SINGLE DIGITS

Hello again,

I forgot to post on Sunday:

I'M IN THE SINGLE DIGITS!!!

From 217 days away, I'm now down to 8. Just 8 days away until I begin a new chapter in my life.

Today is my last day at Dreamworld and I'm a little sad, I won't lie, I said bye to a few people who won't be there today and I got a little teary. Who knows how I'll make it through today and my going away.

Also from Wednesday - Tuesday I will be doing all my catch ups with other friends before Mum hosts a BBQ for my going away. So I'll have all the family friends around to say bye as well.

I also have the dreaded packing, last minute shopping and room cleaning to organize this week. :/ Busy 8 days I have in front of me.

So until next week (more than likely Tuesday night)
Stay Magical. 

xx

Merry Christmas!

Hello!

First let me start off with a big:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and got spoiled rotten by Santa. I certainly did.

Today I got;

✩ Travel Wallet
✩ Carry On Suitcase
✩ Beanies and Scarves

✩ New Pajamas
✩ Chocolates

✩ Nemo Scrapbook 

✩ Little cocktail mixers 

✩ Lingerie Washing Bag 

✩ Money

✩ And some little toys to play with my cousins with. 

Overall I got very spoiled and I'm so excited that I now have a travel wallet and carry on suitcase, it means I don't have to wear my uggs and can put a change of clothes in for when I land in LA. (Pictures will go up next week when I pack everything.)

All I really need to buy now with my last paycheck is:

✩ TSA Approved Locks 

✩ Travel Adapter 

✩ Space Bags 

Moving onto the Disney front we got an e-mail saying that roommate matching had gone live and we could now request roommates, so I jumped straight on and requested Amy and she accepted :) So hopefully we get to be together and get the apartment we want. Fingers crossed! 

So that's all for now.

9 days, 10 sleeps. 

Stay Magical. 

x

The Big Bill Paid

Hello!

Exciting news.

I got my insurance tonight! HOORAY.
That was the last thing on my list to do and it's done.

I ended up going with 1cover because iTrek had a HUGE jump in price from $950 to over $1100.

So I paid $920 to get 12 months, no excess with 1cover and I can just add another month this time next year. :)

Also I unlocked my phone today so in 72 hours I will be sweet for an American Sim to work in it. 

All I have to do now is pack, tidy my room, finish my last 4 shifts, pay final bills and pay Amy.

And get through Christmas on Sunday!

Then I will be on my plane before I know it.

Until after Christmas when I pack.
Stay Magical!
xx

One Month Left

Hey.

Going to start out this blog by saying, I haven't been negleting you, I promise. It's just nothing has happened on the Disney front. I have literally just been watching my timer go down and down slowly every day.

So what's new you might ask since nothing has been happening.

Well...

I handed in my resignation letter yesterday at work (best feeling EVER) and my last day is the 27th of December. So now I'm more relaxed with work and I'm just taking it easy and getting annual leave hours up for my nice payout at the end of the month.

There is 30 days left before I leave.

I have my suitcase and I'm beginning to go through my clothes and trying stuff on to see what fits, what doesn't, what can be thrown and what can be donated.

There is 19 days until Christmas.

I'm slowly beginning to pack up my room and take all my things off the walls, and beginning to go through my drawers.

There is 15 days until my Nan and Pop arrive to have a holiday with me before I leave. 

And I just found out they will be staying until the 5th of January; so they are coming to the airport.

I'm still saving for my insurance thanks to some unexpected medical bills that arose. But hopefully I will get there in the next 3 weeks.

There is 30 days until I leave.
That's it.
30 days left.

When I say it I get a little excited and scared at the same time.

So until my next blog which will hopefully be about insurance being paid. . .

Stay magical.
xx

This one's for you

Hello!

So last night was a great night, I got a text message from the girlies saying we were off to Surfers to have dinner with Gemma to take her beautiful mind off the tragedy that occurred over the weekend.

L-R: Alice, Me, Jess, Nat, Nadine

Unfortunately on Saturday 5 of Gemmas beautiful friends:  Rebecca McKenzie, Sean Doran, Tim Cooper and twin sisters Caroline and Olivia Wright were involved in a horror car accident that claimed all their lives.

After having lost a close friend earlier this year to a car accident I could sympathize to a degree to how she was feeling, but I had to keep in mind, I lost one friend, she had just lost 5.

