'Love is a song that never ends' - Bambi

I know I said in the last post that next time I post I would probably be posting from Orlando. But I lied, sorry! I had things to say - a couple updates to give, and some things to get off my chest.

To start off, my updates! 

So, I FINALLY bought my insurance (after about 4 months of putting it off) which is a huge weight off my shoulders. I know, I know, I shouldn't have put it off for so long, BUT I wanted to make sure I was getting the policy that best suited me, and that I could afford. A lot of people ended up going with Covermore for their insurance, as Covermore had the most comprehensive policy, with unlimited medical an unlimited dental. However, when I went to flight centre to see if they would do a price match for Covermore with the OneCover policy, they wouldn't do it as to do the price match it had to be 'apples for apples', that is, the policies had to be identical, which they weren't. So I ended up going for the OneCover policy, which still has unlimited medical and emergency medical services, it just doesn't have unlimited dental, it only has $500 dental. Which is ok for me, as I have never had a history or dental problems, and I have been told by my dentist that the onyl issue would be if my wisdom teeth came through, he then informed me, that I should be ok with that, as there appears to be enough room for my wisdom teeth.

Secondly, I bought some of my 'business attire' to wear for Traditions and for my classes today! I know it would probably be cheaper to buy it in the USA but, I didn't want to have to worry about it for traditions, as I only have one day when I arrive before traditions. So I just wanted to get it organised before I left, so it's one less thing to deal with when I get there! 

I bought a dark grey (almost black) buisness style skirt (the correct length as required by Disney) and two cream buisness style short sleeved blouses (and of course, they meet the Disney Look requirments). I also bought some new black slipon/flats that I can wear as my 'business style' shoes, as I don't want to be wearing heels all that time!

While I was shopping I also bought a power adaptor! I think the best thing for me to do is just buy the one adaptor, and then take my power board that I use at home, so I can plug in all my Australian appliances with just the one adaptor.

Okay, so updates over and done with. Just a few more things to say!

I decided that I needed to seriously start thinking about packing and what to take, and what to leave behind. And I realised that I'm absolutely terrifed to leave, don't get me wrong, I'm so excited that I cant even find the words to explain it, but I'm really scared at the same time. I suppose the reality that I'm leaving so soon finally hit, especially on Christmas Day, when I realised I won't be with my family next Christmas. It's just going to be such a big change in lifestyle, and the reality of that definately hit me.

I'm so excited to do the program, and to experience the American way of life, and to see everything America has to offer, and I honestly cannot wait to get there, it's just the leaving part that scares me. Saying good bye to my friends, that's what scares me. Being at the airport, and saying goodbye to my parents and my sisters, and my grandma, and boarding that plane, leaving my entire life behind, that part scares me too. But at the same time, I'm so excited, and so ready to experience this great adventure, the adventure of a life time. I can't wait.

9 days til lift off!

abbiej xoxo

"Darling, forever is a long, long time, and time has a way of changing things" - Big Mama, Fox and the Hound

WOW! So hard to believe that 6 months ago I was applying for the Disney ICP program, and now, in 2 weeks time I'll be getting on that plane to spend 12 months working at the most magical place on Earth!

This year has gone crazy fast, I hope next year isn't over as quickly as this one!

In terms of Disney, nothing much has been happening! Had dinner with Amy, Cory, Jess and Daniel last night, and watched Daniel's icehockey game (getting a taste of one of America's favourite pass times!) Which was good fun!

Also, the other day I got my Disney hoodie in the mail! Which, by the way, looks amazing !!

Well, that's really all I have for now! Next time I post I will probably be posting from Orlando! YAY!!

14 days to go!

abbie j xoxo

"The very things that hold you down are going to lift you up." - Timothy Mouse

WOW, two posts in two days?! God I'm good at this whole blogging thing!

But, I had to post today, becausee something very exciting happened!!

I received my ICP tshirt came in the mail!

YAY! 21 days to go!

abbiej xoxo

"A dream is a wish your heart makes" - Cinderella

EXCITING NEWS!

One of current Aussie Cast members recently posted on ouy facebook group saying that our job locations are listed up on their hub! So everyone has been bugging them and bugging them since they posted that on our wall for them to look up their job locations for them.
And I found out that I will be working on the East Food Stands in the Magic Kingdom!
So, everyday when I go to work I will be able to see Cinderella's Castle (the BEST part of Disney World!)

