I strongly and whole-heartedly encourage you to visit or stay at the Wilderness Lodge. This place is very near and dear to my heart as I made some life-long friendships here and it was also the home of where I spent my program! I was a Quick-Service Food & Beverage Representative at the Roaring Fork, located on the lower level of the Resort, right underneath Artist Point.
I can't begin to explain how lucky I was to meet such a great group of people. On my first day of OJT or On the Job Training, I was greeted by none other than Santos Perez.
The relationship I created with my leader hold no comparison to relationships I would have in other workplaces. Santos has the heart of a child and spread Disney Magic to all that he interacted with. He was like a father to me and others I worked with and we always went to him when we were struggling. He never failed to make us laugh!
The Roaring Fork is a Quick-Service location in this resort and it is the only one on resort property! We are located next to the pool so there was always a mass of people coming in and out throughout the day. We sold hot items and cold items like burgers and salads but then we also sold the novelty Mickey Ice-Cream Bars and Ice-Cream Sandwiches. Every time I would see a little girl or boy eating one and getting the chocolate all over their faces reminded me of when I would come to Disney World at their age and be doing the exact same thing!
I had actually stayed at the Wilderness Lodge in 2000. It was the Year of the Millenium and The Disney Vacation Club Villas had not even been built yet! With only about 700-900 rooms the Wilderness Lodge is the second smallest resort on Disney Property. The smallest being The Twilight Zone's Tower of Terror, it was given an honorary Five Diamond Award and can thus be considered a hotel. Just because it's haunted doesn't mean it can't fit in with the other resorts on Property (:
The Wilderness Lodge had undergone some extensive refurbishment throughout my Program. The pool and gotten a fence put around it which also improved the walkways to the boat dock at the back of the resort and also to the Teton Boat and Bike Rental shop on the beach front. The Waterfall had made a nice recovery throughout my program and is now as beautiful as ever. The DVC rooms had a new makeover and are now themed to Bambi and the forrest! The DVC building also has a room called the Train Room which contains one of Walt's Models for his train that he built for his children to ride around on. That model also became one of the scale models for the trains that run across Disneyland and Disney World!
It is always such an honor to realize that little bits of history and magic were around me daily! This place was magical as it is historical!
One thing that is always hard to talk about is realizing that you leave these people after a few months. But the best thing that comes out of this program is the friendships you make here last forever! The girl I am hugging at the top is a sweetheart from France named Nina! We still talk on Facebook every now and then but programs are short and thats the biggest and only heartache of the program. One thing that you always remember though is that we all have Disney, The Forkers are a family and that is the truest statement ever spoken. We all came here because we love what Disney does and want to be apart of the magic that people experience. Actually producing the magic and making people experience what we experience as a guest is so rewarding. In my opinion, sharing the magic made me happier than experiencing it. I've never been happier than when I'd be with my forkers.
The biggest blessing I had ever received was the happiness of a child. They are all here because of the same reason you are and its to experience the magic and happiness that encompasses Disney World. Talking to little kids and calling them prince or princess makes them so extremely happy it can't be put into words. Children and parents are so grateful to you and to Disney in general, it creates a lifetime of memories for families and yourself as well!
Now this girl you see in many of my pictures is none other than my closest friend Heidi. She actually came here in January and was originally going to leave in August but extended her program until January! If she hadn't done that, I don't think we'd be the best friends that we are now. Mind you she lives in Texas also and I'm in Illinois and there isn't a day that goes by where we haven't spoken to each other. The times I've had with her only made my program so much more rewarding and enjoyable for me. We plan to return, just we don't know when because we are both in school haha! We want to make magic together and experience together and if we didn't bond over cheerleading or Bob's Burgers I don't think we'd be where we are now hah! (:
This is just a glimpse of the beautiful place I had been lucky enough to work at. The exterior and interior beautiful does little in comparison to the wonderful people that work here! I miss you all so much and cannot wait to return.
The man at the top was my other leader and his name is Kyle Baker. He was born in Ireland and moved to Illinois! We both love soccer and whenever we needed a story we could go to Kyle for story-hour! (: But I have to thank Kyle for all he has done for me in regards to support and helping me better my Resumé. As well as to Santos, the support he gave me throughout my program cannot be described! He was always there for a heart-to-heart and was an amazing role model for me and others!
Last but certainly not least are these two amazing people in this picture. Tim and Heidi. Without these two I definitely would not have had the memories I have now. They were my best friends throughout my program and I am still in contact with them all. You meet wonderful people throughout your life and they certainly made my life wonderful.
I hope you guys enjoyed this and hope everyone has a magical day!
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