So we all went out to dinner at La Porchetta's and it was amazing!! Gem and I had the same dish Pollo Advocado, YUM. And we all just talked about Disney. I also meet Jess and Charlotte again, which was nice. I'm quite liking these meet ups, unfortunately, it may be the last one before everyone starts to leave which means I may not see them again until I land in Florida :( But will be trying my best to see them.

 L-R: Alice, Nat, Me, Nadine, Jess, Courtney and Gem.

 L-R: Jess, Courtney, Gem, Alice, Nat, Me, Nadine

After dinner the girlies went to get ice-cream and I said to Gemma I wanted to show her Build-A-Bear. We got there with 10 minutes to spare and I walked out with Disney.

 Disney.

Gem was blown away by Build-A-Bear and went there today and made 'CORTS' in memory of her friends, which is really beautiful and touching, and I know that both our friends are looking down on us.

CORTS.

That is really all I have that's going on in the Disney front, not much longer to go now. So I shall sign off and until next time, stay magical. xx

This ones for you, may your souls rest in peace.

Trent Mason: 11th January 2011

Rebecca McKenzie, Sean Doran, Tim Cooper, Caroline and Olivia Wright: 12th November 2011

Another One Bites The Dust

Hey!

So today was rather exciting, I finally got to the post office to get my Passport back with my Visa inside!!
That makes everything so much more real now. Also I got my SEVIS I-90 receipt with it - Better late than never...

Also tonight I paid my assessment fee of $104.50 and I registered for my class: Exploring Disney Heritage.

Found out that my Delta flight had a change, I leave 5 minutes earlier and get in 13 minutes earlier to Orlando. Sweet.

Other than that not much else has happened, now I have my insurance to buy and pay Amy back and I'm set to go.

56 Days until I leave = 7 weeks = 35 more working days.

Stay Magical!
xx

Everything happens for a reason.

Hello All!

So this will be a fairly long post, I will warn you now. This past week has been pretty intense, everything that could go wrong did. I'll start from the beginning..

On Sunday (30th Oct) I went to work at Dreamworld and was on Reef Diver.

Around 4pm I spotted a leak at the bottom of the arm and rang it through. Engineers rocked up at 4:20pm and had a quick look and said it was done for the day. Turns out the leak had been there a while and no one had spotted it before me and its fairly big (4mm I believe). So at 5pm I went to the office and my Supervisor called me in and said I did a great job and that the head of engineering commended me for finding the leak as he didn't think that half his team would've found it. So I left work on a real big high.

So I went home and was chilling out when a storm rolled around at 9ish. 9:20 I was sitting on my bed with my mac next to me and the tv on, when lighting struck our house and myself. After ringing 13 HEALTH and putting ice on my lips to try reduce the tingling sensation and lying down because I was dizzy and felt like throwing up, at 11pm Mum rang the ambulance because I developed upper left chest pain. So I went in my first ambulance ride to hospital. They weren't going to take my as the EGC and tests they did at my house were normal but when the ENERGEX man told mum that house had defiantly been struck and that investigators were required to attend to check everything before powering the house back up, the paramedics said I had no choice, I had to go to hospital.

Monday morning at 4am I got picked up from the hospital and went home to bed for the day. I woke up and it was Tuesday; how time flies.

So it's now Tuesday and I walk outside to put the bin on the street and I get stung by a bee! I happen to be allergic to bees. Just my luck, here I save Dreamworld from something major happening, I get electrical shock and a bee sting. So I had Tuesday off also and then it was Wednesday.

Wednesday morning I went and picked up Natalie and off to Dreamworld we went to meet Nadine and Amy; it was time for a Disney girls day out. The day was great, I had an amazing time and some great photos were taken. (See below) We went on Tower first and had the best time and it was our best photo of the day but we didn't get it :( then the girls did some spinny rides, I went on drop, we had lunch, played AVPX, went to the waterpark and then finished the day by going on Cyclone and Rapids. After that we all went home expect Amy as she stayed the night at mine because we were off for our Visa interview the next morning.

