My Disney Summer Montage :']

Pre work character hunt

So as the other week was long lost friends week, Tarin, Jess and I decided we would go character hunting on Friday, I had work at 5:45pm but they were both off for the day. We got to Magic Kingdom at 11:30am and as I had my work stuff with me we headed to the utiladors before character hunting. We spotted Mary Poppins on the way backstage so had a quick cheeky picture with her :)

After dropping my bags off we went to meet the long lost friends, we only managed to meet the Brer gang and Chicken little and Abby Mallard before they went in for the day :( So we went to meet Snow White as she was also on Main Street and didn’t have much of a queue yet :)

We then headed over to Pinnochio’s for some lunch. After lunch we went to find Marie as she was in Fantasyland this week due to the long lost friends being in her normal hang out. We found her next to the fastpass machines for dumbo in storybrook circus :)

After visiting Marie, we went over to our stomping ground, Tomorrowland :)

We went to meet buzz and of course ride buzz lightyear and I managed to max out for the first time :)

we then went over to adventureland to meet Tinkerbell in her grotto :)
Her friend Rosetta was with her too so we got a picture with her as well, even though I had no idea who she was :’]

After meeting the fairies we went over to Aladdin’s carpets which is where Tarin worked on her last programme and decided to ride the ride as I hadn’t been on it before :)

We then made a dash to splash mountain to cool down as it was super hot. I then had to go and start work, so we decided to go character hunting the next day too to see the long lost friends we had missed :)

So the next day we got the bus at the exact same time and headed back to Magic Kingdom for round two :)
We went to see the last of the long lost friends straight away, Robin Hood and Louis 

We then decided to pop into the Town Square theatre and meet Mickey and the Princess’

We then headed over to Be Our Guest to get some lunch at the quick service, I had the beef sandwich and a lemon cupcake, it was really nice :)
After lunch we went to meet Tiana, Woody, Jessie, Donald and Goofy before work :)

My last few days off

So on Tuesday we went to a Character breakfast in the Grand Floridian. The hotel is so pretty and character breakfasts are such a good idea, just character dining in general, you get to stop to eat and the characters come to you, so no waiting in lines :)

The breakfast was amazing too, ate sooo much food that we didn’t need to eat until like 9pm :’]
After the character breakfast we headed over to Magic Kingdom for a day of character hunting :)

After character hunting, we headed back to the commons and popped into Epcot on the way back to ride spaceship earth

We went and joined in with grocery bingo, which I sucked at :’] After a while we gave up so headed to downtown disney, we went over to ghiradelli’s and got some ice cream as we were getting really hungry.

After that we went to the dine in theatre to see despicable me 2, such a good movie :)

The next day I went to Hollywood studios with Tarin, Jack and Jess from work.

After Hollywood Studios, I headed over to the Polynesian, to meet Charlie, Rachel, Joy, Gemma and Sarah for dinner at Ohana. We got there slightly early so went and sat on the beach for a while, roasted marshmallows and watched the water pageant.

After the beach we headed up to Ohana, the meal was amazing, and we ate sooo much, We could also see wishes from the table and they play the music into the restaurant :)

Overall I had an amazing 2 days off :) 5 days of work and then I have 2 more days 

A day at the other park :']

went to universal for the first time today, and it was such a good day.

