Oh, How Time Flies!

Exactly one year ago today, I was accepted into the Disney College Program! That was a year ago?! Shut the front door!

Actually applying for the program, and then doing the web-based interview, and phone interview feel a little distant, but the excitement of officially being accepted and then telling other people about it feels like just yesterday!

I wrote a post, the first one on this blog, in fact--the one that started it all, not too long after my acceptance. If you want to throw it back (as the kids are saying... :/ ) you can read that first post by clicking here! 

I knew that my college program would be filled with a lot of working, but also with a lot of fun. I had hopes to make a few friends, and come out of it having learned something about myself and what I want to do in the future.

What I was not prepared for was how much I was going to change and grow as a person, and how much the new people, the many new friends, that came into my life would mean to me! I think back, and the people who made my program what it was, really left a large impact on my life! I cannot thank them enough!

Nic and I leaving Magic Kingdom for the last time on our program, wearing our Graduation ears :)

Not only did I make a few really good friends along the way, but I have met some of the greatest human beings I have thus-far encountered. As cliché as it sounds, I really have made friends for life. These people mean so ridiculously much to me, and I love them very deeply. I am now friends with people from all over the country! (Though, I still got my Midwest crew of Nicolette and Ean locked down!)

It is crazy to think how much can change and how much can happen in such a short period of time! Ah! Time flies, but the fact that I am able to look back on this past year and smile, feeling accomplished, must mean I'm doing something right!

One of my favorite lines in Dream Along with Mickey, aka the greatest castle show you'll ever see, is sung by one of my favorites, Peter Pan! "Seize the moment! Let your fantasies and dreams set sail!"

Doing the Disney College Program was my dream, and it happened. I mean, come on! That is awesome! 

x Lauren

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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

Recently, I completed a project that makes me very happy. While being in Florida for my Disney College Program, I took many pictures that captured such memorable moments. It is such a joy-inducing thing to look back over all of the pictures.

While I didn't keep a journal of all the good times that I can read over and experience again, I did take many photographs that in and of themselves tell stories, and bring back a wave of emotions. I kept this blog, which journaled the highlights, and I certainly shared many photos here and on my social media platforms throughout my program.

After importing pictures from my phone, various memory cards from my camera, and from friends' cameras and such, I had a mess of pictures on my computer. It is a happy mess of memories, but I wanted to bring some sort of order to the chaos. There were far too many pictures for me to take on the task of detailed scrapbooking, and too many to frame just a few to put around my room.

I went through them all and narrowed down the ones I wanted to print. I had a few hundred pictures printed in the end (is that overkill? I don't think so, haha!). Next, I dated each picture and put them all in chronological order and began filling the photo album I purchased with these specific pictures in mind! 

There is something so satisfying about holding this large book that is filled with pictures I took, pictures of my friends and me, and the place that was my home for roughly seven months! They aren't just pictures of a moment in time, they are a physical representation of the happiest time in my life so far. 

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the pages in this book are filled with nearly 300,000 words that tell the happiest story filled with some of the happiest individual moments I can imagine. 

Here is a look at a few of the page spreads in the album chosen at random!

When I stumble upon the inevitable bad day here and there, I can, and will look back on these happy days, and smile.

How do you preserve your memories in a tangible way? Let me know, I'm interested in hearing some more ideas!

x Lauren

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A Quick Follow-Up!

After having my last post receive the most views I have had on my blog yet, I wanted to clear a few things up! Many people reached out to me, and I felt like some people might be under the wrong impression.

Nothing happened to force me to leave Disney. I'm not quitting. I wasn't "let go." I was here on the Disney College Program, an internship designed for a semester or slightly longer. My program end date was and has been for a while, August 1st.

It didn't not work out for me; it did! I was originally supposed to leave in May actually, but extended because it was so amazing for me!

I am leaving on good terms and hope to return in some capacity when the time is right! Since writing my last post, my eyes have been opened to see how leaving at this time really is a blessing in disguise, even though it may not feel like it.

So many people read my sad post, but I invite you to read through some of the archived posts from my program! They feature some of the many highlights I was blessed enough to experience over the last few months!

I thank you for supporting the sad times, but want you to celebrate with me for the happy ones too! My program was filled with countless happy days!

I don't know everyone who has read my blog--just part of the beauty of the Internet. It's pretty cool to see the page views I receive from other countries! I know it could be seen as strange that I'm sharing more personal things lately on such a public forum, but this blog was created for me to document my time here in Florida so that I could look back and see all that was experienced. This is just part of it.