So, because I'll be working on the East side of the Magic Kingdom, I've been told that means I'll either be working in Fantasyland or Tomorrowland! YAYY!

Sooooooooo exciting!

22 days to go!

abbiej xoxo

"Someday I will be a beautiful butterfly and then everything will be better." - Heimlich, A Bugs Life

Okay, so I definately owe a massive apology for the severe neglect of my blog lately! Wow I'm going to struggle with it next year! But to be honest, I have good reasons for not blogging recently!
I've been working full time at one job since I finished uni for the year, and I've still been working nights and weekends at the other, so I've hardly had any free time at all!
So yes, I'm very sorry for not blogging!

But since my last blog (which was so long ago!) not too much on the Disney front has been happening, I've just been saving like crazy so that I can do a little bit of travelling while I'm in the states. Last weekend I went to Sydney for a motoebike expo I was working at, and was rather disappointed that I didn't get to meet any of the Sydney Disney kids! I was really hoping I would have some free time to meet them, but I was too busy working the whole time I was there!

And, I'm completely shattered that I've because I've been working so much lately I've been missing out on so many little catch ups that a few of us do every Wednesday. But last week, I finally had my Wednesday night free (YAY!) and met Liz, Lauren, Amy and Jess at Fountain Gate to see the new twilight movie! And Friday night (last night) we had dinner at a restaurant called La Camera at Southgate, which was supposed to be one of our big 'Melbourne Meet Ups' but so many people couldn't come so it ended up being only 6 of us there (Liz, Lauren, Suzanne, Me, and two newbies, Clare and Allan) and after dinner we went to the Lindt Chocolate Cafe for hot chocolates! yummmo!

So as I said, not much has been really happened in terms of Disney lately, all I have left to do is organise my insurance (which I'm doing tomorrow) I will probably be going with itreck, who will cover me for 13months (which will cover me if i decide to stay in the states for a little bit after my program finishes) for $925! Once my insurance is done I'm all sorted!

34 days to go!

abbiej xoxo

"Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten" - Lilo and Stitch

So, very very sorry for the neglect of my blog lately! But really, there hasn't been much happening in terms of disney lately!

Since I got my visa, everythings been pretty quiet actually. I still have to get my insurance organised, which I really need to get onto ASAP!

But apart from that there isn't too much going on!

Oh! Actually, there's been a little bit. I paid my $100 assessment fee to Disney, and was able to register for some classes to do while I'm there! 

I'm enrolled in the Exploring Disney Heritage class which sounds pretty awesome!

And I'm on the waiting list to get into one of the professional development courses, one on security, which considering I want to get into the AFP is something that really interests me! Except, I won't know until I get there if I'm accepted into the course or not, but fingers crossed!

So that's really all for now! Sorry again for the neglect of my blog! God knows how I'm going to stay on top of it next year!

48 days to go!

abbiej xoxo

'I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!' - The Fox and the Hound

So! Very exciting news!

Matt and I had our visa interviews this morning!

And after all the stress of dealing with all our documents, and organising our supporting documents, and booking our interview our visa's have been approved! 

So now we wait for 2-3 working days for our visas and our official documents to get sent back to us! :)

SUPER EXCITING! Getting my visa makes everything just seem so much more real! One step closer! Now all that's left is to organise my insurance, and then time to save some money!

72 days to go!

abbiej xoxo

"Let your heart guide you, it whispers, so listen carefully" - The Land Before Time

Plenty of updates on the Disneyfront at the moment!

Apologies again for the neglact of my blog, but things have been pretty busy lately!

To begin with, we've had a fair few little catch ups lately! A few of us, Amy, Cory, Jess Airey, and Matt have decided to make a Wednesday night dinner and/or movie a regular thing. A few weeks ago Matt and I headed down to Karingal to meet the others, we had dinner at hogsbreath and then went and saw the new Johnny English movie (which was hilarious!). Last Wednesday we went down to Karingal again, and had dinner at RedFire, and then went for pancakes for dessert afterwards! :)

This week (tonight actually) we either going to Southland or Chadstone for dinner, and possibly a movie, depends on what we feel like! Oh, and as of this week, Liz will be joining us every Wednesday too!