We went straight to island of adventure and hulk, where we accidentally got in the single rider queue, but it only took 10 minutes so we had time to do doctor doom before our lockers ran out which was good. We then headed round to the log flume (the name escapes me) but the queue wasn’t moving as it had broken down, so we left that and went on popeye instead which was only a 15 minute queue. I didn’t wear a mac so got absolutely drenched, so glad I took spare clothes with me or I would have been soggy all day :’]
we decided to stick with the water rides before lunch so headed to Jurassic park and again only had a 10 minute or so wait. 
After lunch we made our way to hogsmeade, which is the best thing ever! we queued for the harry potter ride for over an hour, but it was so worth it, half way through the ride it stopped (the bit with the spiders if you’ve been on and know where I mean) it only stopped for like 30 seconds, but because of that they let us go again which was amazing, so we got to ride twice from a 60 minute wait :D
After that we headed down through the shops, and experienced Olivanders as well, before we left hogsmeade we went on dragon challenge. Bit let down that they don’t do them in sync anymore, but it was still okay, and we rode it twice so we could do both the red and blue sides. 
Before leaving Island of adventure we did poseidon, the seuss-osel (or something) and spiderman. By this point it was about 7pm so we decided to head over to studios for a little while.
We headed straight to the mummy, which was pretty much a walk on :) the queue was so short that they let us ride again without going out and coming back in which was good of them, and we got front row the second time :D
After the mummy we went to rip rockit, which was only a 20 minute queue, however when we got to the front of the queue the ride broke down, like full evac and everything. They told us it could take up to 50 minutes to reset so to check back later, so I casually asked that as we had queued all the way for this if there was any chance we could get an express pass to come back later. Instead the woman asked us which ride we wanted to go on next, we told her transformers, so she took us over there and we got free express for that instead which was amazing as we queued for less than 5 minutes for a ride that opened 5 days ago and had a 100 minute queue at least for most of the day :’]
After transformers we decided to get tea and go to try rip rockit again, this time we had a 30 minute wait, but we actually managed to get on the ride :D
By this point it was gone 10pm so the park was officially closed, but on the way out we noticed the queue for Minion Mayhem was still outside the building, and as the show wasn’t full the lady let us join the end to catch the last show of the day, again skipping the need for queuing, we had avoided the queue as it had been 70 minutes long the whole time we were there, and again only ended up queuing 5 minutes at the end of the day :D

Had an amazing day, and a pretty jammy day at that :’] can’t wait to go back to universal next week :D

Off to Magic Kingdom tomorrow before work :) Yay :D

My ears have been earnt :D

I am now a fully fledged cast member, which is a scary prospect as I no longer have someone watching me making sure I'm doing everything right all the time, but it's also rather cool :)
Yesterday I had my first shift in rotation and I pulled buzz rotation, the shift went okay, had a few hiccups along the way, but most of them weren't because of me which was good :)
I got to watch wishes outside buzz as I was on FastPass return and when we were closing COP I saw the ghost :'] or at least we think we saw the ghost. I also got a lift home which was great, as it saved me from having to sit on a cramped bus for 45 minutes and we had a rave on the way home in the car which was fun :D
Successful first proper day if I do say so myself :']

Hollywood Studios Day :)

So today was my first full day in a park as ever since we got our passes I have been working every day :)
We decided to go to Hollywood Studios for the day, we met at 11:10 to get the bus to the boardwalk so we could catch the boat to studios. We arrived at Studios at gone 12, and found that there were still fast passes available for Toy Story Mania, so we picked up some of them, even though they weren’t valid until 8pm.

After we got our fast passes, Rachel came to join us and we decided to go on Backlot tour, the actual tour part wasn’t working though, but we still got to see the special effects show which was good.
On the way out of the tour we saw that there was a lights, camera, action show about to begin so we went there and watched that before lunch.
On the way to find somewhere to eat, we decided to pop into a full service restaurant to try and get a reservation for the evening, which we managed to do, at 8:40pm same time as Toy Story!! but we decided to risk it :’]
After getting lunch at the ABC commisionary, we headed over towards tower of terror to get a fast pass for it for later, and went on Rock n Rollercoaster, we decided to go in the single rider queue, which I’m glad we did as it took 20 mins instead of 70 mins :)
After that we went to watch Beauty and the Beast before our Fast Pass time for tower of terror :)

It was really good, and short enough so that little kids didn’t get bored, they included all the main songs and moments from the film :)

After that we headed on tower of terror with our fast passes, then on Great Movie Ride, Star Tours, American Idol experience and The Little Mermaid before heading to tea.
We finished dinner at 9:30 so got to Toy Story at 9:47, but they still let us in with our fast passes as we were still in the grace period :), toy story was an amazing ride so I can see why it’s always so busy and I will definitely be riding that multiple times. After Toy Story it was 10:10, so the park had closed, however the last fantasmic! was on at 10:30pm so we went to see that before we went home :)

I had a great day today, can’t wait for Animal Kingdom tomorrow :)

Rachel's ICP Adventure Episode 16 - First few days :)

