17 days to go!

Time is going so fast! I can't believe it's been almost 4 months since I found out I was going to Florida... and now, I'm frantically trying to organise my life before I leave! I've said goodbye to people, I've organised my Disney Store leaving do, I've been saving money like never before (I hit my target WOOOO!) and I've even got two drawers assigned to "Florida Stuff".

So, whilst trying to organise everything I thought I'd make a couple of notes about things which I didn't realise needed so much thinking about when moving away, and you might need to think about as well if you're going on the CRP!

1) Phones. The never-ending nightmare of phones. Basically, whilst this is the cheating method of writing a blog post, I thoroughly recommend you check out Dan@Disney's blog post about phones because it's the single best advice I've ever seen about buying phones for the ICP and CRP programs... you can check out the post by clicking here. Personally, I've opted to get my blackberry handset unlocked (cost me £15 from a dodgy man who couldn't speak English outside Tescos) and I'm going to buy a SIMple Mobile simcard when I arrive ($13) which will give me a rolling month contract at $50/month and provide me with unlimited calling, texting, international texting, BBM, blackberry email and web access. Then international calls are $0.02/minute to landlines and $0.10/minute to mobiles in the UK. I'm also going to get a webcam for the computer at home so my family can skype with me.

2) Contact Lenses. This is my latest kerfuffle I've had to sort out... now, I've been with Vision Express for about 10 years now on a direct debit scheme and I've had monthly lenses that whole time aside from my two ICP programs when I just bought 3 months worth of daily lenses from them, no questions asked. But that's because I didn't realise there WERE questions to ask! Now, I was under the impression that if I just got a copy of my contact lense prescription, I could take it over to the USA and buy lenses in Walmart or wherever with no problems.... WRONG. It transpires that when they give you a prescription in this country, it details what type of lenses you have, and another optician cannot give you different ones - for example, in my case my prescription is for monthies and therefore they couldn't give me dailies. Lucky for me, I realised this before leaving and so have opted to go and get a new prescription from Specsavers for daily contact lenses. I will probably buy 3 months worth in this country and then get the rest from Walmart... but make sure that the brand you use in the UK is actually sold in the US. You can go to the Walmart website to search for your brand and see if they're sold which I found was the easiest method. They're also cheaper over there, just sayin'.

If you are willing to just risk it without a proper prescription, there are websites like getlenses.co.uk where you can order online and get them delivered without a prescription (it goes through their Dutch website as the rules are different there) and you can even get international postage although it's quite expensive. And whilst we're talking about prescriptions - make sure you have stock of any medications that you take or find out where you can get them from whilst in the US.

So yeah, that's what my last couple of days have been spent sorting out. Oh, and I went to see The Lion King 3D at the cinema which was pretty awesome... I definitely want the DVD for Christmas! So... I have 10 more shifts at work, 4 meals out, my leaving party and quite a bit of shopping and packing to do and then it's time to go! I probably won't post until a couple of days before I leave so goodbye for now!

 This is my favourite thing about seeing a Disney film at the cinema!

1 MONTH TO GO!

Ahhhhh it's all becoming just that little bit more real now!! In one month's time I will be sitting on the plane, somewhere over the Atlantic and I'll be honest - that scares me a little bit! Of course it excites me (to the extent I want to jump around the room) but it's quite a big deal that I'll be gone from everything I know and is familiar.

Today is the hottest day that September's ever had apparently. The weather is rediculous in this country... only a few days ago I read that the average temperature this summer was 13 degrees celsius this year... and then today it is 28 degrees! Crazy! Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that feeling the warmth of the sun on your face really reminds you what it's like over in Florida - even in the winter! There's not a cloud in the sky and it means the sun is really strong today - it's amazing. I'm off to Bournemouth for the first time in about 8 months on Saturday as I'm going to meet up with some old Uni friends - looks like it will be beach weather then too, how perfect! But it's strange to be meeting up with so many people I haven't seen for a while mainly because I'll be gone for 12 months before I know it... I saw my friend Alex for a yummy lunch a few days ago, my Bournemouth friends on Saturday, then my Godmother on Monday. I'm also thinking about my birthday/leaving party on the 22nd October as well as my Disney leaving do as well.

Everything is paid for apart from the Program Assessment Fee which I can't do until Disney have emailed me with the details I need. That's the last $100 to pay and then I'm all set... the next thing to do will be to pack! I have worked out how to make 'pages' on this blog which you can access from the tabs above - one of them is a 'bucket list'. I've done this because I want to make sure I use the most of being in the USA for a year... I may not necessarily achieve everything on the list but I will definitely try! 

Packing...

I'm not quite ready to pack yet, don't worry! But I have done a couple of Vlogs about packing (got quite into this vlogging thing...! Link is above on the links page!) and said I'd back it up with a blog post as well. Actually, I suppose in a roundabout way I have started my packing because I've been clearing out the piles of rubbish from my room, recycling clothes and putting stuff in my "Florida drawer"...

Okay people, so here's what you need to know about packing to move to Florida for either the ICP (summer) program or CRP...

