The Happiest Summer On Earth *My WDWCP Experience*

[Joanna71985]

I don't think I will be able to post any installments tonight, unfortunately. I will try to get some up tomorrow and get a lot up in the next couple of weeks (while taking breaks from studying for my finals)!

That's ok. Thanks to you, I decided to do a TR of my own Summer Program. I hope it is as good as yours.

 

[Caboosey]

GREAT trip report, I read it straight through! I always wanted to do the College Program, and kind of regret that I didn't ever apply - I had a great time in college, and was able to spend my summers working at camp and a semester abroad in London - but working for the Mouse for a semester would have been great too!

Thanks for sharing all the ups and downs with us. It's great to read - and you have such a beautiful smile, and great outlook - you're awesome!

 

[DebIreland]

How did I miss this?? I'm just getting started lamagique and I love it!!! You are so beautiful!!! I cannot wait to read more but I just had to post! Keep up the great work!!

 

[puggymom]

These are great installments. I really admire your work ethic. Your parents must be very proud.

Love the pics, those Epcot ones were great.

Cast Connection huh, note to self, make really nice to some CM's

Loved Devil's Wear Prada... I am a stomcah flu away from my goal weight

 

[puggymom]

And yes, I am totally ignoring all references to TOT!!!!!

Don't mean to hijack here but...


TOT is not that bad, some of the best theming EVAH!!! You really are missing out on the fun here.

OK, now back to your regularly scheduled trippie...

 

[disneymoon_0307]

I am on page 10 and loving your TR. I want to read the rest but if I don't go to bed now, I won't get up in 6 hours. I can't wait to read more. I am having severe CP jealousy. I would love to work for Disney one day. I want to be a Monorail Driver. Keep it coming!!!

 

[AGPrincess]

But yes, I would definitely recommend the program! When are you looking into doing it? 2008? Because I'll be there in Fall... hopefully, if I get accepted!

Summer after my freshman year would be 2008, so I could do it then...

My older brother is actually just about to start the CP, so your TR has been great w/ info & tips for him...Not that he listens to his little sis much, but still...

 

[Glendamax]

My older brother is actually just about to start the CP, so your TR has been great w/ info & tips for him...Not that he listens to his little sis much, but still...

Sorry to tell you that even when you're over thirty, he STILL won't listen to you. Believe me I know!

LaMagique, how many college credits did you get for working at Disney?

 

[lamagique]

So, at this point in the summer, life was very good at Disney. I was making friends, work was getting easier, and well, I was working at WDW! Well, life continued to get better. The scheduling people must have been smiling down at me, because for some crazy reason, all of my custodial friends and I got scheduled the same day off! This never happens, so we were all super excited! Jess and I wanted to plan a “Custodial Party.” No, this didn’t include any party decorations or hats—it just was a bunch of us custodials going to the parks for a day filled with fun!

We started the day off early and on one of the CP buses.

Peter, Rico, and me on the bus

We decided that we would start off in ANIMAL KINGDOM for our custodial party. The first thing we did was hit Expedition Everest. Instead of going for fast passes, we just went in the Single Rider line. After that, it was off to Dinosaur!

Rico, Peter, Jake, and Jess in line for Dinosaur

Jess and me in line for Dinosaur

Me... being me

Dinosaur was good, I had a good time and I got to sit next to a cute guy! Yipee! And then, after that it was off to Primeval Whirl, a ride I had never ridden before. We sat three to a car—I was with Jake and Jess. I wish I could describe to you the fun that we had on this ride, but no words could possibly convey its splendid chaos. We didn’t know what to expect and well, we got a nice slappy-happy-whippy surprise… PW in one world: wild! In three words: a happy beating. I think what made it the most fun was our commentary on it: “I’m having so much fun… I’m having so much fun… oh… I’m having so much fun…” It’s the same thing I told myself on Mission: Space a couple of years earlier. Sometimes, you just have to think positive in order to make it through a tough situation. But I survived PW and therefore, I now know that I can survive anything!

Anyway, the next thing we did was get our grub on. We ate some Flame Tree BBQ and saw Minnie and friends on a boat next to this oasis type thing that we were sitting at. We got to talk and know each other better, which was really fun.

After lunch, we decided to head on over to the Magic Kingdom!

Rico, Peter, and Jake on the bus to MK

Before we did anything, I had to say hello to my good friend Roy. Minnie happened to be there, too, so that was a nice treat. Anyway, you might have seen Roy before in the parks? He’s always sitting on the same bench. I tell him that he should try out other benches, but he never listens.

Following my visit with Roy, we stopped inside the Emporium. It was time to try on some hats! I think this is one of those required-at-least-once-during-a-vacation things at Disney. We went a little crazy, but life’s short… wear a hat.

Look, I’m Sorcerer Mickey from Fantasmic!

