Making the Most of your Time

If you work nights, go out in the morning...

     Whether you do your DCP for 4 months, 6 months or extend up to a year, you have a lot of time and opportunity you have to enjoy everything Disney has to offer. It's also easy to let it all slip away and it took me a few weeks to realize this.

     The mornings are not only some of the best times to be at the parks because it's usually less crowded, often times it may be your only time to go because of your work schedule. For me, my shifts started at either 1, 2, or 3:30 PM...consistently...every week. I worked 6 morning shifts out of my 4 months and 5 of those were just for training. After that, I was assigned to be a true CP (closing personnel), so the best advice I can give is expect it and don't get upset about it.

     That being said, if you are anything like me and primarily looked to be at the parks as often as possible, get used to going for 3 or 4 hours in the morning before work. Since the parks usually opened up at 9, there is plenty of time to get a few rides in. Of course, this is substantially easier when you have a car as I did, but if you are motivated enough, you can do it while riding Transtar.

     Sleep is for the weak. And I lived by this everyday I was there. I was consistently getting my body used to waking up between 8 and 9, just to get to the parks before work and I do not regret it. Some days I may have only gotten 6 hours of sleep, but that's what coffee is for.

     I was a major advocate of hitting DAK on these mornings because I could usually get my 3 major attractions done in a small period of time and it was usually the least crowded. I'd get there, hit Kilimanjaro Safaris, see the 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock Festival of the Lion King show and made sure I rode Everest either after the Safari or the Lion King depending on wait times or when I showed up. Although I only did it once (primarly cause of $$$) go to Tusker House for the character breakfast! It was about $25 with the cast member discount and it has a massive breakfast buffet to dive into. I went HAM on the Mickey Waffles as you should and its never a bad thing starting your day off with some characters!

     I did Magic Kingdom a couple of times before work but only when I worked later since getting there is so time consuming. If you drive, you almost have to account for about an hour of travel to get to the main gate since you park at the TTC and it just takes a while. But to get a ride on Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear...well worth it.

     All in all, become a morning person and go have fun! Don't leave your CP regretting not going to the parks more!