Rachel's ICP Adventure Episode 14 - Vlogdown 6 days to go

Rachel's ICP Adventure Episode 13 - Vlogdown 7 days to go

T-minus 7 days, 10 hours, 46 minutes

Disney Dorms

Yesterday we received our Disney Dorms emails, which meant that we could select our housing and roommate preferences :)
Becky filled in our form, if you want to room with people then on person from the group fills in the form and links you in using your roommate number which you receive in the Dorms email. They choose apartment and size, then each person gets sent an email with a link, you have to virtually sign some housing forms about alcohol and behaviour, then you confirm that you want to share with the people you have been linked to and that you are happy with what's been put. Then you're done.
Disney do their best to accommodate your preferences, a lot of the Canadian ICP's were successful with roommates and apartment complex, but didn't always get the size they wanted, however 2/3 ain't bad ;)
We chose our apartment complex choices as:
1) Chatham
2) Patterson
3) Commons
And our apartment size as:
1) 3 bedroom
2) 4 bedroom
3) 2 bedroom

After accepting all the info, you receive an email to tell you that you're done :)

I will let you know in 11 days time (or around that time) how successful my Dorms experience has been :D

Rachel's ICP Adventure Episode 12 - Pre Disney Haul #3

May Update

So I haven't posted much recently, that's cause I've been super busy, moving out from uni and moving back home. I've finished working at the Costa I was at which was quite sad, but I'm back home now which means one thing... It's nearly time to go to Disney :D

I still have quite a lot of bits and bobs I need to get, plus need to get some major things as well, like my suitcase :']

So excited now, 22 days to go now, will do a haul video at some point this week to show you some of the other things I've bought to take with me to America :D :D

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Rachel's ICP Adventure Episode 11 - Visa Interview

Rachel's ICP Adventure Episode 10 - Belfast Visa Adventure

50 days to go :D

ARGH it's getting so close now :D
I have my Visa appointment on Tuesday, so just praying I don't slice my fingers open tomorrow at work. Also need to go and get a letter off uni to let the American government know I will be returning to the UK and book my taxi to the airport for 5:15am on Tuesday morning :(
I will try to Vlog as much of the trip as I possibly can and will probably post it on Wednesday or Friday :)

Rachel's ICP Adventure Episode 9 - Meadowhall Meet-up

ICP costs

So we all know the ICP is a life changing experience and the summer of a lifetime, but what exactly does this experience cost you? Well I'm going to break that down for you now, hopefully in a nice easy way that everyone can understand.

Interviews
I was quite lucky when it came to interviews as I never had to travel anywhere that far or pay for hotels, but some people had to so keep that in mind. If you live in London, Manchester or Liverpool then you will have the easiest time by far, probably only having to get public transport to the city centre for both interviews. If you are from Edinburgh then you will be okay for the group interviews as they hold a session in Edinburgh, however if you get through to the Individual interviews you will need to be prepared to travel to one of the other cities I mentioned. If you live anywhere else then you will definitely need to travel.
For my group interview I had to travel from Glasgow to Edinburgh, I took the train which cost me about £21 return due to the fact I had to travel there during peak time.
For my individual interview I had to travel from Glasgow to Manchester, now I come from Manchester and my Dad works in Glasgow in the week, so I managed to nab a lift home to Manchester off him on the Sunday night and I had free accommodation at home. I did however have to pay for my train back to Glasgow at the end of the week which set me back about £15.
Running Total - £36

Getting there
After finding out you've got into the programme the first thing you are going to want to book is you flights, now these are the biggest single expense you are going to face in the build up to the programme so be prepared for this, extend your overdraft, borrow money from your parents, rob a bank, whatever you do to get money (don't actually rob a bank). My flights set me back £583 *ouch* but remember to book them in advance, I booked mine in November for June, since then the price has fluctuated a fair amount, they were actually about £20 cheaper in the January sales, so if I did it again I may wait until that point. I wanted direct flights which meant they cost a bit more as well, indirect can cost as little as £360 return.
Running Total - £619