Thursday 3am Amy and I woke up and were ready in 30 minutes, great achievement seeings as we were exhausted from the day before. We got to Gold Coast airport with 40 minutes to spare before boarding so we had breakfast and brought some magazines to read on the plane. I got the window seat because Amy will have it on our super long flight but had to sit next to a rather large man which looked uncomfy for both parties involved. We were 10 minutes late to take-off and than spent 20 minutes in holding before we finally landed in Sydney 30 minutes late. We literally ran off the plane, to the train, brought our tickets ($23) and then ran to the platform and the train arrived just as we did perfect timing. We then jumped off at James St and ran across the road to Martin Place where I spotted the MLC building; we debated for a few minutes as to where the consulate was before we finally went where I first said and bam we were inside and had 3 minutes to get through security.

So we went to level 10 for the screening and I handed over my bag and then answered a few questions and went to a little waiting area, Amy joined me soon after and then we met this really nice American man who was intrigued as to what we were doing and he knew where WDW was. HOORAY!! Someone knows! No correction needed. Shortly after we were called to jump in the lift and up the the 50-something floor we went, handed over our passport, and then got told which ticket and where to go once inside. So in we went and jumped in a line which consisted of Amy and myself. I was called up first and they took my passport and documents over and they then scanned my fingers, I was then directed to sit down in the middle area and begin the waiting game. I was 356. They were calling 349. Amy joined soon after and then Jessie followed.

I was the first one to be called up and I was so nervous as everyone said things happen in three's: I already had the strike and the bee sting and so far this day my plane was delayed 30 minutes, so my heart was racing and I felt so ill and really needed the bathroom. Finally though my number was called and the man behind the window mentioned he saw me getting nervous when he called 350. I was like yeah. The interview itself was really short he asked me a few questions:

✩ Had I been to the USA before?
 ✩ What was the purpose of my visit?
 ✩ Does Disney provide my accommodation?
 ✩ Am I still studying or have I finished?  
✩ Where did I study? 

After those, BAM I was approved. FINALLY SOMETHING GOOD from my bad week! :D

Amy and Jessie were then called up and both approved so we decided to go shopping as it was 10:30am and we had to wait until 4:15pm for our next flight. I brought a jumper as it was freezing and then we had lunch before jumping on the train, seeing the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, and then back to the airport it was, where I had to most amazing Laksa EVER! Then it was back on the plane where I napped and then awoke to us descending back onto the Gold Coast. YAY.

We got home, Amy left and I went and slept and that was the end of the hectic week that was.
Today at work I worked out that I have:

✩ 2 Months left until I leave
= 
✩ 8 Weeks Left until I leave

=

✩ 40 Work days left

Yay for work 5 days a week, when I think about it, 39 days left of work sounds scary. Eek.

Also we got an e-mail letting us know we can now pay our assessment fee which I will pay on Wednesday before I begin to finalise and pay off my insurance. (Going with iTrek as they do 13 months and it's only $950 with $0 excess) And then its $400 to Amy and the rest to the America fund :)

So Until next time when something exciting happens, I will leave you with photo's from the weekend. 

✩Nadine, Myself, Amy and Natalie

✩Myself and Amy 

✩Me :D 

✩ Amy, Myself, Nadine and Natalie

✩ Amy, Nadine, Myself and Natalie

Stay Magical
xx

Slow much?

Hey,

So not a lot has happened this month regarding Disney. It has been rather quiet and boring and slow.
The only real bit of contact we had was an e-mail telling us to follow their blog they have set up and that's it.

In regards to my Visa I paid the application fee and got my envelope for them to send my passport back in and that's about it. I have the interview on Thursday so I'll have another blog up for that going through what happened.

Aside from that not much has gone on. The girls and I: Amy, Alice, Nadine and Jessie went bowling a few weeks back so I think I shall leave you with some pictures. 

L-R: Alice, Myself, Jessie, Amy, Nadine

Then on Wednesday night Nadine, Alice, Jessie, Natalie and myself went out to dinner at Burleigh Beach which was nice, but unfortunatly I don't have any pictures from that night.

Oh, we are all meeting up on Wednesday (or who can come) and hanging out at Dreamworld for the day, seeings as I have points that need to be used other wise my 2 years hard work will be wasted away by not using the free entry for friends. So I will have more pictures from that too :D

So until Thursday (which also means a new month)
Stay Magical
xx

Blue Folder 2.0 and the Visa

Hey Hey,

So last night I promised a proper blog regarding my Blue Folder. Well here we go..

