Making Friends During Your CP

I stressed about it and shouldn't have...

     This was hands down what I was most nervous about before starting my CP. Who and how would I make friends while in Disney. It's not like college where you can just leave your dorm room door open and meet people thru class. But like most things, it will just figure itself out thru time.

     I was incredibly fortunate that day 1 some of our neighbors from upstairs in the same building came down to our apartment to see who we were and ended up being some of my better friends throughout the program.

     The beauty of Facebook is how easily you can connect with other people doing the program. Between other people from school doing the DCP and friends of friends from other schools doing it, I met and hung out with a number of people this way. And of course you have your fellow CPs at your work location. By no means do I guarantee you'll be best buds with your co workers, but depending on where you are working, it is where you will meet the most other CPs.

     My best advice is do not stress about it and just let it happen. I freaked out more than I should've before coming to Disney and feel silly about it. Most of my friends from my DCP I will keep in touch with for quite a time after.

Epcot Food and Wine Festival

Wave goodbye to your money...

     It's that time of year where EPCOT will be the bane of your existence and will heartlessly destroy any and all financial stability you thought you had. But, your gonna love every second of it because no matter what you say or think, resisting the temptation to buy food or drink while walking through World Showcase during this month and a half is nearly impossible. I held back for as long as possible, then went HAM over 3 days.

     First off, I thought I was a big deal when I said I'd eat thru the world in 1 day. HA nope. I went with my friend from work prepared to eat....and eat......and eat. We went to the Festival Center near Ellen's Energy Adventure and perused the booths checking out everything they had and I went and threw down a couple hundred dollars on a gift card to make paying at the countries easier....in my opinion well worth it. It's about the size of a key tag and it's on a bracelet you can wear on your wrists. So every time you go to pay, just hold it up and the cashiers will just scan it, easier then whipping out your wallet for every country.

     So Day 1 I made it to about France, not too bad but jeez I was FULL. I went into this endeavor fully prepared to try at least one item from each country and I did, and I have the stamps in my passport to back it up. Oh, whatever the first country you stop at is...ask for a passport and have each country stamp it as you go thru, it's a cool little memento to have when your done. We spent a good 2 hours going from country to country eating, enjoyed every second of it.

     Day 2 was a little more tame, didn't eat nearly as much but that made Day 3 a beast. Day 3 I think I ate at about 2/3 of the countries and still had money left over on my gift card to spend, which thankfully is taken at all the shops on EPCOT so I grabbed myself a Food and Wine shirt (not gonna not) and a Mickey Mouse hoody. When all was said and done I have no regrets. This is one of the reasons I saved up before coming down, I wasn't gonna miss out on the opportunity to eat around the world. No chance.

     
     Of course the menus change every year so you will see different menu items than myself, that being said my top items from the festival:

Kahlua Pork Slider from Hawaii
Lamington from Australia 

Side note: Look up the menus online before you head out. I remember waking around World Showcase before the festival started and seeing the menus out while the countries booths were still covered so I was able to preview them. And days later I found everything online with prices so I was able to plan how much money I would need to try everything I wanted.

Rationalizing a Universal Pass

To buy or not to buy...

     Rationalizing getting a Universal pass will depend a lot on how your roommates and friends feel about it. Also how much you really, honestly expect to be going to Universal.

     For me, I knew I was going enough times for it to pay itself off so it just made sense, also having a car made it very accessible for me. I dropped a little over $300 on mine because I got the one that included parking and knew I'd be the one driving most of the time.

     Also, most of the friends I ended up making also talked about getting them so I knew I'd have people to go with. And I couldn't have been happier with my investment, I went about 6 times and had a blast, got some great merchandise and made the most of it. I'm just a theme park junkie in general and knowing how close I was to Universal, there was no way I wasn't gonna get a pass!

The DCP Lifestyle

It's weird and wonderful...

     It's a weird mix between the real world and college while at the same time not even close to either. For some, it's their first time away from home, first time in apartment style living or even first time having roommates. Not to mention some of our first time fending for ourselves financially. So there are a lot of potential firsts for everyone going down for the DCP and they all require their own adjusting.

