Nobody is just born automatically knowing everything and anything about Walt Disney World. Are you confused about the differences between the Walt Disney World parks? Or Disneyland vs. Walt Disney World? What about which parks are skips or must dos? How big is Walt Disney World, anyway?  I myself didn’t visit the park until adulthood. And even though I did piles of research beforehand, there was still much I learned during my first trip. Here are five misconceptions about Walt Disney World I previously had:   1. Disneyland and Walt Disney World are the same thing One of my earliest memories is sitting around the TV at daycare, watching morning cartoons with the other kids. Suddenly, a Disney park commercial came on. We all started excitedly yelling "I wanna go to Disneyland!" One kid brought up Disney World. "What's the difference?" we asked. One kid said with the air of authority that only a 4-year-old could have "Disneyland is inside of Disney World"...

  As I continue my "Ranking of the Lands" series,  I need to approach Epcot a bit differently. Historically, Epcot has been broken up into two sections: Future World and the World Showcase.  Ranking the World Showcase Pavilions deserves its own post, as there's just too many of them.  But breaking up Future World into "lands" is tricky. Recently, Epcot has divided Future World into three different "neighborhoods" (why they wouldn't just continue the tradition of calling them "lands" is beyond me): World Nature, World Discovery, and World Celebration. Alright. Well, for the sake of simplicity, let's just rank these three Future World neighborhoods for now before going on to the much more overwhelming World Showcase.  (Just kidding. Ranking anything in Epcot is difficult because Epcot is awesome).  3. World Celebration As the entrance to the park, World Celebration sets the tone for your day at Epcot. And I must say, it looks so much be...

Recently, Disney introduced its new Lightning Lane system. Basically, Lightning Lane is the replacement for FastPass, except you have to pay to use it now. The FastPass system has been a staple in many Disney trips for 20 years. I myself was a huge advocate. But doing Disney without Lighting Lane is totally possible. Many people have reported on forums that Genie+ is definitely a bonus and not at all a requirement. Here are some tips for a Walt Disney World vacation WITHOUT Lightning Lane: Check Wait Times Walt Disney World's app is a must for every trip. On the app, you can check wait times for every attraction across the resort. You many want to download the app a few weeks before your trip and take note of the wait times throughout the days leading up to your visit to get an idea of when the parks are the most crowded.  Some rides like The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will have a permanent hour-long wait no matter what.  Some rides like Splash Mountain (Tiana...

  The 50th Anniversary celebration of Walt Disney World was supposed to bring new attractions to the parks, especially  EPCOT.  Understandably, not everything was ready in time and some plans have even been shelved for good. If one new addition to the parks is a much needed breath of fresh pixie dust, the new Ratatouille ride is it. Remy's Ratatouille Adventure is a copy-paste from Disneyland Paris. In 2014, a whole mini land was added to the Walt Disney Studios park. There was a fountain added, a restaurant and a ride which celebrates the passion of French cuisine. Naturally, the Parisians loved it. This celebration of culture is what makes the IP such a great fit for Epcot's World Showcase.  Personally, I am not a fan of copy-paste attractions. Each Disney park around the globe should have something unique to draw visitors away from their "home" park. The Ratatouille ride was one of the biggest draws to visiting Disneyland Paris. On the other hand, i...

There are three components to the Disney College Program: living , learning and earning . The living component has to do with on-site housing and how you spend your time outside out the parks. This will be your life for the next 4 or more months. How you live and who you live with can really affect the overall experience of your program. Here are some tips to tackle DCP housing: Start with social media You do have the option of choosing who you live with. Many newly accepted Cast Members will flood to Facebook groups to connect with others before actually beginning the program. This way, you're not going in completely alone. There will be some questionnaire forms floating around. Fill one out about yourself. Read other's posts and comment if you have anything in common. This is the easiest way to choose your own roommates. Even if you do not become roommates with everyone you talk to over social media, you can still make friends.  Consider cost The housing complex and the numb...