After our mad-Hatter party, we went over to Space Mountain to get fast passes. Then it was off to Buzz Lightyear. When we came out of Buzz, it was starting to rain. We dashed over to the TTA to shelter ourselves from the rain. Did we succeed?

Well, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves:

Something cool that we got to see while we were on the TTA: Space Mountain with the lights on!

After that, we couldn't stay on the ride, so we decided to go Carousel of Progress. It was starting up as usual... "This has been the longest running stage show since 1964." And then all of a sudden, there was a big CRACK sound and the curtain went down. I was like, "Well, not anymore!" And then this cast member comes over the PA and says, "Do not panic, nobody panic!!!! We have been struck by lightening! The ride is beyond our repair... DON'T PANIC!" This guy says it in this most panicked voice ever. Seriously, he was all breathless and almost screaming. I was like, "Well, I wasn't worried before, but I am now!" And he came over the PA again with another panicked message. It was hilarious.

Me panicked… will I ever get to see another great, big, beautiful tomorrow?

 

[lamagique]

Well, after about 15-20 minutes, and a couple of more panicked announcements, the CoP started up and we were on our way to the past and then the future. We left the ride feeling refreshed and optimistic. And still soggy from the rain. We dashed outside and ran to Space Mountain. Since we had our fast passes, it didn’t take us very long in the line. Normally I ride SM with my eyes closed because I don’t like seeing the tracks—I love being surprised. But this time, I rode it with my eyes open, and it was fun.

Next up: the most awesome PhilharMagic:

Then, It’s a Small World:

Then some funnel cake (yum) and a visit to Brian, who was working at MK for the day:

Of course, our “party” wouldn’t be complete without stopping by The Haunted Mansion. After HM, it was off to Big Thunder. I sat by Jess and we sung “Digital Getdown” by NSYNC the whole time. I am not even sure why… we both used to be really big NSYNC fans and went to a couple of concerts, but why we sang this song? I don’t know. But it was so funny and once again, my stomach was hurting so much! According to my journal, “it was the funniest thing in the world! I was crying from laughter and I was like, nearly collapsing over on the ride. Soooooo hilarious.” Well, all I can say: it’s hard to sing while on the wildest ride in the wilderness!

Once I pulled myself together again, we went to Adventureland and rode.... PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN. Remember how in the last installment, we asked the CMs if there would be a soft-opening? They said no, but well, I guess Johnny Depp called them and told them that he was my boyfriend and I would like it very much if they opened the ride before Pirates came out. Disney said okay, and so we got to go on. But on a more serious note, we didn’t care why it was open, we were just so happy that it was!

The Johnny Depp animatronics were SOOOOOO realistic. The ride was mostly the same as before and it was good, but the Jack Sparrow animatronics rocked my world. I was like, "Is Johnny Depp freaking HERE in the ride?" I honestly had to lean and look at him… I really thought he was REAL!

After security had to physically remove me from Cap’n Jack Sparrow’s ankles, we went for a fun ride with Aladdin on his magic carpets.

Next, we went on Splash Mountain. Always good fun with those crazy critters. After Splash, we took the train to Toon Town and rode the Barnstormer:

Well, at this point, we decided to start heading towards Crystal Palace because we had reservations for 9:25pm. Now, I love parades, but SpectroMagic was long and it honestly, it took us 30 minutes to get across the street. We were standing facing Casey’s when the parade started and had to go through a thick crowd of people to the front of the park and around in and back through (against) the crowd on the other side to walk to Crystal Palace. We honestly thought we were going to be late, but we got there on time.

CP (the food place) was a buffet and the food was good. This was my first time character dining and I absolutely loved it! I wrote this in my journal:

The best part was meeting Eeyore, because I was wearing an Eeyore shirt and necklace. So Eeyore was all up on me, hugging me and stuff and like at the end, I was like, "You complete me." And it was so funny. And Eeyore made an “I heart you” thing with his hands.”​

It was so magical!

My favorite picture:

We didn’t plan it! I just happened to be doing something crazy as Pooh came by with this sign. Oh my life.

After the buffet, we saw Wishes… well, we sort of saw it during the buffet.

Then, we decided to head out of the park. One of us went home, but the others stayed and we went to the Contemporary and played some video games before heading to the Polynesian to look at the grounds. After that, it was time to head back to Vista. Jess shared her iPod with me and played some great pop music from like 1998-2000 and it made me very happy.

Overall, I would say that our “Custodial Party” was a success!

 

[lamagique]

The week of the 4th of July, Kahne came down to Disney to visit. She was just there for a couple of days, so I only got to see her while I was working, but it was a great surprise.

The night of the fourth, Jess, Jake, and I went to Pleasure Island. We took the bus and, well, it was interesting. It was so crazy! People were singing and even the bus driver was like, "Get crazy!" And, well, I guess you could say I was slightly uncomfortable:

Haha, but only in the best of ways.

