Brittany Earns Her Ears: 2015 Winter Holidays Special

2015 Winter Holidays Special
by Brittany DiCologero and Chaz Saldi

It's time for the 2015 Winter Holidays Special! Everyone from Brittany Earns Her Ears (aka Chaz and Brittany) wishes you a happy holidays, and we hope you enjoy the following stories, photos, and videos from past and current CPs, and their time spending the holidays at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Check back after the holidays for updates on our upcoming trip to Walt Disney World, and for some new CP Q&A posts!

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Last year, Sara Lopes (author of "Sara Earns Her Ears") vlogged about her holiday experiences at Disneyland:

Sara completed the Disney College Program in Walt Disney World, where she worked in quick service food and beverage at Captain Cooks at the Polynesian Village Resort. She currently works in attractions at Disneyland, and runs her own blog over at http://www.thedisneyden.com.

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Jeremy, a former transportation CP who worked on the FriendShip boats in Epcot, shares a personal story from his program:

"There aren’t that many chances to make magical moments on the FriendShips, but one time near Christmas I had such an opportunity. Christmastime IllumiNations has an added part to the show, the big holiday finale called “Peace on Earth.” Now, you actually don’t have to be in EPCOT to see IllumiNations; you can see it from the Yacht and Beach Club boat dock and some other areas near there. One night my deckhand and I were way ahead of schedule and had time to kill before we arrived at the EPCOT dock. We were scheduled to be the first boat leaving after IllumiNations so we had 10 minutes or so to spare. We were going between Yacht/Beach Club and the Boardwalk just as the holiday show started and all the guests immediately started looking out the windows, not expecting more fireworks. Since we had so much time to spare, I stopped the boat in the middle of the water and it gave everyone a chance to see the show that they would have otherwise missed. At the end, everyone clapped and my deckhand and I were thanked heavily when everyone got off the boat. Being away from family can be hard around the holidays, but moments like that make everything worth it."

photo courtesy of Disney Tourist Blog

To learn more about Jeremy's experiences as a transportation CP, check back within the next week or so for his CP interview post!

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For some CPs, the holidays means working at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party in the Magic Kingdom, where they get to wear one of the tackiest (greatest) costumes at Walt Disney World:

Kaitie before her Tomorrowland merchandise shift

Joshua working a PAC (parade audience control) shift

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Of course, lots of CPs spend their days off having a blast during the holiday season as well. One of my favorite things to do was go resort hopping, especially as it got closer to Christmas when the crowds really start to get worse.

Here I am with Richard, the greeter at the Grand Floridian

The holidays also have some fun character meet and greet experiences:

Lexie with Santa Goofy at Hollywood Studios

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Perhaps the coolest part of working at Walt Disney World during this time of year is being able to go to the Christmas parade filming! (Just don't get your hopes up that you'll actually be seen on TV.) While it was an incredibly long day, being in the park to see how the parade you watch on TV at home is actually filmed was really fun.

Paulina on Main Street during the parade filming

Last year at the parade filming, the official opening took place in Frontierland. (I'm assuming because of the construction that was taking place around the hub-- it was probably easier to film the opening somewhere else and work the rest of the parade around that.) If you happen to watch last year's parade on YouTube, you might notice a little green speck on the top floor of the ferry boat, floating by while they announce the start of the parade.

I guess you could say I'm famous now:

Filling in as an extra on the riverboat in the background of the parade's opening

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One thing that I'm really going to miss (this year and from now on) is being able to see the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights. I've been lucky enough to see it in person twice, by prior to working there (and now getting an annual pass) the Christmas season is not typically when I would have visited the parks. While it makes sense that the lights will not be up anymore after this year (as construction begins to take place on the Streets of America) they will definitely be missed.

photo courtesy of Disney Tourist Blog

If you're not ready to say good-bye to the lights just yet (I know I'm not!) there are plenty of videos on YouTube capturing the lights throughout the years. I'd recommend this one, from TouringPlans.com:

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And that's a "wrap!" Happy holidays from BrittanyEarnsHerEars.com !