The Best Last Day Ever (part 2)

We got to Hollywood Studio's around 5:30 pm and we headed straight to the Tower of Terror, which is my baby. The Tower of Terror is beyond my favorite ride at any of the parks, I could ride it all day. I love the atmosphere, the story line and of course the plummeting down the elevator shaft! This was an extra special night because we ran into my favorite cast member, and I made a fool of myself in front of him. I had gotten a little over excited when I realized he was working, and I may or may not have creeped him out a bit. After I returned to my usual color and we fell down 13 stories we made our way through the gift shop where I admired all the Tower Merch and made my first purchase of a Tower of Terror shirt.  After that we headed to the last place I planned on going in Studio's, to see the Osborne Family Lights. I had been once the week before to see them and I was in love! The lights are so beautiful that I had to go one last time before I took my leave to admire them.

We enjoyed the "Snoap" and lights until the park closed at 8 then we headed to The Boardwalk Resort for our reservations at the Flying Fish. Now the Flying Fish is a rather pricy restaurant that is known for it's amazing seafood and steak! Being a Cast Member I received a holiday book full of coupons one of them being a 50% off Dining coupon which I intended to use!
We got sat down at the Flying Fish and had the most wonderful waiter (Bob from Ohio). He greeted us and took our drink order and surprised us by bringing us complimentary cups of a potato leak soup.

After the surprise treat we all ordered our own appetizers, I ordered a shrimp and Calamari dish that was amazing! The calamari rings were so tender, and the shrimp was so flavorful! The only thing I wish I had considered was that this dish was deep fried so to eat it all myself it was quite heavy.

After looking at the menu I had to order the Crusted New York Strip steak, which is one of the things the Flying Fish is known for, and it did not disappoint. It was succulent and juicy, and so full of flavor! It is one of the best steaks I have ever had, anywhere! 

After we had such a large meal we opted to share a dessert! We got a trio of Boardwalk favorites which included a caramel corn cheesecake, a Cherry limeade popsicle, and a S'more on a chocolate stick! I voted for this dessert because I absolutely love S'mores, and the S'more came on a chocolate stick with a homemade marshmallow cemented with chocolate between two homemade cookies. Now when waiter Bob caught wind that I was not sharing the S'more he brought out two more for my friends! We all had a good laugh about it. I have to admit the S'more was good but the winner in the dessert was the popsicle we all agreed that it had a really great taste!

Now Bob being the best waiter ever knew it was my last day at Disney, and he brought us an extra special dessert! He brought us over a fig creme Brûlée! Now I am not a fan of figs because of a past traumatic experience, but my friends said it was amazing!

With my 50% off coupon the bill came to just over $126 but that includes a $34 tip. We saved over $88.00 which is amazing to me!

I was really happy to be able to spend the time with my friends, it made it a lot easier leaving knowing that I had been able to do everything I wanted to one last time! 

I am really lucky that I had such a wonderful manager who went out of her way to give me that day off. I had everything from my apartment packed up and I turned in my Keys and ID at 9:00 am the next morning and made the 17 hour drive home.

I think I will remember the events from the day forever, because they were so magical to me and it was all so much more then I could ask for!

The best last day ever! (Part 1)

My last day at Disney was Saturday November 16th and it was one of the best days I think I've ever had! I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted to spend my day, a few rides I wanted to hit and of course some quality friend time!
Our first stop for the day was to the Magic Kingdom with my friend Kayla. The first thing we did was hit up Space Mountain for a Fast Pass. Then we headed back behind the castle and rode the Haunted Mansion. After we got off that we headed over to Jungle I mean the renovated Jingle Cruise to grab a fast pass. After that is was back across the main hub where we stopped for a selfie in front of the castle:

We then continued on our way back through Tomorrowland to Space Mountain! Using our handy dandy fast passes the wait for Space Mountain wasn't to long at all. After we got off Space Mountain we met up with two of our other friends and headed back to the center of the hub for a group picture in front of the castle. After 3 months we hadn't taken one of those pictures yet!

After that Kayla had to head off to work, so Hillary, Jen and I walked around the castle and just hung out for a bit. At 1:20 I had to leave them and meet up with my friend and co-worker Blythe for lunch at Cinderellas Royal Table! It is nearly impossible to get a reservation there.  After taking our picture with Cinderella we were called up stairs to sit at our table. At Cinderellas Royal Table you prepay when you make your reservation, but you get a 3 course meal. The starter is a tray containing cheese, hummus and a salad. I'll admit i wasn't a huge fan of it, but my main course was a roasted chicken with a risotto and shallot confit.

Let me tell you, that was delicious! The risotto wasn't very warm when it came out, but the chicken combined with the shallot confit was absolutely amazing! Just looking at the picture is making me hungry for more! When it came to Dessert, I couldn't help but get the special which is called "The Clock Strikes Twelve" a Chocolate cake topped with a white chocolate mousse, covered in chocolate.
I mean who in their right mind wouldn't order that?

I am not a big chocolate eater, but this was one of the best desserts I've eaten in a long time. The cake was really thin, and the mousse was really light and fluffy. It was amazing!
After taking some pictures with some princesses (Ariel, Aurora, Jasmine and Snow White), Wishing on our Wishing Stars, and some photos of the restaurant we headed to back onto the streets of Fantasyland.
We made a quick stop at Mickey's Philharmagic because that is one of my favorite attractions at Magic Kingdom and the wait was 10 minutes which is code for walk on.