So it was around 12ish and I had been out that morning to see the Apple store and have brunch with Mummy and I got home and decided to do some chores and what not. I was cleaning some blinds for mum that had been soaking in some bleach product so my hands were pretty foul and I was on the very last one when, I heard a knock at the door. My mind raced. Could it be? My folder has arrived? I quickly dried my hand and when I saw the delivery guy standing there with my Fedex Package I knew. I ran down the hall to the door like a little kid at Christmas. The guy asked how I was and I said "Great now you're here with my Disney Package" He gave me a smile and handed it over. I was such a little kid, as soon as I had signed I ran back to my room squealing, he must've thought I was the weirdest chick ever!

So this is what I had:

 Fedex :) 

I opened it up and this is what greeted me:

 BLUE FOLDER! 

And inside that magical folder; 

CONGRATULATIONS!

Disney Look Book

 Welcome Letter

DS-2019 Form 

I-90 Form

So after reading through everything I began the process of paying my SEVIS Fee ($35) and the lengthy process of the DS-160 form. So confusing but I ended up working it out. HOORAY.

SEVIS Receipt 

DS-160 Receipt 

 Visa Appointment Confirmation Receipt

Today was also an exciting day, I paid to book my interview and I will be going to Sydney on the 3rd of November for my Visa Interview and once that's over it's all about insurance, which I must start saving for after this week. Amy also booked our flights so I still owe her $400 which I also must get for her! Time to start picking up extra shifts I'm thinking.

So that is really all I have now on the Disney front. Hopefully now that it is getting closer to January we will start to hear more and I can relay more information.

Until next time
Stay Magical
xx

PS: I also made my first vlog and uploaded it last night, but the account won't be opened to the public until I land in the USA. 90 days guys :)

Blue Folder

Hey Hey,

Exciting day today!
The welcome pack arrived.
Pictures and more to come tomorrow.

It is now bed time, early start (time to get ready for the hot summer bod)

Until tomorrow
Stay magical.
xx

DOUBLE DIGITS!

Hey all,

Yes the time has arrived. DOUBLE DIGITS! From starting the countdown at 217 days it has finally reached 99! I am over halfway to Disney now!

This means I have 99 days left of working for a Koala and his girlfriend;

Kenny and Belinda

And begin my year of working for a mouse and his girlfriend; 

Mickey and Minnie 

So that is all very exciting. It also means D-Day for the diet and exercise to begin now it's warming up. Time to shed the excess KG I've been lugging around, so I shall keep you updated on that matter also.

 

Oh I almost forgot! Next Saturday night the 8th, the girls and I are off to bowling and dinner. I'm loving our little dates we have been having, it's quite nice and then in a few weeks we are having another big QLD group meet up on the coast! HOORAY! Less driving for me! 

 

To finish up this blog regarding 99 days until I leave, I was told last week by Jeni that our welcome packs were being sent out which means... They should arrive this week hopefully!!! YAY! 

Until then, 

Stay Magical!
x

When it's all said and done

Hey Hey,

So not much is happening on the Disney front, August/September seem to be boring and slow months. However I did just finish paying off my flights so that is a weight off my shoulders.

Also this Saturday night Amy, Alice, Jessie, Nadine and myself are going out for dinner in Brisvegas. Shall be fun, I can't wait!

Until more than likely next month
Stay magical.
xx

We're Gonna Give It A JUMPSTART

Evening all.

So I've sent my NPC off and received a reply, so now there is nothing to do except finalize my flights this and next week and then wait for October to roll around. It seems so far away but already it is the 22nd August. It feels like yesterday that I got the acceptance e-mail and yet that was way back on June 1. Where has the past few months gone?

So this blog aside from informing you of all that is to talk about where I will live while over at Disney.

Lets start from the beginning... Once upon a time... KIDDING...

Okay so there are 4 complexes where the International College Program (ICP) Participants reside:

✩ Vista Way (VW) 

✩ Chatham Square (CS) 

✩ The Commons 
✩ Patterson Court (PC)

Now these 4 complexes are reasonably close to one another: Vista is one one side of the highway and Chatham, Commons and Patterson are on the other side next to each other. In each complex the buildings are co-ed where the rooms are not, and they come in 4 different sizes: 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedrooms. Generally through reading blogs and viewing vlogs, Australians and the New Zealanders are generally placed in Vista (it is the biggest and oldest of the 4 complexes), but it isn't odd to hear of them placed in other apartments (aside Commons - they are for the Cultural Exchange program).

