-It Takes People To Make The Dream A Reality- DCP Summer 2018 Highlights Trip Report! (COMPLETE 6/6!)

[PlutosRHM55]

"You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality."
~Walter Elias Disney



Greetings friends old, new and soon to-be!

Welcome to my SIXTH TR here on the Boards and my SECOND DLR TR and boy do I have a lot in store with this one!

Before I get to that, I might as well introduce myself, especially to all my new friends. Like was said to me at Disneyland many a time, "strangers really are just friends you haven't met yet." So let's meet me!



Hello again!

My name is Timmy. I'll be your magical guide on this journey into the movies and some other things too.

Outside of here, I'm a 22 year old mess of sass, class, magic, mischief, and a whole bunch of other things. I'm currently in my last semester (WOOHOO) at Skidmore College, a few months away from getting my degree in Management & Business. What (and if) I will actually do with that is very up in the air, but I'LL HAVE IT FINALLY!

Aside from that, I'm an avid patron of theater whether in my apartment ranting about how The Book of Mormon is the most brilliant musical production ever created or directing a play in 24 hours that makes fun of "woke boys" or singing about self-acceptance in a blue bedazzled dress and grandma wig I AM THERE. I'm also a huge movie buff that went to great lengths and was blessed/cursed by illness which gave me the time necessary to watch every Best Picture Oscar nominee last year in time for the ceremony (Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird were my faves fyi). So catch me in your nearest cinema when I have the money and time lol Otherwise, I'll be tap dancing around my apartment, keeping a steady social media presence (follow me @thatdisneykween on Instagram & Twitter), reading whatever book seems to be recommend my way, watching RuPaul's Drag Race, thinking up ideas for future Halloween costumes and just doing me in the best way possible.

It's a given, but I might as well reiterate that I'm also the biggest baddest Disney fan out there. I love it with all my heart, even when I got to check them for certain choices, but Disney is my light in life getting me through through the worst I have dealt with. Multitudes of trips, Disney movie marathons, the amount of times I will meet characters in the parks, the theses I could write about how Incredicoaster is a masterpiece attraction etc. definitely prove my devotion, but I'm also a proud DISNEY COLLEGE PROGRAM ALUMNI!!



Yes, 'tis me graduating from my first program in Fall 2016 when I worked as a Custodial Cast Member at Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Florida. It was some of the most wild crazy months that I can simultaneously look back on with slight disdain and cry that I doubt I will ever be able to have an experience like that ever again. So many memories made. So many friends made (including my long-time DISBoards bestie and forever CP bestie, Miss Kaitlyn (aka @Newsies)). If I'd do it over again... nah, I don't think I would. Never do it differently.

Alas, I missed the life of a CP and being a Disney Cast Member, visiting the parks as often as I wanted, experiencing all I could to do with the fascinating areas outside of the magic, just doing the DCP again so after my first excursion to the West Coast which included a three day visit to Disneyland, I decided to apply for a special summer alumni program to which, following the usual interviews and such, by some magical happenstance, I GOT ACCEPTED!

Yes, indeed, just over a year after a full five months of making magic down in Florida, I was headed to the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA to make some more magic on the West Coast parks as a Custodial Cast Member (AGAIN) at Disney's California Adventure Park for the Disneyland Resort Summer 2018 Alumni College Program! Bringing us to this current trip report...



If you hadn't taken a gander at my signature or can keep track of time, this program began and ended what felt like far more quickness than that paragraph. It was a shorter program of only about 3 months, but filled with just as much magic as my first program if not more. Both programs were major growing and maturing experiences that took me out of my comfort zone in one way or another, ultimately bringing me to love and appreciate the life I have as well as the opportunities that lie ahead so yeah, the Post Disney College Program Depression is REAL again. Much like with me writing that surprise report about my family's visit to Disney World during Christmastime which happened to align with my first CP, the PDCPD has led me back to the trip report boards to which I bring you!


-It Takes People To Make The Dream A Reality-
A DCP Summer 2018 Highlights Trip Report!




I'm sure y'all are wondering what "highlights" means so humor me on this. This College Program lasted from end of May until the beginning of August. It is now the beginning of September. I'm beyond the point of doing a live trip report, documenting everything along the way as well as a full recount. I might be young, but my brain still can't go back and remember EVERYTHING I did for three months when a lot of it was unbelievably repetitive at least in memory form. So I'm only promising the highlights and trust me there were many. I was in the parks for Disneyland's 63rd, the Fourth of July, Pixar Pier's opening day, Incredibles premiere day, living my best life in that 116 degree weather, my End of Program Celebration, the day I got to go inside Walt's Apartment for the first time, etc. etc. There is PLENTY that happened to last this report for awhile. Hopefully not too long, but I'll keep you entertained. Guaranteed.