With that said, obviously my time in Florida is coming to an end, but I plan to continue blogging through this journey of life. Will I be posting pictures of fun in the parks everyday? Of course not, but I will now get to find the fun in the more mundane things of life.

I know... it doesn't sound as exciting, but it will be a chance for me to look at life in a different way and with a desire to discover new things again! (That's what I'm trying to convince myself at least!)

I'm going to miss the life I've had down here, but I'll look back on this time with the fondest of memories! Thank you for following along with me!

x Lauren

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I've Had the Time of My Life...

I am sitting down to write this post, and I know what I want to convey, but I am honestly not sure how to write it.

The main piece of news to share is that come August, my plan is now to move back home to Illinois.

First off, my time at Disney, the past 7 months or so, has been incredible. Truly, it has been the best time of my life so far. I have absolutely loved working at Kali River Rapids at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

I have met some of the most amazing people in my coworkers and friends. I feel incredibly blessed by my relationships with each and every one of them.

My hope and plan was to stay down here and make this my life permanently. For the first time, I was so genuinely happy, and I wanted that feeling to continue for as long as possible.

In my time here, I have felt loved in a way I have never felt before, and it has been the best thing imaginable for me.

My college program ends on August 1st. Weeks ago, I went to casting and put in to stay with the company permanently.

In the last week or so though, a few things down here have changed that would make staying down here difficult for me. Constant reminders that would be painful would surround me. This is completely a personal decision because I know that I would not be happy down here at this time.

It is ironic because growing up, Disney was the thing to make me happiest, and now I must leave that very place for fear of the opposite.

It is just time to go.

My hope and plan is now to go seasonal, which would give me an excuse to come down here again soon, but also let me stay with the company I’ve loved working for most.

I will miss being able to go to the Disney parks whenever I want. More than that, I will miss working as a cast member. I will miss little things like asking, “How many in your party?” I will miss watching guests touch their MagicBands to the touch points and watch in excitement, as the light turns green (or the unfortunate blue). I will miss guests asking me all kinds of questions, and me being able to actually answer them! 

What I will miss the most however, are the people I’ve met. I sincerely love some of these people. I am leaving heartbroken for a few reasons.

I already know that my journey home will be an awkward one for those I encounter, as I will be a crying mess. The days, and weeks following will be very difficult for me. I know this all sounds a bit dramatic, but it is really very upsetting for me.

So what is my plan for life now?

That would be an excellent question! One my parents are going to want an answer to, and one that I will be asked many times upon returning home, by people who care, but I will get tired of answering. I’m not returning back to school at this time. My school plan has not been the conventional one, and certainly not the way my two older siblings have done it. They are both graduated with their Bachelors degrees, and I admire that, but I haven’t been motivated to accomplish that in the 4-years directly following high school.

While being here on my program though, I earned both my Mousters Degree, and my Ducktorate Degree, and that is pretty dang cool :)

The truth is, I don’t know what I’m doing! The daunting thing called “the future” is here now, and frankly, I’m not ready for it. I am on the search for what I want to do next, and what will make me happy again. I am very aware that I will receive a great amount of judgment and condescending comments, whether to my face or not. I can’t please everyone; I’m just trying to work on pleasing myself right now, call me selfish.

So please, know all of this before you ask me what’s going on in my life. I appreciate the care, but you will probably unknowingly make me feel awful at the same time.

I would love to share memories with you from my time down here. I have plenty of amazing moments to share, moments of great joy and love, but also ones of heartache, which ultimately are helping me learn more about myself.

I may cry at random times, and it may not make sense to you, but it is all a part of this rollercoaster experience that has been my amazing life down here.

There is so much more I could say. I know this post is a bit all over the place, and may seem odd, but I thought I’d share a bit.

I need a little space and time to heal, but I cannot stay away from this place forever. It’s not goodbye, it is just as Mickey would say, see ya real soon!

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Dining with Royalty

After our character lunch in Norway back in March, Nicolette and I wanted to enjoy another one, and since Nic had never eaten at Cinderella’s Royal Table, why not now?

On rainy June 14^th, we made our way to Magic Kingdom as guests for our meal! After checking in for our reservations, and walking into the castle, we met Cinderella!

When our names were called, we walked up the spiral staircase to the restaurant level. We were greeted and walked to our table, which ended up being THE table of the restaurant. It was the table next to the back center window looking out over Fantasyland.  I felt slightly bad that we were lucky enough to have the table when just a few tables down from us, a man proposed to his girlfriend and she said “yes!” Congratulations to that couple! You both got engaged, and we had a great table. Win-win? I think so!

A quick shot of the view from our table!

