The Happiest Summer On Earth *My WDWCP Experience*

[mamaprincess]

Bumping out of impatience.

 

[sugahappy]

It looks like LaMagique has gone through another disappearing spell. I am also impatiently waiting for her to make her return! We are trying to plan our reunion trip and she still hasn't even told us when her plane lands because she's too busy doing whatever it is she is doing.

However, just for the sake of posting something I found a few funny pics on her facebook page of last summer. PS LaMagique I hope you don't mind me stealing these...

Here's us on our first day of work at the Studios. I don't think either of us ever wore those ridiculous hats again. I shiver at the thought.

Here's LaMagique and "Jake" practicing their Disney point!

Here we are after work waiting for the bus. We are absolutely exhausted but somehow we look so happy! We're probably thinking about chocolate chip waffles coming up...

Here we are on pirates day!

And here we are at graduation! LaMagique hasn't gotten here yet though. She asked Mickey to do the "Some imagination, huh?" from the end of fantasmic pose!

 

[Joanna71985]

Hey! Don't diss the hats. I loved the white hat (although mine was deformed when I gave it back, because it got all funky from the rain).

 

[sugahappy]

Hey! Don't diss the hats. I loved the white hat (although mine was deformed when I gave it back, because it got all funky from the rain).

Hahaha, I really did like the white hat, I wanted to be able to rock it everyday with my costume but I just couldn't pull it off. I have a really big head, and it's just hard to fit a hat on it!!! Hahaha. Oh well. Luckily they let me wear my sunglasses on stage so it wasn't too bad without a hat!

 

[Joanna71985]

Hahaha, I really did like the white hat, I wanted to be able to rock it everyday with my costume but I just couldn't pull it off. I have a really big head, and it's just hard to fit a hat on it!!! Hahaha. Oh well. Luckily they let me wear my sunglasses on stage so it wasn't too bad without a hat!

Yeah. Unfortunately I can't wear sunglasses. I guess it looked alright.

 

[Glendamax]

Sugahappy, thanks for posting those pics! Looks like you all had alot of fun in spite of all the hard work!

 

[lamagique]

My Absence
Hey everyone! I am sorry about my extended absence from this TR! I have been pretty busy since my return to the United States. I have a lot of stuff to catch up on since the last time I updated.

So first of all, I was in Austria for a month and it was AMAZING! I had an awesome time and that really was the highlight of my semester in Europe.

But after a month in Austria, I finally came home to the United States. I was at home for about a week before I went to… DISNEYLAND! That’s right! That means I was in THREE different Disney parks in one year’s time (Paris, World, and Land).

I had a great time at Disneyland. I got to go on the new Space Mountain, which was awesome (but still a second to the one in Paris). I also enjoyed the differences in rides like Haunted Mansion, Pirates (which is WAY longer at Disneyland and more detailed), Big Thunder (second again to the one in Paris), and Splash Mountain. I also got to go see some great new things at California Adventure, like the Monster’s Inc ride and the High School Musical Pep Rally. I, unfortunately, did not get to go on the new Finding Nemo ride at Disneyland because the line was crazy long!! I hope that one day I’ll be able to ride it. And of course, the Matterhorn (which I think of as an old-school Everest) was a lot of fun.

After that, I was home for about a week before going to Boston to visit one of my friends that I made from the College Program. You know her as Jess. We had a fun week, getting ready for Harry Potter, reading it in a day, touring Boston and just hanging out.

Then, I came back home. I prepared for school to start again, trying to get started on resumes and my postgraduate plans. School started and since then, I have been busy with both extracurriculars and my school work, both things have been keeping me pretty occupied. However, I am determined to finish this trip report. Once again, before I get into it, I must apologize! I honestly did not think it would take me so long to finish this—that was not my intention at all. Thank you so much for caring and sticking around. Now, let’s do this!!!

 

[lamagique]

The end of my summer and my departure date were swiftly approaching. I had made tons of friends and did a lot of cool things, but there was one thing that I hadn’t done yet that I really wanted to do: hit all four parks in the same day!

For this task, I decided to go to the parks with one of my Disney friends, Ellen. She was up for the challenge, I was up to the challenge… but could really do FOUR PARKS in ONE DAY??? (And without a car?!?!) We didn’t know if we could accomplish it, but we definitely were going to try!

We started off by meeting at the Vista Way bus stop and getting onto the bus.

Our first stop was: ANIMAL KINGDOM!!!

We hit up the expresso bar before the park entrance to get some energy, since it was so early in the morning. If you look closely, you can see the girl working trying to hide behind the counter. I guess she just didn't want to work. But I saw her and made her get me an iced latte! Ha!