Each of the apartments comes with some welcoming presents: 

Bedroom:

✩ Dresser with mirror

✩ Nightstand 

✩ Two twin beds

Dining Room:

✩ 1 Table with 4-6 Chairs

Living Room:

✩ Couch

✩ Chair

✩ Two End Tables 

✩ Computer Desk and Chair

✩ Coffee Table

Additional Items Provided:

✩ Shower Curtain

✩ Two Vanity Wastebaskets

✩ Kitchen Appliances, Utensils and Dishes

✩ Local Phone Service and 1 Central Phone

✩ Maintenance of the Apartment, including Pest Control

✩ All Utilities including Water, Electricity and Waster Disposal

✩ 24-Hour Security

✩ Cable TV Hook-up 

          

So now on to the complexes...


Vista Way: 

Vista Way is the oldest and biggest of the complexes. It it where most American College Program and the ICP are housed. It has recently been renovated in the past year or so, and it is the complex with the most amenities surrounding it. Vista Way also has the cheapest rent of the complexes. It is also where the buses "live".

 ✩ Vista Way 2 Bedroom Floor Plan 

 ✩ Vista Way 3 Bedroom Floor Plan

This is a list of what is surrounding and included in Vista Way: 

✩ Disney Learning Centre

✩ Clubroom Thirtheen502

✩ Laundry Facilities On The Ground Floor Of Each Building

✩ Pavilion

✩ Fitness Centre

✩ 2 Hot Tubs

✩ Outdoor Pool Table

✩ 2 Swimming Pools

✩ Basketball Court 
✩ 2 Racquetball Courts

✩ Tennis Court
 ✩ Volleyball Court  

Chatham Square: 
 

 

Chatham Square is right across from Mickey's Retreat (A Cast Member only area) and in the terms of rent it is priced in the middle of Vista and Patterson. With Mickey's Retreat being so close to Chatham not only do you have its amenities you also get Mickey's. Chatham also shares its bus with Patterson, so you don't have to get up early for a 5-10 minute walk and a plus, Chatham's Bus Stop is right out the front of security.

✩ Chatham compared to Vista (2 Bedroom) 

This is a list of what is surrounding and included in Chatham Square: 

✩ Laundry Facilities In Buildings 2, 7, 15 and 19

✩ 1 Swimming Pool

✩ Computer Lab

✩ Fitness Centre

✩ Outdoor Pool Table

✩ Tennis Court
✩ Vollyball Court  

It may not seem like much but Chatham is right next to Mickey's Retreat so you can go there and use facilities. 

Patterson Court: 

Patterson Court is the most expensive complex to live in, as it was only built in 2008 everything is newer then the other complexes and you pay for it. Paterson is also the only complex without a bus stop so you have to walk over to Chatham to catch the bus (it's 5-10 minutes depending on your speed)

This is a list of what is surrounding and included in Patterson: 

✩ Laundry Facilities In Buildings 1, 4, 9 and 13

✩ 1 Swimming Pool

✩ Computer Lab

✩ Fitness Centre

✩ Outdoor Pool Table

It is less than Chatham and Vista, which is odd because Patterson in the newest complex but it's a short walk to Chatham which is right next to Mickey's Retreat so you can go there and use facilities.   

So that is pretty much the basic gist of the living complexes, one of which I will be living in 137 days from now. It has been info from Amy's Blog, Websites, Vlogs, Blogs, Previous ICP's I have spoken too.

So until next time,
Have a magical time. 
xx  

Meet Up ✓ NPC 2.0 ✓

Hey Hey,

So not much has happened from my last post aside from the meet up I organized happened last night and today I received my NPC back.

So the dinner was in Brisbane at Pancake Manor and I had 23 from 23 people turn up! Big win for me! And my booking for 25 didn't look silly. ( I think PM thought 25 of us wouldn't turn up. I proved them wrong! ) The dinner was good to finally put Facey pictures to actual humans in the flesh and I made some new friends.

I will give a shout out to Alice and her favourite shoes:

Kidding, though these did provide great laughs!

So dinner was at 6:30 and before we knew, it was 9pm! Where did the time go? Was great fun, and I will defiantly be organizing another soon, maybe somewhere on the Coast. I'm not sure, but I'll work it out.

So today's big news was I got my NPC back and the result: 

*Drumroll Please* 

I am really good at hiding things from the Australian Federal Police because I'm a clean skin!

They had NOTHING on me because I'm a goody goody!