Like with Mr. Toad, it's gonna be a wild ride and I'll hope you'll be stcking around for all of it. Every fall, stumble, trip, encounter, sob fest, screaming match, dance party, friendship YOU NAME IT. IT'S HERE.

I'm rambling on a lot so let's just get to it, shall we! Time to countdown to fun!

5

4

3

2

FUN!!!

​

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Table of Contents

Introduction - Above

DURATION OF PROGRAM: 5/21/18 - 8/4/18

5/20/18 - 5/24/18: A PREFACE
"Hopped Off The Plane at LAX..."

5/25/18: POST-TRADITIONS CELEBRATION
Traditions Part Deux
We Have To Go To Cove Bar!
A Perfectly Painted Fantasmic Night... Almost

5/26/18: FIRST FULL DAY IN DISNEYLAND AS A CAST MEMBER
I'm A Princess. I'm A Jedi. I'M A DISNEYLAND CAST MEMBER. Part I Part II
Remember to EAT When in Disneyland!
A Magical Chapter of Disappointment

5/28/18: DISNEY BUDDIES UNITE!
An Overdue Reunion
Is This Amount of Fun At DCA Allowed?
The Best Paint The Night Lead EVER

6/2/18: DISNEYLAND WITH MY NEW CP BESTIES
Never Forget The Day I Sang to My Puppy Prince
Queens Introducing Princesses to Princesses and Princes, A Thing

6/15/18: INCREDIBLES 2 PREMIERE DAY!
Down Down Down The Rabbit Hole Part I Part II
One Does Not Simply Meet Ariel Once A Day Part I Part II
A Truly Bella Notte Part I Part II

6/21/18: DCP SUMMER ALUMNI SPECIAL EVENT DAY
This Story Is Not All That Happy
Just Remember What Your Ole Pal Said...
Magical Families Appreciation Chapter

6/22/18: REMEMBER THAT DAY I MET THREE PRINCESSES AT ONCE?
A Day Begun By Failing To Get Into Pixar Pier And Not Being Sad About It Part I Part II
So Much More Than A Destination
"They Must've Followed The Rainbow From The Hall"
Keep Your Hands Up Cause The Night Is Young Part I Part II

6/23/18: PIXAR PIER PREMIERE DAY!
GOOD MORNING TO PIXAR PIER AND ONLY PIXAR PIER!
Pixar Pal-A-Palooza!
Get Ready For An INCREDIBLE Ride!

7/4/18: QUICK FOURTH OF JULY EXCURSION
Happy Birthday, Daddy America!

7/5/18: POST FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION
Did I Actually Walk All The Way To Company D In THAT Heat?
I Can't Network With Normal People, But I Can With Edna Mode Part I Part II
Paint The Night With A Side Of Poultry Palace

7/6/18: LIVING MY BEST LIFE IN 116 DEGREES FARENHEIT
If You Ever Thought For A Moment, I Actually Belonged In NH...
From Mint Juleps to Guess The Princess And Over to DCA
I Basically Live In Princess Halls And Just LIVE
What A Waste of an ExPIERience

7/10/18: CHARACTER MADNESS
Class At Disneyland?! What Could Be More Magical Than That? Oh. Wait.
The Queens of New Orleans Square, The End
Main Street USA LOVES Timmy

7/11/18: I GOT TO TOUR WALT'S APARTMENT
A Day Destined To Be Magical
Just Some DCA & Disneyland Ping Pong
Nothing Feels Better Than Feeling That Close To Walt

7/13/18: MILLENNIAL PINK AND MOON DUST
Ripped Seams Are Meager Things By Comparison
A Photographic Stroll Around Fantasyland
The Greatest Photoshoot Ever And Yes, I Did Stalk These Characters. Yes, It Was Worth It. Part I Part II
"We Look Like Twins!" If You Get The Reference, The Title Works
Disney's California Adventure Dripping In Gold Into The Nighttime
I FOUND CALIFORNIA'S KISS GOODNIGHT!

7/16/18: INCREDIBLE HOW A DAY CAN TURN AROUND
The Day Started Off... Weird...
...And The Day Ended... I N C R E D I B L E

7/17/18: DISNEYLAND'S 63RD BIRTHDAY!
Timmy's Disneyland Diamond Celebration 2018
63 Years And No Signs Of Stopping
Happy Birthday and Goodnight Disneyland!