After charging up for the morning, Ellen and I were ready for what was sure to be a long day!

We entered the park and decided to try Everest first. There were no Fast Passes available (what?!? it was only like 9:30am) and there was no Single-Rider's line. So we decided to go back to Dinosaur and then check out Everest again later.

It was Ellen's first time on Dinosaur and she was scared, and of course, I was too! I love that ride, though. After Dinosaur, we headed to Primeval Whirl and also had some fun in the sort of Tourist Trap part of AK. Then, we tried to check and see if the Single Rider's Line was open at Expedition Everest. It was!! So, after about 20 minutes of waiting (as opposed to the 70 minute stand-by line), Ellen and I got on Expedition Everest. I took some pictures while on the ride...

After the ride, we went window shopping and I saw these beautiful bowls... and aren't the Mickeys cute?

I absolutely adore them and hopefully the next time I can buy a couple of them!

Well, after shopping and doing Photo Pass...

We headed over to our second stop: EPCOT!

We rode the monorail over there and I discovered that the monorail at Epcot takes you around the park before dropping you off, so we got to see some cool sights from up above.

At the time, they were still in the process of building the new “Finding Nemo” attraction. I have not been back to WDW since the summer of 2006, but I cannot wait to go on this ride when I go back.

Well, we got off of the monorail and our first goal was to try and get a Fast Pass for Soarin'. We did and we also got a Surprise Fast Pass for Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. It was pretty cool because I didn't know that they ever had Surprise Fast Passes. After getting our Fast Pass, we decided to head towards Test Track. On the way, however, we stopped into Character Connection and took pictures with the characters there!

First up was Mickey:

Then Pluto! He played with us for a while because no one was in his line...

Then we strolled up on Donald. Donald was seriously doing some like, funny dances and poses. It was really funny!

 

[lamagique]

Then we saw Minnie, who indicated that she liked that I was wearing a shirt with her on it.

Well, after meeting all of those characters, we decided to head on over to Test Track.
We were about to go in the Single Rider's line of Test Track when out of nowhere, this guy gives us two Fast Passes and tells us to have a nice day!

Ellen and I were so happy! Our day was going so well and everything was working out right! We couldn't believe it!

So, after Test Track, we were walking over to Soarin' when we noticed these people in mermaid-like spandex who were like doing contortionist things in the middle of the walkway to this eighties new age music. It was all very entertaining and fascinating. I found out that they were called the Kristos.

Guess who got her photo with the Kristos?!?!

After the Kristos, we went to Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. Then it was time for Soarin', so we rode that and that was a lot of fun. And then we were hungry so we went to Seasons, the healthy food place and got some good food there. Well, after that, it was time to depart from Future World and head to the World Showcase. We made no stops except for in Morocco.

Morocco, as I have mentioned before, is one of my favorite countries in the World Showcase. A lot of the guys are very good looking and friendly. One guy came up to Ellen and me and was talking. I could tell he was new because, I dunno, I just remembered all of the old Moroccans. So, I said that and he was like, "Yes, we are new!" And he started asking us where we worked and he invited us to go to his apartments to party and we're like, "Uh, mmhmm," trying to get out of there. So as we were walking out, I was telling Ellen that, "I love to go to Morocco because of all the guys. When I came on Spring Break, there was the most beautiful guy--" and right behind me was a Moroccan guy and he was like, "Hi!" It was weird. And awkward. And funny!


Well, after Morocco, we had to go to the Studios. We decided to take the Steamboat from Hades, I mean the Friendship Boat over. Well, it took like thirty billion hours to get there because we had all of these stops and also the air-conditioning wasn't working and there were three billion people on the boat, so it was gross. Plus, the couple in front of us was smooching up a storm. I didn't know if we would make it, but we did actually end up making it to our third stop, DISNEY-MGM STUDIOS!

After going through the longest bag check ever, we were inside! We got sodas and checked the wait time for Tower before heading towards the hat to get a spot for the parade.

After the parade, Ellen and I were trying to stand up, but it wasn't really working. Our feet had fallen asleep and we seriously spent like three minutes trying to walk. It was hilarious! We looked crazy because we were laughing hysterically!


Well, we headed over to Tower of Terror, which fortunately only had a 20 minute wait. Of course, it was wonderfully fun as it always is.

After Tower, we went on Coaster with Fast Passes. It was awesome, of course! After shopping a little, it was time to head to our fourth and final destination: MAGIC KINGDOM!!!