So I will be scanning that into my computer and then happy days as I send it off to Yummy Jobs. :D

Also on a side note, tomorrow is D-Day for my rego so once that is paid every cent made after is for the Disney $$ or more like Flights, Visa, Travel insurance. Not looking forward to the future bills on their way to me.

But thats all for now!
Have a magical night! 

xx

NPC ✓

Hey Hey,

So today I sent my NPC (National Police Check) away. $43 and then a $5.95 charge from the post office...

Also STB is no longer partnered with Disney, so everything we do now goes through them.

I had heard that there's a few problems with that, so I was a little worried when I sent Jeff an e-mail, but we had a quick 4 e-mail conversation which ended in Jeni contacting me on my Friday morning.

However, Jeni rang me the next day: THURSDAY morning. A day ahead, I unfortunately missed it, so I shot her an e-mail but haven't heard back since, I may ring her like I said in my e-mail.

Also a few other CP's are saying they received an e-mail from Disney with some info, I'm still waiting to receive mine, so we will see what happens over the next few days.

That's all for now. Still have $515 to pay on my flights by Sept 18, so I really have to start putting some money on those! Hopefully I will do this other wise, who knows what will happen then.

Oh and a gloating moment, I brought my $US at $1.08, then it went up to $1.12 and I was like oh I missed out by like a few cents, but today because of all the issues over in America and their debt the dollar has gone back to $1.04 - WINNING for me. :D end gloat!

So until then,
Stay magical
xx

Travel Card ✓

Hey Hey!

So today was the day. The funds were cleared from my bank account.
I went to ANZ and withdrew $1000.00 cold, hard cash!
Was amazing to hold in my hand.

And into Australia Post I went.
After a few questions, handing over my drivers license and medicare card then followed the dreaded: handing over my cash. :(

It was a sad moment, but it got me this:

And on this it holds: One Thousand and Fourty Nine Dollars! (And some cents like .05 or something) 

HAPPY DAYS! The America fund has begun!

Stay tuned guys, 6 days until the background check gets sent away!

Until then

Stay Magical. 

xx

Accomodation and Transfers

Hello.

Badabing badaboom. Things are rolling along quite nicely.

I received our updated travel itinerary yesterday and today I went and put my half of our accommodation and transfer into Amy's (check her blog out: amysdisneyadventure) bank account today. So now it's official I have a bed to sleep in and a way from the airport early in the morning to my room. In the words of Charlie Sheen WINNING!

Picture of the hotel we will be staying at:  

Also Christine from NZ (check out her blog: kiwidisney) will be traveling with us from LAX to Orlando on our flight, which is exciting.

As for our 9 hour layover I'm thinking maybe jumping in a cab and going down to Santa Monica for a few hours to kill some time. Airports are kinda boring after an hour or so.

So yeah, Santa Monica hasn't been decided yet, but hopefully we can do that : )

Also Tax should be back soon, so I can pay off my flights and put some money on a spending card. Yipee, and only 10 days until I can send off my police check, which is when my next update will probably be.

Also we have been discussing ideas for hoodies and shirts and these are the most popular designs so far:

Christine's:

Mikaela's:

So a poll will go up on the groups facebook page soon and hopefully a design will be selected. : )

But anywho, until next time.
Stay Magical.
x

LAX to Orlando

Hey Hey.

So not much has been happening on the Disney front, but today Amy went in and booked and paid for out flights from LAX to Orlando.

She is super nice in doing so and I'll just put the money in her bank account rather then pay STA. We decided to go down this route so we know our seats are there ready to go and we won't be stranded in LAX and have to fork out another night of accommodation.

Like she said if I didn't pay there would be two very awkward long flights ahead, but I'm not stressing, tax comes back soon and the flights work out to be roughly just under what I earn a week at work if I do the minimum hours. Hopefully though extra shifts will be coming along soon and extra hours which mean extra money.

So yeah that's pretty much it. I've also just been reading blogs of people who are about to get over there and start the program and then back tracking to who they followed etc etc, to get ideas of how it all works and what not.

Until next time.
xx

Flights ✓ Insurance ?

So, Amy went and paid our flight deposits on Monday, so I have my flights and have until September 19th to pay them off, but plan on paying them back as soon as Tax comes back.

We have decided that when we arrive in Orlando we are going to pay for a private transfer, which means when we land someone will be waiting holding a sign with our names on it. WINNING. I think I might just feel a little famous for a few seconds haha.