Visa
The Visa is another cost you cannot avoid, Disney support your Visa for you which dramatically reduces the cost for you, however you are still required to pay the SEVIS fee which is $35, £23, And the appointment fee which is $160, £105. There is also the scary matter or calling the embassy for your appointment, this sets you back £1.23 per minute from a B.T landline so expect to spend about £5 if there are no problems. When at the embassy you will also be required to pay a courier fee, this is so that the embassy can send your passport back to you once they have put the visa in it, this will cost you another £14(ish) if you go to the Belfast embassy you will need to take a prepaid and addressed special delivery envelope with you instead.
There is also the matter of travel to and from the embassy, I will be flying to and from Belfast for my visa which will set me back about £60 when you include taxi's and busses.
Running Total - £826

Programme Fees
The first programme related fee you will be expected to pay is the cost of a CRB check, this is done via Yummy Jobs so that Disney know you have no criminal background, the check costs £60 and this needs to be paid a few weeks after acceptance. There is also a Program Assessment Fee that you will need to pay to Disney before you depart, this pays for activities at the housing complexes during your stay, this comes in at $100 so about £65.
The last thing you are required to purchase before leaving for America is medical insurance. You have to purchase this through a company that Disney have partnered with and it costs $70 a month, the programme lasts for just over 2 months, which means you have to fork out $210 in medical insurance (which you will probably never even need) this is to comply with visa regualtions. So it will cost about £137. You can choose to take out travel insurance to cover bags and cancelled flights if you wish but this is not a compulsory thing.
Running Total - £1088

Pre-departure costs = £1088

In country
Obviously when you actually arrive in America you will finally start earning some money back, Hooray! However don't forget that you will still have some necessary expenses to think about.
Rent - This varies from apartment to apartment, but you can expect to fork out about $80-$110 per week. Included with the apartment, you also get free transport to and from the parks for work and for leisure, and transport to local supermarkets and malls, internet and bills, access to swimming pools and gym and of course Mickey's Retreat. This amount gets taken out of your weekly pay before it reaches your pocket, so there's no need to worry about paying it out as it will be done for you. 
Bedding - Disney don't supply you with bedding, so you can either take this with you in your case, taking up vital clothes and shoes space, or you can purchase it on arrival from Walmart (which is what I plan to do) A bedding set plus pillows will set you back about $50.
Laundry - Unless you have packed enough clothes and underwear to last you 10 weeks you are going to need to do some laundry. There are laundry rooms in easy reach of all apartments and will cost you $1 per wash and $1 per dry.
Food - Don't forget you will need to eat when in america, You also don't get paid until week 2, so you will need take money to last you the first few weeks, I plan to take about $300 to get me through this (not just for food I might add).

But don't forget you do get paid when out there :) 

Optional costs
Spending money - I am taking about $700 spending money with me (not including the $300 for the first 2 weeks) this is mainly for travelling afterwards so that I have about $50 a day to do fun things and eat. I will hopefully manage to save up some money throughout the programme as well to put towards this :)
Travel - After the programme I am travelling to LA and NY for a week each. The additional flights are costing about £220 and accommodation about £250 so another £470 in total but that's not bad considering where I am going. Most people would be looking at spending that for a few nights for a hotel in NY :)
Disney hotels - After the programme before travelling I plan to spend 3 nights in a Disney hotel (hopefully animal kingdom lodge) using my cast member discount, I expect this will set me back about £150 but well worth it to experience a top hotel in a magical place for a few nights.
Park tickets - You get free entry into the Disney parks during your programme, but there are other parks in Orlando. I plan to buy myself a universal annual pass for about $180 so that I can attend whenever I want during my programme plus when I have finished the programme. We are also planning to go to Disneyland in California when in LA, so will be buying a 2 day ticket for the parks which will set me back about $160. I will be buying these out of spending money or earnings so are not included in my total below :)

Total cost of my summer = £2308

Wow! Who knew I was so good at saving, the fact I have already paid £1588 of this is amazing, all I have left to pay is my programme assessment and medical insurance and save up my spending money.

If you want a summer job to save up money then this is not for you, but if you want an amazing summer for the price of a decent 2 week holiday then this is for you :) The programme is an experience of a lifetime so expect to pay for it. But if you take off my travelling and optional extras then it will set you back about £1283, the only reason my total is so high is due to extra spending money and travelling.


So there you have it, the costs of the ICP explained to you, I hope this helps future applicants and current applicants alike :)
If you have any questions feel free to ask me.