WDW College Program

New menu at Pecos Bill

Kitty White, or Hello Kitty as seen in the Bijutsu-kan gallery

New menu at Peco’s Bill Cafe and Inn! The transition from burgers and fries to burritos and churros was speculated for a week and its finally time to switch over. Everyone is super excited but also nervous because most of us did not receive training for it. I thankfully had the first two days off because I had to attend classes but when I arrived for work on Friday I was amazed at how much had changed, but also stayed the same. My coworkers were helpful in getting me up to speed on the portion sizes and also how to prepare certain items such as the churros. While learning the new menu I realized the training at Tortuga Tavern was helpful because they had similar menu items and they were prepared the same way.

While wandering around Epcot after class one day I stumbled upon a little gallery in Japan called the Bijutsu-kan gallery which showcased “Kawaii: Japan’s Cute Culture.” Being a fan of Japan’s anime and cartoons I was highly interested and amazed how kawaii or cute is incorporated into everyday life in Japan, they displayed the interior of a house decorated with these items. Some of the characters displayed were Hello Kitty, Pokemon, Tokidoki, among many others.

It is hard to believe that I have a month remaining until the end of this program. I am in a denial of this realization because I am not ready to go back to New York City. Don’t get me wrong I miss my friends, family and NYC a lot but I felt that being in Orlando, Florida for four months is not enough at all. In fact I still haven’t completed my to-do list, and yes one of them is completing all the assignments from my Disney Internship course from City Tech.

I never knew Disney College Program hosts graduation until my friends told me about it. I thought the idea of a Disney College Program graduation is well thought out idea because it feels nice to gain recognition of being a college intern for Disney World.

They did not have a graduation ceremony, in fact it was more of a luncheon with free BBQ, DJs and characters meet and greet in their graduation gown. We were given a certificate and a Mickey ear’s graduation cap, a poster and a memory box. I am glad that I get to attend this graduation with my friends and co workers especially Suemen because she is the only school mate that I have in this program. Best part of this was when I posted my pictures on Facebook, I have people congratulating me and thinking that I will be home in a week. It is something I am proud to brag about because not everyone gets to take pictures with the FAB 5 in their graduation gown!

After the graduation, my roommate and I went to Epcot went to dinner at Biergarten in Germany, Epcot and it was a dining package for the candlelight procession featuring Neil Patrick Harris.

After Halloween, the next holiday that takes place in Fall is Thanksgiving! Again it is no surprise that most of the cast members are scheduled to work especially the college program interns. Luckily for me, I was schedule to a Fantasmic! shift. A Fantasmic shift! is usually a casual 4 hour shift for the show, where you get to work with most of your co workers and close the food pads with them so it takes off a lot of work load.

There were two Fantasmic! show being scheduled on Thanksgiving, before the second show stats our coordinator were giving out early releases due to the attendance of the show. I decided to stay and extend my shift because I want to celebrate and work with my fellow cast members. It was an easy shift overall and we get to wish every guests Happy Thanksgiving, one guest even apologize to us because we have to work on the holidays. However being an intern and with my family back in New York, I was thankful to spend my Thanksgiving at work with my friends and fellow cast members.

Our leader of the day showed his appreciation by giving us free food from Fantasmic!, this is a big deal because we barely get free food despite the fact we work in food and beverage. It was not the ideal Thanksgiving meal but it was free and I was most thankful for the kind gesture.

My coworkers and I went to Magic Kingdom to celebrate our Thanksgiving  until the park closed at 1 am. Who would’ve thought I get to spent Thanksgiving at Magic Kingdom, going on my favorite rides and admire the Cinderella castle? I guess this is what life is like as a Disney cast member.

I remember from my first day of training in my role as outdoor food vendor, I was taken on a tour in Hollywood Studios. This tour is an important to our training because we as cast members of Hollywood Studios should be familiar with mostly everything in our work stage. Our core trainers showed us around the park and introduce us everything we need to know about the park and she also introduced us to upcoming attractions, Star Wars land and Toy Story land which unfortunately will be complete after my program ends.