We have also decided to stay in a resort/hotel right next to Vista Way as long as we can still get it, and I checked to make sure we can book, because some you need to be over 21 but this on is in our favour with someone having to be over 18 which we both are. : )It will cost $105 for two night including breakfast!! Yay. Food for our tummies.

Now the big one:

I N S U R A N C E

Amy and the travel agent compared Cover More (he said that it's one of the most reliable one out there) and STA travel's Cover More travel insurance. To get the insurance that we will need for our Visa (ie. meets all those requirements) he showed her two options for each insurance.

The first figures are based on an excess of $250 Cover More was at: $1543 and STA Travel Cover More Insurance is at $2162. Differences being obviously how much the insurer will pay out.

Then there's the one with $0 excess to be paid whenever making a claim; CoverMore: $2023 and STA CoverMore: $2455. Same differences with how much you get back when making a claim etc.

So I said to Amy to possibly take in the 1Cover quote I found and see if they will price match, otherwise we can go to Flight Centre or something and get a price match there - I have read other blogs and been following people about to go over and the said they got price matches.

So that's all for now.
Stay Magical
xx

To Infinity and Beyond

Hey, 

So today while at uni Amy went into STA travel and talked to them and she was quoted at $2196 return flying Air New Zealand, which is cheaper then V Australia and we don't have to pay to fly to Sydney which is another bonus as we will be leaving from Brisbane.

So the new itinerary will be:

Wednesday 4th January 

Flying Air New Zealand

Depart Brisbane at 11:15am

Arrive in Auckland at 17:25

Depart Auckland at 22:45 

Arrive in LAX at 14:00 

Flying Delta Airlines

Depart LAX at 22:50

Thursday 5th January

Arrive in Orlando at 06:34am  

So all up the flights will cost  $2,425 (the extra $229 is from Delta) which is AMAZING. So I will be transferring $50 to Amy over the next few days and she will be putting that deposit down, and then I have until September 18th to pay the rest owing. So hopefully on Monday I will have my flights and can then begin focusing on my Visa application and Background Checks. 

So once they are done we can also begin looking into accomodation and packages for Universal Studios and Harry Potter World. So a very few exciting days are coming up for me. 

Until next time,
Have a magical night.

xx

And the winning date is...

Hey,

So yesterday afternoon as I finished work I received a text from Amy informing me that our program dates are from January 7, 2012 through to January 4, 2013. 

Yes you read right, January 7 is when I need to be in Orlando ready to be checking in that morning.

So now I know my exact travel dates, today I will pop into Travel Centre and see what quotes I can get. : ) And pick up some brochures of Orlando.

Also in other news it means that instead of finishing at Dreamworld in mid January, I'll finish in late December, and I'm doing an amazing job of keeping up with my blog. (Maybe just a little to much)

Until next time,
Have a magical day.
xx

Accepted with 7 months to go.

Hi everyone.

So, last Wednesday the 1st of June, I finally received the e-mail I had been waiting weeks for. I have been offered a position to work at Walt Disney World for a whole year! I was ecstatic to say the least. I was at coffee with a friend and I'm sure everyone who walked past was thinking what the hell just happened?!

So not much can be done presently because my background check can't be sent away until August 1st but has to be received by October 10th. The US require the check to be valid for 6 months before the trip. So I'm counting down the days until I can actually do something.

I've been looking at flight prices and they are fairly expensive at the moment so I'm considering possibly flying from either Brisbane to LAX direct or from Sydney and paying for the flight to Orlando separately as it works out cheaper and if I do that I may stay a day or 2 in LA and do Disney and Universal there just for the experience. Still not sure yet though. Depends on the $$ really. Will be easier though when I hear the dates we need to be there from STB so I can start getting actual quotes.

I have also been looking around for travel insurance and it also seems fairly expensive but hopefully later on when I have exact details it will wind up cheaper somewhere.

January at the moment seems to be so incredibly far away and it is a tad annoying, but I know that this 7 months will go super fast, even faster once I know the dates and start saving and paying off things. I have also decided that I will be buying a Travel Card soon and loading it with a portion of my Tax return because the rate is good at the moment, and I know that I will have USD$1,000 ready to go once I get there but hopefully more, and I won't be able to spend it until I get there which is a bonus!

So I will hopefully be updating this every time something happens and while I'm away on this magical experience.

Until next time.
xx