Welcome Home!

Well, I’ve made it to Orlando. I started my trek on Monday and stretched the trip out across four days. It was a very relaxed trip too. Monday consisted of many last minute details before Joe and I could hit the road.

Leading up to Monday, we had a small close family get together the week before at the duplex. Then, I still had a lot to box up and move out. I like to keep everything so it was difficult to decide what goes in storage and what gets to go in the car. I actually ended up shipping four boxes that met me here on Thursday. 

I finally departed Guymon about 3PM with a goal of reaching Arkansas before stopping for the night. 450 miles later, Fort Smith, AR was the place to rest for the night. On the drive, I received a call from my manager at Old Key West and she’s the inspiration for the blog title “Welcome Home!” That’s exactly what she said to me on the phone. I’m very excited for my internship to start. She also told me I’d be receiving my training schedule soon and that I’ll have classes every Thursday at Disney University for food and beverage. She mentioned a wine class too; that sounds so neat. I just know this internship will be filled with many twists, turns, and opportunities for growth.

We also discussed the fact that Disney will pay for tuition if it is related to your role with the company. As long as I’m offered full time in management after my internship, an MBA will fall right into that category. While, I’m still interested in Management Information Systems, I would have to take on an IT role for Disney to cover those costs. We’ll see in January where that road takes me.

The second day of traveling took us the rest of the way through Arkansas, a tiny corner of Tennessee,  down through Mississippi, and half way through Alabama. We stopped for the evening just east of Birmingham in a small interstate community. Alabama and Georgia have some thick accents compared to other places I’ve visited. We actually picked a decent hotel and went swimming and ordered pizza. It was a good time. 

I also realized that this internship is going to completely change my view of the food service industry. I know my college program working in attractions changed my view on theme parks in general. But this internship will be in the resorts and I will have the opportunity for more guest interaction than in attractions.

Joe and I have also been taking random video of the states we traveled through so maybe a compilation will come later on. Wednesday and Thursday were both shorter drives. We stopped in Georgia to hang out with Sunny, one of my Miss Teen Directors. She took us to her dad’s house for the evening in Georgia. It was very neat to see some back roads country scene of this state. 

I may have sent Joe into culture shock by taking him to the Florida Mall upon our arrival. He’s not quite used to all of the people around, but after a few trips to Disney World he’ll get used to it! 

Since arriving at my cousin Jeff’s house, we’ve unpacked the car and the boxes that were shipped and pretty much settled in. I took Joe to Downtown Disney today to see the sights. It will be a few weeks before he gets to see actual Disney World. 

That’s my update so far. I hope to do a weekly blog just to show what I’m up to and details of my internship.