Crowd Levels Currently, Disney parks are welcoming guests at a reduced capacity. When purchasing a ticket, you will also have to select a park reservation. There are only as many reservations available as there are people allowed in. This ensures guests who pay for tickets are able to enter the park before they are locked out one capacity is reached. Earlier in the year, it was reported that Walt Disney World parks are at 35% capacity. We know that capacity levels have increased (especially for the 50th Celebration). However, it has not been reported exactly what the capacity level is at currently. It is safe to say the parks are not yet allowing 100% capacity just yet.  Even with a reduced capacity, the parks still felt crowded at times, especially at passages that bottle-neck (looking at you, Tangled bathrooms). Ride times rarely got above a 45 minute wait (except for rides such as Peter Pan or Seven Dwarves Mine Train, which are perpetually stuck at a 60 minute wait time). I vis...

The phone interview is the most nerve-racking stage of the application process for many candidates. The last two parts were done electronically, and now you have to speak to a real live Disney Cast Member who will decide your fate. I was nervous for my phone interview. I thought I had scheduled it for 9:00am, but I had actually scheduled it for 9 at night! I was jittery all day for that phone call. My phone interview ended up being very easy. I had spent years researching tips for it. I read blogs and watched YouTube videos of the questions I would be asked. Before my interview, I went through the list of questions I had collected and typed out responses to each one in a document. I sound much more eloquent in writing than I do in speech. I wrote an outline of responses and organized them by subject. I looked at my responses so much that I had them memorized. I think I even rehearsed some questions out loud (when my roommates were gone). During my phone interview, I had the document of...

 Spoliers ahead . I chose to start with Phantom of the Megaplex, as it's the DCOM I remember the least. I can't tell you the last time I saw this movie, or even the last time it was aired on Disney Channel. I don't think I've even seen the movie all the way through. I do remember the masked phantom being scary.  Phantom of the Megaplex premiered in 2000. And yes, it is based on Phantom of the Opera. The movie is set in a town whose original movie theater opened in 1925, where the first movie they first played was Phantom of the Opera. Fast forward a few decades and the old cinema was knocked down and replaced by a megaplex with 26 theaters. A rumor started up that a man was trapped in the old theater as it was knocked down and his soul now haunts the megaplex. The assistant manager of the megaplex, Pete, treats the Phantom rumor as a joke until things start to go very wrong on the night of a midnight premier.  My first qualm with the movie was that half a dozen characte...

Anyone familiar with Epcot's World Showcase knows that there is room for a few more pavilions. Greece was one of the proposed ones that fell through. However, a Greece pavilion would still be a wonderful addition in the future.  Here is my proposal for the Greece Pavilion: Parthenon The icon of the pavilion will be a replica of the Parthenon. Inside would be an exhibit on Greek mythology and how it influenced stories throughout time. For example, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is based on Pyramus and Thisbe.  Meg's Garden Behind the Parthenon will be a statue garden. One of the most iconic scenes in Disney's Hercules is Meg's garden, where Meg sings "I Won't Say I'm In Love" around fountains and historical Greek statues. This could be recreated in an artistic way, similar to the UK's hedge maze or the garden in the China Pavilion. Replicas of statues like the Venus de Milo will be placed throughout the garden. Disney could go extra-meta and do ...

After submitting your online application for the Disney College Program, you will get an email. Hopefully, this message will tell you that you have been selected to move forward in the application process. The next step is the web-based interview.  The web-based interview was the most nerve-racking part for me as it was so mysterious. There weren’t a lot of articles or YouTube videos going over it compared to the plethora of advice for the phone interview. Looking back, the WBI was the easiest part of the application process.  Essentially, the web-based interview is a personality questionnaire. You will mostly be answering questions on a 5-point or 7-point scale like “rarely/sometimes/neutral/often/always” or “strongly disagree/somewhat disagree/neutral/somewhat agree/strongly agree”. You will be asked questions about your personality, how well you work with people and punctuality.   An example of what the WBI will look like. Please note that this is NOT an actual screen...