7/18/18: WALT'S APARTMENT PART DEUX & MORE
'Twas The Day After (And The Celebration Continued)
That Troublemaker, Pluto
The Photographic Tour of Disneyland Continues Part I Part II
The Photographic Tour of Nighttime Spectaculars Part I Part II
Our Photographic Journey Comes To An End

7/19/18: LOKI & I ARE WORKING ON A MUSICAL...
The Eponymous Chapter Part I Part II
I Just Love Photographic Escapades And Diverse Short Films Part I Part II
All My Love For Dug And Jessie, But Only Them Part I Part II Part III

7/22/18: A RAINBOW STORMED THROUGH DISNEYLAND
The Best Hall Visit With Cinderella's Second Fairy Godmother Part I Part II
Days Are This Magical For A Reason

7/24/18: I GRADUATED FROM THE DLRCP!
Timmy Celebrates Dapper Day A Few Months Late
C'mon Everybody Put Your {Graduation} Ears On! Part I Part II
"You've Graduated From The DCP (again), What Are You Gonna Do Next?" I'm Going to Disneyland!

7/29/18: #NHBABES
The NH Babes Meet Princesses and Pixies Part I Part II
The NH Babes Meet Princes, Mapmakers and the Fairy Godmother
...And Then There Was One Babe

7/31/18: #NHBABES ROUND TWO
It Began Like Any Other Day...
The Dysfunctional Tale of Trips and Falls of The NH Crew
No More Bathrooms, More Hugs With Pluto

8/2/18: THE GOODBYES BEGIN
"Wait, I Need A Hugging One!"
It All Felt Too Sad To Finish The Day

8/3/18: A MAGICAL END FIT FOR A MAGICAL THREE MONTHS
I'm Gonna Celebrate Making Magic Everyday!
"How about one more adventure together? What do you say, pal?" Part I Part II
One Last Look At The Castle With Her
When Cinderella Says To Walk With Her, You RUN!
My Final Goodbye To Another Hall BUT Time To Truly Love DCA
Saving Gamora & Co., Catching Jack-Jack, and Hugging Spider-Man... One More Time
I Don't Think We'll Be Able To Do This Again
See Ya Real Soon To My True Home, Disneyland!

WRAP-UP
Looks Like We're Missing Something... Part I Part II Part III
August 4th, 2018: Departure Date
"We'll be a part of your life for the rest of your life."

NEW TR: Third Time's The Charm At The DISNEY COLLEGE PROGRAM Fall '19!

​

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Cast List
Unlike most trips to the Disney parks, there isn't a stagnant cast list as people tend to pop in and out from time-to-time throughout the course of 3 months. For the most part, I spent my time in the parks on my own but if anyone is notable enough a presence, they will be added here.

Lakeland

Lakeland was a fellow CP alum from Tennessee, one of the few more Eastern CPs, who I hung out with quite a bit on my time off. She shared my love of meeting characters in the parks so we tended to be together in the parks a lot together with not many of our other friends sharing that similar love. And Paint The Night, both of us would DIE for that parade. We were very close by the end and really jived together with our caring but sharp personalities. She loves Marvel (particularly Spider-Man and Loki) and Donald Duck. She worked in DCA as a Food & Beverage Cast Member at Flo's.

Katie

Katie was the first CP alum I met, my neighbor at Carnegie Plaza and another person I grew to become very close with due to a mutual understanding between us of our potentially off-putting upfront type A personalities. She was a West Coaster from New Mexico who had a unique favorite Disney film: Meet The Robinsons. We actually found out that we both were Fall 2016 CPs at Disney World and that she worked in Magic Kingdom as well (she was Fantasyland Merchandise). At the Disneyland Resort, she worked as a Retail Cast Member in World of Disney.

Skyler

Skyler was Lakeland's roommate and generally came along for many adventures. I never got to know her too well since she was one of the more quieter ones in the bunch, but we had a lot of fun enjoying the attractions and Star Wars. She worked at Disneyland as a Food & Beverage Cast Member at the Galactic Grill in Tomorrowland.

McKenzi

McKenzi was one of Katie's housemates and her best friend who I got to know fairly well. She is from San Diego so she is a Disneyland native, even if her first program was also at World where she was a Food & Beverage Cast Member. At Disneyland, she was another Custodial Cast Member like myself but she worked at Disneyland.

Monica

Monica was another one of Katie's housemates who I bonded with pretty quickly prior to the program. We both are big fans of Aurora and Moana (her username on instagram during the program was Moanica so I tended to call her that). Monica was another West Coaster but had previously done a program at World. I'm not sure where or what her role was though. At the Disneyland Resort, she was a Parking & Transportation Cast Member.

Damion

Damion was one of the few male Summer Alumni CPs and the only other one working Custodial at DCA with me as he had done on his previous program. He mimics me in a lot of my social media efforts especially in documenting the magical moments he created around the parks. I didn't spend a lot of time in the parks with him since he rarely visited, but we worked together A LOT so I thought a face to the name was necessary. His claim to fame is riding The Little Mermaid attraction in DCA every day of his first program so he's a big Ariel fan.

