My Most Magical Moments: DCP Edition

So I recently took a road trip with one of my DCP roommates and best friends from high school, Lindsey. We had like 24 hours in the car so obviously we spent a lot of time reminiscing on our program. This post is dedicated to my favorite and most magical memories from my program!

I'm going to make a numbered list for simplicity, and start from the beginning and move forward from there :)

1. The process of getting accepted into the program. This memory was really special because I got my acceptance email less than a week before I went to Disneyland for Spring Break! So I got to hangout in a Disney park with the knowledge I would soon be the one making magical moments :)
2. Check-in when my roommates and I found out our roles and apartment! I found out I was working in Hollywood Studios and my restaurant was literally RIGHT next to my roommates restaurant, so that was really awesome. 
3. Also finding out we got Chatham Square as our apartment complex, then moving in for the first time and discovering there was great air conditioning ;)
4. The surprise at Traditions! I won't ruin it but...it was SO cool and made the long day of getting up at like 5:30am completely worth it. 
5. Getting my blue ID, it made everything feel so real and official!! I feel like that's the moment you're an OFFICIAL cast member. 
6. Going into the park for free for the first time! I went to Hollywood Studios (my new home!) with my roommate Mikaela who also had an early Traditions, and we got caught in a torrential downpour. #Florida. But here's the thing, I'm from Seattle and rain is kind of my thing so we actually ran around singing songs and practically had the park to ourselves!!! This was the first time I ever got to ride Rockin' Rollercoaster which ended up being one of my favorite rides!
7. Finding out and getting my costume! On my first day of on-site training we were all taken to costuming, and it was super fun to find my costume and see everyone else's :)
8. Seeing Festival of the Lion King for the first time <333333
9. OUR FIRST TIME WATCHING WISHES OMG I GOT SO EMOTIONAL
10. Taking our very first roomie castle picture <3
11. Getting to tour Hollywood Studios with the other new DHS CPs before the park opened, we felt like such VIPs! Super cool seeing the park completely empty...
12. Getting free food for lunch everyday while training!
13. Earning my ears and being able to take that off my name tag :) Basically your induction into your work location ;)
14. Getting to surprise my family by flying home for a short visit! My coordinators and managers were so cool about giving me the time off 
15. Everything about Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party - especially the parade, free candy, and fireworks
16. We got a $1 pay raise in the middle of my program, so we made more per hour but rent was still the same! (They raised rent after my group left)
17. Working a park buyout and my AMAZING managers arranged for us (all like 50 or whatever from SCC and BLX) to go ride Toy Story Midway Mania twice IN A ROW WITHOUT GETTING OFF and Rockin' Rollercoaster WITH THE LIGHTS ON. HOW COOL IS THAT?!
18. Plus I got paid double time for working overtime and also working two shifts within 8 hours of each other :)
19. For my Exploring Environmentality and Sustainability class (TAKE IT!) we got to ride Kilimanjaro Safari with a special cast member only spiel :)
20. One of my friends worked Expedition Everest so she let us go through the fast pass lane and ride the front row of Everest!
21. I went to Le Cellier with some of my roommates and had the BEST MEAL OF MY LIFE for my birthday, and they even brought out a special grapefruit cake dessert with an edible happy birthday sign :)
22. Also on my birthday night we went to Soarin' where my roommates friend Eddy worked, and he let us go through the fast pass lane then sit in the best seats!! Finally when he gave his safety spiel he gave me special happy birthday shoutout which was awesome.
23. We went to Ohana for two of my roommate's birthdays and got this amazing window view so we got to eat incredible food and watch Wishes. They even turned on the Wishes music when it started playing and we literally all cried because it was SUCH a magical moment. (By the way, Ohana is at the Polynesian which is across from the castle!)
24. The cast member only preview for Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. We got free cookies and hot chocolate and got to watch this INCREDIBLE show!
25. The cast member holiday discount booklets we got, so many fun little coupons!
26. Watching the castle get lit up for the first time
27. SNOW ON MAIN STREET <3
28. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party with my roommates and coworker, and getting to meet all seven dwarves!
29. Getting to work outside when Osborne Lights were going, and singing and dancing along with my amazing SCC family
30. Getting a backstage tour of the aquarium at Epcot. Seriously, we got to walk ABOVE the GIANT aquarium which was amazing.
31. The Christmas parade is so so so cool. Also the Christmas fireworks. 
32. Cast member movie night at Sci Fi Dine In! We had the whole restaurant to ourselves and got free food and watched Elf all together <3 LOVE LOVE LOVED MY COWORKERS
33. Secret Santa and Christmas festivities with my roommates - we put up Christmas lights and made a fake fireplace and hung our stockings with command strips, and it was so great getting to spend Christmas with my Disney fam <3
34. MY FAMILY GOT TO VISIT! And seriously the coolest thing happened - we got a Be Our Guest reservation THE WEEK OF CHRISTMAS. Crazy right? That's not all...we got to eat in the West Wing AKA the super cool tiny dining room that's hard to get into!!
35. I got to see a gorilla pretend it was a cat and sit in a bucket at Animal Kingdom.
36. I got to be the Rebel Spy on Star Tours! Such an honor, right? ;)
37. Seeing the Candlelight Processional with my family, we were all pretty emotional, it's such a beautiful show!!
38. On a day when it was POURING rain and I forgot a raincoat, a Stormtrooper came up to me with an umbrella and walked me all the way to my location. Literally the sweetest thing ever <3
39. A guest looked a lot like Santa Claus and this little girl walks up to him and starts talking to "Santa", her mother was mortified but the guy was such a good sport!! At the end of their conversation this girl goes "bye Santa, I love you!". STOP. CRYING.
40. Watching the New Years fireworks right after work on New Years Ever with my coworker after working the busiest day in our restaurant history.
41. The last time we went to the parks all my roommates made it (for the first and last time hahaha) and we all watched Wishes and Celebrate the Magic, crying and surrounded by other crying CPs. Seriously people, there is no family like Disney family. We just had this giant crying group hug until the Wishes music ended (it goes on for a bit after the fireworks). So special.
42. Our final Disney moments were staying at the Beach Club Resort (SO NICE OMG), eating at Beaches & Cream (home of the Kitchen Sink), and taking the Magical Express to the airport. 

