I am quickly coming to the realization that the Disney College Program is just around the corner! I leave on Mother's Day with my dad to head back down to Naples, FL to get the stuff I left in my apartment. Some people may say that is mean, leaving my mom on Mother's Day, but that is actually my present for her :) She is a florist, so Mother's Day is not a holiday for her, it's one of the busiest work days of the year!!!
I have been trying to set aside things I am taking with me, but I just feel like it's too soon, even though it isn't! My time at home has been short, and my time away will be even longer this go around. 8 months! And if I get a job or choose to extend, it will be even longer! But it's fine, because my family just loves to visit Disney, and now they have a reason to come down more often.
I can't wait to meet my roommates in person, I can't wait to get my costume, go to traditions... it's going to be such a blast. I just know it. I am hoping to take advantage of all of the opportunities that Disney has to offer. PSYCHED!
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Snorkeling in the Keys!
Whoo! More Spring Break action! I decided to take a day trip to Key Largo florida to snorkel at the famous John Pennekamp park. What a blast! The original plan was to go to Key West, but then I realized that the snorkeling place was in Key Largo. CHANGE OF PLANS!
I hoped to go on the Noon snorkeling trip (with an almost 3 hour drive to make before the swim) but they had no availability. With the options of 9 AM, 3 PM, and 5:30 PM, I of course made the logical choice; 9 AM. -_-' That meant leaving my apartment at 5:00 AM because you have to be at the park by 8 AM for the 9 AM snorkel. AHHHH! I dragged my butt out of bed and drove the 2 hours and 45 minutes to the park. It was cool to drive as the sun was coming up, and there wasn't really traffic until 6:30 AM. Also, there was a coupon for the 9 AM snorkel...
So I got to the park and was surprised to see that it was in the most tourist trap-y area EVER! Tons of discount Keys merchandise locations, etc., etc. The park itself was quite nice, though. It is mostly a water park, so while there are lots of places to swim, canoe, kayak, snorkel, etc. there aren't really places to just walk around (Like there were at the Slough and Big Cypress). I got to the shop where you paid for the snorkel boat and rented your equipment and I was 5th in line. Within 5 minutes the line was out the door of the building! Good thing I got there when I did.
I met some nice people in line and asked if they had used the coupon. They all said no. Not a problem! The one couple just pulled the coupon up on their smart phone and the other family said they couldn't print the coupon because their printer wasn't working. No one who worked there cared. The coupon is from their website, so they might as well just offer the morning tour for a discount instead of having a coupon.
So I got a rental slip for my mask and fins, bought my snorkel (That says John Pennekamp on it, fancy!), and went back to my car to put on sunscreen and pack away my stuff for the few hours I would be gone. I brought a ziploc bag for my car keys and took nothing else on the boat. I figured there would be a place on the boat to put things and quickly realized that the place was the floor. With many openings along the side of the boat, I was worried about the keys flying away, and there was no way I was putting the keys in my swimsuit pocket for an hour and a half of swim time. Turns out I was sitting by the couple whom I told about they coupon and they gladly let me store my keys in one of the pockets on their beach bag. Thanks, guys!
We got some safety instructions, boarded the boat, and set off on our 30 minute trip across the ocean to our snorkeling destination. I am not someone who gets sick on boats, except when they are speedboats going into rough ocean waters. Ugh! I did not actually get sick, which was good. I did not want to be that person.
Other than rough waters, the boat ride was neat. It helped me to decide that airboat tours of the Everglades are NOT for me! I did a swamp walk and got plenty of boat action in that half hour out and half hour back at John Pennekamp. Thanks but no thanks.
We stopped at the Grecian Rocks and I opted to take the quick snorkeling lesson at the front of the boat. Just an overview of how to kick with fins, where to place the mask, etc. I found out that it is illegal to stand up at the coral reef! If you stand up, you can kill a lot of living things. So you were either swimming or you were on the boat. One lady got in the water and was having a hard time of it so she went back to the boat right away. Everyone else stayed out at least for a little while. I stayed out as long as I could! When I first got in the water, I was hyperventilating (I noticed that I did that at Typhoon Lagoon the last time I "Snorkeled"). I just took a moment to remind my brain that I wasn't actually drowning and then went on my way. It was so cool! Lots of coral, some lobsters, barracuda, conch, and I even swam with a school of fish for awhile, just because I could.
