DCP: The Tale of 4 Princesses and their 4,454 mile adventure! -- Update 1/9!

[PlutosRHM55]

Wow, you guys got busy really fast! Well, it looks like you are having a great time. I love the outfit you guys wear for the Backlot merch, so very Hollywood. Sorry to hear it rained during a lot of your off days, never fun.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[::Snow_White::]

Tuesday, August 20th

Another day, another day. My first week after training I was scheduled for 56 hours which is insane. However since all the CPs aren’t in yet they are very low on staff so I’m not surprised. Out of all my backlands friends I had the most hours, imagine that. This entire week I was scheduled for Tatooine up until Saturday which made up a little scared and happy since Tatooine is the busiest store in all of Hollywood Studios. I get a lot of practice and I never get bored but it can also get overwhelming. However, by this time I was practically a pro at most of everything so today wasn’t really hard as it was long. I was only 10-6, but you’re constantly moving so I was tired when I got off at 6. By today I had already received two guest service fanatic cards from my managers! I can’t wait, however, until I can get my earning my ears tag off because I know that our managers pay more attention to us and comment a lot. Sometimes it’s physically and mentally exhausting. Luckily after next week I should be able to get rid of it! Other than that, I’m doing really well! I got off at 6 and went to hang out with my roommates at the Patterson pool where we had a lot of laughs.

Wednesday, August 21st

I didn’t have to go in until 11 today, so I was able to clean up and finish the first week of my online classes. I enrolled in the long-distance learning program for Disney which means starting in mid-September to mid-December I’m technically not allowed more than 45 hours a week and I get Tuesday mornings off so that I can work on my 4 online courses. Anyway, work was normal, a few trainees were working with me today so I didn’t feel as lonely and I found out after I got off that one of our DCP friends who unfortunately could not apply for this Fall was here and they were going to meet up at the Polynesian!! Therefore Katie and I hightailed it there where I had another grilled cheese with fries and met up with our friends. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my long enough lens, boo. Photo left to right: Jen, Katie, Hillary, Sarah, Marissa, me! Sarah was planning on applying for this Fall, she'd already done a CP before but then had to back out because of prior commitments. Sarah was, however, one of the biggest supporters of everyone in our facebook group and we all became really close. She came down for a visit with her mom and we all really appreciated her and had to meet up!

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Thursday, August 22nd​

IT WAS FINALLY MY DAY OFF. I realized at this point I’d barely taken any pictures because there isn’t much you can do about it while on the job so it was finally time to hang out with friends and have some fun! Katie and I went grocery shopping in the morning, I had to finish up an assignment for class, I skyped with my momma and then it was time to head to Epcot with my friend Jen! We were super pumped to FINALLY get to travel around the world and made it a mission to take a photo in every country! We arrived early and there didn’t seem to be many people there at all! We decided to take our time because it was our days off, I mean really! Therefore we headed over to the land and took a spin on the Seas with Nemo then headed over to Figment because Stephanie was working today!! Luck was in our favor because she was standing right outside directing guests around the park! She’s a cutie.

Next we decided that we were getting hungry and I wanted to go to Morocco to eat so we began our journey. We started with Canada and tried to find the best items to take photos with so of course we got a flag and some moose. Hehehe.

Next up was England and what better place than the phonebooths. It makes me awfully happy to see all that Doctor Who stuff in the shops because, let’s face it, doctor who is the best. I also didn’t notice the Mary Poppins topiary there before, maybe it’s new! Jen and I also had a duel inside.

Next up was France, we were getting hungry so we didn’t do much here but I really want to go to Chefs De France!

FINALLY IT WAS MOROCCO. Morocco is my absolute favorite country here at Epcot, it’s so gorgeous and I love all the merchandise they sell, most of which I will be buying before I leave. My favorite meal at Epcot is the vegetarian platter at Tangierine Café with couscous salad, hummus, tabouleh, and pita bread. It is the best.

We cruised through Japan and almost left before we realized we forgot our photo so we tried to get something in the background.

