Wow, so I've just discovered that this blog is still online!
Just reading through everything, it's crazy, it brings back so many great memories. It's coming up to 2 years since I left for Disney, I cannot believe it's been that long!! I realise that I was completely useless at keeping the blog up to date while I was over in America which I now really really regret because it would have been nice to have a record of everything. But I guess I was just having too much fun to keep posting. If I could go back in time, I would definitely make sure I did regular updates.. ahh hindsight is a wonderful thing.
According to the stats, people are still checking out this blog, so I hope that at least the posts I did make have helped the people who have made the awesome journey to Walt Disney World to embark on their international program.
Obviously, I can't recall every single thing I did in my 6months in America, but I will do a recap as a kind of final post for this blog.
Firstly, I have to say that going on the Walt Disney World International College Program was the absolute BEST decision I've ever made. I made some really good friends, had an amazing time and met great people from all around the world.
Vacation Planning
I'm so glad I chose this role at Disney - I met some awesome people from America at this job that I'm still friends with today. I loved the perks of the job - getting free tickets to special events at Magic Kingdom (i.e Christmas and Halloween Parties), getting disney gift cards for reaching sales targets, great hours, air conditioning and getting to watch the 3 o'clock parade on numerous occasions while on parade audience control (even though I hated that particular job!!). If anyone whose reading this is considering what role to choose, I'd definitely recommend Vacation Planning.
Night-life
The disney local is House of Blues in Downtown Disney - Sunday night was the night all the college program kids would be at House of Blues because it was 'industry night' so it was cheap, and also girls got free drinks until midnight. The only downside to House of Blues was how jam-packed it always was inside. If you lost your friends, it was almost impossible to find them in their again!
Downtown Orlando also had some great places - the party bus would go to Makos (which has been closed down now) which was seedy and great at the same time. We also had a fave which was Chillers (a rooftop bar which had $1 alcoholic slushies - so good!) And we always had to end the night with a delicious Five Guys burger.. om nom nom. Bdubs was another popular party spot as well, but I didn't go there too often.
The Parks
Definitely take advantage of the free entry to the parks. I tried to go to the parks as much as I could - even went by myself on many occasions! Even so, there were still some things I didn't do because the parks were always so busy. A highlight for me was definitely the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot - loved going around and trying food from all the different countries. Soo good. Spent New Years Eve at Epcot as well, the atmosphere was awesome (mostly because it's the only Disney park that sells alcohol haha) and the fireworks were awesome.
Resort-hopping was also fun - although I didn't go to all of them, which again, I regret. But if you have the time, definitely go around the resorts and just walk around and check them out, they're pretty amazing. Especially if you are there at Christmas like I was. The decorations are amazing at that time of year!
Shopping
The shopping in America is crazy good. I ended up having to buy another suitcase to come back home with, as well as having to send a few boxe of stuff back home too! The premium outlets are so close to the disney housing and we went there all the time. Such good buys and designer stuff (like Guess) was soo cheap! Florida mall was also amazing, but so massive! I only went there a couple of times because the outlet malls were good enough. Disney shopping was also awesome, especially around Christmas because our discount went up to 50%. I bought so many Disney souvenirs!
All in all, I LOVED my time in Florida. Whilst there, I was given the opportunity to extend my program from 6months to 1 year but at the time, I was starting to really miss home and also had no money left (the pay was pretty crap lol) so I didn't extend. Sometimes I wish I did, but mostly I'm happy I didn't. I also ended up canceling my Contiki that I had planned for after I left Orlando, mostly because by that point I just wanted to get home and again, had no spending money. I instead went to Disneyland/California Adventure for 3 days and then went straight home, which I'm glad I did. Disneyland and California Adventure was pretty cool!
Now, a year and a half since I've been back, and I'm now planning a trip back to America with Keri (my disney roomie and bestie!). I didn't do much travelling when I was in America last time, so this time, we are planning to go for 6 weeks and do lots of traveling around. I may start a blog for this trip, but need to make sure I'm dedicated to updating it before I do.
Thanks for everyone whose read and continues to read this blog. Sorry I didn't update it, but I hope I helped in some way. And if you're considering the Disney World International Program, stop thinking and just DO IT!!
