Welcome to Disney!

Hi everyone,

Before I get to this post: I'm down in Florida, living right by Orlando and I'm totally fine.  I do not understand how it's 2016 and something happens like what happened at Pulse Saturday night is possible.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and families of the victims.

I'm not sure I've told everyone, but I've moved down to Florida to complete a professional internship for Walt Disney World.  I am going to be a Conservation Education Presenter at Disney's Animal Kingdom.  I will be a Wilderness Explorer at the park; here is more information on the program.  I am incredibly excited to get started!

Quick recap of the week to catch you up:
Monday, June 6th to Tuesday, June 7th

• Alex and I drove down to Florida together.  We made it down to Manning, SC on the first day after ~11-12 hours of driving (very long day).  Then the rest of the way to Orlando on Tuesday.  We found some really delicious places to eat on the way, all with awesome vegan options :)

Peaches in Georgia were a necessity

Lunch on the beach at Neptune Beach, FL

Adventure is out there!
Credit to Alex

Wednesday, June 8th

• I had housing and casting check-in (basically everything I needed to move into my apartment, and showing Disney that I am who I say I am with my passport)
• Alex helped me move in to my new apartment.  She was the best mover-inner helper I could have asked for.  
• My new roommates are Erin (from NJ, sharing a room with her), Haley (from Alabama) and Liana (from Puerto Rico).  They're all really nice and I'm excited to live with them :)
• Drove Alex back to the airport and was finally officially "alone" down here (which is a new feeling for me, having gone to school so close to home)

Disney's Casting Building

Alex captured the first time I opened the apartment door

Unpacking

Thursday, June 9th

• Time working on move-in stuff.
• The Gathering, which was a meeting of all the ASE (Animal, Science and the Environment) PIs (professional interns).  We had a trivia contest, and I got to meet the other education presenters (there are 27ish new interns in the position).  I also got to meet my leaders with whom I've been communicating online and will be working with. 
• First grocery shopping! (felt like a big deal to me)

Friday, June 10th

• Day off. 
• Spent a lot more time getting my room how I like it

Saturday, June 11th

• Traditions!  This is a class that all Disney employees take before starting to work.  We learned about what it means to work for Disney, some about the history of the company, about the Four Keys (Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency).  We also took a field trip to Magic Kingdom and got to walk through the utilidors (the "underground" tunnels under the park, which aren't actually underground apparently...the rest of the park is just above them).  WHICH WAS SO COOL. We walked into the tunnel somewhere by the castle and then just popped up elsewhere in the park.  We were supposed to be looking for examples of the Four Keys during our walk around, but I was kind of just in awe and not really able to focus on anything...
• I got my Disney ID and name tag during it too
• After lunch, we did some computer stuff and got our costumes...also SO COOL. 
• Haley and I went to Hollywood Studios to see Fantasmic! (the night spectacular there).  It was incredible to go and just show my ID and be able to get into the park...Like what?

First time in the park as a cast member! 

I'm official :)

Got these for answering questions during Traditions

My costume!

Sunday, June 12th

• Super long day with three classes:
• Welcome to Operations (what it means to work in a theme park), Welcome to ASE ( overview of my department) and The Four Keys Basics (how to implement the four keys I mentioned before)

Monday, June 13th

• Orientation to the park (Disney's Animal Kingdom, or DAK), which involved some classroom stuff and then a tour around the park
• First session of on the job training, which also involved some classroom stuff and then we were released into the park to earn some badges! One of my roles will be acting as a troop leader and handing out "badges" (stickers) to the young wilderness explorers visiting DAK.  They receive badges for completing different activities and/or learning something new. 

Whew.  That was a lot.  Future posts won't be as long, but I wanted to catch up.

If you're going to be coming down to Orlando/Disney at any time between now and January, please let me know!  Message me on Facebook or email me or comment on this post or something...I'd love to see you. 

Oh, also: most people know this, but I graduated too! Graduation was on May 31, and the whole reunions/graduation weekend was a lot of fun :)