So I arrived in Florida yesterday, around 2:30p after getting up at 8 to catch my flight out of Columbus. I said goodbye to my family and boyfriend and boarded the plane to start my adventure as a Disney Cast Member.Surprisingly, I didn't cry when saying goodbye, I think, more than anything, I felt overwhelmed instead of sad. I knew I would be leaving for 5 months but I don't think it really hit me until I landed, alone, in Orlando. After arriving at MCO, I followed the signs to Magical Express, which would take me to my resort-Pop Century :). At the resort, it finally hit that I will be one of them-one of the Cast Members...
My scheduled Check-in day was August 17, 2011. :) The scheduled time for check in was 9am, yet we (my roomie and I) arrived around 6:30a, and a line was already forming- some people had been there since 4! Excited and nervous, we stood in line waiting for the gates to open and our adventure to begin. Once the gates opened, there was a swarm of people heading to the building we were to check-in at. We stood in line for about an hour, floating from one station to the next, getting overloaded with information. I ended up in Patterson Court, with 5 roommates. After check in was done and we headed over to Casting- where we learned our roles :) I found out I was placed in Magic Kingdom working in Frontierland.
It's now real. I now have a place to live and an official job. My roommate's parents took us to Wal-Mart, for grocery shopping and getting the basics. It was at Wal-Mart that I had my first break down here in Florida. I'd been up since 5am and needed sleep- but even so I started to cry while shopping- I didn't want to be here, I wanted to go home, the people at Wal-Mart were not friendly and the customers were extremely rude- all of that had me crying wanting to come home where I knew what to do, how to navigate the store and city. I felt foolish for crying in Wal-Mart but I couldn't help it, I felt so overwhelmed and helpless. Once we got home (weird to be calling Disney home, but it is for the next 5 months) I felt a little better about being here, we had most of the room set up and it was quiet in the apartment.
I know that the breakdown at Wal-Mart is not going to be the last but hopefully they will be few and far between, once I get settled into a routine.
#1: I'm still so proud of you for doing this. It's crazy hard to follow your dreams, but insanely exciting at the same time.
ReplyDelete#2: For some reason, I knew you told me Frontierland, but I was picturing you in Fantasyland this whole time. Whoops.
#3: I wish I could come visit while you're there. EXTEND!
#4: It's quite amazing how easy it is to just "do life" in a place you're not familiar with. Next thing you know, you'll be at Hong Kong Disney complaining that there's no Walmart ;)