Speaking of Liz, we have our accomodation booked for our first night in Orlando! I know earlier on, I said that Matt and I decided to stay at a Disney Resort, and we decided on Disney's Pop Century Resort, but since then, we decided to share accomodation with Liz as well, so for the room to work out cheaper, as there's now 3 of us, we're now staying at Disney's All-Star Sports Resort! Which looks amazing! So now that there's 3 of us, we're all paying $50 for the night. Which is pretty good considering it's a Disney resort!

Okay, accomodation covered, what else .. oh yeah! Flights! I now have a travel buddy! Which is exciting, I don't have to endure the 15 hour flight by myself! His name is Ivan, and he goes to RMIT too! We've met once, but been speaking a bit, hopefully i get to know him a bit better before the flight, considering we requested our seats together! But so far he seems like a really nice guy, so all should be good! And Liz is now on my flight from LAX to Orlando! So we'll get to Orlando together at 6.30am, and then get a complimentary transfer from the airport to the All-Star Sports resort. We decided that we would spend the day shopping, as girls do! But we realised that we'll need some things for out apartments, like bedding and stuff like that. And Orlando is famous for all its outlet malls! So we will be stocking up our new wardrobes!

Oh! We had our Melbourne Meet-up recently! It wasn't as good as expected, because so many people bailed at the last minute! Which was a bit disappointing. But it was still a good day! There was about 10 of us at lunch, and after lunch we went bowling and then some people had to head home, so the few of us that stuck around went and saw a movie to kill some time before we headed to Stalactites for dinner. Which fell through, because they wouldn't seat us without everyone being there, and we were waiting on Jess. Which was rather frustrating, because they let us in last time when we were waiting on people! So anyway, we went for a wander to find somewhere else to eat, and ended up at TacoBills. After dinner, we dropped Luke off at WahWah Lounge, and then decided to have coffee. I almost got us lost, well, I was taking us to a coffee place/bar and I couldn't remember where it was! So we settled for a place at Melbourne Central which ended up being good! All in all, it was a pretty good day, even though so many people bailed!

FINALLY! To the best of news! Finally got around to getting my Visa sorted! So, I've paid my $35 SEVIS fee, completed my online DS-160 application and printed out all my confirmation pages, paid the $14 fee to get a pin to use on the VisaPoint service. Went through the whole process, all the way to the point where I had to book my appointment. And then, on the website it said the closest available date was Dec19th :/ This was very worrying. So Matt and I both sent emails asking what was going on. After waiting a couple stressful days for a reply, worrying that we may not be able to get our Visas intime, we both got replys, saying there was an issue with the website! So, after all the stressing, we both got our interviews booked for Oct26th! Yay! 

Okay, so I think that's all I have to say for now! 

79 days til Disney!! yeaaahhhhhboy!

abbiej xoxo

'If you keep on believing, the dreams that you wish will come true' - Cinderella.

So todays the day! Finally got my welcome pack delivered !!

Although, it didn't come in the purple folder we were all expecting, it made it here all the same!
So, in my welcome pack, I recieved an official congratulations letter which had all the information about my  jobs while im there, the roles I will play and my pay rates for each job :)
Along with the welcome letter, we recieved our VISA forms, completed and signed by Disney, ready for us to take with us to our VISA interviews! :) We were also given instructions on how to proceed with our VISA applications. We also got an I-94 arrival card, for us to present to customs when we arrive in America. This just outlines some of our personal information, our flight details and our VISA details so when we get to America they don't send us home!
Along with all our official documents, we also got a little booklet regarding the Disney Look!

In this book, it provides all the information we need to know about our appearance and our look whilst we're working at Disney!

SO, know that I've finally received all my VISA documents from Disney, I can now go ahead with booking a VISA interview and hopefully getting my VISA!
And once all that is done, I have to get my insurcance sorted and then I'll be all set to go !!

92 days to go!
abbiej xoxo

'Even miracles take a little time' - The Fairy Godmother

Exciting times on the Disney front! Our welcome packs have been sent out and have started arriving! With people from New Zealand bragging all over our facebook group that they've received theirs! This means for us Aussie's they're just around the corner!!!!!!!

SO EXCITING!

