Showing posts with label
Cultural Representative Program.
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Showing posts with label
Cultural Representative Program.
Show all posts
Confession time: I went on this cruise a month ago and I'm only posting about it now. I just couldn't be bothered to edit the images because I took so many and my problem is I always want to share them all! So sorting through them takes time. I will however say that the cruise was AMAZING!
Greg and I booked a 7 day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean using my Disney discount which meant we were lucky ducks and only had to pay half the price! But I'll admit I would have gladly paid full price because the cruise was that wonderful!
The first 2 days we actually spent at sea but it was anything but boring. We met characters, worked on our tans and we were both able to get the rest and relaxation which we so badly needed from our every day lives. After those two days we docked at our first port of call which was St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Greg and myself, along with another couple our age made the trek to Blackbeard's castle which occupied us for about 2 hours.
Along the way we visited a handful of historic houses and the Amber museum but other than that St. Thomas kind of bored us. Even Blackbeard's castle was a bit of a disappointment because it was just a small lookout tower and not a castle at all. So we made our way back to the ship to have a nap then get ready for dinner.
I'll admit the view from the top of Blackbeard's castle was beautiful but the skinny, spiral staircase that was rusted and floor boards that were rotting away scared the bajeesus out of me to climb. So we didn't stay up there long. Who knew I was so scared of heights?!
The next day we stopped in San Juan and went on a tour of the Bacardi factory & Old San Juan. At the Bacardi factory we learned the process of how they turn sugar cane into rum and they even gave us some free drinks from their bar. (We threw caution to the wind and decided having a couple of drinks at 10am was ok, we were on vacation after all!)
However my favourite part of San Juan was when we visited the Castillo de San Cristóbal. It was a huge fort that was built by the Spanish when they sailed across to the Americas. I can't help but go crazy for historical places and the history student in me was very pleased.
This is one of the few photos of Greg and I together because I'm always too shy to ask strangers to take a picture for me. Heck I didn't even ask someone to take this, instead a lady offered because she thought we should have at least one picture of us together on the trip. What a sweetheart!
Lastly we stopped at Disney's private island which is Castaway Cay, located somewhere in the Bahamas. The weather was amazing because it wasn't too hot like St. Thomas was, but it was warm enough where we weren't going to freeze while being in our bathing suits. And spending the day in our bathing suits is exactly what we did. We spent the entire day lying under a palm tree and only took breaks to eat, watch the international crab races or to go swimming in the crystal clear water. I was amazed that even at 4 feet deep you could still see the ocean floor perfectly.
Like I said before the cruise was amazing and Greg is already planning out our next one, that's how much he enjoyed it!
Other bonuses from the trip were: not getting sea sick which I was so worried I would // hearing all the disney songs the ship's horn can play // Pirate Night festivities and FINALLY getting to meet Jack Sparrow // seeing the premier of Wreck-it Ralph at the same time it was coming out in movie theatres // seeing my friend Katelyn from high school because she is a dancer in the big cruise shows // all you can eat soft-serve ice cream // trying flavours of rum I didn't even know existed // and most importantly getting to see Greg again! I missed him.
Of course I have less than 2 months left of my program so the chances of me going on another trip are slim, but 3 major trips in 1 year has been an amazing experience!
It's funny how when you are living in your home country it's a lot harder for you to go on vacations than it is when you are living in a different country. I wonder why that is?
Thoughts?
♥ Megan
Hey lovelies, I'm super excited to write about my trip to Disneyland because it was my first time ever visiting! The problem with growing up in Ontario is it was always cheaper for my family to fly to Florida versus California. But since I'm already in America the flight costs were cut exponentially making this trip possible. Not to mention my friends and I had been planning this trip since we first met each other back in January.
I'm also going to say that even though Disney World will always be my home, there is something extra magical about the original Disney park that I can't quite but my finger on. Maybe it's the quaint layout of the park or the tiny pink castle, but I think the part that really impressed me was knowing that this was the park that started it all and Walt had a hand in almost everything that is there.