Got back to the park, rinsed off, changed into dry clothes, and took a look around the store. I also ate some of the nilla wafers I had brought for the car to settle my stomach. In addition to the sea sickness I managed to swallow a mouthful of saltwater right before we got back on the boat! There was a small building ("aquarium") that I looked in briefly, but after swimming right alongside the fish and the coral, and aquarium just doesn't do it.
I went to a place called Hobo's for lunch (It came highly rated on tripadvisor.com). It was okay at best. I enjoyed the seat and the AC and the key lime pie was great, but my food was really mediocre, verging on bad. I got an appetizer instead of an entree. It was coconut lobster and shrimp. Sounded great, and they use actual fresh caught shimp and lobster, but my big problem was the breading. They didn't season the meat before the breaded it and the breading was literally just coconut shavings. No other seasonings, no flour or breadcrumbs or anything to break up the coconut. I felt like I was just eating a big bag of semi-burnt coconut shavings. I ended up scraping a lot of the coconut off, and much to my dismay the shrimp was not entirely cleaned out in addition to its lack of flavor. Eeegh. I also got a side of creamed spinach, but it wasn't great either. It was very acidic (like someone dumped some extra lemon juice in the batch) and way too liquid-y. It was more of a spinach dip than creamed spinach. I ate it with the coconut shrimp/lobster to make both more palatable. And I'm being totally honest, here. Was it a terrible restaurant? I don't know because I only really ate one dish, one side, and one dessert. Just don't order coconut anything when you go there. (On a side note, the dish was served with a side of coconut sauce. Really? Like I didn't get enough coconut, I need a glaze to enhance the coconut flavor???)
And that was it! I went home after nearly 5 hours on Key Largo. Some notable places I passed on my drive:
Jewfish Creek (home to, I'm sure, a great number of Jewfish. Reference photo below.)
I hoped to go on the Noon snorkeling trip (with an almost 3 hour drive to make before the swim) but they had no availability. With the options of 9 AM, 3 PM, and 5:30 PM, I of course made the logical choice; 9 AM. -_-' That meant leaving my apartment at 5:00 AM because you have to be at the park by 8 AM for the 9 AM snorkel. AHHHH! I dragged my butt out of bed and drove the 2 hours and 45 minutes to the park. It was cool to drive as the sun was coming up, and there wasn't really traffic until 6:30 AM. Also, there was a coupon for the 9 AM snorkel...
So I got to the park and was surprised to see that it was in the most tourist trap-y area EVER! Tons of discount Keys merchandise locations, etc., etc. The park itself was quite nice, though. It is mostly a water park, so while there are lots of places to swim, canoe, kayak, snorkel, etc. there aren't really places to just walk around (Like there were at the Slough and Big Cypress). I got to the shop where you paid for the snorkel boat and rented your equipment and I was 5th in line. Within 5 minutes the line was out the door of the building! Good thing I got there when I did.
I met some nice people in line and asked if they had used the coupon. They all said no. Not a problem! The one couple just pulled the coupon up on their smart phone and the other family said they couldn't print the coupon because their printer wasn't working. No one who worked there cared. The coupon is from their website, so they might as well just offer the morning tour for a discount instead of having a coupon.
So I got a rental slip for my mask and fins, bought my snorkel (That says John Pennekamp on it, fancy!), and went back to my car to put on sunscreen and pack away my stuff for the few hours I would be gone. I brought a ziploc bag for my car keys and took nothing else on the boat. I figured there would be a place on the boat to put things and quickly realized that the place was the floor. With many openings along the side of the boat, I was worried about the keys flying away, and there was no way I was putting the keys in my swimsuit pocket for an hour and a half of swim time. Turns out I was sitting by the couple whom I told about they coupon and they gladly let me store my keys in one of the pockets on their beach bag. Thanks, guys!
