MePipe

This summer was my first opportunity to visit the US. I had never stepped foot in the States and I think it was fair enough to say that I had some preconceived notions about this new place I was about to step foot in though I'm not 100% sure what they were. This post is my ramblings on what I found out about the country. Some of the things I simply found unusual, other things I appreciated, others I loathed. It is no way meant to be taken as a political commentary but I understand the the nature of the post may make it appear to be so. 1. Weight - Lets tackle this issue head on. It is no secret to the world that most of the US population is overweight - in fact the figures show that around 2/3 of people are overweight, obese or morbidly obese. In the UK it is half that number (which is already worrying). Maybe it's because I was working at Disney where the people do a lot of physical exercise - both cast members and guests - but I wouldn't say that people seemed to be

So, if you’re reading this chances are you’ve been accepted into the Disney College program, if so - congrats! Or...you’re thinking of applying and are mega curious as to what you should do to make the most of your Disney college or Disney international college program. Having done the program myself, these are my top tips for the program in no particular order: 1. Bring a car - This is hands down the number one thing I wish I had whilst on the program. If you have a car - bring it! Yes, Disney do provide you with transport as part of your accommodation; yes, it’s free; yes you don’t have to pay for gas/petrol if you take the bus. However, buses are the best way to be late - they either don’t turn up, are running late, are running early or any combination of these. Once you’re on the bus there’s no guarantee you’ll make it - I was once on a bus that broke down 7 (yes, seven!) times on my 45 minute journey to work! Once I was on a bus and it started to smoke. And the worst bit is wh

It’s been about six weeks since the end of my Disney World International College Program contract and I thought I’d write a retrospective piece summing up my experience. I’m going to very quickly get those of you who didn’t read my blog up to speed. Hi, I’m Gio from the UK and this Summer (2013) I participated in the International College Program at Walt Disney World. I was an attractions cast member working at Mickey’s Philharmagic and Prince Charming’s Regal Carrousel in the Magic Kingdom. My program was about ten weeks long and I successfully completed it. I had already done one set of working for Disney back in 2011 at Disneyland Paris and I suppose to some extent I expected my ICP to be very similar, but longer. I was prepared for more heat, for more guests and (hopefully!) less of a language barrier in the US. This all proved true - sure Florida was hotter than Paris, yes the Magic Kingdom is the world’s busiest theme park and yes (for the most part) I didn’t have to tra

23rd August Today was a day back at Disneyland and Jack’s last day - I still had all day today and tomorrow morning and afternoon to enjoy the parks. We got there for park opening and rode the Alice in Wonderland ride which was actually quite cool and felt like a very long ride. They should definitely add it to the other parks! Look how quaint Disneyland is with it's tiny castle. We spent most of the day re-riding favourites and went back to the hotel to relax for a bit too. The Matterhorn Bobsleds which had been closed for the whole of our visit opened in the afternoon. This was a cool attraction to go on but it is a really, really rough ride and definitely shows its age, but it was cool to ride a classic nonetheless! The Matterhorn Bobsleds In the afternoon, we met up with my friend Courtney from Disney World and we all rode Radiator Springs Racers which was once again fun and we did a few other rides. Then we had a very ambitious plan which I and Jack had come up

One of the big reasons I had wanted to come to California was to visit the original Universal Studios in Hollywood - in fact I’d say it was the main reason for coming, even though I proved to enjoy Disneyland more in the end. The big reason within Universal was to do the Studio Tour - a tour of the real working sets at Universal Studios. So, once again I made the long journey to Hollywood which this time included getting a tram to Universal Studios which was on a hill. I’d looked online into how to do the park effectively and worked out that I could be done with the park by about 1 or 2PM if I got there at park opening. Although I missed park opening by around twenty minutes or so, it was not an issue as I had a plan to get through the park quickly. First up, it was a go on the Simpsons Ride which is an exact clone of the one in Florida, but with a smaller screen and surprise surprise a lot more water. They love to get people soaked at every opportunity here in California. Des

Having travelled 6 hours from New York across the entire country, I wasn’t simply going to stay in Disneyland for 6 days - I was in California with so much to see and do. If I’d had an extra day or two I would have flown over to San Francisco but alas I had to settle with Hollywood - it’s a tough life, huh? Photo: Wikimedia So yes, today it was off to Hollywood to walk about, see the Walk of Fame, the Chinese Theatre and do a bus tour. The big problem was getting there - it took me almost 3 hours. I’d researched everything on Google but the buses come at 25 minute intervals so I got a bus to Anaheim Metrolink/Amtrak station which took about 15 minutes and then bought my ticket - then it was a 40 minute wait for the next Metrolink (regional overground train). As soon as I was on the Metrolink it was fine but it was that initial bus journey which took an eternity as I couldn’t afford to miss my trains, so I always ended up getting the earlier bus. The Metrolink took about 45 minu

Seeing as yesterday we spent the majority of the day in California Adventure, today was the day to go to Disneyland, the original theme park. We got there for park opening and bee-lined for Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage as I'd heard it was very good. It was - it was a completely unique experience where you go "underwater" and explore the Australian coast whilst bumping into Nemo and his friends. I can truly recommend it but I'd advise you visit it first as it does get some of the longest queues in the park. Finding Nemo Submarine ride After the submarines we went on Astro Orbiter and Astro Blasters. Then we went for breakfast in Adventureland. We also grabbed a Indiana Jones fastpass which is meant to be an incredible ride. One thing that I think Disneyland has done well is not putting Fastpass everywhere which is the mistake Disney World made. It means that the lines are much more manageable with most rides being a 25 minute wait or less. The big rides do