Lindsey

Lindsey is a close friend of mine that I've known since I was 7 years old. We were off and on friends for years but have been pretty steady friends since college. We both bonded off our love of Disney and hoped one day we'd both end up working in the parks together. She previously had visited me during my first College Program and she also worked at a Disney Store outlet near our house. She was a Spring 2018 DLRCP participant so she had been there since January and stayed on in California where she's now a Retail lead in ADNOCC (Adventureland, New Orleans Square & Critter Country). She loves Stitch, Frozen, Radiator Springs Racers, Indiana Jones and Paint The Night, but not as much as I do obviously.

Jessi

Jessi is an Annual Passholder and California local that I met through Lindsey during our adventures in the parks. She runs a Disney instagram called @letsgotodisneyland so she had a lot of photoshoots in the parks. Through meeting her, I found out she is the long-time best friend of one of my besties from college, Kristen. What a small small world. We got along pretty well, especially considering we both adore Peter Pan. Pan Stans got to stick together and again, we're Disney fans so we'd get along fine.

Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn was one of the first alumni CPs that I met and ended becoming a good friend and a person I frequently hung out with in the parks. We even saw the Incredibles 2 together (her most prominent presence in this TR). She is a total Disney nerd like moi, loves Star Wars, Marvel and just everything Disney (oh and Paint the Night, we love that one). She's a big stan of Rey and has a deep love for Spider-Man that almost equates mine (ALMOST). She previously did a College Program in Disney World for Fall 2017. I forget her location but I believe it was Magic Kingdom and merchandise. At Disneyland, she was Retail and worked all around Disneyland but mostly Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. Her biggest accomplishment this CP was finally riding Mission: Breakout since she never did Tower of Terror.

Julianna

Julianna was another alumni CP that I became friends with through Kaitlyn. I also became friends with her boyfriend, Garrett, a Spring 2018 DLRCP participant, who pops in from time-to-time. We both bonded over our love of princesses, particularly my blossoming adoration for Cinderella who she LOVES. She even bought the spirit jersey and the sparkly glass slipper vans to top off her love. Julianna was another previous WDWCP, I'm not sure when but I know it wasn't with me. She worked in DCA like me but as Retail primarily on Buena Vista Street.

Amanda

Amanda was another New Hampshirite that was actually mutual friends with an acquaintance of mine from high school. We didn't meet each other until the end of my program, but after a few more run-ins ended up spending an afternoon in the parks that are documented on the #NHBabes days. She worked in Disneyland as Retail in Fantasyland, originally at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique but moved out to the Small World areas. ​

 

[MeghanEmily]

Yay! I'm here and I'm psyched.

which gave me the time necessary to watch every Best Picture Oscar nominee last year in time for the ceremony (Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird were my faves fyi).

Oooh, my husband and I try to do this before the Oscars every year! We missed a few this year, but I also loved Lady Bird.

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

I'm here and I'm so excited! I'm beginning to mentally prepare myself to apply for DCP in the spring, so I am very much looking forward to reading about your program!!

 

[Newsies]

Me, trying to take 18 credits (the maximum my university allows) this semester, start my new part-time job on campus, keep up with my November check-in thread, November PTR, and now THIS gem all at the same time:

This is going to be LIT. It's going to be AMAZING. I am EXCITED and READY TO GO and I have A LOT OF CAFFEINE ON HAND so PLEASE UPDATE!!

 

[alohamom]

Ohhhh this is going to be amazing! Following....

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Yay! I'm here and I'm psyched.

Yay!

Oooh, my husband and I try to do this before the Oscars every year! We missed a few this year, but I also loved Lady Bird.

This was my first year pulling it off. I came close a few years back but kinda fell off the wagon during the Moonlight and La La Land era (although I got to see both those films). Love love LOOOOVVEEE Lady Bird. We stan.

I'm here and I'm so excited! I'm beginning to mentally prepare myself to apply for DCP in the spring, so I am very much looking forward to reading about your program!!

Yay!!

Omg that's so exciting! If you have any questions, feel free to ask on here or in private. I'm always up to help those applying for the DCP for the first time.

Me, trying to take 18 credits (the maximum my university allows) this semester, start my new part-time job on campus, keep up with my November check-in thread, November PTR, and now THIS gem all at the same time:

This is going to be LIT. It's going to be AMAZING. I am EXCITED and READY TO GO and I have A LOT OF CAFFEINE ON HAND so PLEASE UPDATE!!

