WDW college program experiences

Lion Sleeps Tonight · Post by **Lion Sleeps Tonight** » Oct Mon 01, 2007 6:33 pm

Haha. The mysterious doors; yeah we had one as well. At first I thought it was for storage, but it remained locked.

Your apartment looks like mine did, but with a reversed layout. The front door leads to the kitchen, and living room with one room on the opposite wall, then down the hall are the two other rooms.

I believe I was in apartment bldg 5 or something. It was in the front, so it was noisy in the morning and late at night. But the good thing is that you can see the bus go by, and time how long it takes to make that u-turn, giving you time to run out the door to the bus stop. Although 10 seconds isn't much leeway.

yodiwan1 · Post by **yodiwan1** » Oct Mon 01, 2007 6:50 pm

the mystery door was supposed to be a laundry room, but we all know how cheap Disney can be to us. My roommates picked the lock and we used it as a storage room, or as a "guest" room.

Disney west · Post by **Disney west** » Oct Mon 01, 2007 7:03 pm

Thanks for the room tour. Great PACKER pillow

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Oct Tue 02, 2007 1:34 pm

Yesterday was the best day of the College Program and might be one of my best days ever. It was just amazing from beginning to end. As I've all told you, I did not sleep the night before and drank an energy drink while watching the Office to keep me awake. Luke (one of my roomies) woke up around 6 so we decided to leave for EPCOT around 6:45. We were both psyched up for the day and on the way we both sang America: Golden Dream in the car when we passed through the EPCOT Parking Lot.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 9144&hl=en

There was probably only 10 other cars in the parking lot at this time. We made it to the Security Check in Line where around 30 people were waiting at this time. http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 9_1941.jpg

Then around 7am, the original EPCOT Entrance Loop came on while Security made their way down to check all our bags. Then we walked leisuraly to the next waiting period as the turnstyles didn't open until 8am. In the meantime, we just talked with other people and looked around at all the Disney Geeks that we were surrounded by. Then the Dream Squad came by just to check out the area while they had these 2 kids pretend to be pirates as we all counted down the seconds until the turnstyles opened.

http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 1_2366.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 0_2153.jpg

I was in mighty early since I was the 5th person in my line. We all walked fast underneith Spaceship Earth so one of the first merch stands we could find which had the limited edition Tshirts and Figment Plushes. I grabbed my correct size and Figment as fast as I could before the line got super long. The guy in front of us had a cast member ID with a Director's ID. It was Dave Smith (a disney legend) If you don't know who he is, Go look it up!!

Ok I will continue this review later, I must go get ready for work. Today I get paid to watch the Beach Boys!

Post by **Dr. Ravenscroft** » Oct Wed 03, 2007 11:51 am

Sweet! More random videos!!! I can't wait for the next installment. This is like the good old days when acp was there.......man I missed that.

Lion Sleeps Tonight · Post by **Lion Sleeps Tonight** » Oct Wed 03, 2007 3:24 pm

Wow. Certainly sounds like a busy day. Can't wait for the full review.

boilerbabe · Post by **boilerbabe** » Oct Wed 03, 2007 6:33 pm

Love hearing about your experiences, I always wanted to do that college program when I was in school, never go to. So I look forward to hearing about yours packwingfn!

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Oct Wed 03, 2007 8:53 pm

So after we bought our tshirts/figment plush....We made our way to the front of the rope drop, and waited there for around 45 minutes until we realized there may be more shirts on sale at Mousegear. Unfortunally it was the same tshirt we already bought. There was also the watch on sale but working on the CP, you really can't afford a $100 watch. So the rope drop came and happened at 9, we were able to bolt to the dedication stage. I had a real good view and I was with a few of my friends. They blasted all of the EPCOT Center songs from Energy to Imagination to Horizons. It felt like Subsonic Radio blasting throughout EPCOT

.

http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 5_3242.jpg

We waited an hour before people came out to talk, like Jim McPhee (the VP of EPCOT) http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 4_5266.jpg

and some other people including Marty Skylar, a Disney imagineer!
http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 9_6434.jpg

Then they had 2 representives from each attraction from Future World and each country in World Showcase come out with a little plaque of their ride/country. They even recreated the original dedication of water from each country and dumping it into the Fountain of Nations. Then they launched fireworks from the top of Innoventions with the fountains rising in the air! I totally geeked out throughout the whole presentation!

I met up with my roommate Matt who joined me with Melissa, Lee and other friends. They told us about this internet group (Magicalmountain.net) doing this little tours throughout the day. The first thing on the iternary was Beverlyfest at 12:45 which included 2 guys taking 25 shots of Beverly. We watched each of them take their 25 shots of Beverly. Then they asked for any volunteers who wanted to attempt at least half the amount of shots (because we were taking up alot of space inside Club Cool). About 6 people volunteered, including myself. To make it different, it was a speed contest to see who could drink them the fastest.

