If I had to recommend two things to do during your college career, I would tell you to study abroad and to participate in the Disney College Program! I had a wee bit too much fun while down in Orlando, FL. at Walt Disney World Resort to post as frequently as I should have but I’m here now to give you a recap of my overall experience.
For starters, Walt Disney World Resort is by far, hands down, without question, THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH!
At the time when I applied for the Disney College Program I was a student who had never gone past the state of Ohio, and when I say Ohio, I really mean whatever city that Cedar Point is in. Also, I’d never gone any further west than the city of Chicago. I wanted to go to Florida to work for the “Mouse” because it seemed to be an INCREDIBLE opportunity, also, I was terrified to study abroad to Japan.
Although participating in the Disney College Program pushed me back a semester in my academic plan I don’t regret going one bit.
I flew down to Orlando a few days before my program started and I took that time to explore my new home for the next few months. The bus system was really easy to understand and use, and because Orlando is a tourist city there was a wide assortment of different restaurants and shopping areas to visit. Not to mention there were more than a handful of attraction sites to spend your time at as well. I did a lot of research on places to stay my first few days in Florida that were conveniently placed between lively parts of town and the place I needed to check in at for my program.
* Quick bit of advice, if you are as scared as I was about studying abroad, I can say simply from moving down to Florida that if you do enough research about the place you plan on staying that can relieve a lot of your anxiety.
Skipping a few months into my program, I will admit that I had a huge dose of homesickness thrown my way which was easily cured by constant Skype video calls and phone calls. Also, my AWESOME roommates, who had been to Disney World multiple times before had a blast taking me to their favorite spot around the parks. Once you have that great support system of friends, whether you’re going across the sea or flying through a couple of states you will be fine! We usually spent our free time going to different parks and watching Disney movies because we were all 18 – 21 and that was the appropriate thing to do, next to singing Disney songs at the top of our lungs in our apartment.
In the end of the program, my roommates and I all went our separate ways but we’re actually all really good friends still. I talked to all three of them yesterday when the Lion King played on cable in my apartment and again today when I asked if they were okay with me posting pictures of them here.
If you have any questions about the Disney College Program that I didn’t answer in this blog or in any of the previous blogs please let me know! I’ll answer them happily. For now I’m going to leave you with a few pictures from my trip.
Have a MAGICAL MONDAY!