YES! We made it to the Fourth Park! We were so happy! We went on Buzz Lightyear and the Carousel of Progress before heading to Main Street and watching the beginning of Wishes (yes, I got to see Tinkerbell fly! Finally!) and then we waited for SpectroMagic!

Once SpectroMagic was over, we got up and practically ran out of the park and took the monorail. Then, we had excellent timing with the CP bus because it came like seconds after we got to the bus stop. We got on the bus, went back home and then went to sleep. It was an awesomely magical day!

 

[lamagique]

Soon after the quadruple whammy day, it was time for me to start packing up my things (and boy did I have a lot! I had to send two boxes of stuff home… I guess I went a little crazy with my cast discount, but I couldn’t help it! Everything was so cute!) and get ready to go home.

For my last day of work, I went in ahead of time with Rico and Ali. We did the Animation Studio, rode Tower twice, rode Coaster twice, and did the Muppets. It was a good way to start off the day before my last night of work (which was until 1am... we had a convention).

I drew this at the Animation Studio!

It was a little sad knowing that I would not be seeing a lot of those people again. I had learned so much about myself in my experience working at Disney. It was weird that it was over, but I was proud of the hard work that I had put in and I knew that I would have memories that I would cherish for the rest of my life.

It did not really seem like the end of the program until my graduation. All of us, Team: Custodial, graduated with honors and celebrated by going to Epcot with our graduation ears and eating at France. But of course!!

***
So, that’s where my story of the happiest summer on earth ends… but my story with Disney will never end, if I can help it! In less than a month, I will be joining Team Custodial at Walt Disney World for what is going to be an amazing holiday reunion. In addition to that, after I graduate, I hope to pursue a career at Walt Disney World. I don’t know what the future holds, but I hope it has a lot more Disney!

Thank you so much for joining me on my journey and I hope that you will continue on with me by reading my next trip report:

The Merriest Christmas on Earth – Team Custodial Reunites!

It's been magical!!
La Magique

 

[Joanna71985]

My Absence
Hey everyone! I am sorry about my extended absence from this TR! I have been pretty busy since my return to the United States. I have a lot of stuff to catch up on since the last time I updated.

So first of all, I was in Austria for a month and it was AMAZING! I had an awesome time and that really was the highlight of my semester in Europe.

But after a month in Austria, I finally came home to the United States. I was at home for about a week before I went to… DISNEYLAND! That’s right! That means I was in THREE different Disney parks in one year’s time (Paris, World, and Land).

I had a great time at Disneyland. I got to go on the new Space Mountain, which was awesome (but still a second to the one in Paris). I also enjoyed the differences in rides like Haunted Mansion, Pirates (which is WAY longer at Disneyland and more detailed), Big Thunder (second again to the one in Paris), and Splash Mountain. I also got to go see some great new things at California Adventure, like the Monster’s Inc ride and the High School Musical Pep Rally. I, unfortunately, did not get to go on the new Finding Nemo ride at Disneyland because the line was crazy long!! I hope that one day I’ll be able to ride it. And of course, the Matterhorn (which I think of as an old-school Everest) was a lot of fun.

After that, I was home for about a week before going to Boston to visit one of my friends that I made from the College Program. You know her as Jess. We had a fun week, getting ready for Harry Potter, reading it in a day, touring Boston and just hanging out.

Then, I came back home. I prepared for school to start again, trying to get started on resumes and my postgraduate plans. School started and since then, I have been busy with both extracurriculars and my school work, both things have been keeping me pretty occupied. However, I am determined to finish this trip report. Once again, before I get into it, I must apologize! I honestly did not think it would take me so long to finish this—that was not my intention at all. Thank you so much for caring and sticking around. Now, let’s do this!!!

You're excused. I love those pictures from Europe- soooo pretty. I also hope to get to DL and DLP someday.

 

[Joanna71985]

The end of my summer and my departure date were swiftly approaching. I had made tons of friends and did a lot of cool things, but there was one thing that I hadn’t done yet that I really wanted to do: hit all four parks in the same day!

For this task, I decided to go to the parks with one of my Disney friends, Ellen. She was up for the challenge, I was up to the challenge… but could really do FOUR PARKS in ONE DAY??? (And without a car?!?!) We didn’t know if we could accomplish it, but we definitely were going to try!

We started off by meeting at the Vista Way bus stop and getting onto the bus.

Our first stop was: ANIMAL KINGDOM!!!

We hit up the expresso bar before the park entrance to get some energy, since it was so early in the morning. If you look closely, you can see the girl working trying to hide behind the counter. I guess she just didn't want to work. But I saw her and made her get me an iced latte! Ha!

After charging up for the morning, Ellen and I were ready for what was sure to be a long day!

