Introduction, cringeworthy names and nine hour flights!

Hi, I'm Tori. I'm an English girl and I've recently been accepted to be part of the Cultural Representative Program at Disney World in Florida. It's a year long program so I've decided to keep a blog for it. Blogging is a new thing for me. I keep a diary but actually putting all my thoughts and feelings out there on the internet for anyone to read? Well, that's something a little different.

I've done quite a bit of travelling over the last few years (that makes me sound so old!) I've worked at a summer camp, did a bit of repping in France and Menorca, a little backpacking in Thailand and Australia and a bit of volunteering out in Africa. I've also worked for Disney before. I worked onboard the Disney Wonder, one of their cruise ships. The hours were crazy. Seventy hours a week (that's ten hours a day) without a single day off in a four and a half month contract. It was exhausting to the extreme. The video above shows a bit of my life on the high seas! I sound like a pirate!

The hours put me off Disney for quite a while but then I learnt about the CRP (Cultural Representative Program - Disney LOVES acronyms!). You get two days off a week so the working hours aren't so important. I can do 16 hour days if I need to as long as I know I can get some time to recover from it! Over the last few months, I've been organising everything I need for my trip. I've sorted out my flight, got my visa, paid the insurance and even got chatting to a few other people who will be doing the same thing as me. It's nice to know other people are in the same boat as me. This time not literally! I just hope I get on well with everyone. I should do as they all seem really great. Luckily, we're all on the same flight so we'll either become good friends or kill each other on the nine hour flight to Florida. I'm hoping for the former.

The agency that Disney use to recruit people for the CRP is called "Yummy Jobs". It makes me cringe every time I have to say the name as it sounds like I'm 3! Still, despite the vomit inducing name, they're really good at helping you with everything you need. They've sent me ALOT of literature. I've been rereading it to make sure I've done everything and there is now only one thing I still need to sort out. They ask you to provide your own bedding for Florida; sheets, pillows, duvets...the lot. Quick question. Do you know how much room there is left in a standard suitcase after packing a duvet into it? The answer is zero room. Maybe you can get a pen round the edge or a a couple of safety pins but any other luxuries such as clothes will need to be forgotten about. My flight arrives at Orlando at 3.20pm (their time). Hopefully I'll have enough time to nip out to Wal-Mart and buy what I need. Packing it really isn't an option. Especially as my cat, Sunrise seems to have decided all I'm taking is her!