My First Days at Disney!

These first days have been very busy! My first day was filled with paperwork, meetings, and unpacking. My intense training will last a couple of weeks, with both classroom and park instruction. We also have training in the Kid's Discovery Clubs and animal areas. Disney really stresses above all else, that safety, courtesy, show, efficiency, and guest service are very important. We all had to take Traditions, which is a course all cast members (employees) must take before they can start their first day of on the job training. In this class, you learn about Disney basics. The class was pretty fun and Mickey Mouse himself showed up to give us our cast member name tags. My on the job training is filled with lots of new information. I received a huge binder full of information, such as department guidelines, animal facts, etc... that I have to memorize. I can tell that by the end of training, my brain might explode! I also got my costume, which I can also wear with khaki cargo shorts. It's pretty cool. I feel like I am going to learn a ton during this internship! It will definitely help me in my future career.

Goodbye Tennessee, Hello Orlando

This past Wednesday, my mom, fiancee Zac, brother Zac, and myself drove all of the way to Orlando from Tennessee. The trip took about 17 hours. The next morning I checked into Cumberland Park Apartments, my new home for the next 7 months. This is housing through Disney for their professional interns. I live in a two bedroom apartment. My roommate is Kim and my apartment mates are Cassie and Jackie. They are also Conservation Education presenters. They are great girls and we all seem to have a lot in common. It has been very confusing these first couple of days, learning how to navigate around the area. I am all settled in now, here is a picture of my side of the bedroom. During the internship, get some pretty cool perks! I get discounts just about everywhere and I get free admission to all of the Disney parks! Great way to spend my off time!

What will I be doing?

As a conservation education presenter, my main purpose is to engage guests in conversations and activities that promote and focus on conservation awareness and action. I will be on a team of 20 other interns. Our day includes rotating between the 6 Kid's Discovery Clubs located throughout the Animal Kingdom, presenting conservation messages and information about many animals in the park, presenting invertebrates to guests, and many other things. I will be working full time, and about five days a week. The Kid's Discovery Clubs each focus on different aspect of conservation. I am very excited about getting to wake up and work at Disney every day. I have wanted to work at the Animal Kingdom since I was a kid, so Iam thrilled to have this opportunity.

Living Arrangements

Disney interns have the option of living in Disney sponsored housing at Cumberland Apartments or securing housing elsewhere. Although Cumberland will be a little more expensive than other places, I chose to live there because I will be near other interns. At Cumberland, interns will be sharing 2 bedroom apartments with 2 interns per bedroom, for a total of 4 interns an apartment. Cumberland is also fully furnished, including everything from furniture to kitchen appliances, pretty much all we have to bring are our bedding and clothes. At first, Yammer (the Disney intern social networking site) was being blown up with posts about what you are looking for in a roommate. We all posted information about what kind of person we are, what kind of people we want as roommates, our habits, goals, etc... Since my internship lasts a month longer than everyone elses, the wanted all of the Conservation Education Presenters to live together so we won't have to move when the other interns leave. After looking for roommates for a month or so, I finally made my decision on who I will be living with. My roommate will be Kim. She recently graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Biology - Ecology/Evolution. She is from Texas and enjoys doing a lot of the same things that I like to do. My other apartmentmates will be Cassie and Jackie, who also share a lot of common interests with me. I look forward to building great friendships not only with my roomates, but with the other interns as well. We get free entrance to all of the Disney parks, as well as a lot of other benefits, so I am sure we will have lots of stuff to do on our time off.

My First Few Days

Less than a month before I begin my Disney adventure! The list of things to do before I leave is steadily growing. I have received all of the information I need for the big move to Orlando through many emails and the social networking site for Animal Program and Environmental Initiatives interns, called Yammer. I talk with a lot of interns on this site and have made many new friendships. Everyone on there shares the same passion for animals and Disney as I do. I will be leaving home very early in the morning on January 11th. I check into my apartment on the 12th as well as check into the casting center (human resources) to fill out lots of paper work and receive more information about the great amount of training I have ahead of me. Also that day, there will be a social networking event for interns so we can all get to meet each other and hang out. My mom and fiance Zac will be coming down with me when I move there and stay until the morning of the 14th. I know I will be very sad when they leave, and probably be homesick for quite awhile, but I think that this internship is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I would be crazy not to take.

Dreaming of Disney

"If you can dream it, you can do it" -Walt Disney

So my Disney adventure is quickly approaching. I am becoming very excited! Although I will miss my friends and family at home, I think this experience will be totally worth it. I will be interning from January to June (7 months). I can't wait to make many memories there that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I have loved Disney for as long as I can remember and I can't believe I will actually be getting to work at Disney World! I will be a Conservation Education Presenter intern at the Animal Kingdom. I hope to use this internship to help me get a job in the Conservation/Wildlife education field. I will be making frequent posts about my internship here and I hope you enjoy learning about my adventures!