We entered the park and decided to try Everest first. There were no Fast Passes available (what?!? it was only like 9:30am) and there was no Single-Rider's line. So we decided to go back to Dinosaur and then check out Everest again later.

It was Ellen's first time on Dinosaur and she was scared, and of course, I was too! I love that ride, though. After Dinosaur, we headed to Primeval Whirl and also had some fun in the sort of Tourist Trap part of AK. Then, we tried to check and see if the Single Rider's Line was open at Expedition Everest. It was!! So, after about 20 minutes of waiting (as opposed to the 70 minute stand-by line), Ellen and I got on Expedition Everest. I took some pictures while on the ride...

After the ride, we went window shopping and I saw these beautiful bowls... and aren't the Mickeys cute?

I absolutely adore them and hopefully the next time I can buy a couple of them!

Well, after shopping and doing Photo Pass...

We headed over to our second stop: EPCOT!

We rode the monorail over there and I discovered that the monorail at Epcot takes you around the park before dropping you off, so we got to see some cool sights from up above.

At the time, they were still in the process of building the new “Finding Nemo” attraction. I have not been back to WDW since the summer of 2006, but I cannot wait to go on this ride when I go back.

Well, we got off of the monorail and our first goal was to try and get a Fast Pass for Soarin'. We did and we also got a Surprise Fast Pass for Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. It was pretty cool because I didn't know that they ever had Surprise Fast Passes. After getting our Fast Pass, we decided to head towards Test Track. On the way, however, we stopped into Character Connection and took pictures with the characters there!

First up was Mickey:

Then Pluto! He played with us for a while because no one was in his line...

Then we strolled up on Donald. Donald was seriously doing some like, funny dances and poses. It was really funny!

Love the character pictures.

 

[Joanna71985]

Then we saw Minnie, who indicated that she liked that I was wearing a shirt with her on it.

Well, after meeting all of those characters, we decided to head on over to Test Track.
We were about to go in the Single Rider's line of Test Track when out of nowhere, this guy gives us two Fast Passes and tells us to have a nice day!

Ellen and I were so happy! Our day was going so well and everything was working out right! We couldn't believe it!

So, after Test Track, we were walking over to Soarin' when we noticed these people in mermaid-like spandex who were like doing contortionist things in the middle of the walkway to this eighties new age music. It was all very entertaining and fascinating. I found out that they were called the Kristos.

Guess who got her photo with the Kristos?!?!

After the Kristos, we went to Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. Then it was time for Soarin', so we rode that and that was a lot of fun. And then we were hungry so we went to Seasons, the healthy food place and got some good food there. Well, after that, it was time to depart from Future World and head to the World Showcase. We made no stops except for in Morocco.

Morocco, as I have mentioned before, is one of my favorite countries in the World Showcase. A lot of the guys are very good looking and friendly. One guy came up to Ellen and me and was talking. I could tell he was new because, I dunno, I just remembered all of the old Moroccans. So, I said that and he was like, "Yes, we are new!" And he started asking us where we worked and he invited us to go to his apartments to party and we're like, "Uh, mmhmm," trying to get out of there. So as we were walking out, I was telling Ellen that, "I love to go to Morocco because of all the guys. When I came on Spring Break, there was the most beautiful guy--" and right behind me was a Moroccan guy and he was like, "Hi!" It was weird. And awkward. And funny!


Well, after Morocco, we had to go to the Studios. We decided to take the Steamboat from Hades, I mean the Friendship Boat over. Well, it took like thirty billion hours to get there because we had all of these stops and also the air-conditioning wasn't working and there were three billion people on the boat, so it was gross. Plus, the couple in front of us was smooching up a storm. I didn't know if we would make it, but we did actually end up making it to our third stop, DISNEY-MGM STUDIOS!

After going through the longest bag check ever, we were inside! We got sodas and checked the wait time for Tower before heading towards the hat to get a spot for the parade.

After the parade, Ellen and I were trying to stand up, but it wasn't really working. Our feet had fallen asleep and we seriously spent like three minutes trying to walk. It was hilarious! We looked crazy because we were laughing hysterically!


Well, we headed over to Tower of Terror, which fortunately only had a 20 minute wait. Of course, it was wonderfully fun as it always is.

After Tower, we went on Coaster with Fast Passes. It was awesome, of course! After shopping a little, it was time to head to our fourth and final destination: MAGIC KINGDOM!!!

YES! We made it to the Fourth Park! We were so happy! We went on Buzz Lightyear and the Carousel of Progress before heading to Main Street and watching the beginning of Wishes (yes, I got to see Tinkerbell fly! Finally!) and then we waited for SpectroMagic!

