It All Starts With A Wish: A Disney College Program TR NEW 9/3

[NSDisneyGirl]

Congratulations Courtney! So excited to follow along I've read all your trip reports and can't wait to see where these next six months take you

 

[jash08]

I am here!!!!!! Can't wait to see what happens!

 

[TXMNie]

Joining in! Excited to follow along with your adventures!

 

[courtneybelle]

Hi everyone! First of all, thank you all SO MUCH for joining in and all your kind words! I have a LOT to update you guys on, so I won’t be able to reply to all your comments, but please know that I read every single one and they meant so much to me. Now, on to the adventure!

June 6, 2015 (Part 1): Now’s When My Life Begins

I slept approximately three hours before my alarm went off at 5:15 a.m. There was no way I was getting to sleep. Remember that commercial where the kids are too excited to sleep because they’re going to Disney? That was me times 5,000 because I’m MOVING TO DISNEY WORLD!

I had to say “see you soon” to my dad and sister Kylie, which was so unbelievably sad. As excited as I am for this opportunity, it is hard being so far from my family. We are really close so I’m very excited for them to come visit!

My mom and I drove to the airport and unloaded all our luggage:

Hey, I’m moving to Florida for six months. Also I’m a chronic overpacker. Thank you, Southwest, for allowing me and my mom two suitcases each.

We went inside, went through security very quickly, procured some Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts, and soon enough it was boarding time!

I slept for most of the three-hour flight, but I snapped this picture as we were about to land.

Walking through the Orlando airport is always exciting (at least at the start of a trip), but this time I was bouncing off the walls because I wasn’t leaving anytime soon!

We got our rental car, loaded up all our luggage, and drove to WALT DISNEY WORLD!!

The gates of heaven:

We pulled into Art of Animation, which was shockingly close to the gates. I WAS SO EXCITED.

I’m going to let the pictures do most of the talking, because I think you can all tell that this resort is BEAUTIFUL. I was in awe of all the character sketches and bright colors!

I love how the check-in desks are a color palette.

Our room was ready and we got our requests (a lake view on the first floor). But before we headed to the Little Mermaid section, we stopped in Landscape of Flavors because we were starving!

I got pulled pork on cornbread waffles. I loved this because I would never ever think to try the two together but they worked perfectly!

Mom got a Disney pizza, a classic choice.

Keep scrolling for the next post!​

 

[courtneybelle]

June 6, 2015 (Part 2): Our Little Mermaid Room and Animal Kingdom Lodge

I was so excited to see our Little Mermaid room, and it did not disappoint!!

I absolutely love the colors and all the character details.

The bathroom might be my favorite part:

Of course, I immediately put on Stacey. Missed you, girl!

We went to Walmart to pick some things up that we couldn’t fly with us. It wasn’t too exciting so I won’t give you a play by play, but I did see this and realized I was where I belonged:

After our Walmart excursion, we hopped in our rental car and drove to the Animal Kingdom Lodge! I had never been here before, so I was excited to check it out.

The lobby is gorgeous. I love the high ceiling!

We had some time before our reservation at Boma, so we decided to visit the animal observation areas.

HAYYYYY ZEBRA

I can only imagine how amazing it must be to wake up in the morning, go out on your balcony, and see a giraffe right at the window.

Keep scrolling for the next post!​

 

[courtneybelle]

June 6, 2015 (Part 3): Boma and Art of Animation

After seeing the animals, we headed downstairs to Boma!

My mom and I are not exotic eaters at ALL. We like things basic and plain, to be honest. So this was pretty adventurous for us! (I know for some of you, this isn’t very adventurous, but for us, this is the peak.)

We both got the same things: spice crusted beef loin, Durban chicken, barbecue ribs, mashed potatoes, and basmati rice.

Also bread. Much bread.

We loved the flavors of everything we tried! My favorite was definitely the beef loin, it had such a good spice to it.

As you can see below, we got a variety of desserts: brownies, cupcakes, and Kenyan coffee tarts. But after trying a bit of everything, we wondered why we didn’t just get a plate full of zebra domes.

These were UNREAL. I ate three and did not regret it. I would absolutely stay at AKL for the giraffes and the zebra domes.

We had a wonderful experience at Boma and I will definitely be back!

We walked around AKL for a little longer and then drove over to where the DCP apartments are to see where I would be checking in on Monday. The Premium Outlets are near the apartments, so we decided to visit the Disney Character Outlet!

I got some Tsum Tsums for $2.99, which is an absolute steal. They had so many amazing deals on Duffys and Christmas merch, but I held back. I’ve got six months here and a LOT of souvenirs to buy, so I didn’t want to buy too much the first weekend!