We got some safety instructions, boarded the boat, and set off on our 30 minute trip across the ocean to our snorkeling destination. I am not someone who gets sick on boats, except when they are speedboats going into rough ocean waters. Ugh! I did not actually get sick, which was good. I did not want to be that person.
Other than rough waters, the boat ride was neat. It helped me to decide that airboat tours of the Everglades are NOT for me! I did a swamp walk and got plenty of boat action in that half hour out and half hour back at John Pennekamp. Thanks but no thanks.
We stopped at the Grecian Rocks and I opted to take the quick snorkeling lesson at the front of the boat. Just an overview of how to kick with fins, where to place the mask, etc. I found out that it is illegal to stand up at the coral reef! If you stand up, you can kill a lot of living things. So you were either swimming or you were on the boat. One lady got in the water and was having a hard time of it so she went back to the boat right away. Everyone else stayed out at least for a little while. I stayed out as long as I could! When I first got in the water, I was hyperventilating (I noticed that I did that at Typhoon Lagoon the last time I "Snorkeled"). I just took a moment to remind my brain that I wasn't actually drowning and then went on my way. It was so cool! Lots of coral, some lobsters, barracuda, conch, and I even swam with a school of fish for awhile, just because I could.
Got back to the park, rinsed off, changed into dry clothes, and took a look around the store. I also ate some of the nilla wafers I had brought for the car to settle my stomach. In addition to the sea sickness I managed to swallow a mouthful of saltwater right before we got back on the boat! There was a small building ("aquarium") that I looked in briefly, but after swimming right alongside the fish and the coral, and aquarium just doesn't do it.
I went to a place called Hobo's for lunch (It came highly rated on tripadvisor.com). It was okay at best. I enjoyed the seat and the AC and the key lime pie was great, but my food was really mediocre, verging on bad. I got an appetizer instead of an entree. It was coconut lobster and shrimp. Sounded great, and they use actual fresh caught shimp and lobster, but my big problem was the breading. They didn't season the meat before the breaded it and the breading was literally just coconut shavings. No other seasonings, no flour or breadcrumbs or anything to break up the coconut. I felt like I was just eating a big bag of semi-burnt coconut shavings. I ended up scraping a lot of the coconut off, and much to my dismay the shrimp was not entirely cleaned out in addition to its lack of flavor. Eeegh. I also got a side of creamed spinach, but it wasn't great either. It was very acidic (like someone dumped some extra lemon juice in the batch) and way too liquid-y. It was more of a spinach dip than creamed spinach. I ate it with the coconut shrimp/lobster to make both more palatable. And I'm being totally honest, here. Was it a terrible restaurant? I don't know because I only really ate one dish, one side, and one dessert. Just don't order coconut anything when you go there. (On a side note, the dish was served with a side of coconut sauce. Really? Like I didn't get enough coconut, I need a glaze to enhance the coconut flavor???)
And that was it! I went home after nearly 5 hours on Key Largo. Some notable places I passed on my drive:
Jewfish Creek (home to, I'm sure, a great number of Jewfish. Reference photo below.)
Surprise lake (probably named when someone was walking around at night and fell into the water. SURPRISE! It's a lake!)
Mutineers (A restaurant I probably would have liked better than Hobo's because they had karaoke)
I'm going to a yoga class tonight that the apartment yoga instructor teaches off site. It is free, so I can't say no! I LOVE YOGA!
Monday, April 2, 2012
DCP - Classes!
If you are arriving early enough for Fall Advantage 2012, you can officially sign up for your classes! I had already picked my Summer and Fall class (I think one a term is plenty) and just had to click on the right buttons to get myself registered for Summer II term. I am taking Experiential Learning. It isn't the most popular course (One of the classes I know of you spend half of your class sessions in the parks and at resorts, that fills up quickly) but it is the most relevant to me! Experiential Learning talks about educational theorists like Piaget, Kolb, and Dewey. Those names might not sound familiar to you, but to an education student, they are common knowledge. I think it will be nice to see education from the Disney perspective. There is even one class meeting titled "Education through Entertainment." My kind of class!
For the Fall term I am planning on taking a seminar class called "Entertainment Show Production" which sounds right up my alley, wouldn't you agree?