Hand Luggage

• PAPERWORK
• Passport and photocopies of the front/back cover, visa page and photo page
• Birth certificate and photocopy
• Driving licence (if you have one)
• Flight itinerary and ticket print outs
• The DS2019 (for ICP) or I-797 (for CRP) for - this is a very important document, don't lose it!
• Proof of your insurance
• Reciept of paying your program assessment fee (you pay this about a month before you go)
• Social security card (only if you've worked in America before)
• Money - your $$$, a few £££ for the airport and a credit card if you have one - just for emergencies ;)
• Phone
• Camera (it's nice to document the flight if you're going with a big group of ICPs haha)
• Ipod/books/magazine etc for the 9 hour flight
• Liquids in a clear sealed bag in no more than 100ml bottles... totally no more than 1000ml. You know the drill.
• Laptop - depending on the airline you may be able to take this in a seperate bag. Make sure it's easily accessible because you'll need to take it out of the bag for the x-ray machine.

Hold Luggage

•   Chargers - for phone, camera, laptop, Ipod, whatever electronics you're bringing...
• American plug adapters for the aforementioned chargers... (I recommend bringing 2 or 3)
• Hairdryer/Straighteners - ensure that they are dual voltage or suitable for use in America... otherwise they won't work or will be really 'weak'.
• Any brand-name stuff you know you can't buy over there... or make-up wipes because I have yet to find them in the quantity you can get them in any Boots over here.
• Any medications/contact lenses and the prescriptions to go with them.
• If you own one, a padlock/combination lock for your locker in your room. If not, you can buy this at Walmart.
• Any chocolate/home comforts/photos you want to bring.
• A small bag/rucksack suitable for taking around the parks or using on a daily basis.
• Swimming stuff & a beach towel which you can use as a normal towel until you get to Walmart to buy a bath towel... (see below)
• Normal clothes - enough for 2 weeks, as if you were going on holiday. You're going to spend 75% of your time in costume so you probably won't need as many clothes as you think you will! Plus, you have the use of a washer and dryer wherever you're living...
• Shoes - probably only 3 or 4 pairs are necessary - flip flops, trainers/comfortable shoes, high heels and a pair of suitable black shoes for traditions/training... heels optional but I would personally go for flats as there's lots of walking involved in training/orientation.
• Business clothing for traditions and training - I would say 3 days worth. Smart trousers or skirt and shirts are fine. Disney don't like sleeveless things so ensure there are sleeves and they're not see-through or too low-cut and you'll be fine.
• Toiletries... I suggest mini versions because they take up a lot less space and weight in your luggage. It means you can just buy the full size versions once you get to Walmart.

Okay, so I've mentioned Walmart in several places throughout that list. This is because you'll be taking yourself there within the first 24 hours to buy vital stuff... my top tips are to bring 2 flat sheets and a rolled up pillow (easily found in ASDA or Tesco for cheap) in your luggage and then buy any additional bedding at Walmart. Buy bath towels, full size toileteries, sun cream, make up and work shoes at Walmart too (with the shoes, it depends on your role - Disney might supply/source them for you).

Okay, I think that's about it... it's 7 weeks today until I fly (that's 49 days!) and I've had my first Disney-related nightmare (hopefully not the first of many)... plus I've got my first "last day" tomorrow for one of my jobs which will be crazy!

I'm going to Disney NEXT MONTH!

I can officially say that I'm leaving for Disney next month now! How exciting! Whilst my start date isn't until the 1st November, I leave on the 29th October so there we go!

Well yesterday was my visa appointment which was rather exciting. As usual, I was a bit disorganised getting all my stuff together and ended up doing it at 11pm on Tuesday night and prayed I'd remembered everything! I went to work on Wednesday morning from 8.30am-12.30pm and then got the bus from the Mall to the train station... which is when I remembered I'd forgotten my Oyster card! Still, there are much worse things I could have forgotten so it's not all bad. I had to wait a while for the train and then it was a pretty quick trip across the country, onto the Underground then the Overground and then in the car to my ex-housemate Maria's house in south London. So apart from the painfulness of a £6 SINGLE ticket on the Underground it was all good. We spent the evening eating pasta and watching some random film with Sandra Bullock in it - good times.

After a night on the sofa bed, it was time to leave at 7.15am for the Embassy. I got the train into London with all the suited and booted commuters in their suits with their iPads/Kindles... then the Underground to Bond St. I actually didn't get lost from the tube station to the Embassy which was more luck than judgement! When I got there I met up with Hayley because she has a week off work this week and was spending a few days in London meeting up with people she knew and she kindly looked after all my stuff whilst I went into the Embassy. The longest queue I had to wait in was actually the one outside the place!

I joined the queue at about 8.25am, they checked my paperwork and then we waited to go through security. At security you put your bag through an x-ray scanner and then you walk through a metal detector. Then I walked into the building where they give you a number - mine this time was N81 and you take a seat in the big waiting room. You wait for your number to come up on the TV screens and it also tells you which window to go to - the inside of the room is half seats and half "windows" a bit like you'd get at the bank. So I'd barely sat there for a minute when my number was called and I went up to the window, gave them my documents and my fingerprints (yay, papercut free!). Then I was told to sit back down, so this was the time which I thought I'd be sitting there for an hour with nothing to do... until someone spied me from Facebook - a girl called Sarah who is going out on October 18th!