I BELIEVE YOU IN MY QUEEN! You got this. (Shoutout to me now doing this on top of a near full course load INCLUDING my capstone, a part time job, being on my musical theater troupes e-board and potentially performing in one of our club's musicals... it's gonna be a time.) I will be getting onto updates as quickly as I can.

Ohhhh this is going to be amazing! Following....

Yay!

 

[Momee]

Following along! I love your TRs!

 

[missjackiemcg]

I'm an avid patron of theater whether in my apartment ranting about how The Book of Mormon is the most brilliant musical production ever created

Oh, I loved you already, but now even more so TBOM is AMAZING! I've seen it 3 times in the theater and listen to the soundtrack all the time (when Jimmy isn't in the car with me anyway LOL).

Can't wait to read more!

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

Omg that's so exciting! If you have any questions, feel free to ask on here or in private. I'm always up to help those applying for the DCP for the first time.

I will probably take you up on that, so thank you!

 

[missangelalexis]

Here! Excited to hear about your DCP adventures

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Following along! I love your TRs!

Yay! Hope you enjoy this one!

Oh, I loved you already, but now even more so TBOM is AMAZING! I've seen it 3 times in the theater and listen to the soundtrack all the time (when Jimmy isn't in the car with me anyway LOL).

Can't wait to read more!

Omg wow you might outrank me in my love of BOM. Granted I see a lot of theater and rarely repeat shows but FOR BOM I WOULD. SO WOULD. And I listen to the soundtrack SO SO much. Praise be unto the Elders of Uganda.

I will probably take you up on that, so thank you!

No problem. I gotchu.

Here! Excited to hear about your DCP adventures

Yay! Excited to tell you about them!

 

[Jaina]

Following along!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Following along!

 

[Amw1064]

Following along as well.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Following along as well.

Woohoo!

 

[Erin M]

I'm here too! I just finished reading your last TR so I have to see this too! So fun!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I'm here too! I just finished reading your last TR so I have to see this too! So fun!

Glad to have you here! Hope you'll enjoy this one too!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

"Hopped Off The Plane at LAX...": A Preface
5/20/18 - 5/24/18

I gave y'all my introduction, but I felt it weird to start this report out by not at least talking about how I got to where I'm going. Travel days are fairly integral to trip reports, even when I was waiting for my family to arrive in Florida to visit me during the Christmastime madness, I at least gave a semblance of an arrival day story so I'm giving you the equivalent of all that with a quick preface of the days leading up to my first day playing in the Disneyland Resort.

Our journey here begins in the early hours of...
May 20th, 2018

This was the day I packed up my life to pursue my new dream of working at Disneyland. It came only a few days after packing up my life in true college fashion following another semester at school. Unfortunately, it was definitely another difficult goodbye since the class I entered into college with, all my day one friends and ones that I've made special bonds with over the years were graduating. Because of my first CP I was a semester behind so I would not be doing the same *sad sigh* Luckily, I had a lot to look forward to as did most of them and of course, it's never truly goodbye, only see ya real soon and I'd see all my bestest friends again real soon!

To make this short and sweet, it was a long, anxiety-filled and exciting beyond exciting travel day. I barely got any sleep after staying up all night watching Dear White People (HIGHLY recommend for anyone looking for a new Netflix show to watch) then struggling to sleep on the thin pull-out that has become my place of slumber when I'm home. I just really don't have a concrete home anymore. Both my parents came with me to the airport so that whole mess went off without a hitch, and due to the fact I still look like I'm 16 and my mom just happened to be helping me carry my luggage, I wasn't charged for a significantly overweight bag!

Add-in because I'm a True Blue Member, I also was sent to the airport equivalent of the Disney FastPass lines.

Not to much to write home about the airport here. I got myself some Dunks, listened to music and was eventually boarding the plane. The flight weirdly mimiced the situation of my first flight out to California in that my stomach definitely doesn't react to being at extreme altitudes for that long very well. It wasn't immediately noticeable until we touched down, but that flight definitely had me not feeling all too good at all for quite some time. Luckily, I'm a powerful queen and powered through an elongated period of upset stomach. It would've been nice to not have been that way though.

ANYWAYS, fine flight. Touched down in LAX. Got my luggage. No problem. TIME TO CALL THE UBER!

Yup, after months of planning my move out to Cali, nobody out there could pick me up from LAX so I called an Uber during one of the busiest times at arguably the busiest airport there is so GUESS WHO SPENT ABOUT $100 ON AN UBER JUST TO DRIVE THEM TO A HOTEL!!!!