We had so much fun. We got to see fireworks at midnight and the atmosphere was just really fun. We had an excellent time going to Motions, 8trax, and the Beach Club. We sang to "All By Myself," did some custodial dances (cleaning the sink, anyone?) and just had a great time. Here are some pictures:

This is my "Whoopi" picture. I get told by a lot of people that I look like her. It happened when I was little, it happened at Disney, and it even happened here in France. And I didn't believe it... until I saw this picture and even more so when I went to Mme Tussaud's in London:

Anyway, after PI, we met with Brian at... you guessed it, the Waffle House!

Life was good.

Next installment: PG 13, #187

 

[princessjv]

lamagique-

I am completly caught up! I didn't want to post until I was up to date. I am really enjoying reading about your summer last year. I hope that my kiddos have the same desire and opportunity to experience the College Progra when they are in College. I am so glad that you found a wonderful group of friends while there. I have a great friend who also did the CP when he was in school. He is still great friends with some of the people he met while there. Last year when he brought his family to WDW, he visisted his old stomping grounds (Fort Wildernes) and was able to see some people who worked there all those years ago...

Thanks for showing us about the good and the bad of working at Fisney...it is no different than life...there are good jobs and bad jobs, even with the good jobs there are both good days and bad!

Are you having a great time studying abroad?

 

[robinne83]

I loved this update!! Your custodial party sounds like it was a total success despite the rain! Of course, if I was there with you I would have been totally freaking out at the CoP when it got hit by lightening! I am sooooo afraid of lightening! I would have been 10 million times worse than the guy on the PA and I would probably look even more panicked than you do in that picture!

I also have to say that its nice Johnny Depp opened Pirates early for you! What an awesome boyfriend you have!! Actually, one of my mom's best friends went to Johnny Depp's house for his Halloween party. Why she didn't invite me to come along I'll never understand! Oh well...I guess I'll just have to pretend the Johnny Depp animatronic is the real deal for now and hope that some day she takes me with her!!!

Also, I want to thank all of you for talking about the Waffle House! In my 23 years of existence, I have not once set foot in a Waffle House. However, they just built one by my house (the only local franchise that I know of actually) and all this talk about waffles on this thread gave me the biggest craving for them! So today, I went to the Waffle House for the first time, had the most delicious chocolate chip waffle, and its all because of you guys! So thanks!

 

[Violet Crayon]

Like a lot of other people, I am glad to hear about the experience from the view of a CM! I am enjoying all of the pictures and the description of the CP. It was something I thought about but I am at a private art school that would not accept my experience.

I enjoy your optimism and you do truly have the Disney spirit through the rough and magical spots! And it is nice to see you made it to the parks to enjoy the time there while working. So many people speculate that spending all of that time working in the parks is a turn off from their enjoyment. Pfft.

 

[Glendamax]

Clearly, in this picture, you're "phoning it in". You did NOT embrace the assignment.

I think you did a great job in this one. Even using a Harry Potter charm to make one eye red. You really went the extra mile!

Hmmmm . . . There is a likeness, but you're much cuter!

Congratulations LaMagique, you are still in the running for America's Next Top DISer.

 

[cherokeemamma]

LaMagique,

I just had to post and tell you how much I am enjoying reading about your CP experience! I am up to post #72. You are doing an awesome job! I appreciate you sharing.

I am always telling my kids that they should look into this program when they are in college (even though it is a ways off yet) I am always thinking ahead!

I have to get ready for work so I'll read more this afternoon.
Until then...

TTFN
Darlene

Hi Glenda

 

[mamaprincess]

Thank goodness you put me out of my misery with an awesome update. I now live by your TR much like I live by "Heroes". You're going to have to do the CP again just so we can have a second season.

I agree with Gmax that though there is a resemblance, you are waaaaaaaaaaayyyy cuter than Whoopie.

 

[DisneyJo]

Wow three great installments I love all your photos and your zany faces You seem constantly happy

 

[Joanna71985]

I LOVE the new pictures. I actually know the attendants in one of the Crystal Palace pictures (love the food there, worked there a couple of times). I can't believe I check in tomorrow! If I decide to do a TR, I hope it is as good as yours.

 

[cherokeemamma]

alrighty....I am all caught up now.

I just want to say I your report. It has such a neat perspective and it is really interesting to see things from a CM point of view.
and I must add....you are a fantastic writer, too.

Like so many others have said: You always look happy and like you are having fun all the time. I love your attitude and your work ethic (trying hard to instill that in my own kiddos). Your parents must be so proud of you!

I am curious about one thing...can CP participants get the character jobs? My DS truly aspires to be Goofy really.

I really did not become a Disneyholic until just a couple of years ago. I really wish I had earlier because I would have just loved the CP or something similar. So my DH and I have decided that when we retire we will head south to sunny Fl and get a job at WDW....you know better late than never.

Well, thanks again for sharing and I can't wait to read more .