94 days to go!!

abbiej xoxo

'It means no worries, for the rest of your days, it's our problem free, philosophyyyy, hakuna matata' - Timon and Pumbaa

Hey guys! So it seems that everytime i post i realise that i've been really neglecting my blog, but to be honest there's really not much happening on the disney front lately. Although, with the first of October being tomorrow, heres hoping that our welcome packs are just around the corner! Considering we've heard news over facebook that they have been sent out! And some people in the American group have been starting to recieve theirs! I just can't wait to get my purple folder!! 

So as i mentioned in my previous post, we were having a few little group meet ups at RMIT in the city, which were good! It was great to see some of the others and have a little catch up and gossip about all things disney!

We also had a mini 'south east melbourne' meet up this wednesday just gone, the 28th, there was about 10 of us there, Matt, Jess Airey, Simone, Amy, Cory, C.Voon, Josh, George(ina), the two new kids, Michael and Liz and myself of course!

We met in the afternoon at Chadstone shopping centre and saw the Lion King in 3D! And it was amazing, as expected! I had honestly forgotten how good it was! And the epic battle between Scar and Simba was so much better in 3D. I must admit though, i cried on the inside when Mufasa died (as i always do!) and we all struggled to not sing along to all the catchy tunes! 'i just cant waittttttt ... to be kingg!'

After the movie (which did i mention, was amazing!?) we headed to Nando's for a bite to eat, and heard all the goss and some tricks of the trade about Disney from our new favourite expert, Liz, who's sister has done the program twice! Liz told us all about the things we should try, the rides we should go on, the things we should visit, a few little secrets about Disneyworld that the public wouldn't know (such as that the first family or people to visit Mickey's house gets a guided tour from Mickey himself! And that all the Disneyworld parks are linked together by a series of underground tunnels! And, that if there's any merchandise that can't be sold in the stores due to defects (super tiny defects) they are sent to a seperate store where Disney employees can purchase them for 95% off!) she told us all about the housing and our welcome packs! It was great to have a little bit more insight into the wonderful world of Disney!
After dinner we decided to head over to Pancake Parlour for dessert, was i might add was a great idea!
We each got drinks and shared 'The Collossal', which was a sundae, served in a giant fishbowl glass, with vanilla and chocolate icecream, strawberries, bananas, marshmellows, wafer biscuits, nuts and chocolate fudge!

 We decided we needed to get a practice session in before we tackled Disney's famous 'Kitchen Sink' Sundae!

YUM!

Dinner and dessert was really great, as we were able to sit down and get to know each other a lot better! I think it's so good that all the Melbournian's are all getting along so well, and are all so keen to hang out with each other! I think we're all going to become such good friends (well i hope so because there's a chance we'll end up living together!)
I really can't wait until our next Melbourne meet up on October 15th! When even more of us are able to be there! Well, i suppose that's all i have to say for now! I cant pretty much guarentee i'll be posting again soon (assuming we get our welcome packs soon!)

97 days til lift off!

abbiej xoxo

If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you! - Winnie the Pooh

Okay, now I definately feel like I've been neglecting my blog! I haven't posted in two weeks! Although, in my defence, nothing has really been happening on the Disney front lately.
The only news in regards to disney I have is .. um .. oh! I paid off my flights! Well technically they were already paid for in full when I booked them, but on my mothers credit card! So, I have paid off the $1400 entirely to my mother. And now, the hardcore saving begins!
Four weeks of uni left for the year (plus exams of course) and then full time work for 3 months! I do believe I will not have a social life once uni is finished!

Oh! A little bit if news on the Disney front actually! I completely forgot about this!
So, recently I discovered how many people that are going to the states with me go to RMIT! So, a couple of weeks ago (just after our Melbourne meet up) we had a little RMIT meet up! :)
There was only four of us there, Shae, Simone, Josh and myself but it was good fun! Getting to know each other a bit better before we head off to the other side of the world to live together for a year!
Also, next week we're planning a couple more little RMIT dates, and we're being joined by a few people from Melbourne uni, and Matt is going to try and come down from ACU as well!
So, next week will be full of Disney! Having little catch ups on Wednesday AND Friday! YAY!