     Once you arrive, get settled, start working, see how you get along with your roommates, etc. you will begin to get into some sort of routine. Your workplace will determine this, cause your life will revolve around your work schedule. I benefited from having a consistent work schedule throughout my entire program, always 5 days, always 40 hours, it only changed when I requested and had approved days off. Other than that, I know I would start working at 1, 2 or 3:30PM, my paychecks would almost always be the same amount each week and I learned how to work with that for essential purchases each week and that also determined what my diet would look like.

     Coming from someone who cooks, I always made the dinners I'd take to work. I saved money that way not purchasing it from Port's food court and ate much healthier. On either one of my days off, or if the first day of my work week was a 3:30 start, I'd wake up to do my grocery shopping EARLY to get it outta the way and then cook all my meals for work. So everyday I could just take a Tupperware container from the fridge, throw it in my bag and be good to go.

     Other than that meal though, I ate junk throughout a lot of my program because, well, I could. 8 hours a day I'd be standing outside walking around hauling bags, and if I wasn't doing that, I was walking miles around the parks. Not to mention the heat, making me sweat and burn even more calories, so if there was ever an acceptable time to eat poorly, it's the DCP. Lunch before work or before heading to the parks was usually either Ramen or mac n cheese, both cheap and easy. So when it came to food I spent as little as possible each week so I had money leftover for fun things.

     The mornings I'd meal prep I'd also try to do laundry and multitask. I'd want to do all the "life essential" tasks in one shot each week so I had the rest of the time to utilize having fun at the parks.

     Once all that was outta the way, mornings were either hit the parks before work or spend a few hours on the couch with my roommates. Now, having a car made the parks before work much easier, I won't lie. I'd be able to get there early, be there for 2 or 3 hours and have time to come back shower and eat lunch before work, rather than buying lunch at the parks. If I woke up later, it never hurt to just watch TV and relax, sometimes you need it.

     Days off though? I won't lie, any days I didn't have plans to go to the parks with someone I was either frustrated or disappointed because I hated wasting my days off in my apartment. But if I had to go alone, I'd go alone and make the most of it and occasionally/hopefully meet someone there. Planning can be a pain in the butt, since everyone has such different schedules and work at different places I often found myself exhausting friend after friend to see if anyone's schedule matched up with mine. Especially when the holidays started and I was the only one still getting 40 hours a week and others were getting extra hours. My best advice, never be afraid to ask anyone to do something with, I asked people I only knew for a day or two to do the parks with and those were some of the most fun I had. My first night I went with my neighbor to MK who I'd only known for 4 days, was one of the best nights I had.

     When you are at the parks, be cautious of your spending. It's easy to get carried away buying merchandise and with such a small weekly budget it's easy to run out of money. It's why I always ate before I went to the parks and ate WHAT I ate. Ramen, mac n cheese or any other carb loaded lunch kept me full and going for a long time, so I never really considered buying food while I was out and if I did, I knew I was budgeting properly to be able to do so. It's also why I can't stress enough saving before you arrive, it makes your life much more flexible financially. So even though you are budgeting and monitoring your spending, every now and then you know you can splurge and know you have a safety net of savings to fall back on.

     And that is pretty much the basics of the DCP lifestyle, at least for me. Parks, work, errands, cooking and laundry...a lot of parks and work though. Money management is going to be a key for enjoyment though, I cannot stress that one enough as you can probably tell. I was never in a situation to tell someone I can't do something because of money, which was a nice luxury to have.

Don't Be Afraid to do the Parks Alone!

You won't regret it...

     There will be times where everyone you may wanna go to the parks with is either working, doing something with other people or just being straight up lazy and boring. When this is the case, especially on your days off, don't be afraid to fly solo at the parks. And honestly sometimes you need those days to yourself just to decompress from work and not worry about being social, just keep to yourself.

     At first it can be daunting and scary, most of us are raised to be taught that going out to do things requires someone to do it with. As I got older I realized this can hinder my ability to enjoy life, and became very true during my CP. I couldn't let other people's lack of willingness to go out, stop me from having fun.

