The First Few Days

What a whirlwind! I don't think I've slept as well as I did last night in quite some time! Nothing could have prepared me for how much I did the last few days. I've been completely overwhelmed but insanely exited during every minute of my day.

I woke up in my shared hotel room on Monday, got ready (I wore SHORTS!), and repacked my suitcases. I journeyed across the street with my luggage, burning arms and all, to meet one of my roommates, Sarah, at Chick-Fil-A. She grew up in Florida, but has been living in Pennsylvania since high school. Lucky (or unlucky) for her, she gets to share a bedroom with me! Her family was nice enough to let me keep my luggage in their car while we walked over to check-in.

My roommate, Sarah, and I at Once Upon a Toy in Downtown Disney

Check-in took a total of 3 HOURS! Luckily I had Sarah and another roommate, Meg (from Ohio!), to keep me company for the long wait. During those 3 hours, I received my Program Guide (a planner with a ton of DCP info), my housing ID, housing complex, casting time, and WORK LOCATION! I am now living in Chatham Square (said like chat-um) and will be working in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe! Ever since I got accepted as QSFB, my dad has insisted that I would be working at Cosmic Ray's, so I couldn't believe it when the cast member told me I would be working there!

Now you may be thinking "What's a 'casting time,' Kelsey?" and that's a very good question! I found out during check-in that my casting time was 2:30pm, just an hour and a half after I was finished checking in! Sarah and I rushed over to Wendy's (since I was advised to eat before casting) and hurried back shoveling Frosty's into our mouths! Once we were back, she found her family and headed over to our apartment while I fed my hungry belly! After eating, I found the bus stop for casting. The bus pulled up not long after and I was off to casting!

The Casting Building

Casting took about 2 hours and, in that time, they took my fingerprints for a background check, scanned my driver's license and social security card, and gave me my schedule for the next few days. It turns out that I have Traditions, a class/tour that introduces new cast members to the culture and heritage of the Disney organization, on Thursday morning and I need to be at the bus at 6:45am! At Traditions I will officially become a cast member. I'll receive my official ID, nametag, and an all access pass to the Walt Disney World parks. Which means that immediately after Traditions, I will be able to go to Walt Disney World!

The Casting doorknobs based on Alice in Wonderland

During casting, I also found out when I will be training for my position at Cosmic Ray's. So this Sunday is my first official training day. On my second training day, on Tuesday, I will hopefully be receiving a costume and schedule! More details on that to come!

Following casting, I finally got to go to my apartment! Sarah's family was nice enough to bring my luggage up to my room for me, so all that was left was unpacking. I put everything away, made up my bed, and took about 2 seconds of rest before I was out the door again to meet Sarah in Downtown Disney so that we could drive to Walmart with her family.

I spent a few minutes hanging out in Downtown Disney and it was just surreal seeing all of the families, kids, and tourists around me. I realized that I'm so lucky to get to experience the magic every day for the next 4 months while the people I saw were probably just at Disney for a few days! It's also cool to think that I get to help make the magic happen for people like that for the next few months. What's more fun than making people happy?!

After my realization, Sarah picked me up and we were off to Walmart. Holy cow was that an experience! It was the most crowded, foreign Walmart in which I have ever stepped foot. I got what I needed, though, so I guess it did the job!

We finally got back to the room after 11:00pm and we were exhausted. I put my groceries, shampoo, and pillow in their appropriate places and hit the hay. I fell asleep immediately and slept like a rock the whole night!

Yesterday (Tuesday) my only obligation was a housing meeting at 10:00am. There they just explained their rules, policies, and expectations and psyched us up a little bit more for the Disney life! I spent rest of the day (or so it seemed) trying to get our WiFi to work! It turns out we needed a new router, so today I got a new one, hence, now I'm finally able to blog!

Above my housing meeting

Today I spent some more time at Downtown Disney with my roommates. It was sooo tempting to buy the entire store! I won't get my discount until tomorrow, though, so I had to control myself. Tonight my roommates and I are planning to go to the Polynesian Resort, eat Dole Whips, "watch" the fireworks (even though we can't get into Magic Kingdom yet!), and visit the quick service restaurant at the Grand Floridian Resort at which my roommate, Denise, will be working!

My roommate, Meg, and I at Once Upon a Toy in Downtown Disney

I'm having a blast and I can't wait for the next couple of days!