And while I'm on the topic of catch ups and getting to know everyone, I also found out that there's a fair few of us that all live in the South East Suburbs of Melbourne, so we're having our own little catch up in a couple weeks time I think!
ANDDDD. Cory and myself are organising the Melbourne Meet Up #3! Which we will be having hopefully in early October. Depending on when everyone is available to come! So, I'm just a little bit excited about that!

110 days to go!!
abbiej xoxo

"I knowed I made a good choice", "In what?", "My best friend!" - Mator

So last night we finally had our second Melbourne meet up!

I drove into the city with Matt Cannon (who, it turns out, lives like 2 minutes from me!) and got to know him a bit on the drive in.

And then we met the others, Gemma, Christine, Suzanne, Keilan, Tamara, Kim, Amy, Cory, Josh, Luke, Georgina, Shae and Jess at Stalactites restaurant for souvlakis!

It was so good to finally sit down and actually meet everyone in person, instead of just chatting over fb all the time! We talked about our courses this year, our work, housing for next year, and of course, everything Disney!

After Stalactites some of us went to San Churros for desserts, which was definately a good idea!

Also, its good to know that everyone is really nice, and its a really good group to be going away with :)

I can't wait to meet a few more Melbournians that are going but couldnt make it to the meet up.

I'm definately looking forward to getting to know every one better in the months leading up to Disney, and I'm pretty sure we're all going to be great friends by the time we head over there!

124 days til Disney!

abbiej xoxo

Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust! - Tinker Bell

Just a brief update! 

Not too much has been happening lately on the Disney front, although I received an email back from yummy jobs saying they got my police check! So I'm just that little bit closer now!

Having a meet up with all the Melbourne ICP Cast members this Saturday! Which I can't wait for! It's going to be amazing to meet them all in person! I can't wait!

127 days til Disney!

abbiej xoxo

Police Check!

Exciting news!

Received my police check back today! And suprise suprise, I'm no criminal!
Clearly I managed to hide my 'life of crime' past well enough!
So, tomorrow I'll be scanning it, and emailing it off to Yummy Jobs for them to pass it on to Disney for me!

Apart from that, I don't really have much news! I sort of wish I did! Oh! No, wait I do have a bit of news :)
In a couple of weeks, we're having another Melbourne meet up! And since I missed the first one, I'm super excited to be able to go this time! I cant wait to put some faces to those facebook pictures and names that I've gotten to know! Will be great to get to know everyone better before we head off to the other side of the  world together! I think that I'll get along really well with everyone :) especially at our meet up, because everyone's going to be so excited to meet each other and to talk about everything disney!

136 days to go!

abbiej xoxo

Update!

I feel like I've been neglecting my blog a fair bit lately (considering I haven't posted in almost a week!)
So I decided to provide a brief update of whats been going on in regards to Disney, which recently, hasn't been too much!

I've been stressing out a bit about my police check, only because some people have been saying its taken a while for them to get theirs back, but others have received them back a week after they sent them. And also, some people were having trouble regarded fingerprints, which I don't really understand how that coule be a problem when we were told we didn't require fingerprints? But hopefully it all works out!

I also received the latest email from disney, regarding the 'next steps' we have to take, which just really outline where we had to send our police checks to when we got them back. So fingers crossed I get mine back in time as it has to be scanned and emailed off to 'Yummy Jobs' by the 15th of September.

My accomodation for when I arrive in Orlando is pretty much organised, Matt Cannon and myself decided to start off our Disney experience a little earlier than everyone else, and have chosen to stay in one of the Disney resorts when we arrive! I'm fairly sure we both arrive on the 6th of January, so we will only be there for one night, but we figured why not experience a little bit of Disney before we get settled into our apartments and start working!
So we were looking at the cheapest option with the Disney accomodation, and are most likely going to be booking a room at Disney's Pop Century Resort which looks pretty damn cool!
Hopefully we'll get that booked sometime soon!

Well, that's all for now! I'll keep you updated on my police check, emails from Disney and all that information! Can't wait to get my Welcome Pack in October! It will all feel so much more real and official then!

141 days til disney!

abbiej xoxo

Flights & Police Check Update!

Exciting stuff!
Finalised, booked, and paid in full for my flights!

