To Infinity and Beyond!

Last week, I adventured to Victoria, British Columbia. 

The truth was, I was tired, and not really planning on traveling anywhere last week. I was all set to chill, maybe watch a movie, discover a cool new restaurant in town, you know, keep it a low key break. The past six weeks had been full of trips, and volunteering at a summer camp, and other excitement. I was so ready for my break!

 But then, all week I sat at work watching the planes take off and land from the wall of windows. I wondered where each one was going and found myself dreaming of all the fantastic places I could go! My fingers drummed against the desk as i waited on a particularly slow day for the calls to roll in.  Before I knew it, i was online looking to see what destination had plenty of tickets left for my first day off in a while. 

Then I saw it. A relatively short hop, skip and jump and I could land in beautiful British Columbia! Total travel time even with a layover? A little over two hours! Perfect for a day trip! So, I texted a friend, and we were off on our international adventure! 

Hello Friends!

My, It has been quite a while since I last posted! 

Life has been a bit crazy. For my last college program, I stayed on at the Paradise Pier Hotel for Almost a year!

 I then completed an internship with a travel company in Seattle, and now I work for an airline! I do have to say the airline industry is amazing! Even though I am temporarily living in Portland, Oregon before moving back home to Seattle, I have a Disneyland annual pass and still go quite frequently! 

MY DCP the Finale

Why, hello friends! 

My, it has been quite a long time since I have posted to this channel! Here is the last video depicting my 2015 Spring Disneyland College Program. 

There should be a few more, one from my Summer Alumni Program, and one or two from my Spring 2017 Program! 

So today is the day before I leave. Tomorrow, my dad is planning on coming home from work around noon. Then we will pack up my car and leave.

 You know it’s funny, it felt like that day would never come. Back in October, January seemed like so far away, and yet...here we are. 

Today I shipped off a few boxes, and tried to vlog. My camera died halfway through,  so we shall see what actually happens with that. 

I kept having random thoughts enter my head today...This is the last sunset I will have at home for 8 months, or woah... I am not going to sleep in my own room until the end of the summer...just little thoughts like these.

In all honesty, I am trying hard not to think about it a whole lot. Sometimes I get incredibly sentimental, and other times I get so excited I can’t sit still! 

Overall, I am beyond excited, and can’t wait! But naturally, change is hard. 

I am so excited for this next Disney adventure, and cannot wait to see where it takes me! 

So here is my first video!  It is a montage of my travel day, and first few days of my first Disney College Program Spring 2015 and the Disneyland Resort!  This is the first in a series of four. 

My travel plans really aren’t sure still at this point. Route A is being pounded by heavy snow and ice. Route B is experiencing drastic flooding. So we shall see, I may end up flying. Check in is Sunday though, so I need to figure that out soon.

Today was a busy day of packing, and so I almost forgot to blog! Whoops! Ah, well, I still have 15 minutes until tomorrow! Plenty of time! I pretty much finished cleaning out my room and donating stuff. 

My parents wanted to re-carpet the house when I am away, so I thought I would go through stuff so that they had less to move. I also have my two boxes packed for Cali and am almost ready to actually pack up the suitcase! I basically have 3 1/2 days until I leave! Such a terrifying thought! 

Really though, I am excited! 

The drive will be an adventure, as the weather still looks tremendous! So we will sort of make up our path as we drive along. We might go straight down I-5, or we might hit the coast.

 One thing is for certain though, my dad will want to make every effort to get to Anaheim before Saturday afternoon! The Seahawks play at One that afternoon, and he has every intention of getting a seat in the the bar at ESPN Zone to watch it! 

I guess it will be a repeat of my the afternoon before my first program! 

So as part of my little countdown, here are few few tips for everyone! I hope that some of these are less well known than others. I feel like there are a lot of the same DCP tip posts floating around. Anyway, enough rambling, here is a little list of advice tidbits I have picked up on my first two programs at Disneyland!

A few weeks before the DCP

~ Figure out how you will be getting there as early as you can! Flights tend to get more expensive the closer you get to the arrival date, and driving may take some planning. This is true especially if your program starts in January, as the weather isn’t as perfect as summer!

~ Consider buying apartment supplies online, or shipping stuff down to yourself. This can totally make it easier to travel, whether you fly or drive. Most FedEx and UPS stores will hold packages sent to them for around 5 business days. This way, you don’t have to ship it to the apartment complexes, as that isn’t an option until after you move in. You can pick it up at your convenience.

Right before the DCP

~ Coordinate what you are bringing with your roommates. There isn’t much space, so you don’t want to end up with multiple TVs, Kuerig’s , toasters, etc.

~ Bring travel toiletries with you. You may not have time right away to get big toiletries. This will allow you to take a shower the night you get there if you don’t make it to the store.

