Moving Back to Disney World - Update #1

I am officially back living (and soon to be working) in Walt Disney World, Orlando! After a 9 hour flight, I touched down in Florida last Saturday with a bunch of other girls and new friends, having a tenuous two hour wait to get through immigration before we could finally see the wall we'd all been waiting for.

We chose to stay at Art of Animation Resort in The Lion King suite which was quite perfect, grabbing a snacky dinner on Saturday evening, wandering around the resort to stay awake, and then crashing out soon after into our beds.

The next morning saw us inevitably awake bright and early, catching the resort bus to Magic Kingdom where we could get the monorail across to Polynesian Village Resort for our breakfast reservations at Ohana!

This did not disappoint, enjoying the sticky coconut pineapple bread for starters, a tofu scramble for me and Gen, the other veggie of the group, and Mickey waffles on the side - which was a first for some in the group!

We also got our first few meet and greets in with Mickey, Lilo and Stitch and it was definitely a fun way to start the program together, appointing our unofficial photographer from the table across from us to get some group shots in!

We wandered around the resort and met some lovely cast members before catching the bus across to Disney Springs, where I was excited to explore my future work location, making me even more excited to kick off training shortly!

We went round many of the stores and I even got to catchup with a couple of coworkers from last summer in their new roles/locations which was so lovely, before we got tickets to see Incredibles 2! Whilst some were resistant to spending our first day of Florida sunshine inside, we had to take the bragging rights of seeing the movie a month before our friends back home!

It did not disappoint, and it was definitely worth the more-than-a-decade wait, somehow proving even funnier than the first one! An early Earl of Sandwich dinner was in store, before facing the stormy weather and getting soaked running back to the resort buses - welcome to the Sunshine State!

Back at the resort, a bunch of us had a relaxing evening swim in the pool, meeting some new friends and unwinding after a crazy busy day ready for housing check in the next day!

It definitely proved to be very different to last year, as the majority of us have been slipped into empty spots in already occupied apartments. However I luckily ended up with Kierra, another girl on the program, in a 2 bedroom 5 person apartment in Patterson Court - which means, yes, I am on a top bunk!

Everyone is very much treating it as merely a place to sleep, completing the daunting Walmart shop (not quite so bad when roommates have already decked out the kitchen areas) before taking some chill time and then heading to Disney Springs to see each other again and get Sprinkles cupcakes.

Tuesday saw a trip to Publix for grocery shopping, an Immigration housing meeting in The Commons (given by the exact same people as last year and equally as tiresome!) and then a ride over to Universal Resort where a bunch of us became Annual Passholders!

It was an incredible day getting on tons of rides, sipping butterbeers and getting soaked on Jurassic Park, ending it with a much-needed meal in Hard Rock Cafe we gobbled up far too quickly around 8pm. It was a 7-mile walking day which I see as simply training us up for all the park/work days to come!

It's certainly been a whirlwind few days, and very different to last year, but I'm focusing on all the great memories and friends I've made already, which I'll only add to as the summer progresses. Now it's time for Traditions and to become a cast member once again and, quite obviously, I cannot wait!