     Another beauty of going alone, you can do whatever YOU want to do without anyone judging you for it. Browse the shops, meet your favorite characters, ride your favorite ride it's all up to you. One of the best things for me to do if I was ever stressed or frustrated for some reason...I went to EPCOT and rode The Seas with Nemo and Friends and would just spend time wandering the pavilion. It's my favorite movie and I love fish & aquariums so it just helped me relax. Your version of this may be different, but find what that is for you and when you need time to yourself, do your thing.

     I felt the same way about Animal Kingdom, I loved going alone because it was my favorite park and I could just do whatever I want. I loved riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and seeing The Festival of the Lion King, both I enjoyed over and over again on my own because I was such a morning person and got to the park early. One of the best moments I witnessed when out on my own, during the end of The Festival of the Lion King, when the performers pull the kids out of the bleachers to dance around, at the end they pulled some of them toward the float with Simba on it and had them wave at him, It was mind blowing to me and just pure Disney magic for Simba to wave back at them, it may have been small and not many people may have witnessed it, but it was awesome to see!

     You can also take your time and really observe and take in the parks. There is so much to see at all the parks you could spend hours just wandering around and not ride a single ride. Don't miss these opportunities, I promise going to the parks alone can be much more fun and enjoyable than you may originally think!

Breaking the CP Stigma

You're a CP...and everyone knows it

     It's just a fact, at the start of your CP it's gonna be a little uncomfortable going into your new workplace that will most likely be temporary while you are surrounded by people who do it full time. It took me weeks to feel fully comfortable and accepted in my role at Disney. No one was super talkative toward me, my role did not have a ton of other CPs and I felt alone. But it did not last forever and it shouldn't for you either.

     Don't be lazy, prove you are trying and doing your best to learn. At the end of the day that's all anyone wants or cares about, it's when you slack off and show you don't care...then your fellow cast members will never accept you. Also be social with them, no matter their age you share a role at Disney with them. I had cast members my age and ones twice my age and managed to become great friends with all of them.

     The stigma that comes along with being a CP is not permanent. If you work hard and prove your there to learn and enjoy work, they will accept you. Some of the best people I met in Disney were the full time or part time cast members at Port Orleans.

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!

     

CP Housing Options

To me, they were basically the same...

     This will be a decision everyone will need to make when completing your DORMS application. Choosing between Vista Way, Patterson, Chatham or The Commons can be as easy or as difficult as you want it to be. There are plenty of minutia details that can be the primary decision makers but overall, they are all pretty equal and mediocre. It's a roof over your head and you gotta pay regardless so what're ya gonna do.

     The Commons is the newest but also the most expensive of the 4. They benefit from having in unit laundry which is nice and host all the housing meetings. But your distance from Chatham to catch Transtar is the furthest.

     Chatham and Patterson  (in my opinion) are two in the same and only a stones throw away from each other. Chatham benefits from being the hub for all the Transtar buses but from what I was told Patterson had a nicer gym. The unit themselves are generally the same though.

     Vista Way lived up to every reputation it had. The people who lived there either loved it or hated it, and the ones who loved it loved to party and didn't mind the lack of quality. The others hated the partying and we're salty about how poor the apartments were.

     Pricing for all units is gonna be between $90-$140 if I'm not mistaken. And that'll all depend on how many people are in a unit and how many bedrooms.  Overall don't stress about where you'll live, if you are anything like me, you'll barely be there anyway, only to sleep and shower.

California Grill

Expensive yes...worth it...also yes

     Now first off, if you wanna go to California Grill make your reservation as soon as you know your are doing your DCP and put the money aside for it, otherwise you will likely be unable to do it when you are here. That being said the way this all worked out for me is pretty crazy but at the end of the day I could not have been happier that I went and had the opportunity to eat there because aside from Victoria & Albert's, California Grill is the next best restaurant on Disney property.