Yup, that happened. Not to mention, it was my first time using Uber on my lonesome and I'd be in it for about an hour since LAX is still quite a distance from Anaheim, not accounting for LA traffic. Luckily my driver was nice and knew to let me chill. He did have to stop for gas which was nbd for me since I wasn't in a rush. My check-in wasn't until tomorrow so I had time. He got me to my hotel, the Hilton next to the convention center which WOW. I was shook by what I had convinced my parents to let me book because this place was SOMETHING ELSE. I'm sure some of you might be familiar but if you aren't, look up this hotel. It is gorgeous and huge, right near Disneyland AND THERE'S A STARBUCKS INSIDE. Wow, the magic was real.

The magic even continued because I was there a bit earlier than usual check-in, but they still let me go through with it. My accommodations asked for a single king bed, but they said I could take a room with two twins no extra charge. Totally fine with me so my single butt was put in a room with two twin beds but hey I got to bring my luggage right up there and not have to worry about it being held by the hotel until I could check-in. BLESS. IT. UP.

ALSO, THIS VIEW!



After settling in my hotel room, I decided to spend the rest of my day out and about doing what I could outside of the Disneyland parks since I yet to have my Cast Member pass and wasn't gonna pay to get into the park when I'd be able to get in as much as I wanted in a few days. In this time, I managed to...

-Have lunch at Earl of Sandwich
-Enjoy my first Starbucks in California
-Walk the length of Downtown Disney
-Buy a pair of the Rainbow Minnie Ears I'd been eyeing
-Take photos with all the Pixar Fest signage
-Walk through all three on-site hotels (Paradise Pier, Grand Californian and the Disneyland Hotel)

Some photos to go along with all of that...







At some point, sleep deprivation, jet lag and an upset stomach eventually brought me back to the hotel, which, like I said before, very close by. After trying to push myself to a second wind, I conked out around dinner time. I woke up later for a bit and managed to catch the new Together Forever fireworks from my hotel room window!

Click to watch!


I also could hear from the room next to me a family with kids watching them. The kids were so in awe and it was so cute hearing their reactions. I knew I was really right at home exactly where I was.

That was where my first day officially ended. It was a long wild day and I had another long wild day ahead of me so I went to sleep.

ENTER CHECK-IN DAY!
May 21st, 2018


I thought I would use this section as a bit of a compare-and-contrast of the two check-in days I've experienced as a two-time bicoastal CPer because the way they are run are both similar and different between WDWCPs and DLRCPs. It'll also be my way to explain how I managed to pull off another morning without my own personal transportation to take me to housing and elsewhere.

Well, bless the gods that be on this day because I asked in the Summer Alumni group chat if someone could possibly pick me up so I didn't have to pay another arm and a leg for an ber. Such luck, a girl in the chat offered and YAY NO MORE MONEY TO BE SPENT ON UBER! This girl happened to become my neighbor in housing and one of my closest friends on the program, Katie! She will appear later.

Now, here is a quick rundown of how checking in to Carnegie Plaza (Disneyland's only DCP housing complex):



It was quiet day for us since the alumni program only accepts about 20-30 participants for the shorter program (Fall Advantage started on this day too but they are all local so they didn't need to check in to housing) so while normally I've heard check-in day occurs on the promenade outside Carnegie, we actually had to go in and go to the housing floor, nothing happening outside and check-in being very short.

ANYWAYS

The way check-in is set up is they set aside one of the local garages (Disney actually rents Carnegie through another company, unlike the WDW apartment complexes) and you can park there or arrive by other means. Then you come in to drop off all the paper work and such like your direct deposit information for rent payments, confirming other forms of paper work and so on and so forth. After all that, you will receive your room key, your proxy card to be able to get in and out of Carnegie, your little welcome packet which contains your bus pass (using public transportation not owned by Disney in Anaheim) and then you can move in. It took awhile for me to actually move in because Katie ended up spending a bit of time in her apartment prior to moving in and my stuff was in her car so I had to wait a bit. Eventually I moved in with my, at the time, solo roommate Lucas who was great and was from New Jersey AN EAST COASTER. The Disneyland College Program is primarily made up of West Coasters or Midwesterners so to have an East Coast person living with me was such a gift. It was the two of us for about two weeks until a late Summer Alumni arrival joined us, Jason who was great and ended up in Lucas's room (it was a four person two bedroom apartment). It wasn't until a few weeks after that I got my roommate Maxx, who was an Engineering Professional Intern working on Star Wars Land. Both of them are the two that remained with Jason moving into an apartment with his girlfriend who both have since been promoted to Retail leads in their respective locations and Maxx still doing his PI thing. I never got super close with any of them. Lucas and I definitely developed a stronger friendship since we were living together the longest, but it didn't matter. They all were fabulous roommates, I just wasn't around enough to really get to know them. Not like with my Florida roommates who I had known MONTHS before and spent ample time with, but I'm grateful to have not had any problems.