My dream came true and I finally met Jack Skellington (!!!) I may or may not have gasped insanely loud when I first saw him from a distance and nearly gave my friend a heart attack.
Another dream of mine was to ride the Haunted Mansion when it had been taken over by the Nightmare Before Christmas. Oh Disney, you really do make dreams come true! haha
And now some good 'ole feet pictures. One while waiting to board The Matterhorn and one of all my friends standing in the exact center between Disneyland and California Adventure.
Don't let this photo fool you, I lovingly nicknamed this ride 'The Wheel of Death' because I decided riding in the moving compartment was a good idea. FALSE. It was way too scary!
This is the look Canadians make when we find a plaid shirt like the ones we wear at Epcot being sold in Carsland for $115. WHAT?! Not to mention 'Canadian plaid' as we call it was all over the place! I have an entire album on facebook dedicated to how many people were wearing it in Califorina. And that album has almost 20 pictures! Who knew we were so fashionable!?
We also lucked out by visiting in October because it meant we could see the differences in how Disneyland decorated for Halloween compared to Walt Disney World. The giant pumpkin Mickey was my favourite. He smiled on one side and winked on the other.
Other great things from this trip: eating Walt's favourite meal (meatloaf) at Carnation Cafe. So yummy, however the PB&J soda was gross! Curiosity got the better of me // seeing World of Color which is now my new favourite Disney spectacular // running into Disney characters on the street without having to wait in line // Radiator Racers! What a fantastic ride! // spending time with my merchie friends // being able to walk inside Sleeping Beauty's castle // watching the Mad T Party // Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy // running into Samuel Larson from Glee in California Adventure
And now I'll leave you with a quote that sums up this trip and my program thus far:
"I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse." - Walt Disney
♥ Megan
This week I've decided to fill you in on all the fun things I've done in the past, oh... 7 months?!
I figured a good place to start was to share pictures and re-tellings of all the trips I've taken since coming to America. So up first is my spur of the moment trip to Vegas with my Norwegian friend Tom that happened all the way back in May! (yikes!)
Ever since meeting my friend Tom back in January he kept saying his one goal was to go to Vegas for his 21st birthday. I mean if you're going to turn legal in America why not go big (though turning legal is nothing new for him or I since our drinking ages are 18/19 in our respective countries)
We joked around for months about doing this (with a few of our other friends) but nothing serious came of it until one day Tom and his friend Erlend booked the trip. Well flash forward a month and Erlend left the program which left Tom with a ticket to Vegas but no one to go with. I felt bad because he wanted to go to Vegas and I didn't want him to go alone so I booked a last minute flight to Vegas and that was that.
While there we walked the strip, saw the shark exhibit at Mandalay, visited Gold & Silver Pawn shop which you might know better as the pawn shop from Pawn Stars and as a birthday present for Tom we went to see Peepshow which is Holly Madison's burlesque show. (She's the playboy bunny who was engaged to Hef)
The inside of Gold & Silver pawn amazed me because it's actually quite small inside but when you watch it on tv it looks so big. I guess that's the magic of television, however Holly Madison was just as beautiful in person as on tv so that was nice.
We also made an effort to go to LAX one night which was fun but my feet were killing me after parting til the wee hours of the morning. As for the gambling part of Vegas I didn't really partake in it because my flight had cost so much that I couldn't afford to just throw money away, but Tom did well.
We ended the trip with a visit to the top of the Eiffle tower and one last walk down the strip before we had to take our early morning flights. Even though the trip was a short one it was still nice to hang out with Tom because he ended up leaving the program to go back to school in Norway 2 weeks later. So this trip will always be a bitter-sweet memory for me, but one that was definitely a lot of fun!
Other memorable parts of the trip: watching Tom learning how to iron a shirt // "Hellz yeah" which was Tom's catchphrase the entire trip // the drinks from Coyote Ugly // the scary characters on the streets trying to make money // petting stingrays at Mandalay Bay // seeing items for sale in Gold & Silver pawn shop that were featured on the show // watching the fountains at The Bellagio and the Siren show at Treasure Island // Tom's birthday
♥ Megan
On Tuesday I was fortunate enough to be sitting in the audience of Epcot's Candlelight Procession while none other than Neil Patrick Harris narrated. Needless to say I was thrilled as I adore him in everything he does from Dr. Horrible to How I Met Your Mother! (Ok let's be serious I was fan-girling like crazy, but only on the inside. I didn't want to look like a freak.)