So this Experiential Learning course meets on Mondays from 9AM-12PM, which isn't bad. 3 hours is a typical seminar course length and I know I can sit through a class for that amount of time. It meets at Vista Way, and since I plan on living at Patterson, I have a feeling I will drive to class as a treat to myself on Monday mornings :) We have to wear business casual clothing to class or we are allowed to wear our costume if we have to go into work after class. I have plenty of business casual clothing, so that shouldn't be a problem.
PS: Some of the classes have fees associated with them. I managed to pick one of the most expensive classes at $23 -_-' but like I said, it is a way to keep my education current while I work at Walt Disney World. Also, $23 for a college credit course is a great deal! AP exams are more expensive and there is no guarantee you'll even get credit for those.
For the Fall term I am planning on taking a seminar class called "Entertainment Show Production" which sounds right up my alley, wouldn't you agree?
So this Experiential Learning course meets on Mondays from 9AM-12PM, which isn't bad. 3 hours is a typical seminar course length and I know I can sit through a class for that amount of time. It meets at Vista Way, and since I plan on living at Patterson, I have a feeling I will drive to class as a treat to myself on Monday mornings :) We have to wear business casual clothing to class or we are allowed to wear our costume if we have to go into work after class. I have plenty of business casual clothing, so that shouldn't be a problem.
PS: Some of the classes have fees associated with them. I managed to pick one of the most expensive classes at $23 -_-' but like I said, it is a way to keep my education current while I work at Walt Disney World. Also, $23 for a college credit course is a great deal! AP exams are more expensive and there is no guarantee you'll even get credit for those.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Nature!
I have experienced the Florida Wilderness (AKA the swamp)! After two days of serious outdoorsy activity, let's just say I was ready for some AC and a nice long nap :)
It started on Friday, my first day of Spring Break! I got a call from some ladies from my church (who were visiting a friend in Florida) and they wanted to get together for the day. Done! We decided to meet at Sun Harvest Citrus to start our fun-filled day.
Can I say enough times how much I LOVE Florida citrus??? They were bottling fresh squeezed juice in house and you could watch the process through big picture windows. In addition to that, they had free samples of fruit and juices! The juice was all orange based (except the lemonade) and I wasn't too thrilled with any of it. I dislike oranges... But they had a free sample of tangelos and that I did enjoy. So much so that I bought a little souvenir with a brilliant plan in mind...
Ever heard of a Citra-Sipper? Me either, but it is so cool! It's basically a little straw with a screw end that you put into a fruit and drink straight from the fruit! Who bought that and some tangelos? THIS KID! I love tangelo juice :)
So as a final treat, I bought a soft serve cone of Key Lime/Chocolate swirl. Sounds weird, tastes amazing. The key lime was subtle and the chocolate reminded me of an oreo crust, yum!
After that, the ladies had planned to visit the Six Mile Cypress Slough (Pronounced "Slew"). They have a raised boardwalk so that you can walk over the swamp, pretty cool. The walk was only 1.2 miles (not six, thank goodness!) and it was pretty cool. We got to see a bunch of turtles, baby gators, birds, and even a very large wild pig! All in their natural habitat (and not in a zoo kind of way).
We left the Slough at around 4PM at which point I was SERIOUSLY ready for lunch! They picked a restaurant called Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes. Oh, so good. It's a giant salad bar with so many toppings! They also have soup and some bakery items. All very fresh, all very tasty. I think Jessica would like it, but I also don't think they have any up north... oh well. The other cool thing about the restaurant is that you can eat it as a buffet OR you can just get one plate. I got water because I was feeling a little dehydrated, but they had some super awesome looking teas!
On to the next day! I had signed up for a free swamp walk in the Everglades National Park. I went to Goodwill the night before and picked up a $2 pair of shoes and a $5 pair of jeans. I also bought a $2 tshirt, but it turns out I didn't really need that.
So I went to the welcome center at 10 AM (I had to leave my apartment at 8:45, ugh!) and I was a little early. I was also the first person there of five who were on the schedule. They gave me a walking stick and I got to chat with some of the park staff about visiting the Slough the day before. Once everyone else arrived, our guide took us out for our walk. It was supposed to last up to 2 hours, but we got back within 1 and a half. I have a feeling it was because our group was small.