After moving in, I checked in with Katie to see if she could drive me to Casting and she said she would. She even invited me over to her room to meet her roommates who were active members of our alumni group chat. I would've asked about Lucas, but he already left and actually ended up walking all the way to Team Disney, Disneyland's Casting Center, which is right behind Disneyland. So I ended up getting to know Katie and her roommates, at the time, McKenzi and Rachel. They had one more roommate, Monica, but she was arriving late due to school so she wouldn't be making it for the casting appointment we all were going to. They were all pretty jealous of my apartment arrangement since it didn't sound like it was changing. They were even more upset when I showed them our apartment which was a) bigger than theirs and b) had an extra bathroom for some reason (three bathrooms instead of just two because we had one right next to our entryway, used maybe twice). But I was luckily making friends a lot quicker than I did at World at least when I got there so I was happy at that. I was even invited to a beginning of Summer Alumni party at Katie's apartment as was everyone which ended up being the way I started to really get to know people.

Anyways, to finish off our check-in day. Like at World, we have a Casting appointment. Usually things like drug testing or other forms of testing don't happen in the same day since you're treated like regular Disneyland Cast Members rather than as those participating in the College Program like it's done at World. I had a POET (Post Offer Employment Test) as a Custodial Cast Member, but that wasn't until the next day so my day began and ended with Casting, which is essentially the same as World. It was here I got to meet some other friends that I became close with, who you'll learn more about in their cast bios I'm sure, but look out for Lakeland, Skyler, Kaitlyn, Julianna, Damion and many others in future updates. You fill out some forms, confirm certain things and then, because we were part of the College Program, we had CP orientation as well as housing orientation at Team Disney, which was where we go to meet our housing team. It's not a huge housing team like at World so I actually knew this group well especially coming in with such a small group as a summer alumnus. I'm actually friends with some of them on Facebook. To be honest, following this program it would be a bomb gig to be that singular housing intern because the squad is too legendary. They also gave us the low down on housing rules, housing events, how to keep up with what's going on DORMS (the CP housing website) and what our next few days would look like. Typical housing meeting but it was much more intimate than the one in Florida and it felt far more welcoming, but overall things were getting off to a great start.

After that, we had time to do whatever. Everyone was a bit tired so we all went back to the apartments and took a rest. However, we all were excited to go out and explore, kinda driven by Damion who was the only alum who had previously worked at Disneyland (we actually had the same location and were in training together so I was around Damion quite a bit, though for the most part our schedules aligned rarely after training and we're Custodial so it's very much a solo job unless you ask for help). We had a large squad that consisted of who became the main group that I hung out with initially: Myself, Damion, Katie, McKenzi, Skyler & Lakeland. We also met Damion's former CP roommate, TJ, a current Disneyland Attractions CM, that was with us a lot and who I saw quite a bit (he worked at Indiana Jones).

He brought us that night downtown to the Anaheim Packing House which is a cool sort of food court but like not a food court since it was so modern and just... not as cafeteria-esque with more eclectic options. I ended up having my first Po-Boy there (DELISH!).



After that, we ended up at this new beer bar which had a wine bar right next to it. Most everyone stayed at the beer bar but Katie and I, us wine snobs, went to the wine bar, which luckily let us bring our wine glasses over into the beer bar. Bless. I believe I got a dessert wine of sorts like a sangria, which was lovely. I think Katie got the same along with another wine since she had the money. Truly living our best lives on night one.



We also got introduced to a special secret pool in a neighboring apartment, which was fun to see. We tried to have a fire, but that just didn't work out so we just explored and eventually found ourselves back at Carnegie. Myself and Katie's apartment needed to make a Target run so we rushed to do that before it closed. I needed a throw blanket to use in place of a comforter so without that run I would not have slept. I also grabbed some groceries. It ended up being my first run-in with the California ways of reusable bags and having to pay for using plastic ones. Not a cheap state by any means.

But I got my throw that I still have with me to this day because it was so special to me.



We love Daddy Vader to keep you warm and cozy at night.

And that essentially ended day one. A long fruitful day of excitement and anticipation. More to come though.

Welcome to an even QUICKER overview of all days prior to my Traditions class.

May 22nd - 24th, 2018


The day after check-in was a pretty slow day. It was the day of everyone's POETS and drug tests so no one made any major plans. I had mine fairly early in the morning and was pretty nervous because once again TRANSPORTATION. The one negative of Disneyland really is that they don't provide a lot of transportation for CPs and kind of expect you to find your own. They offer complementary stuff but the steps to get it are A LOT, which began for me today. They had complementary transport to the place where I took my POET but when I contacted this place I was having the most miserable time, which was not what I expected. Luckily, Damion offered to drive me even though his POET was not long after mine and I got there right on time.