Our very charismatic server brought out our food, and everything looked (and tasted) amazing!

While we were eating our desserts, the princesses all arrived and began to circle the room to meet everyone!

It was, dare I say it, a magical evening!

x Lauren

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Bon Voyage!

Two posts in one day! Woah there, don’t try and stop me, I just can’t be tamed! I have been seriously lacking in the blogging department, so I am playing a bit of catch-up now!

May 31^st was the final day of Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade. It was DAK’s parade at 3:45 everyday. To my understanding, the parade permanently went away because of the expansion coming to DAK.

People had their mixed reviews about the parade, but I for one, quite enjoyed it! I didn’t get to see it much during my program because of my lovely work schedule, but I did watch its final farewell performance on the 31^st because I got off work right before it started.

I took a few pictures of the parade and figured I would share them as a post so that I can remember the little gem that was for years, my home park’s parade.

Did you see the parade? What were your thoughts? How could you not like it? People who say they didn’t enjoy it, must be masking their real sentiments for it as a coping method for its departure :)

Until we chat again, which hopefully is a bit sooner than the elapsed time before today’s posts, have a wonderful day!

x Lauren

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Heigh-Ho!

I was very excited at the prospect of writing this post that I ended up putting it off, naturally. However, it is due time I posted about it!

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, the final piece to the New Fantasyland expansion, officially opened for the general public on the 28^th of May. Being a cast member has its perks though! On May 14^th, Nicolette and I were able to go experience the new attraction without any queuing! We rode the Mine Train quite a few times and spent a bit of time exploring the interactive components of the queue!

In order to enter the queue in the first place, we needed a special boarding pass, which was really just the best fast pass ever!

So… does it live up to all the hype? I mean, people waited and watched for years to see what new thing Disney had up its sleeve.

Honestly…

A thrill ride, it is not. It is however a creative and innovative ride that pays homage to the classic animated film and original Snow White attraction that previously stood in Magic Kingdom. Is it worth your time, waiting? I would argue, yes. It fits perfectly into the New Fantasyland area of the park, and completes it beautifully.

On another note, the seats are by no means spacious. If you have a bag with you, good luck! I am not sure why they made the individual cars on the smaller side, but they did! I will say that in each individual car there are two rows, and if you need/want a little extra legroom, try for the second of the two! Having been on the ride 11 times now and having sat in every row but one, I feel it is an accurate statement to say the second row is slightly more spacious!

The queue is definitely one of my favorite aspects of the ride though. For a good portion of the queue, you are just doing the typical back and forth walking within ropes, but when you reach a certain point the wait is a little more bearable because of the fun "games."

If you want to be surprised and go into the line without knowing what the interactive components are, then stop reading now! You’ve been warned. Don't say I didn't tell you.

The first thing you reach is a mining station with touch-screen technology (I know, I sound like I really know my stuff). You help Doc by matching up jewels to their little mining carts based on color and shape. Can I get an ooh? How about an ahh? (If you didn’t just go “ooh…ahh…” out loud while reading this to help me out, I am disappointed) 

At the same point of the queue, you can wave your hand under some woodland creatures and water comes out of the spouts with a color and music note. You can create your own little musical fun if you know a particular song and want to play it, or you can just wave it from one end to the other like I do for all of the colors and the little scale it makes!

Next you enter the vault. In the vault are barrels of gems. Each of the beloved dwarfs has their own barrel complete with their name and corresponding colors. The barrels spin if you push on them, and little chiming noises happen. If you look up at the ceiling, the light shining up through the gems makes a pretty little glow of color. Now, the cool thing is (additional spoiler alert) that if all seven barrels are spun simultaneously, an image of Snow White will appear, dancing, on the ceiling.

When I rode it the first time, and honestly, every time since then, I wear such a dorky grin on my face. It makes me so happy. Why wouldn’t you want to experience that?

If you are missing the darker side that Snow White’s Scary Adventure used to have, be sure to keep your eyes peeled at the very end of the ride, right after you pass the cottage with Snow White and the dwarfs dancing. On your right hand side, outside the door to the cottage is the witch! You only see her for a quick moment before you are whisked back indoors to unload, but it is a cool little moment to lookout for.

Now that it is open to the public, fast passes are getting all booked up, and wait times are very long. I am excited that everyone who wants to (and meets the height requirement) can experience this long-awaited attraction! I am a little sad though and will both miss and treasure the days when I could just walk right on. I love being a cast member!

If you’re reading this and have been on the ride, what were your thoughts/favorite aspects? If you haven’t had the chance to see it or ride it yet, I hope you get the chance soon!

x Lauren

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