It was a beautiful event and I was amazed by how talented the choirs were, but what really caught my eye was the lighting and sound. Props go out to my friends in Entertainment tech because they did an amazing job!
Oh yeah and of course NPH was brilliant! I enjoyed how he was able to include his personality, like bobbing along with the songs even though he was telling the story of Jesus in a more serious manner.
He also opened the night with a cute story about how Disney was a great place for families and how he was a proud papa to see his kids go on their first Disney ride. Be still my little kid lovin' heart. Hearing him talk about his kids was so darn sweet!
However the coolest part for me happened the next day when I walked over to the French pavilion to visit my friends.
As I was walking on the main promenade a little kid named Gideon cut me off because he was chasing a leaf. I laughed a bit because the kid was adorable, and the comments his dad made were hilarious. Then I looked up and realized holy crap his dad is David Burtka! Then I looked to my left and 3 feet away, there was NPH standing with Harper on his shoulders. They were the cutest family and they looked like they were having so much fun. So I decided to not bother them for something as silly as a photo and instead ran over to my friend to gush about my celebrity spotting.
I love my job. haha.
Also narrating this week for Candlelight is Whoopi Goldberg but I don't think I'll be watching only because I saw it once this week. Maybe I'll check it out again once Gary Senise is narrating because who doesn't want to hear Lt. Dan telling the story of baby Jesus?!
Anyways, I'm off to eat at Sanaa (in the Wilderness Lodge villas) with some of my friends from the Mexican attraction! Nothing beats African/ Indian food fusion. So delicious!
Enjoy your day!
♥ Megan
As I mentioned yesterday, July 1st was my country's 145th birthday and I could not have be more excited to celebrate it Epcot. The folks at Disney decorated the pavilion with flags, the wonderful Merchies (people who work in the shops) were decked out from head to toe in patriotic swag, those who worked in the restaurant belted out our national anthem every hour, and my wonderful Attractions family were making magic by sharing stories about Canada and explaining to many guests just what Canada day was.
I had never been more proud to be part of such a great country, and I definitely showed it off with pride. Even when I was working adjacent to the American pavilion I was shouting out "Happy Canada Day!" to any and every Canadian walking by. It was wonderful to see just how patriotic the guests were too. Lots of red, white and maple leafs everywhere!
Here you can see a little hint of where I work. This is the exit area of the movie/ our kidcot station where kids get to come color Duffy bears. The two girls on either side of the picture are part of my Attractions family and those wonderful outfits they are sporting are what I wear on a daily basis. Be jealous all you non-lumberjacks!
The day started out with a bus ride to Epcot where more and more Canadians would hop on at every stop and each time we would scream out "Happy Canada Day!" We then walked over to our pavilion to check out all the festivities. Here we found a sign set up by Disney that invited us to celebrate Canada day by learning facts about the world's second largest country. Yup, that seems to be the only fact Disney ever teaches guests out about Canada; that we are really big.
I then visited with one of my all time favourite Lumberjacks Lindsay, who's blog you can read here if you are interested in reading more Disney experience blogs. She's a super awesome gal and I'm so glad I get to work with her even though we are in different areas. She's also a huge Whovian which is SO AWESOME! We constantly are quoting the show to each other which makes me happy.
Then of course my friends and I had to be super patriotic and sport the Canadian mickey ears.