I was nervous but I did not stop and I pounded down those shots of Beverly like there was no tomorrow and I won! I burped a lot and I almost protein spilled but I held my composure and had a very good caffeine rush since I also drank Full Throttle before this event. They had a podcast going and they interviewed me after I won and I didnt know what to say as I was literally stoked on caffeine.

PREPARING MY DEATH:
http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 9_1169.jpg

THE START OF THE ACTION
http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 0_1404.jpg

BURPING TIME
http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 1_1647.jpg

MORE DRINKING DEREK, NO STOPPING!
http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 2_1886.jpg

THE WINNER!
http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 3_2129.jpg

For winning, I even got a EPCOT Desktop Background CD. To be honest, I didn't even think I was going to get a prize, I was just doing it out of pride...and insanity!

THE VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Elhtq9Zgg

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Oct Wed 03, 2007 10:03 pm

Very cool to hear the first hand account (and that you were in line behind Dave Smith =) ). Loving the videos/photos. Thanks for sharing!

yodiwan1 · Post by **yodiwan1** » Oct Wed 03, 2007 10:17 pm

i heard about the group that you were with. They had been plannign that trip for a really long time, the original Dreamfinder was with them. I wanted to get up there but I had class.

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Oct Fri 05, 2007 1:10 am

After Beverlyfest, I had a caffeine rush and I felt ill for about 30 minutes but it went away after that then we all met up with those internet people at 1:30 for the tour with the Original Dreamfinder. It was neat hearing some stories from the Dreamfinder. Jim Hill was also there and I'm not a big fan of his so I kind of ignored him whenever he talked. Then we walked over to the Imagination Fountains where the Dreamfinder used to take pictures with the guests so it brought back a lot of memories for him being on that spot. I didn't get a picture with him as some people did but I did get a picture of him.

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 6_2832.jpg

After the tour, I stopped in Canada to catch Off Kilter for at least one set where I met up with Matt again at the World Showplace Building because they were feeding us cast members free food from the countries around the World Showcase. They even had a gallery of stuff from EPCOT over the years. They even replayed the rededication speech already on 2 big screens in the pavillion. I got a picture with Figment during this time as he was backstage. I brought out my figment plush from the bag and gave it to Figment, he started to run off with it then cradled it in his arms then gave it a big kiss. It was so cute.

http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 05_206.jpg

After that is when I met my hero, Martin, he creates all these wonderful videos of the history of OLD and CURRENT attractions so it was awesome that we met up even for a few minutes.

I just walked around World Showplace and enjoyed some different beers around the world as part of the Food & Wine festival before Matt & I made our way to Future World to ride Test Track, checked out Wonders of Life (it looks so sad now), and rode Soarin. Then it rained ALOT and we were all worried that Illuminations would suck in this rain...but they delayed it as much as possibile and the rain eventually did stop. My total geekness came out during Illuminations and I sung my song, danced, waved my arms in unison during the song. Then the 5 minutes extra were some of the biggest fireworks I have ever seen and were very well done. I would recommend finding a good copy of them on Youtube.

All wet, with my friends, waiting for Illuminations:
http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 1_5315.jpg

These are the fireworks that give me chills EVERY night I see them. (The music helps too)
http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 5_6320.jpg

Post by **acp** » Oct Fri 05, 2007 4:03 am

packwingfn wrote:Then the 5 minutes extra were some of the biggest fireworks I have ever seen and were very well done. I would recommend finding a good copy of them on Youtube.

There's an awesome video of it here: http://www.attractionsmagazine.com/video.php

Andy.

Lion Sleeps Tonight · Post by **Lion Sleeps Tonight** » Oct Fri 05, 2007 8:46 am

Wow. I'm not a huge fan of Epcot, but my appreciation for that park has been growing steadily over the years.

Congrats on winning the Beverlyfest. I don't think I could even drink one full cup of that stuff.

Thanks for the report. Although these updates are really making me miss all the 'fun' of the college program.

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Oct Fri 05, 2007 2:27 pm

Your welcome Lion. My reports may not be up to par with your reports but I try my best to tell everything that I enjoy and try not to focus on the things that might bother me a bit (which arent many things).

When are you coming up here? I thought you said that you would be coming to Disney World over the Fall. I would love to meet you

Lion Sleeps Tonight · Post by **Lion Sleeps Tonight** » Oct Fri 05, 2007 2:44 pm

packwingfn wrote:Your welcome Lion. My reports may not be up to par with your reports but I try my best to tell everything that I enjoy and try not to focus on the things that might bother me a bit (which arent many things).

When are you coming up here? I thought you said that you would be coming to Disney World over the Fall. I would love to meet you

Up to par? Seriously, my reports are like live journal entries filled with selfish dramas. When I'm bored, I scroll through my posts and laugh every time.

Yours are more fun, and I'm glad you're enjoying things from the start.

Oh, I got a question, how long was your Traditions class? I keep hearing different things about it, from being 5 to 8 hours.

I will definitely see you sometime during your program, no worries.