Fortunately, there’s a segment of the Star Wars attraction in Hollywood Studios opened on December 1st. Before the opening of Star Wars Launch Bay, the cast members of Hollywood Studios were in for a treat. We were lucky enough to have additional training added to our schedule. Most of us questioned what this two hours of training will be about, in fact none of the cast members had the slightest clue until we attended the orientation.

Turns out this two hour training class turned out to be something that I did not expect at all, the cast members of Hollywood Studios gets an exclusive preview of Star Wars Launch Bay and an exclusive Star Wars trailer. This training is important for the opening of Launch Bay because the food and beverage department are responsible to know what souvenir popcorn buckets and mugs we will be selling. I had to say it was the best two hours of training that I’ve had experienced and getting paid was the icing on the cake. Last but not least each cast member received a BB8 droid rice krispy treat.

Ever since my acceptance to the Disney College Program, I always wonder how it is like to celebrate Halloween in Disney World. What do they give out as “treats” for the trick or treaters? Since working full time in Disney World feels like Halloween everyday, hence the fact that we are in our “costumes” and characters walking around on stage and backstage.

This year’s Halloween is no different than any other year since I am always working on this day especially working in Disney World, where the likelihood of a College Program interns schedule to work on holidays are 99.99%. Disney World had a month long celebration of Halloween, starting with Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party in Magic Kingdom. It is a Halloween spectacular where cast members pass out candies to all the guests. There are special meet and greets with the villains that won’t normally make appearances in the park on the daily basis. There is also a Halloween parade, Hallow-wishes fireworks show and Hocus Pocus show in front of the castle. Also, there are popcorn buckets and souvenir cups that are Halloween themed.

On the day of Halloween, much to my surprise there are not a lot of guests dressing up or trick or treaters but it was no surprise that I saw a good amount of Queen Elsa. I celebrated early by attending Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Universal Studio’s Horror Nights. Although both events are total opposites of each other, they made my early Halloween celebration unique and unforgettable.

Part of the reason why I decided to apply for Fall semester of Disney College Program was all the holidays and exciting events that will be happening around Fall and towards the end of the year. Even though if it means more hours of work and restless nights, I will not want to miss the holidays and events that Disney World is hosting.  One of the events that my fellow colleagues from City Tech who was a Disney College Program alumni told me about was Food and Wine. It immediately caught my attention and it became one of the top reason why I applied for the Fall program instead of waiting until Spring.

This year is the 20th year of Epcot’s International Food and Wine festival.It is a festival that features food and drinks from every country. Also, this is a great place to be if you’re looking for authentic cuisines in Orlando, Florida. Although Epcot’s Food and Wine is similar to other food festivals I’ve attended like the Smorgasburg, it is still unlike other food festivals because it is not a festival that you can attend for a day. In fact, I had to visit food and wine more than twice to try all the food and drinks from every country.

All the food I’ve tasted were delicious and flavorful, my favorite ones were Grilled Lamb Chop with Mint Pesto and Potato Crunches from Australia, Pork Slider from Hawaii and Kimchi Lettuce Wrap with Banana Soju Milkshake from South Korea. Epcot’s Food and Wine International also featured “Eat to the Beat” concert series with performances each week with artists like Boyz II Men, Chaka Khan, Smash Mouth , David Cook and more. I was fortunate enough to see Boyz II Men performed live for free. Without being 21 and in the Disney College Program, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy everything from the Food and Wine festival or the festival itself.

Being a cast member at Hollywood Studios definitely has its perks. Two weeks ago we were given a special treat to watch the Osbourne’s Streets of Dancing Lights and it is only for cast members and their families. I’ve always wanted to visit crazy Christmas light houses in New York and would map out the houses in the Queens area that hosts Christmas light shows.  For the first time this year I get to admire the Christmas lights without shivering. With that being said this is my first warm Christmas since my family and I moved to United States.

Osbourne’s Street of Dancing Lights is like nothing I’ve seen before. It is a massive light show that light up the whole Street of America in Hollywood Studios. The buildings are all draped in Christmas Lights with no room to spare. It was such a great event because it is one day where I get to be with all of my co workers, trainers, coordinators and leaders outside of work.