After goofing around the merchandise cart we visited the shop to say hi to other merchies and to see Duffy decked out in Canadian swag. The Mickey hat really complimented his plaid lumberjack outfit. And if you're wondering what the sign on the left is for, that was to make sure none of the American's that we share our break trailer with would eat our food *cough*Soarin' employees *cough*. Every time we bring in food to celebrate with fellow Canadians we always catch them stealing from us. (It makes us sad. Get you're own food Soarin'!) In other news, the food they gave us was AMAZING. We had free pizza, pop, chips, mickey ice cream bars, ice cream sandwiches and Le Cellier (our restaurant and the 2nd highest rated restaurant in all 4 disney parks) catered us with free Cheddar cheese soup, mashed potatoes and pork tenderloin. I was amazed, and very very full by the end of the day. So much good food I couldn't stop eating!
Lastly we walked around the world then caught a friendship boat to meet up with our good friend Duffy who wished us all a happy canada day then wanted to personally escort us back to our country. Unfortunately there were other kids that wanted to meet Duffy so he motioned for us to text him later. Oh Duffy.
After that I headed back to the break trailer to get one last ice cream before heading off to the American Gardens to actually work, you know, because that's the reason why I'm at Disney haha.
Now I have today and tomorrow off to prepare myself for the craziness that will ensue for the 4th of July. While I am looking forward to all the hoopla that accompanies the event, and the super awesome fireworks that will happen, I am not looking forward to the surge of guests that will be running around the park. Nor am I looking forward to working across from the American pavilion for 6 hours that day. Oh well, wish me luck!!! And happy early Independence day to all my American friends!
♥ Megan
To all my fellow Canadians at home, in the blogosphere and here in Florida, I want to wish you all a Happy Canada Day! It's going to be a different feeling this year with the lack of fireworks but hopefully Disney can work their magic to do something special!
Today I'll be wandering around the Canadian pavilion until 3pm visiting all my favourite Canadians then I work at the Bon Jovi cover band concert from 4-9pm at the American Garden theatre. It's going to be a good day I can feel it!
And with that I leave you with one of my favourite beer commercials of all time:
█ ♥ █
These words have never rung more true than when I started working at Disney.
And as an added bonus I've decided to include this picture of me as a lumberjack!
Have a great day everyone!
♥ Megan
Hey guys, I thought I would share my updated bucket list with you every so often so you could see how much I'm accomplishing. So far I've accomplished 5 things and I've only been here a month! Not going to lie, I'm pretty proud of that even if they are the smaller items on my list.
1. Make friends with people from at least 3 different countries I've met so many fabulous people from all over the world including places like China, Norway and Mexico
2. Go to Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party
3. Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (again) Done on Feb. 2nd
4. Buy and trade Disney pins (I've never done this before)
5. Get a picture taken with the Mad Hatter, Alice, Sally, Jack Skellington, Rapunzel or Flynn
6. Attend Comic-con and hopefully meet my blog friends Stephanie & Kate in person (!!!)
7. Buy my first set of ears! Done on Feb 14th! They are super sparkly!
8. Order and try to eat the "kitchen sink" at Beaches & Cream
9. Go to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
10. Visit the new Fantasyland expansion when they open it
11. Do some voluntEARing
12. Eat something from every pavilion at Epcot
13. Learn to distinguish the difference between all the American bills (I'm going to miss coloured money so much) I HATE DOLLAR BILLS
14. Tell someone I'm a Canadian pop-star (How I Met Your Mother reference) - I haven't done this yet, but I have told a variety of young girls that I used to babysit Justin Beiber. Their reactions are priceless.
15. See Cirque de Soleil - La Nouba
16. Go on a behind the scenes tour of the Haunted Mansion
17. Save money!!!
18. Shop at Target (seems silly I know but I love Target and they aren't in Canada yet) I've done this but not for clothes yet. Just house supplies.
19. Drink around the world (at Epcot during the Food & Wine festival)
20. See Brave in theatres (SO EXCITED FOR THIS MOVIE!)
21. Vlog about my experiences
22. Take way too many photos for my own good
23. Have a Disney themed giveaway on the blog
24. Spend a nice day at the beach (and wear lots of sunscreen)
25. Go on a Disney Cruise
So there you have it, my accomplishments thus far. Now all I need are some visitors! Who's coming down to see me?! haha, I kid, I kid... kind of.
Have a magical day!
♥ Megan