     As soon as I found out I got accepted I immediately started bringing up with family and friends, who was visiting and when. So all the way back in March, months before my arrival, I made the reservation for California Grill for myself, my brother and his girlfriend to eat at when they were planned to visit. I had been looking forward to it for months and unfortunately they could not make it for financial reasons. But there was no way I was cancelling this reservation because it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

     Therefore between my arrival and the date of the reservation I had been stressing about who I would ask to come and if anyone at all would be able to afford coming. Everyone doing the CP knows how expensive this place is and not everyone is in the financial place to afford such a meal. Thankfully, I was fortunate enough that two of my roommates and one of my other friends were willing to drop the coin on this meal and were just as excited to join me.

     I was massively nervous when I got my work schedule for the week of this reservation when I saw I was scheduled on this day, but lucked out because I was out of work with enough time to get to the Contemporary. 

     We arrived at the Contemporary about 45 minutes before our reservation just to wander around and explored the hotel. None of us had ever been in the Contemporary before, other than cruising through on the monorail. So we took our time, perused the shops they had and enjoyed the atmosphere. It was a great time to just relax and enjoy the fact that we have this opportunity to be in Disney and do this kind of thing leisurely.

     We finally went to the restaurant for dinner and from the moment you get up there it is unreal the views you have. You can see over the entire Seven Seas Lagoon, inside all of Magic Kingdom with a great look into Tomorrowland and you are even able to see EPCOT from the observation deck. We took our time and enjoyed our meal just mind blown at everything they had to offer. The perk of eating at Cali Grill is you are able to come back to the restaurant to watch the fireworks in Magic Kingdom. It was great that we had the reservation on a night of MNSSHP so we got to come back later and watch Hallowishes. 

     We had about 2 hours to kill between the end of our dinner and the fireworks, so we spent time out on the observation deck taking in the views and taking pictures and then went back downstairs to roam around the resort again.Watching the fireworks from atop the Contemporary is amazing. We were so high up it felt like we were in line with the height of the fireworks and you get a great view of the all the perimeter fireworks as they pop off. End of the day, if you have the opportunity to get a reservation, DO IT! You will not regret it!

Being a Bell Service Dispatch/Greeter

How y'all doing welcome to Port Orleans!

     And welcome to being a Bell Service Dispatch/Greeter at a Moderate Resort at Disney. This role is genuinely what you make it, you have a fair amount of freedom without management or guests constantly watching your every move. That being said when managers are around, you never get stressed about if your doing it right or not because it's so simple. And when guests enter and exit the property, you simply interact with them as you see fit, just always say hello and have fun!

     For my resort, being a moderate, we had a few different positions you could have for a shift...luggage greeter, lane greeter, dispatch and transfers. Each nearly as easy as the last. During a luggage greeter shift, your primary responsibilities are to greet guests coming off the Disney Magical Express (DME) from the airport or returning from the parks, wish them well as they depart the resort for the airport or head to the parks, answer any questions they have and store their luggage when necessary. Lane greeter is essentially the same, but rather than store luggage you are more responsible for keeping the lane where cars pull in and out clear and making sure no one parks there. Transfer shifts were some of my favorite and you'll realize you are literally "making the magic" for guests. So....when guests change resorts during their stay, they can have us move their bags from resort to resort for them rather than taking them themselves. That's where the transfer shift comes in, you drive the big 'ol transfer van full of luggage to the resorts that guests are moving to. Each day your trip length will vary, I've been done in 30 minutes while other days I'd be gone 5 hours. Once your done with the transfer shift, you'll return to your resort and do a normal luggage greeter shift until your 8 hours are up. 

     Lastly you have dispatch, this is where your job can get stressful but not to the point where you'll break down. You'll be in front of the computer answering phones and putting in work orders for bellmen to deliver bags to rooms. It took nearly a month and a half before I got trained for this part of my role because it requires you to take a class at DU but it's not terrible. The system you'll use is super simple and once you understand it you can do it in your sleep.

     And there you have the Bell Service Dispatch/Greeter role at a moderate resort. If you end up at a Deluxe Resort, basically eliminate the greeter roles. You'll only be doing dispatch, transfers and luggage room, where you stand at the bell service desk and get luggage from the luggage room when guests need it.

     At the end of the day I loved my role and the people I got to work with. I had a ton of fun at work once I got comfortable there and the fellow cast members became some of my best friends!