Next was AMERICA!! I’d actually never been in this store for a long time but we talked to a CM who did the DCP, he was really nice and then we fangirled over Duffy which we both need to buy.

Italy! Jen loves Italy so of course she wanted a million photos here. They don’t have a lot of shops here but it’s gorgeous. I am, however, really bummed that they took out the quick service window for Via Napoli.

China! China is super gorgeous and I love their merchandise too.

Norway was next and Jen was determined to find some Viking hats and we did!! Everyone was laughing at us, but tis life.

Finally was Mexico. I love the store here and that it’s enclosed. I informed Jen I’d never been on the three caballeros ride despite loving the movie so we forced me on. It was cute!

After we made it around the world, Jen wanted to make her first CM cast discount purchase. She looked and looked and finally found a watch that she liked that she could wear to work. As for me, I’d been wanting to trade off all my old pins from when I was a kid and start fresh so I bought a heroes vs. villains pack at Mousegears and am now 100% obsessed with pins. I ended up with Cruella and Pongo/Perdita which I love but I didn’t care much for the others. I traded with quite a few CMs and I love it!! I already collect vinylmation and I wasn’t much into pins before but I certainly am now! I had to restrain myself from buying more as Jen kept pulling me away.

It was getting hot and about time for Marissa to get off work so we headed to Hollywood Studios to meet her there. We found out that two other Fall Advantage DCPers were hanging out and wanted to meet up so we ran to Pizza Planet to say hi to Brittany and Nick. They were super adorable and really sweet and we had a good time chatting before Marissa arrived. The first thing Marissa wanted to do was obviously the Tower of Terror which is her absolute favorite ride so we gladly indulged in her obsession. We couldn’t really decide what pose we wanted to do so we went for whatever we felt was necessary so I went with the Zac Efron High School Musical pose while Jen was being her normal self and Marissa was a pretty princess.

We wanted to try a sit-down today but since it was so last minute everything (and I mean everything) was filled so guess who had Pizza Planet for the 3rd time in 2 weeks? This girl! I love Pizza Planet, but not that much. Finally it was time for Fantasmic which we had been waiting all day for! One of my coworkers got off just before it started and ran to watch with us. It was spectacular as always but is it just me or is the dragon way less decorated and obviously more mechanical than usual? It just looked like a crane with some ribbon on it. I’ll have to come back with my longer lens for the later show one of these nights and grab some fantabulous shots. After Fantasmic we were dead tired and I had to be at work around 10 so it was time for home and bed!

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[::Snow_White::]

I want to apologize for the lack of updates as of late. I have everything written down but it's uploading and resizing the photos that really takes a lot of time. I do have a great amount of updates ready to go once I get the pictures done, hopefully I'll have it updated to this point in time by tomorrow morning. I am currently in 4 online classes (one graduate level) and of course with work and play-time this is the last thing on my list. I know you all understand, I guess I was the one who didn't realize how quickly the days went and how busy they really are. Remember you can follow me on twitter and instagram @cm_kayla. I post more on instagram than twitter so if you only want to follow one, that would be it.

I am REALLY REALLY enjoying my time here. I've never had so much fun and I can't imagine not being here on this program. To all the CPers who are applying for Spring DO IT. I promise it's hard work but it's worth it. If anyone has any questions please feel free to message me or post!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

lot's of great updates and sounds like you are all doing great!

And no need to apologize for lack of updates ... you do have your day jobs after all

 

[DisKH]

Great Update! I've been trying to follow you all on twitter/instagram but haven't been successful. Although I know I've managed to follow one of you!

The doctor who stuff in the UK Pavillion looks incredible! (from other photos i've seen) When I last went around sad1: 6 months ago) they didn't have much! But doctor who is one of my many obsessions along with disney!

 

[::Snow_White::]

Friday, August 23rd

I was SO EXCITED for this day before Jen, Marissa, Sarah and I were having our first character meal of the DCP! This was my first breakfast too because we were eating at Cape May Café at the Beach Club! I got up early that morning for our 8AM reservation and drove us to the Beach Club where we met up with Sarah and her mom. Cape May was so adorable and the outfits that Goofy, Donald, and Minnie wear are precious.