The POET was held in a physical therapy clinic, which was odd since I'd expect Disney to conduct it, but that's negligible. I'll give you the low down on it since it is required of all Custodial Cast Members at Disneyland so if you're interested, this is what happens. It's essentially a test of if you can handle the physical stress that the job of Custodial can have since it is a very physical job, not to the extent of a safety critical (i.e. Attractions, Lifeguard, etc.), but you are moving and lifting and pushing and such constantly so they want to make sure you can handle that. I had to do things like pick up a bag of weights walk it to a door and back a few times, kneel under a table to grab something, sweep up some cotton balls... some of it was weird but it was all aspects of the Custodial job as I knew it in Florida. It was very quick, about twenty minutes, which was wild considering they set aside an hour for me to do it, but I was glad to have it over and done with. It also made it so Damion could bring me back to housing in time for his own POET.

After that, I ended up taking a nap then hanging out with Katie's apartment once again. We headed back to Packing House for dinner and other things. We ended up trying Mini Monster which is this cool drink place where you can get essentially specialty lemonade with boba and cotton candy and such. We ended up having a cute little drink squad with what we got, which consisted of Katie's apartment (Monica now present) and myself.



We also had to have food so I went with a New England classic.



California really tried with this one, but there are just some things that are only done the best in the place they originated and New England Clam Chowder came from New England so I'll just have to go back to Union Oyster House in Boston to have theirs, the absolute BEST chowder.

After that, we headed back because Katie's apartment was hosting a WELCOME PARTY! I don't have much documentation of this or much any I want to show because... well... college-aged students partying... you get the picture. It was really fun. I have a lot of great memories including one in which we all went to the Jack In The Box near housing and used the drive thru to order. It was pretty hilarious. This was fairly late at night to the point where the roads near housing were empty so I managed to get this album cover style photo.



That ended day three (day two of the official program)!

Next day we had planned to go to Laguna Beach. Monica couldn't come so I came in her stead with Katie, McKenzi and Rachel who all went in McKenzi's car. Then, Skyler, Lakeland and Alex, Damion's roommate who joined us for the party the night before. Lakeland had found this cute little more local, hidden beach in Laguna called Victoria Beach so we went there. It wasn't the best beach day, very cloudy and gloomy but still beautiful and we still had a ton of fun. I brought my DSLR so I got some nice photos of the beach as well as of the squad.










From L-to-R: Skyler, Lakeland, Alex, Rachel, McKenzi, Katie & moi

I also had some of my own fun getting more wild photos and finding my inner wayfinder.





I also took some videos of the beauty that was a fairly empty Victoria Beach. Feel the essence of summer, darlings!

Click to watch!


Click to watch!


We didn't stay for too long, it was so cold and some of us were still worn from the previous days, not to mention jet lag. It was also a bit of a drive to Laguna so we were getting hungry and decided to look somewhere for food. We decided to alleviate paying for too much gas by cramming into one car and... well...

Click to watch!

Disney Cast Members on their days off, ladies and gents!

We ended up finding a cute little Johnny Rockets right near the shore and decided to eat there. I was definitely in a simple mood so it hit the spot perfectly. I hadn't been to one in YEARS so I was glad to be back and I loved the atmosphere of this one. It really felt like a local cafe with some middle school aged kids running in and out buying little things here and there. They were a bit much at times (we know that middle school phase), but it was cute to watch nonetheless. After we all finished eating, we went around to try and do some shopping but nobody bought anything because WE'RE BROKE, but it gave us more of Laguna to experience. Not long, we were driven back to where McKenzi's car was and headed home.

I think we had another party in Katie's apartment this night to try to get my roommate to join us as well as others and those who couldn't make Laguna, but I have no evidence of that whatsoever. I'm sure it happened though because I know we were introduced to some more of Damion's friends including Kyle, someone who I worked with quite a bit that you'll hear about (he is from NYC and you can tell lol).

Thus ending day four and bringing us to the last day before we had Traditions. Again, we were all wearing thin so I think this was taken as more of a chill day for all of us. I believe I went grocery shopping for all the things I hadn't been able to bring on the plane with me. I also just napped a lot and got my wardrobe prepped for the next day. No parties, no trips, just a chill day that wasn't even really documented.

But I've rambled on a lot catching y'all up to where the real fun starts. The Disney Traditions class is a class ANY Disney Cast Member working in or around the parks has to go through and is the class where you receive your nametag and Blue ID, the latter of which gives you immediate access to the parks. 3 months of going to Disneyland whenever I felt like it either to be there for making magic or enjoying the magic. It was an unforgettable summer that I can't wait to share so let's rest up because WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND!

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