This is me, Amanda, in my costume from Sunset Ranch Market at the Disney-MGM Studios. I worked from the end of August to the beginning of January. I was 20 when I did the program. I lived at Vista Way in building 18. Sometimes I was able to tolerate my job. Other times I abhored it. The best thing about doing it all was the people; the people at work, and the people I met in the apartment complex. After this, I went back to school in Northern California.
This, is my boyfriend, Jeremy. He is from Tennessee/Kentucky. He is working the cash register at the bakery at the end of Main Street in Magic Kingdom. He worked from the middle of June, to the end of August on the fall disadvantage program. He was tired of the program when we got together. Jeremy was 22 years old at the time. I met him at the spa at Vista Way. From then on, we were hardly inseperable. After the program, he went back to school in Kentucky. We're still together, just not in proximity.
This is Cara. She was one of my best friends on the program. Aside from Jeremy, I did more with her than with anyone else. She is one of the few people I have somewhat consistently kept in contact with since the program end. She is from South Carolina. She had just graduated when she started on the program; she arrived the same day I did. She was 24 years old. Here, she is working as a seater in a restaurant upstairs in the Land Pavillion at Epcot called the Garden Grill. I met her through one of my other roommates, Stacey. They both worked at the same location. One challenge I had with Cara was she was seemingly at odds with Jeremy. It was difficult for the two of them to be in the same room together and not be trading insults after only a few minutes. Which of course made it extra fun for me. She went back home to South Carolina and is working.
This is my immediate roommate, Julie. I hung out with her some. She came at the end of May, and stayed till the beginning of January. She is a technical theater major in North Carolina. She turned 20 while on the program. She worked backstage in costuming primarily at Animal Kingdom doing laudry, and dressing characters and performers. She spent nearly every Monday and Thursday night at Pleasure Island watching the Comedy Warehouse show. She went back to school in North Carolina.
This is Jenny. She was a 19-year-old from Arizona. I had the displeasure of living with her in my apartment. She arrived and left the same day I did. She primarily worked at a quick-service restaurant called Pinocchio's Village Haus in Fantasyland in Magic Kingdom. She was probably the least popular person I met on the program. She talked too much, complained and whined a lot, often about things she didn't understand, invited herself places, and did nothing but sit around on her butt and watch TV and eat whole pizzas. She went back to school in Arizona.
This is Rachel from Maryland (right). Rachel was Jenny's roommate. She turned 19 while on the program. Initially, she was a lifeguard at the Contemporary Resort. Later, due to a medication she was taking, she had to stay indoors and worked in the hotel's arcade. She was party girl; it was not uncommon for her to stumble in drunk early in the morning. But she never brought the parties or loud noise into our apartment. I never talked to her too much. She was on the program starting in June and left in early January.
This is Toccarra. She is the only person that I worked with that I did things with outside of work or people from work. Several times, when MGM closed early and Magic Kingdom closed late, we would run to Magic Kingdom and play together there and end up taking Jeremy back to Vista Way with us. She was 20 while on the program, and returned home to New York.
Most of the people from 1803
Jenny, Jacque, Amanda, Stacey, Erick and Rachel
I unfortunately do not have pictures other than this of Jacque, Stacey or Erik.
Jacque
She was a 19-year-old from New Mexico. She started on the program in May. She worked in a quick-service restaurant at Animal Kingdom called Pizzafari. She was Stacey's immediate roommate. Jacque and I never hung out just the two of us. However, we, with someone else, would play together in the parks or at the movies. Jacque found out that she needed to have a surgery, so she left the program early. She went home on the Monday before Christmas.
Stacey
Stacey arrived the same day as Jenny and I. She was a gorgeous 22-year old from Iowa. (I say she was gorgeous, because she had guys hitting on her seemingly all the time). She was the person in my apartment that I talked to the most. About a week before I met Jeremy, she met her boyfriend, Erik, at the Vista Way spa also. Stacey had a lot of health problems which allowed her to often get out of working at the Garden Grill.
Erik
Erik was a cool, blonde surfer guy from Hawaii. Initially, he came from Gilroy, near my hometown, so we often knew about the same places. Erik is a musician. He played guitar and had been in several bands. He also had a good sense of humor. Erik was a character greeter, meaning one of those guys that stands around with the characters and keeps them out of trouble. This meant he could work at anyone of the parks; sometimes even 2 in one day. He and Stacey broke up before the end of the program. However, they still keep in contact.
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