Flight Plans

So... I purchased my ticket to Orlando a few days ago! For some reason, this made the whole thing that much more real to me. Before, it felt more like a nice idea and a cool conversation topic. Now that I know exactly when I'll be leaving Washington and entering Florida, I'm a lot more nervous. I'm still excited, but... yeah. Nervous.

But you know what makes me feel less nervous? Knowing exactly what I'll be doing when I arrive. The CP website is helpful, but reading the blogs of current participants has been even more so. This one in particular has made me a lot less nervous about Day One. See, I'm the sort of person who likes to have every detail ironed out. When I go on a trip, I print up maps of where I'll be. Before I go out to eat, I download the restaurant's menu and choose what I want beforehand. When I went to Disneyland, I kept Alyssa with me(because she knows that place like the back of her hand), and we planned out what we would do each day.

And usually, I end up having more fun that way. I'm spared that awful moment of being lost in a strange place, or the awkward moment of indecision when the waiter asks if you're FINALLY ready to order, because this is the third time he's come by. During the Disneyland trip, some of our friends decided to leave our group so that they could go and be spontaneous... only to end up rejoining our group later on because we were actually getting stuff done.

So while my contributions to this blog will be about my own experiences, I'm going to make a point of including as much useful information as possible, so that the next set of interns will also be able to have fun without worrying. :)

An Introduction: Kayleigh

Hey, all! I'm Kayleigh. I'm going to be a Merchandise Cast Member at Walt Disney World for the Fall 2011 session. I'm a 20-year-old LDS girl from the dry side of Washington state, though I was raised in Alaska. I have an associate's degree in biology from my local community college. I currently work as a customer service manager at a grocery store. I'm the oldest person in my family. I love chocolate, peaches, the color orange, and orangutans. I want to work in wildlife and wildlands conservation in some sort of public education sense, possibly at a zoo.

My first, and so far, only, major Disney experience happened when I was sixteen. My high school marching band went on a trip to Disneyland. It was the best week EVER. I had never been to a theme park before(there's a tiny waterpark in Anchorage, but... yeah... doesn't count), but I had been to fairs and carnivals. Disneyland was such a far cry from any of those that it doesn't feel right to mention them in the same paragraph. Disneyland was so clean and perfect... everyone was nice... even when we were backstage doing a band clinic or getting ready for a parade, everything was neat and shiny and wonderful. When we left, I promised myself that I would be back soon.

Why did I apply for the program? Well... long story short, I got rejected from my first-choice transfer university, and in a fit of pique, I applied to Disney World. I went through the application and online interview process, and scheduled a phone interview. It was sort of on a whim... but when people heard that I hadn't gotten into my top school(which was the only school I had applied to), I told them about my upcoming phone interview so I wouldn't seem so pathetic. And, well, I started getting more and more excited. My phone interview went well... and a week later, I got my e-mail welcoming me into the program. By that point, I was looking forward to it so much that if I hadn't been accepted, it probably would have been the end of the world.

And so far, that's my Disney story. I don't know much about Orlando- I've never even been farther east than Chicago. I'm sure the heat and humidity will join forces to make me miserable, but right now, I don't really care! I can put up with anything for a semester, ESPECIALLY if Disney World is involved.