We walked across the street and out into the "plains" area. There were some animal tracks, we talked about some cool plants, and then we went into the heart of the swamp! Fun fact: In the dry season, the mosquitoes are practically non-existent because there is a little fish in the swamp that eats mosquito larvae. Thanks little fish!
For a dry season, the swamp was still pretty damp. Let's just say I'm glad I bought gross shoes. I spent the first 15 minutes of the tour laughing uncontrollably because every time I took a step my feet would sink into the mud and make a farting sound. Everyone else's feet did this too, but apparently they didn't find it as funny. I got myself under control eventually.
We did find a gator hole (Which is just a lower part of the swamp that has been dug out by gators) and the water there was ankle deep and quite cold. Other than that, just mud.
All in all quite a fun few days in the great outdoors!
It started on Friday, my first day of Spring Break! I got a call from some ladies from my church (who were visiting a friend in Florida) and they wanted to get together for the day. Done! We decided to meet at Sun Harvest Citrus to start our fun-filled day.
Can I say enough times how much I LOVE Florida citrus??? They were bottling fresh squeezed juice in house and you could watch the process through big picture windows. In addition to that, they had free samples of fruit and juices! The juice was all orange based (except the lemonade) and I wasn't too thrilled with any of it. I dislike oranges... But they had a free sample of tangelos and that I did enjoy. So much so that I bought a little souvenir with a brilliant plan in mind...
Ever heard of a Citra-Sipper? Me either, but it is so cool! It's basically a little straw with a screw end that you put into a fruit and drink straight from the fruit! Who bought that and some tangelos? THIS KID! I love tangelo juice :)
So as a final treat, I bought a soft serve cone of Key Lime/Chocolate swirl. Sounds weird, tastes amazing. The key lime was subtle and the chocolate reminded me of an oreo crust, yum!
After that, the ladies had planned to visit the Six Mile Cypress Slough (Pronounced "Slew"). They have a raised boardwalk so that you can walk over the swamp, pretty cool. The walk was only 1.2 miles (not six, thank goodness!) and it was pretty cool. We got to see a bunch of turtles, baby gators, birds, and even a very large wild pig! All in their natural habitat (and not in a zoo kind of way).
We left the Slough at around 4PM at which point I was SERIOUSLY ready for lunch! They picked a restaurant called Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes. Oh, so good. It's a giant salad bar with so many toppings! They also have soup and some bakery items. All very fresh, all very tasty. I think Jessica would like it, but I also don't think they have any up north... oh well. The other cool thing about the restaurant is that you can eat it as a buffet OR you can just get one plate. I got water because I was feeling a little dehydrated, but they had some super awesome looking teas!
On to the next day! I had signed up for a free swamp walk in the Everglades National Park. I went to Goodwill the night before and picked up a $2 pair of shoes and a $5 pair of jeans. I also bought a $2 tshirt, but it turns out I didn't really need that.
So I went to the welcome center at 10 AM (I had to leave my apartment at 8:45, ugh!) and I was a little early. I was also the first person there of five who were on the schedule. They gave me a walking stick and I got to chat with some of the park staff about visiting the Slough the day before. Once everyone else arrived, our guide took us out for our walk. It was supposed to last up to 2 hours, but we got back within 1 and a half. I have a feeling it was because our group was small.
We walked across the street and out into the "plains" area. There were some animal tracks, we talked about some cool plants, and then we went into the heart of the swamp! Fun fact: In the dry season, the mosquitoes are practically non-existent because there is a little fish in the swamp that eats mosquito larvae. Thanks little fish!
For a dry season, the swamp was still pretty damp. Let's just say I'm glad I bought gross shoes. I spent the first 15 minutes of the tour laughing uncontrollably because every time I took a step my feet would sink into the mud and make a farting sound. Everyone else's feet did this too, but apparently they didn't find it as funny. I got myself under control eventually.
We did find a gator hole (Which is just a lower part of the swamp that has been dug out by gators) and the water there was ankle deep and quite cold. Other than that, just mud.
All in all quite a fun few days in the great outdoors!
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