We drove back to Art of Animation and took a nighttime tour of the different buildings.

Our beautiful lake view:

Lion King:

I really loved all the areas, but if you made me pick a favorite, it would probably be Finding Nemo—I think the pool area is unbelievable and the characters are so adorable.

Cars:

Our home, Little Mermaid:

We went back to the room and went to bed pretty early!

Keep scrolling for the next post!​

 

[courtneybelle]

June 7, 2015: Kona, Boardwalk, and Downtown Disney

This morning we woke up at 9 a.m., got ready, and drove over to the Polynesian. I was looking forward to it for three reasons:

1. I hadn’t seen the new lobby!
2. I would get to see Aunt Patti and Uncle Rick!
3. TONGA TOAST.

Verdict: I really like the new lobby! I wasn’t wowed by the original pictures I had seen, but it was really beautiful and still as peaceful as I remembered.

We checked into Kona and were seated right away. I ordered the Lilikoi juice, my favorite!

This morning Mom and I got Tonga Toast:

Aunt Patti got the macadamia pineapple pancakes:

And Uncle Rick got the BIG KAHUNA:

Hi Aunt Patti and Uncle Rick!

I inhaled my Tonga Toast in about three minutes. I am seriously obsessed with this meal—it’s churro French toast!

After breakfast we took a ride around on the monorail because Aunt Patti had emailed my mom saying she might like to ride the monorail this trip, as she’d never done it before. My mom immediately sent her a picture of Aunt Patti on the monorail on our July 2014 trip. Oops.

We said “see you soon” to Aunt Patti and Uncle Rick, and then my mom and I decided to visit the Boardwalk and look around in the shops!

It was an absolutely beautiful day on the Boardwalk.

PUNS. Love it.

We went back to the room, rested for an hour, and then decided to go swim in the Big Blue Pool! I don’t have any pictures because we were swimming and didn’t want to sacrifice the camera. But I can tell you it was big and blue.

Okay, slightly more detail. It was a huge pool and the Nemo characters were precious! We just floated around and talked for a half hour, and then I had to go run through the fountains in the kids’ splashground section because I am five at heart. I also got sunburned on day 2 as a Floridian. Good job, Courtney.

After we swam, we went back to the room and made ourselves presentable, did some pin trading in the lobby, and then went to the food court!

I also realized that I hadn't been in a single picture yet. Proof that it's actually me reporting:

We got dinner at Landscape of Flavors again. This time we both got Disney pizza.

We hopped on a bus to Downtown Disney for some shopping! I got to see my friends from Arendelle:

I didn’t buy anything, but we went to World of Disney, Tren-D, the pin store, Marketplace Co-op, and Art of Disney. I also got to meet up with a fellow DCPer I met on Facebook, Shayla! I was just so happy to be in Disney. Downtown Disney very much represents the start of a Disney trip for me so it was fitting to go there the night before I checked in for my college program!

We went back to the hotel after a few hours and got some cupcakes:

My friend Katie got me a few pins from Parkbound on Etsy for my birthday and I thought this one was especially fitting for today:

And of course, my TR staple, my pictures of the pins I traded for today on a hotel bed:

I was all kinds of excited about the Olaf candy apple pin and a few people commented on it saying they wanted one!

Now I am relaxing in my room. Tomorrow morning I check in, find out where I’ll be working (probably not the exact ride, but the area itself) and where I’ll be living, and then the adventure really begins! I may not have time for a full update tomorrow, but I’ll definitely post on here when I find out my location!​

 

[NJlauren]

Good luck today!!! Your going to rock this! So excited for you!

Looks like you had a great weekend! Hope today is just as magical!

 

[DisneyNutMary]

Good luck today!

 

[AuntPattiVL]

joining in - probably a good start since you had me getting teary in the first post reading the lines from Wishes (which of course makes me think of watching Wishes with my kids and, well, the feels)

Also a big fan of Sam the Eagle. I tend to use the phrase "A salute to all of _____ .... but mostly ____) at least once a week

Congratulations again!

It was wonderful seeing you and your mom. We loved breakfast in the Kona room. Can't wait to hear where you are assigned. Have fun!

 

[KathyM2]

What an amazing fun start to your adventure!! It must be awesome to know that you will be at WDW for six whole months and have time to explore the whole place in detail. Though I can't imagine trying to pack for six months in a couple of suitcases!! It's so nice that your mom could come with you to get settled and that you got to see some family as well. That Tonga toast looks delish...and so do those zebra domes!! Looking forward to finding out where you will be working!