So, we sat there and chatted. A top tip from me for going to the embassy is to take a pen with you because you have to fill out a form listing your address to get your passport posted back to you... so I stole Sarah's pen and filled out my form! Her number was called about 10 minutes later and so I sat there and waited. Shockingly I was only waiting for about 5 more minutes after her number and so off I went to the second window for the scary bit of the Visa process!

I had a nice American man asking me why I was going to America ("to work at Walt Disney World for a year in Florida doing Food & Beverage) and why my previous experience justifies me to do this job (I thought I'd already had my job interview!) and then boom! "Your visa is approved!"

So a quick trip back to the front of the Embassy where I paid £15 for the priviledge of getting my passport back by courier (you don't have much choice in the matter) and then I was back with Hayley less than an hour after I'd left her! Amazing!

So the rest of the day was epic - we'd decided we were going to do some of the nerdy Disney highlights which we've been watching on the in-store video for weeks and go find Disney Street! But first was a trip to the Disney Store on Oxford St which Hayley hadn't been to. It was my third trip but definitely the best one going with her - it was really empty in there so we walked around the whole store analysing everything, did some colouring in the gazebo thing and watched Hannah Montana, Beauty and the Beast and Tangled clips on the big screen. It was mucho fun. After we left the store, we walked to the tube station and got slightly lost going to Disney Street but made it there eventually - took lots of pictures and then had lunch at this nice cafe place. After that it was time to find the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens - by this point the sun was out and shining, it was lovely.

Again, we got a bit lost finding the statue but the weather was so nice it didn't really matter, we just wondered around the park (and ran across the Princess Diana tribute as it had just passed the 14th anniversary of her death), watched the swans and ducks on the pond and then finally found the statue. More pictures and sitting around for a bit before I got in contact with some people who were going out to do the CRP as well later in the year and we arranged to meet up.

I got the tube to Covent Garden where I said goodbye to Hayley who was going off to find her sister for the rest of the day, and went to find Daniel and Sarah. They were by Leicester Square tube station which wasn't far so I finally found them and we went for a walk around the M&M World Store... it's a bit excessive to be honest. It's 4 floors but mostly repititions of the same merchandise on each floor (says the girl who works for Disney...!) and it was extremily loud and expensive. So yeah, then we met three more girls - Vicky, Carla and Sophie and there was 6 of us. We went to TGI Fridays where we had cocktails and some people had food before getting kicked out as they needed to turn our table... so we went off to Yates'. This was an absolute gem in the highly touristy expensive area of Leicester Square because their prices were so cheap! I had a bottle of wine for £7 and we had a highly enjoyable time there until I had to leave at 6.45pm to go get my bus home.

I made my way to Victoria coach station (not sure how!) and got the bus with no problems... it was a boring journey home but I was on quite a high from meeting everyone and having such a great day! I can't wait til Florida now - only 57 days until I fly!!

Disney Store Oxford Street is a bit like this...

71 days to go!

So I haven't posted on here for almost a month - good restraint by myself I feel! Things are actually moving on now - I recieved my official visa petition on the Walt Disney World Resort headed letterpaper and I've booked my visa appointment at the Embassy which is on 1st September - 2 months to the day until I start working for the Mouse again!

This meant I had the joy of filling out the online form again. Last year, this took many hours and lots of swearing as the website persistantly crashed and I had to use photoshop to get my picture to the exact measurements. However, to my pleasant surprise, the website has improved and comes with a photo tool which makes the aforementioned uploading of a photo much more easy. I even managed to get my mum to take the photo first time without bursting into laughter which is always so tempting when it's supposed to be a non-smiling photo! So, the website didn't crash and it meant I was done within an hour - it still takes a fair while to fill it all out even without technical problems so I advise you don't try to do the form if you're in a rush or have places to go!

Other tips I have for filling out the form include making sure you have your passport to hand, the dates of your last five visits to the USA (if applicable) and your address history in case you need that as well. Other than that, it's a reasonably straightforward form really.

The visa appointment is at 8.30am and after asking the lovely Scottish man on the phone whether I could go any later, it transpires that 8.30am is the usual time for Q visa appointments so the answer was no. Therefore, be warned that the visa appointment may end up costing you a fair bit of money in addition to the $150 for the visa and the £10 for the phone call (£1.20 a minute!). I'm going to go up the night before and stay with a friend but there's talk of a mini CRP meet up in the afternoon which sounds like fun before I have to head back to Bristol at some point. It's quite exciting to be getting a Q visa though, it makes me feel a little bit special as the Q visa is pretty much just for Disney Cast Members :) It's official name is "cultural exchange visitor" I think but I don't think there's too many of those jobs in America!

My next blog post will probably be after my visa interview so until then - farewell!