fireworks shows.

Keep scrolling for the next update!​

 

[courtneybelle]

June 21, 2015: Downtown Disney and Reuniting with Kaela

I worked all morning, and while I was on my lunch break my friends Kaela and Mandy asked if I wanted to go to Downtown Disney that night! I know Kaela from a Disney blog she runs, cmkaela, that gave me a lot of information about applying for the DCP. I met her while she was working at Magic Kingdom last summer and we have become really good friends over the past year. She introduced me to Mandy, who is down here for the summer to work at WDW!

Katie and I got to Downtown Disney first and looked around World of Disney, washed our hands in Basin, and visited the Arribas Brothers store. I was in shock that someone who wasn’t me thought this was a marketable and profitable idea:

Not gonna lie, I’m tempted.

Soon enough Kaela and the gang showed up and I was so excited to see her!

I didn’t get a group picture this night so you’ll have to wait on the visuals, but Kaela works at the front desk of Pop Century, her boyfriend Chris works at Mouse Gear, their roommate Alec works all the attractions in Tomorrowland, and Mandy is training at the Jungle Cruise (I’m so jealous).

We decided on Earl of Sandwich for dinner! I had a ham and swiss sandwich and it was really good.

Next, we headed to Once Upon a Toy to see what Tsum Tsums they had. I ended up getting Duffy and Fear from Inside Out.

Kaela and I took a pic with our best pal Duffy:

We did a lot of window shopping at the pin store, World of Disney, Tren-D, and Marketplace Co-Op, and we capped off the night with gelato! I got mango and it was wonderful.

Keep scrolling for the next update!​

 

[courtneybelle]

June 22, 2015: Hollywood Studios

I had today off, so I went to Hollywood Studios with Kristen, Hayley, and Gavin! We were in awe of the Frozen topiaries out front. Garden goals.

Our first stop was Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. The line was pretty long so we decided to do the single rider line and that got us through much quicker!

After that we headed over to Tower of Terror. Not going to lie, this ride has become one of my favorites since I’ve been here and I think the CMs there are some of the very best, in terms of playing the part and being efficient.

Next we headed over to Star Tours! The Frozen fireworks were going on as we walked, so there was much singing and dancing on the way.

Mandatory 3D glasses selfie.

Something monumental happened on our Star Tours journey…GAVIN GOT TO BE THE REBEL SPY!!! He had no idea what was going on until I started yelling. I was so jealous!

Keep scrolling for the next update!​

 

[courtneybelle]

June 23, 2015: 1900 Park Fare

This morning Katie and I went to brunch at 1900 Park Fare! We got there a little early and Katie got a coffee at Mizner’s Coffee Lounge. I had never been here, it’s a really cute place to go for a drink and a pastry!

We checked in for our 11 a.m. reservation and were seated right away. I was so happy to be reunited with Disney breakfast food and tropical juice.

Our first visitor was Alice! She asked if we had been talking to any flowers that morning, and told us not to let them call us weeds. She then tried to wake up the leaves next to our table so they would talk to us.

Mad Hatter stopped by next. I had never met him before and he was so much fun! We talked about where we were from and where I’d be working for the rest of the day. He told me to look for him in the parade!

Mary Poppins came over next and she was lovely. I told her I worked in Frontierland and she said she couldn’t visit there because her dress would get dirty. Totally understandable.

Pooh visited us next and we were so excited!! Pooh Bear is the cutest and gives the best hugs. He loved seeing us and was happy that my shirt matched his!

Our last visitor was Tigger and he was SO enthusiastic and bouncy!

After brunch I went into work. Today I learned how to do crowd control for the parades that come through Frontierland! Katie and Hayley visited for Festival of Fantasy and Katie got these great pictures of me directing the crowds:

Keep scrolling for the next update!​

 

[courtneybelle]

June 24, 2015: More Frozen Fun

Today I went back to Hollywood Studios (I know, it seems like I live there) with Shayla! Shayla hadn’t visited Studios yet and we had an important mission to complete…

But first, we rode Tower of Terror, of course.

We headed over to the Animation building for a super important character meet, and Katie joined us in line after she got off work at the Boardwalk.

Finally, we got to meet two of my favorite characters who I had been dying to meet since their movie came out…Hiro and Baymax!!!

I was happy to see my girl Honey Lemon represented in line.

Hiro was so funny, telling us all about how his cat got loose in the park. And Baymax was precious. He gave me a fist bump and let us all hug him. Just like spooning a marshmallow.

Next we went to the Frozen Sing-A-Long because it’s a winner.

For dinner we decided to go to Pizza Planet! It was fantastic.

It started pouring when we were eating, but we didn’t want to leave the park just yet, so we decided to head over to MuppetVision 3D! I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it yet. Katie and Shayla haven’t seen it as much as I have, so it was fun seeing their reactions.

We came out of MuppetVision and it had stopped raining so the fun continued! I showed Katie and Shayla where I plan on getting engaged…right in front of the Miss Piggy fountain.

We headed back to Tower of Terror so Katie could ride it with us. After, Katie had to head out since she had an early morning, but Kristen decided to come to the park and join us! I tried on this lovely hat.

We all got character MagicBands: I got a Belle one, Shayla got a Tinker Bell one, and Kristen got a Woody and Buzz one!

We rode Star Tours and then got a spot on Hollywood Boulevard for the Frozen fireworks! These fireworks make my heart so happy.