 

[courtneybelle]

Hi everyone!! Just wanted to share that I'll be working in Frontierland attractions!! I don't know which attraction just yet but I am ECSTATIC to be working in the Magic Kingdom!!!​

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Good luck today! I hope you are happy with where you wind up and just that things go smoothly!

Great start to your TR and must be such a neat experience to be there and realize you are not at the start of a week, but of 6 months and you can really just relax and take in what you want and not have to rush around or anything.

Congrats on lasting until day 2 to get sunburn ... I feel like by the time the trip on the fake-o-rail is over I am already starting to turn a bit pink.

AOA is really cool, just the setting and all the detail. Definitely screams "DISNEY!"

 

[Cando86]

I'm so excited for you and loving your report already!!! Good luck today!

 

[jandlinz]

Hi everyone!! Just wanted to share that I'll be working in Frontierland attractions!! I don't know which attraction just yet but I am ECSTATIC to be working in the Magic Kingdom!!!​

That's so exciting! Hope the rest of your day is just as magical!
-Lindsey

 

[afwdwfan]

I slept approximately three hours before my alarm went off at 5:15 a.m. There was no way I was getting to sleep. Remember that commercial where the kids are too excited to sleep because they’re going to Disney? That was me times 5,000 because I’m MOVING TO DISNEY WORLD!

I can only imagine... I'm 33 and I have I hard enough time sleeping before a week at Disney World!

I had to say “see you soon” to my dad and sister Kylie, which was so unbelievably sad. As excited as I am for this opportunity, it is hard being so far from my family. We are really close so I’m very excited for them to come visit!

That would definitely be the difficult part of DCP. But I'm glad they plan to visit you.

I’m going to let the pictures do most of the talking, because I think you can all tell that this resort is BEAUTIFUL. I was in awe of all the character sketches and bright colors!

Oh, I love AoA. It has quickly become one of my favorite resorts. They really hit a home run with this one!

Of course, I immediately put on Stacey. Missed you, girl!

Ahhh... we're finally here. The trip doesn't start until you're in the room unpacking while watching Stacey. Although I guess there probably wasn't much unpacking going on for you in this case.

My mom and I are not exotic eaters at ALL. We like things basic and plain, to be honest. So this was pretty adventurous for us! (I know for some of you, this isn’t very adventurous, but for us, this is the peak.)

Thanks for the good review of it. My family is totally not into exotic cuisine either. I'm willing to try anything once, but I just can't get everyone else into the idea of venturing too far from ordinary.

But after trying a bit of everything, we wondered why we didn’t just get a plate full of zebra domes.

And I really must try those. I've not heard anyone say anything bad about zebra domes... ever!

I had to go run through the fountains in the kids’ splashground section because I am five at heart.

Everybody is 5 when they're at Disney World.

I also got sunburned on day 2 as a Floridian. Good job, Courtney.

Um... well, maybe you won't be standing outside for the next several months...

Now I am relaxing in my room. Tomorrow morning I check in, find out where I’ll be working (probably not the exact ride, but the area itself) and where I’ll be living, and then the adventure really begins! I may not have time for a full update tomorrow, but I’ll definitely post on here when I find out my location!

This is so exciting, I hope you're having a great day today and the check in process and move in process goes seamlessly!!!

Hi everyone!! Just wanted to share that I'll be working in Frontierland attractions!! I don't know which attraction just yet but I am ECSTATIC to be working in the Magic Kingdom!!!

That's awesome! I'd be so excited to work anywhere in MK!!!!

 

[meejay]

Signing in to follow along! Can't believe you are already there, and yay for Frontierland!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My mom and I drove to the airport and unloaded all our luggage:

Honestly, to me that actually looks low given the length of say.

I was so excited to see our Little Mermaid room, and it did not disappoint!!

One day... One day...

Of course, I immediately put on Stacey. Missed you, girl!

That picture looks so familiar

hese were UNREAL. I ate three and did not regret it. I would absolutely stay at AKL for the giraffes and the zebra domes.

I have never had a zebra dome. Now I must.


OMG I am totally on pins and needles waiting to hear where you'll be posted.

Hi everyone!! Just wanted to share that I'll be working in Frontierland attractions!! I don't know which attraction just yet but I am ECSTATIC to be working in the Magic Kingdom!!!

OMG I am totally on pins and needles waiting to hear at what attraction you'll be posted. Of course, you know my wish.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Hi everyone!! Just wanted to share that I'll be working in Frontierland attractions!! I don't know which attraction just yet but I am ECSTATIC to be working in the Magic Kingdom!!!

 

[rteetz]

Joining in! Looks like a great time so far can't wait to hear more.