Everything about my program was magical and I hope this gives you a good look into what the highlights of my program were! I loved every second, and can honestly say it was the happiest, most positive, and obviously most magical 4 months of my life. You can bet I'll be back ;) 4 months is just way too short. 

Fall/Spring VS Fall Advantage/Spring Advantage

This is going to be a very brief post on the difference between advantage programs and the normal programs. Basically advantage programs last longer, and go through the summer. Spring just goes through spring, fall just goes through fall. Spring advantage arrives with the spring CPs, but they will work trough the summer rather than going home around May. Fall advantage CPs arrive early, around May/June, but leave with the fall CPs. Fall CPs arrive throughout August and the first week of September.

The pros to doing an advantage program (let's just call these FA and SA for the sake of me being lazy) is that you are there longer, you get to experience all the cool summer only festivities (LIKE STAR WARS WEEKENDS), and there's no FOMO from your friends all being together at college. (FOMO for those of you who don't know stands for Fear Of Missing Out.) People don't usually think about this, but when you're the only one not at school, and all your friends are together taking cute pictures and going on spring break together or whatever, you feel a little left out. For all of 3 seconds before you remember you're living at Disney World ;)

The cons to doing FA/SA is the awful summer Florida weather: rain, humidity, heat. You also have to deal with a busy time for the parks, and more of your guest passes are blocked out, so there's less availability for friends and family to visit for free. I personally think FA > SA because for FA you're super excited since you get to show up before all the other fall CPs, and learn the ropes early. SA you're at the end of your program and all your friends and coworkers are leaving to go home, and you're still committed to stay. This could be awesome if you love your role, but many people hit homesicknesses at this point. I would rather do the normal spring program, and if I love it, extend my program.

So to sum up my personal opinion (obviously everyone has a different opinion/experience) is that I would pick fall advantage over fall, but spring over spring advantage.

I hope this post has been helpful to those of you who were confused over the differences of the four programs :) I'll put in an approximate schedule for date with FA/F/SA/S.

FA: Arrive in May/June, stay through early January.
Fall: Arrive in August/September, stay through early January.
SA: Arrive in January/February, stay through August.
Spring: Arrive in January/February. stay through May.