We then head back over to Adventure land because one of the things on my list was to take a trip on the Jingle Cruise!
We had to wait in the stand by line because my previous fast passes has already expired, but we had a lot of fun chatting and enjoying the holiday decor while we waited, and it was all worth it for the corniest holiday jokes!

After that we headed back up to the Main Street USA where I made a stop in a shop to buy myself a Disney Dooney and Burke bag. After that we hopped on the monorail and went back to the contemporary and hopped on a bus to Hollywood Studio's.

This concludes part 1 of the Best Last Day ever, Part 2 will be posted pictures and all Tomorrow.

Monthiversary!

I moved into my apartment at Disney World one month ago today. Time here is so strange some days feel like years, but other days already feel like distant memories. It is really sad to think that my time here is already 1/5 of the way finished at that before we can even fathom it our programs will be over and it will be time to say good bye.
I am very glad to say that I love it here, I love every aspect of the company and even though I think there are better ways to do things sometimes I know that it is cast members like me who look towards to future who will keep this company on the right track and advancing.
While my ultimate goal is to write music for Disney movies and maybe even the shows they have here in the parks I have come to terms and realized that if I really want to accomplish that goal I must leave Disney in the future to further my education.
I have tons of plans and goals for my university education but nothing it set in stone just yet and I have plenty of time to decide what exactly I will be doing with my life still.
I can honestly say though that I am so excited for the future and for living and just being here and that is the best feeling. I wake up everyday maybe not jumping out of bed, but with a smile on my face because I realize how lucky I am.
I am doing a job that I love, in a place that I could have only ever dreamed of being. I am not sure if fate is being kind to me, or if I've just worked really hard to accomplish this, but I am so grateful for this opportunity and for this experience.

I leave you tonight with my character photo with Peter and Wendy:

I'm Going to Disney World!

I got the E-mail Monday morning that said I was accepted into the Disney College Program! After freaking out for a few hours and telling everyone I know I sat down and paid my fee's and picked my arrival date!
My role in the college program is Custodial, which I've heard from a lot of people is one of the best roles to have!
I am really excited for this opportunity working for Disney has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember and I've finally got my chance to get my foot in the door of the company! This does put my degree off another semester, but I am completely okay with that! I am going to try and take one of the classes Disney offers and a class or two from my College, but I am scared that all the work will be too much and I really want to enjoy being at Disney as much as I can!

I feel like Tiana that dream i've been wishing on has finally come true!

Thank you Disney! and all the people who've supported my decision and encouraged me!

More Disney things to come!

Have a Magical Day!

I've done it! I've applied!

So the Disney College Program applications went up this morning, and after having a miniature panic attack I managed to successfully fill out my application!

Now for those of you who don't know the Disney College Program is like an internship (without the title intern). Disney hires college students to take a semester and work for them. They provide housing and training and even offer extra classes like Disney History that some colleges will accept for their credits!

I have been planning on applying for the college programs since I first read about it in the summer of 2011, and I wanted to wait to apply until i was finishing up my A.A. degree but after transferring school last semester and starting a new program I was tired of waiting so I applied now!

It felt a little like this:

The Application felt really stressful, but it was actually really simple There 4 steps to Disney's Application process.

Step 1: The standard application. You provide you name address and social security number and information like this. Disney will also give you a list of roles to choose from and you rate your interest level on a scale of High Interest, Moderate Interest, Low Interest of No Interest.
Step 2. The Web Based Interview (WBI). The WBI is like a giant personality quiz  it asks you how well you do things and how you like them. Questions such as working in groups vs alone, to how would you handle an employee doing something wrong? There is a scale such as Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree questions  like that. Again very stressful because if the questions don't match up to what they want you can be rejected here.
Step 3.  Phone Interview. This is when you will interact directly with a Disney recruiter. They'll ask a variety of questions about the roles you chose, your past work experience and all sorts of other questions! This is the last step that involves answering any questions.
Step 4. Your fate! You'll get an e-mail with the final decision. This decision can come after weeks of holding a pending status or just a few days of finishing step 3. But there's no doubt this step could change your life!


I am currently waiting for step 3. I have my phone interview scheduled for Tuesday at 3pm and I can't wait!
I am confident that I have what it takes to be a Disney CP but I just have to prove that to my recruiter.

Wish me luck!

Marissa

Patience

So I went to class this morning, but I ended up getting really sick so i came back home. Now I have resorted to laying on the couch watching Kitchen Nightmares before I get the courage to start preparing dinner for my family. On the menu tonight Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta! One of my favorite dinners hopefully i'll be able to eat it.
On top of all that I am trying to be patient and wait for the Disney College Program applications. I have been waiting to apply for the program for about two years now after i first heard about it, and this is the right time for me to go off and work at Disney World! It is important for me to get this CP because I hope to work with Disney in the future so getting my foot in the door here is a great start! Rumors have it applications will be out sometime this week, right now everyone is expecting Friday since they haven't come out today (yet) but there is still hope for tomorrow!

I am ready to be living and breathing at Disney!
Just let me go!

Marissa