~ On that note, bring a role of toilet paper with you. There wont be any in your apartment until you buy it. This will allow you to actually use the bathroom once you get into your apartment. Pro tip…if you are staying in a hotel the night before, just take the spare one from your bathroom there!

~ Arrive the night before check in, really, even if you only live a few hours away. They are pretty strict about check in times, and many are early morning. You don’t want to deal with traffic, or flying into an airport, early morning of, delays, etc. its touristy, there are many economically priced hotels. Just pick a few friends off the Facebook page to stay with and share the cost of a night!

~Bring cash with you, at least a couple hundred dollars. The only sure form of payment is cash, don’t rely on your card completely. Your credit/debit card company will consider the start of your program as traveling, and that can cause complications, even if it traveling has never caused complications for you before.  Also, you won’t be paid for a little while, cash can help you make it to your first paycheck.

~ On that note, make sure to call your credit card company before you leave, and let them know you will be interning in California/Florida. As both may be out of your normal geographical spending range, and a tourism location, it will set off red flags. It may even result in your card being shut off after a transaction.  Trust me, that is not a fun discovery at a register in a Target with a cart full of apartment stuff.

~ Put passport/employment docs in purse/ backpack/ what ever you are bringing with you to check in the night before you leave. Check in day will be hectic. Your mind will be frazzled with anticipation, which can cause you to be a bit forgetful. You have to have your documentation for check in. If you put your stuff in the night before, you are less likely to forget it!

During the DCP

~ Bring an Ethernet with you…the Internet is Wi-Fi, but during certain times of day the traffic can cause it to be a bit slow! An Ethernet cord hooked from the modem into your game system, Blu-ray player, or computer can help it to work better during those times!

~ Get a flat rate postage box before you get to obsessed with buying souvenirs! This helps with limiting your spending! If you know that you only have a very limited space, you will be less tempted to overfill it! You also have a dedicated way to send things home at the end as well.

~ Buy lunch during the first week of training. Trust me on this one, training can take you all over the parks, depending on your role, you can’t carry a lunch box around with you, and it makes it easier on everyone if you bring money so the training group can just end up where they end up for lunch break.

~ But make sure you bring your lunch to work the rest of your program. Once you are done with training and settled in, it is really important to bring your own lunch. It is a lot healthier this way, and it is a lot cheaper than buying all the time from work. Your bank account will thank you!

~ Buy an external battery for phone! These are super handy, they allow you to charge your phone on the go from inside a backpack, purse, etc. You can get them really cheap at Amazon, and even most retail stores (I have seen them often under $15 online, and sometimes even cheaper in stores!) they do sell them in the park, but as there is a high demand, they are really expensive in the park.

~ Wear good walking shoes on park days and at work, your feet, back, knees, will thank you! Flats may be cute, but they have no support, and if you are putting out 20,000 steps in a day, you will definitely feel the lack of support!

~ Make sure you spring/winter clothes too! December, January, February, March, These months can have cold and rainy days. Once the sun goes down, it gets chilly too! You may be going to two of the sunny vacation spots of the US, but make sure you pack a pair or two of jeans, maybe capris, and definitely a rain jacket!

After the DCP

So today is Thursday the 5th, that means only 10 days until check in! I am BEYOND excited to return to Disneyland! My goal this time around is to blog everyday...will that happen? Probably not, but I would love to see how long I can keep it up! 

So, to practice, I will be posting at least once everyday until check in!

I have a few videos that I created, some are from very long ago (so don’t laugh to hard! ;) )that I will be posting. So keep an eye out for those! 

So I am leaving a week from tomorrow to drive down to Anaheim for the Disney College Program! This will be round three, and I will be at the front desk of one of the resort hotels. 

Driving will be interesting, It is January, which means inclement weather, and I have a couple of mountain passes to cross. So I am pretty much treating my trek as if I am flying. Other than a suitcase, and backpack, I am shipping everything down. My dad will be driving with me. 

Essentially, we don’t want my car to travel over a difficult pass, as it is a bit old, ok...it is a lot old... So if the pass seems bad, I will buy a plane ticket, and fly out of Oregon, and my dad will turn around and drive home. Hopefully, all goes well and I don’t have to do that, but I am giving myself and extra day, just in case. The original plan was to get an early start Friday. It is really only and 18 hour drive, in perfect conditions and light traffic.

This morning I was accepted into my third college program at Disneyland!

So I know I have posted about the phone interview before, but I thought i would give even more tips, as I just finished up my sixth Disney phone interview. (Three acceptances, two denials. Five for the college program, one for a PI).  

First off, don’t over think it! 

I know this is easier said than done, because naturally as humans we fear the unknown.