A Snapshot in Erica's Life: Round Number 2!

First blog for Round #2!! YAY!

Welp, the blog is back! I had lots of positive feedback the last time I did this for Disney, so I thought I'd do it again! Feel free to leave comments throughout at the bottom (sign under as anonymous) or e-mail/message me with any questions or if you're thinking of vacationing there this year!

They say pictures are worth 1,000 words so I will use them to describe this post since it's more fun that way! I also apologize in advance for the long posts I write. I don't write them often, so when I do, it tends to be a lot of information...especially since this one is filled with pictures so it's longer than usual. (And hey, I like to ramble, okay?)

So I already completed the Disney College Program, as many of you already know, last January-May of 2012. The first time I was accepted into the program I was SO excited because I had no idea what to expect, etc. Now I know what to expect, but this time there were over 9,000 applicants!! It's also much harder to be accepted into the program the second time since they want to give other first-timers a chance, so it's a different kind of excitement this time!

I originally applied on February 5th and they notify you via e-mail of your acceptance/rejection anytime after that. So basically this is how I felt for a whole month and a half every single time I received an e-mail:

They would then "trick" us by sending informational e-mails occasionally such as this subject line, thinking it was going to be the results of the recent interview. This would then make me feel like I was going to have a heart attack every time I read a subject line that looked like this:

Followed by the following text:

Which would make me feel:

I am not a worrywart by any means because I know that God will lead the way my life should go. I had a somewhat back-up plan of possibly working at Wellspring Camps, which is basically a weight loss camp for children -- and this is what a typical day is like there. Yoga, hiking, kayaking, zumba, bonfires .. um is that meant for me or what?!

That was only going to be a summer fling, so then I was debating possibly graduate school at either Oakland or Wayne State back home since they had fitness graduate assistant programs which pay for your tuition and give you a stipend on top of that! As of now, I still would like to partake in both activities in the future, however, you can only participate in the Disney College Program while still in college or freshly graduated. Working at a camp and graduate school will always be there for me.

Continuing, my roommate, Ashley from the last program applied with me as well when I did.

(First, look how cute she is!)

Niagara Falls!

However, she experienced a little less stress as she only got accepted about a week later. Last year, I was accepted a week after my interview as well, but not this time. My situation was known to be "pending" which either meant they didn't know whether to accept you, or they just didn't know where to place you. I obviously hoped it was the latter and thought I'd give them some slack since they were dealing with over 9,000 applicants!

We were both active in specific Disney Facebook groups and it seemed multiple waves of people on specific days were getting accepted more frequently. Ashley would tell me when she saw their posts- hoping I would be one of the accepted. Time after time I would get my hopes up to see an e-mail, but nope..

Then one day she told me again multiple applicants got accepted. On the way home from my internship (I don't advise this), I checked my e-mail and saw this subject line:

I just about flipped out and immediately turned into Speedway so I could read the rest and anxiously find out what position I got, call Ashley, etc.

I opened up the e-mail and this is what I saw:

And this was my facial reaction:

Along with:

And this is what I felt like doing in the car:

But that would be dangerous. And hurtful.

But when I told my zany brother Steve, who loves me oh so much, his reaction wasn't quite the same...

And then he did this to me:

And then he asked if I tried looking like a boy if they'd still take me.

And after he heard the positive response..

Help.

But I think he finally learned to accept it:

So basically to sum it up I received the job of "Main park operations". What does that mean? Even I don't know! Disney does a really great job of keeping the mystery until you actually arrive. I could either be in Downtown Disney, ESPN Wide World of Sports (Yes, please!), or one of the parks. Tasks could include managing tickets, selling, planning, budgeting, etc.. not even sure! Although, I do hear that I most likely will be working outside.. and everyone knows how much I ~~LOVE~~ the heat!!!

But no worries, I'll be a champ looking like this:

I have that water bottle.

Pshh yeah. More like..

I still applied for 3 more job positions that are more pertaining to my career of Exercise Science since this position does not, but they are super competitive. Competitive in the sense of 60+ applying for a job and only 2-3 getting it. SoO0oOoo I'm not banking on those, but would be even MORE excited if I did get one of those (obviously).

You may be thinking to yourself, "So Erica, you already were down there last year for 4 months so why go again?" Or you may not be. But regardless, I'm going to answer it anyways.

Main reasons I want to go back down to Disney/Orlando area:

I thought I would hate being away for the holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years), but then realized after seeing all the crazy awesome pictures that I was super jealous and very, very wrong. So I absolutely want to be down there for all the festivities.

I mean seriously...who wouldn't want to see this in person!?

There are also more events as well with the holidays such as the Food & Wine Festival (I was down there for the Flower & Garden Festival in Epcot which was gorgeous), the parades on TV, and more famous people that visit! (President and Michelle Obama were the only ones I knew of that were there when I was, along with the Superbowl MVP Eli Manning I wrote a blog on. But I heard Hansen and Neil Patrick Harris led some Christmas activities last year! If Backstreet Boys do at all.. I just might die.)
I know it is also the last time I'll be able to do this. I could never live in Florida because of the heat and I truly do love the 4 seasons of Michigan, so this is my last real "getaway" (unless I spontaneously find another internship somewhere else which could very well happen!)
I also will be 21 this time around, therefore I can participate in trying different spirits from around the world at Epcot !
I was very fortunate in the short 4-month span last year to fulfill everything that I did. I went on a cruise, Seaworld twice, visited the parks frequently, saw Cirque de Soleli, went on backstage tours, etc. However, there is still a bucket list of activities that I would like to partake in (such as going to Universal and Busch Gardens since I still haven't been there!)

A model of the cruise!

As mentioned before in previous posts from last year, I am not very advanced as far as my "Disney knowledge" goes. I hardly know the princesses, the movies, or the fairy tales. Sounds awful doesn't it?? Think what you wish, but I just love how large Disney is and the entertainment aspect of it. I loved learning behind the scenes and how Disney really operates to reach millions of people a day. There are multiple reasons to like Disney I definitely have come to find.
Lastly, I may just want to continue to run away from the real world.

(And speaking of running- I want to do a few Disney races while I'm down there! I was down there when the Princess Half Marathon was taking place and marathon runners from all over the world said that that's their favorite to look forward too every year! Not sure if a 1/2 is for me yet.. so I'll stick to the fun 5/10k's for now! What's better than seeing a whole bunch of smiling characters waiting at the finish line for ya??)

And Steve has somewhat accepted the fact that his best friend will be gone for a decent amount of time..

Because he knows he's going to be able to visit me since he craves to be like me.

But until then.. here I'll be- just be happy as a clam !

Ashley and I both did want to arrive later in June, if it was possible, so that we would have a longer summer. However, since I was accepted later, the only opening we had was May 27th because we have to pick the same date in order to live together. Sooo... May 27th here we come!