Once SpectroMagic was over, we got up and practically ran out of the park and took the monorail. Then, we had excellent timing with the CP bus because it came like seconds after we got to the bus stop. We got on the bus, went back home and then went to sleep. It was an awesomely magical day!

Yay for busy days. I did a 4 park-1 day once. I was absolutely beat afterwards. It looked like you guys had fun.

 

[Joanna71985]

Soon after the quadruple whammy day, it was time for me to start packing up my things (and boy did I have a lot! I had to send two boxes of stuff home… I guess I went a little crazy with my cast discount, but I couldn’t help it! Everything was so cute!) and get ready to go home.

For my last day of work, I went in ahead of time with Rico and Ali. We did the Animation Studio, rode Tower twice, rode Coaster twice, and did the Muppets. It was a good way to start off the day before my last night of work (which was until 1am... we had a convention).

I drew this at the Animation Studio!

It was a little sad knowing that I would not be seeing a lot of those people again. I had learned so much about myself in my experience working at Disney. It was weird that it was over, but I was proud of the hard work that I had put in and I knew that I would have memories that I would cherish for the rest of my life.

It did not really seem like the end of the program until my graduation. All of us, Team: Custodial, graduated with honors and celebrated by going to Epcot with our graduation ears and eating at France. But of course!!

***
So, that’s where my story of the happiest summer on earth ends… but my story with Disney will never end, if I can help it! In less than a month, I will be joining Team Custodial at Walt Disney World for what is going to be an amazing holiday reunion. In addition to that, after I graduate, I hope to pursue a career at Walt Disney World. I don’t know what the future holds, but I hope it has a lot more Disney!

Thank you so much for joining me on my journey and I hope that you will continue on with me by reading my next trip report:

The Merriest Christmas on Earth – Team Custodial Reunites!

It's been magical!!
La Magique

I just want you to know that I really enjoyed your TR. You really are a true CM. Also, you helped me get through my summer program (I seriously considered leaving at one point). I can't wait to read your next TR. Also, do you think you will be going back next summer to work? It looks like there is going to be another alumni summer program.

 

[Sehsun]

La Magique,
I really enjoyed reading your TR as well!! It must have been exhausting to do 4 parks in 1 day (the most I have done so far is 2 in 1 day) - what a great accomplishment towards the end of your program!! I can't believe my own CP graduation is in exactly 2 weeks.

It sounds like you had such a wonderful experience doing the CP. I am happy for you, that you are planning on pursuing a career with Disney after you graduate!

I have already subscribed to your Christmas TR and am looking forward to reading it.

 

[sugahappy]

I just want you to know that I really enjoyed your TR. You really are a true CM. Also, you helped me get through my summer program (I seriously considered leaving at one point). I can't wait to read your next TR. Also, do you think you will be going back next summer to work? It looks like there is going to be another alumni summer program.

Hey Joanna! Did you consider leaving because you were doing custodial??? If so, we can definitely relate. People dropped like flies outta that program during the first month we started cleaning toilets!! However, congrats to you for sticking through it! It takes true Disney love!!!!

 

[Joanna71985]

Hey Joanna! Did you consider leaving because you were doing custodial??? If so, we can definitely relate. People dropped like flies outta that program during the first month we started cleaning toilets!! However, congrats to you for sticking through it! It takes true Disney love!!!!

Yes, a little bit. I didn't care that it was custodial. It was that my feet were killing me (more then my other 2 CPs combined), I was lonely (don't know why), and I was having issues with my old role and picking up shifts. So put everything together and I was not happy. But I am happy that I didn't leave, because I want to work for Disney once I graduate.

And thanks for your kind words.

 

[Glendamax]

YEAH!!!!!!!! This was GREAT!!!!!! I'm so glad you came back!

So tell me, when you were in Austria, did you sing "The hills are alive with the sound of music"!!!!! I know I would have!!!! So glad you had a great time there!

So cool that you were able to do all the parks in one day! It sounded like so much fun!

I am so sorry that I will not be able to meet you in December. My dates are the 11th-15th. So I'll be just missing you. If anything changes, please let me know!

Thanks again for the update! And I'll make sure to visit Morocco, to check out the guys!

 

[averill94]

Yay so glad to see you back!

The pictures are gorgeous~ what are the first two Austrian pics of- both churches. They must go on my list of things to see- they look breathtaking!

Thanks for finishing up~looking forward to the next one!

 

[Eventer98]

Thanks for finishing your TR! It was one of the best ever I am heading over to check the other ones out right now. Best of luck to you in whatever you pursue!!