Itinerary (Air New Zealand):
Jan 5th - Depart Melbourne 11.45am.
Jan 5th - Arrive Auckland 5.15pm.
Jan 5th - Depart Aucland 7.15pm.
Jan 5th - Arrive LAX 10.30am.
Jan 5th - Depart LAX 10.50pm.
Jan 6th - Arrive Orlando (MCO) - 6.34am!

Now all my flights are booked it seems so much more real !!
Also, sent off my police check today!
One step closer to Disney!

146 days to go!

abbie j xoxo

Flights & Police Check

So, on Sunday, I booked my flights to LAX!
Although, I was advised by my travel agent that it isn't a good idea to book my flights without having my visa organised yet, but then she did say the flights would get a lot more expensive between now and October (when I will be receiving the paperwork from Disney required for my visa interview), so she let me go ahead and book them!

Itinerary:
Flying with Air New Zealand
Jan 5th - Departing Melbourne 11.45am.
Jan 5th - Arrive Auckland 5.15pm.
Jan 5th - Depart Auckland 7.15pm.
Jan 5th - Arrive LAX 10.30am.

Also, haven't finalised my connecting flight from LAX to Orlando, but I have been told it's best for me to book with an airline that has and interline agreement with Air New Zealand, so I don't have to pay the excess baggage fee's that would apply for a domestic flight within USA.
So I had my travel agent have a look for me, and turns out Air New Zealand only has an interline agreement with United Airways.
Which means, the only flights available for me through United Airlines from LAX to Orlando (as I land in LA on the 5th of Jan, and have to be in Orlando by the 7th) are at 10-11pm on the 5th landing in Orlando at 6am on the 6th, or a 10am flight on the 6th, landing in Orlando at 8pm on the 6th.
And because I want to be in Orlando for our group dinner on the 6th, I'll most likely be heading to my travel agent tomorrow to book the night flight on the 5th, landing in Orlando at 6am on the 6th! Although, that does mean I'll be spending 12 hours at LAX, but I'm sure I'll find a way to keep myself busy for that long!

I also headed to Australia Post today to get my $43 money order to send off with my police background check, which I will be putting in the post box tomorrow morning! Fingers crossed I don't have a criminal record that I don't know about!

148 days until disney!

abbie j xoxo

Relief!

So, I've been stressing out majorly lately, as a lot of other ICP cast members have been getting personalised welcome emails from disney, providing a checklist of important things we need to do before we head to the states, and with a welcome/information video, which I, among some other cast members hadn't received!

But finally, I got it! Now that I've finally received my official welcome from Disney International, it all feels so much more official!

149 days til Disney!

abbie j xoxo

The Countdown Begins!

So, I figured I'd give this whole blogging thing a shot to keep everyone up to date about my time working at Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida.

It all started up when STB came to the RMIT city campus and presented us with an information session about Disney International's International College Program (ICP).
After hearing about all the exciting things that people can do at Disneyworld I knew that I wanted to go there! (actually, to be honest, I knew I wanted to go there before the info session!)
When STB announced they would be conductiong interviews the very same day I was wrapped! I couldn't believe I was going to get a chance at working at Disneyworld in Florida!
So, the interview went ahead nice and smoothly, and then came the waiting game. We were told we would be notified of the results from our interviews 2-3 weeks later.
And two weeks later the email came, I was with my friend Alex from uni, walking down Swanston St, when my blackberry beeped at me, as soon as I read the words, 'Congratulations, you have been accepted into the Disney International College Program', I could not contain my excitedment!
I screamed and jumped around and went crazy! And received all sorts of weird looks from everyone, including a very embarrassed friend!

From then, I went into saving mode (although this did have to be postponed as I was heading over to England and the Greek Islands for 4 weeks!).
But I landed back in Melbourne on July 22nd from Europe, and then started saving!
My flights to LAX were booked and paid in full today, flying with Air Newzealand on the 5th of January via Auckland, and then heading to Orlando, to be assigned to my housing complex on the 7th of January!

Up until today, I couldn't believe it was real. Had I really been accepted to work at Disneyworld, Orlando?! Somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming!
But now, the flights are booked. It's real, this is actually happening!
Looking forward to getting my welcome pack from Disney International in October, so I can finalise my insurance and my visa, and then i'll be one step closer to the experience of a lifetime!

151 days until disney!

abbie j xoxo