Traditions /DAKlimation

Traditions is the class Disney has every College Program participant has to take. It lasts about 4 hours and we covered A LOT of stuff. First off, we got to Disney University and I got my name tag, which was hella sweet. Representin' ISU.

Like I said, 4 hours, in which we covered the history of Walt, how everything got started with animation, the creation of Disneyland, then Disney World, Tokyo Disney, and Disneyland Paris. There are also three more parks in the world that are Disney's, but I'll get to those another day...you know, when you're not super bored with your life. We also covered safety and harassment, but we all know I would never harass anyone. The class was actually pretty interesting, but got hella boring towards the end. I think I just used up my 'hella' quota for the rest of the month.

So at Traditions we also got our company id's, so of course we had to immediately use them. Zac (roommate) had never been on a roller-coaster and I rode with him and some other people on Everest at Animal Kingdom. We also had a quick stint at MK (Magic Kingdom) but I left before the parade because I was super tired. This getting up at 6:30 thing is gonna take some getting used to.



The next I had DAKlimation, which is orientation for all the cast members working at DAK (Disney's Animal Kingdom). We talked awhile about conservation, the story behind the park, then took a walk around and learned all the lands of the park. There's Camp Minnie Mickey which has the Lion King show and lots of opportunities to meet characters, Asia which has Kali River Rapids and Everest. Africa has Kilimanjaro Safari (my ride!), Rafiki's Planet Watch, a place to see lots of animals and any procedures being done on the animals, and the Pangani Forest Trail which has gorillas, monkeys, and an open-air bird area. There's also Discovery Island, home to the tree of life which house It's Tough to be a Bug, a 3-D adventures with Flik from Bug's Life. Finally there's Dinoland, which has Dinosaur, an adventure back in time to recover an Iguanadon. Every area has different greetings relevant to the country. So every time I see a guest, I say 'Jambo!'. How quaint!

The last part of orientation we got our costumes. I keep forgetting to take a picture with it on, but I still lack the sweet sunglasses. Don't worry, you'll get to see it soon. We get 5 tops and 5 bottoms and can wash them at our own pace...or drop them off if we're lazy.

We went to the Publix, the supermarket 'round these parts, which is expensive. Looks like it's Wal-Mart for me, which is a two hour trip using the buses. Bummer. Made tacos with Zac, who has never lived in an apartment before. So it's a fun learning experience. I'm almost caught up with my posts; a few more days and then we'll get the exciting stuff going.

Much love.