Blogmas Day 23: Day in My Life Blog

Hello Sunny Siders, happy Blogmas day 23! I can’t believe we’ve only got 2 more blogs left until Christmas! I thought it’d be fun to do another day in my life blog, this time during time off!

I started off the morning playing around with Cricut design space, learning how to make kiss cut sticker sheets for an upcoming project that I’ll be announcing in 2025! I was working on getting the designs to work and the cuts to do what I want them to do.

I spent awhile designing and using the machine, until everyone else was ready to head to Disney World! I was treating my family to a Disney day to round out the end of my internship.

We booked tickets for Hollywood Studios. The day began at Rock n Rollercoaster, we wanted to ride it one last time before they re-theme it to the Muppets. We grabbed Mickey pretzels and cheese to snack on while we were waiting in line. After the ride, we bought our commemorative photo to memorize this final ride.

Next, we rode the Tower of Terror, another classic ride my family loves. Then, we headed to some of the stores to buy souvenirs and pin trade.

Our next ride was Star Tours, before making our way to the Muppets 3-D to watch the show one final time before it closes down for good. It was always one of my dad’s favorites, so we wanted to share that moment with him one time!

We attempted, but failed to watch the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, because the first time Star Tours took to long, and the second time, we thought it was a 4 pm showing, not a 4:30 pm showing.

Instead, we watched the lighting of the Christmas tree and bought more souvenirs before making our way to the 50’s Prime Time Cafe.

This was unanimously our favorite in park Disney Restaurant! It was themed to look like a house in the 50’s. Elbows were not allowed on the tables and phones were only allowed for photos, this was family time after all!

We had hand spun milkshakes that were so thick and creamy, flavored sodas, corn bread skillet with honey butter, and all the makings of a delicious home cooked southern meal.

One of the dinners was a sampling of mom’s favorites, which included: pot roast, meatloaf, and fried chicken served with green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy.

My dad, brother, and I got the sampler while mom opted for the fried chicken. Everything was delicious! The meatloaf was amazing, the fried chicken was juicy, and the pot roast was fork tender.

It was a delicious meal, and once our stomachs were filled we grabbed a few more souvenirs before park hopping over to Epcot.

At Epcot, we did some more pin trading, and I found a Mr. Toad pin from the Wind in the Willows.

We decided to park hop to Epcot because we wanted to ride Living with the Land which is decorated with Christmas lights in the greenhouse this time of year. We also road Soarin’ because it’s a classic.

Then, we headed home. Our family Disney day had come to an end but it was so much fun! We got home and pretty much went straight to bed because everyone was tired.

Blogmas Day 13: Day in My Life Blog

Hello Sunny Siders, I decided it’d be fun to include a day in my life blog for you all!

My day started off at 7:00 am so I could get ready for work. I drank my daily immune booster, did all my hygiene things, and got dressed.

Then I posted my Blogmas and Doodlemas for the day before heading to work. Once I got to work at 8 am, I put some homemade sourdough in the toaster while I unpacked my work bag and put my lunch away.

Then I found a cozy corner to sit down and eat my breakfast while I started doing basic tasks for the day like meeting outlines and email responses.

Once the rest of the team arrived, I had quite a few meetings throughout the day so I went to those in between working on my current slate of projects.

I had a few great walk and chats scheduled for the day which I really enjoyed.

I’ve been trying to switch as many of my meetings to walk and chats as possible so I can get myself up and away from my desk more.

When the work day was over, the fun really began! My brother drove in to visit so we could go to the Candlelight Processional at Disney.

The guest narrator was Brendan Fraser who is one of our favorite actors, so I got us the tickets to go. We arrived as fast as we could, booking it all the way to the back of the park to reach the America pavilion. Then we waited in line for the 6:45 pm show.

We had a great time conversing with the other people we met in line, one of which is a Cast member who used to do the candlelight processional years ago. He was telling us about some of the best guests and how the show used to be a lot bigger than it is today.

After waiting for awhile it was time to head into the show, we got our seats and enjoyed a beautiful showing of the story of Jesus narrated by Brendan Fraser

When the show ended, it was time for food! We took a quick stop at the Japan pavilion to look at the shop and warm up from being outside. We then went to the China pavilion to get fried rice, beef noodle soup, and spring rolls before exploring the area. It was so much fun walking around the shops with my brother and enjoying the evening.

After that, we intended to go ride the Living with the Land Ride, but the line was very long and the park was closing soon so we headed home instead.

It was truly a beautiful day spent with my brother and I am so excited I got to share that experience with him!

All About My Disney Internship

Hello Sunny Siders, I am so excited to finally talk all about my Disney Internship with everyone! Let’s start with a little background and for that we need to go back to January 2023 when this process all started.

So in January I reached out to one of my colleges alumni that I had met at a Women in Business event in November. She had come to give us a presentation about her career journey and growth at the Walt Disney Company. I decided to reach out to pick her brain about how I could work for Disney, and from this point on she has been my amazing mentor. Truly, this process would have never happened without her guidance, and I will forever be grateful for her kindness and support.

Once I started meeting with my mentor, she advised me to try and apply for a Professional Internship. We created a plan to have me start meeting people in various areas of the Walt Disney Company so I could start finding my passions.

I was meeting with at least 1 person a month from March to August of 2023, just learning and absorbing any and all information I could. I’d also meet with my mentor monthly to check in and tell her how the process was going.

Then, in August an internship opened up for a team I was very interested in. With the help of my mentor we strengthened my resume and tailored it to the job posting and I applied.

A few months later at the start of October, I got a notification from HR that I had made it to the first round of interviews. While I was preparing for that I also had an opportunity to go meet the leaders of the team I was applying for thanks to my mentor.

She had set up a super fun day for me to shadow at the office and thank all the people I had conversed with since March in person for their help and guidance.

After my interview, near the end of October I got a call saying I was chosen to be the Professional Intern and I’d be starting in January 2024!

Flash forward a few months from October to January and I had moved to Orlando to start my internship, so let’s dive in to what my internship is and how the past 5 months have been going!

My internship is in Consumer Franchise Strategy. Essentially my team works with global Disney parks to make strategy recommendations for which characters they should focus on depending on which audiences they want to attract.

I can’t say too much more than that about what I work on, as much of the projects have an element of confidentiality to them, but I do specialize in competitive franchise analysis.

I love my job so much and while the work is amazing I love my team even more so. They welcomed me in with open arms and each day I’m so happy I get to work alongside them to strategize about the franchises in the parks.

Throughout my internship I’ve continued to meet new people in other roles to learn more about the company, I have regular one on ones with my mentors to check in and work on my career development, and I am always learning something new on the job each and every day.

Alongside everything I’ve learned on the job, I’ve met so many amazing people. I am so excited that now that I’m officially done with school, I get to go experience all of the extra things my internship has to offer. Just yesterday I went to Magic Kingdom with a group of friends from work, and the weekend prior I went to Epcot to celebrate Mother’s Day.

I’m so excited to see where this journey takes me next! I can’t wait to share all the things I learn and do in the next 7 months of my internship.