Keep scrolling for the next update!​

 

[courtneybelle]

June 25, 2015: Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney

This morning I went to Magic Kingdom to get some birthday gifts for my sister (I’d tell you what they were, but she reads this TR). After my shopping, I rode Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan’s Flight with Fastpass+! I always forget how much I love these rides until I’m on them. The park can get so bright and loud and crowded that it’s nice to go into a dark ride and relax for a few minutes.

I had my second Heritage class today. We learned about Walt and Roy and their different contributions to the company. We also played a game where we had to purchase supplies and build a monorail, with half the team being Walt (the creative part) and half the team being Roy (the business-savvy part). I am absolutely loving this class so far!

After I got out of class, Katie, Kristen, and I went to Cast Connection! This is a special store for cast members where they can purchase Disney merchandise that is no longer being sold in the parks. Katie and I got Christmas iPhone cases for $5. We were pretty tempted to use them right now but we’ll wait until November.

Then we headed to Downtown Disney and got a delicious dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express! I got their mac and cheese and it was so good.

Gavin and Hayley met up with us and we did some shopping! We got some treats in Goofy’s Candy Company. I loved these apples and rice krispie treats:

And I had to get this delicious Olaf cake pop:

We went to the pin store, where Katie got a castle MagicBand, and we also had some fun in Once Upon A Toy:

Finally, we went to the movie theater to see Inside Out! I absolutely loved it but it was SO SAD. I was not expecting to get that emotional, but it’s a really fantastic movie and you should see it if you haven’t yet!

Keep scrolling for the next update!​

 

[courtneybelle]

June 26-27, 2015: Magic Kingdom and Work

June 26 was my last day of training and I was planning to just relax before work, but Mandy (who I know through Kaela) suggested that we meet up at Magic Kingdom, and I don’t really turn down invites to the Magic Kingdom…

Katie and I headed over to play in the Kingdom for a few hours! We found Mandy and headed over to the PeopleMover first.

Next we wanted to take Katie on Carousel of Progress since she had never been on it, but the audio wasn’t working! That’s a priority next time we go to MK.

So instead we used Fastpasses to ride Mine Train. It’s a tough life I lead.

Squinty Mine Train selfie!

I worked until the park closed that night. I am much more of a night person than a morning person so I was happy to work a closing shift!

June 27 was my assessment day. I took a test and a CM watched me perform all the different positions on the mountain…and I earned my ears!! I was able to take the red “Earning My Ears” ribbon off my nametag. I’m so excited to be a full-fledged CM!

Continued in next post​

 

[amberg93]

Aww how sweet of you to meet Tiana for your dad!

Looking so fab in your Splash Mountain gear!

Safety first when working attractions. No one can hold that against you.

Have you heard the tips for being rebel spy? I can't remember whose TR I was reading (Candice's??) where you've got to be seated quickly, looking ahead with a pleasant expression on your face? I believe in you future rebel spy!

You hadn't seen IllumiNations since 2011?!?!?! :O But it's the BEST FIREWORKS SHOW AT DISNEY.

That Duffy tsum is so adorable that I can't.

You know my feels about ToT but the CMs there are always spot on.

Mary Poppins is all about staying clean in that dress but we all know Pooh is where it's at.

You direct those crowds Courtney!

AHHH so jealous about you meeting Hiro and Baymax! That's goals right there.

Winnie the Pooh!

I did see Inside Out and I cried like a baby.

Yay for being a full fledged CM!

 

[xlsm]

I love how much fun you're having!! It's so fun to follow along with this and instagram and live vicariously through your Disney CP!!

We'll be in the world in a couple weeks, and we won't bother you or be creepers, but if I see you, you may hear a shouted hello and/or an "I'm from the Dis!"

I would have totally cried if I'd missed Chris Pratt, btw!!

Keep living the magic

 

[SarahDisney]

I love that you got a picture with Tiana for father's day!!!

I'm so excited for you that you're at Splash Mountain! If I get down to WDW before you leave (currently I'm scheduled to arrive on January 5th ... I think you're gone by then), I'll make sure to wave if I see you, but I won't be at all offended if you don't have time to chat! Safety first!

I love that over the course of two weeks you did the Frozen Sing Along twice. Not at all surprising (and I would totally have done it too), and very awesome!

Just fyi with getting engaged in front of the Miss Piggy fountain ... remember that it has to be timed so that the question is popped with Miss Piggy looking at you. So someone may want to practice the timing.

Congrats on earning your ears and becoming a full-fledged CM!!

I'm loving following along with your adventures, both here and on Instagram, so keep the updates coming (when you're not busy working or having fun, of course)!

 

[rteetz]

That's so cool that you get to work Splash Mountain!

Great picture with Tiana for Father's Day.

We went to frozen summer fun last year and liked it. Won't be able to go back this year.

I loved both Jurassic World and Inside Out.

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Love the updates! Thanks for taking the time to post!! I cannot believe you are working at Splash Mountain!!! It's my absolute favourite, so I'm fairly certain I'll be running into you there in September, since I practically live there I'm loving your food pictures too, seriously salivating over here

Also, I think we're the same person...:

this is me every time. Also:

Chris Pratt was at Splash Mountain one of the nights I wasn't working and I almost cried I was so sad I missed him.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!! That's such bad luck that you missed him he's such a dream

 

[TXMNie]

Great update! I am enjoying following along with your trip report! Also love the skirt you wore to 1900 Park Faire!