Marissa and Jen went to buy some autograph books while Sarah and I got pictures with Donald! Everyone returned and we headed to the buffet to get our breakfast. Each side of the four areas is different so there was a wide range of food to choose from, all of it delicious. The mixed fruit, mickey waffles, and potatoes were the absolute best! All of us tried to stuff our faces as full as possible so that we didn’t have to eat lunch while at work that day and we definitely succeeded. Finally Minnie and Goofy came around (a few more times as well since we were there for an hour) and we had a wonderful time! Our server was fantastic, the food was delicious, and I love love love the Beach Club. Little did I know it would only be a few months before I stayed there for the first time.









It was around 9 and I had to work at 10 so we walked a bit to the beach to take some photos before we headed back to my car. Jen and Marissa headed back home and I headed into work where I had a really great day! All the guests were really nice and a lot of fun and a lot of CP trainees were working today so I made a lot of new friends and had a really good time despite the longer hours. Seven rolled around and I came home and crashed in the living room where I did absolutely nothing because my legs were KILLING me.



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I just want to take the time to apologize that it's been roughly 4 months since I've updated. It's true that my program has ended and it's true that I had absolutely no time to spare while I was working and going to school. However, now that I've returned I hope I can finish this up using my memory and the millions of photos that I took. I had the absolute best time and even though it's only been a week since I returned home I miss it so terribly. So, enjoy. I plan on updating once a day since school is starting this Monday and I am back at my old job.

 

[::Snow_White::]

Saturday, August 24th – Superstar!

Today was finally my first day out of Tatooine, but it was another long day. 11-7:30. Our internet connection here is not the best so there really wasn’t much to do at the apartment that morning since I finished my homework so I decided that I was going to go to Caribbean Beach before work! I absolutely adore Caribbean Beach and cannot wait to stay there again. I packed up my camera to take pictures and off I went. It was so beautiful this morning but also humid so my lens would not stop fogging up which was not helpful for pictures. Eventually it cleared but I noticed it was getting close to 10 so I ran (exaggeration) to the food court where I picked up a cinnamon roll that looked delicious. I also had to restrain myself from buying some more pins. The cinnamon roll was good, but it was a little cold which was a bummer. Here are a few photos I snapped while eating of the food court. It is probably my favorite food court tied closely with Riverside.





















Finally it was time for work so I drove over to DHS. Today was my first day working Indiana Jones and American Idol. It seemed like I walked to my destinations more than I actually stayed there. I was never in the same place for very long but soon clouds started rolling in and I was outside on the Indiana Jones truck. As I was working my way around the truck my manager showed up just as it started POURING. We scrambled to get everything covered and by the time we were done we were drenched standing in the pouring rain. It was fun none the less.

It finally let up and I finished up at Indiana Jones outpost where I met a cute girl from England who hula-hooped with me outside. Overall I enjoyed being outside and seeing more people as well as getting to hear Indiana Jones and the music from the Monsters U parade which is unfortunately now discontinued.

As I was changing out of my work clothes I got a call from Jen who said her and Marissa were at Planet Hollywood and saw that I was just getting out of work and invited me to come. Of course I had to say yes, so I hightailed it to Downtown Disney for dinner! Planet Hollywood was really cool since each level was dedicated to different movies. We eventually got placed on the Adventure level and had nice waiters. They played a ton of old music that we sang our hearts’ out to as did the other guests. I had a veggie Fajita which I completely forgot to take a photo of but it was zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, onions, etc with jasmine rice and it was DELICIOUS. I was not expecting it to be so good, and the Jasmine rice was amazing but that’s probably because I love Jasmine Rice.





Overall mine was about $23 after our discount which wasn’t too bad for the size of the food and the atmosphere. We had a really good time but were getting tired so we headed back to the apartment for SLEEP!​