I worked my remote desk job from Disney World for one week and I learned a lot.Jenna Clark
I spent a week working my freelance desk job remotely from Disney World's four theme parks.
It was difficult to find indoor locations to work from, but I found the park inspiring.
I'll be bringing my own lunch next time to save money.
Now that I've been living in Orlando for a few months, I took my job to the place that makes me the happiest — Disney World — to see what it would be like to work in the middle of the magic.
I'm very fortunate to have a job that allows me to work remotely with flexible hours, so I spent a week working from the four theme parks at Disney World. I live a few minutes away and was able to use my annual pass to get into each park, so tickets weren't an added expense.
Here are my biggest takeaways from the experience.
The parks are a great place for tasks such as brainstorming and generating ideas
I found myself working outdoors in the Florida heat often.Jenna Clark
As a writer, my job requires a lot of research and brainstorming to generate ideas for stories that are interesting, unique, and haven't been told before.
I constantly found myself inspired by the hundreds of guests from around the globe I saw each day and the unique loop music and themed decor in each area of the parks.
I found I was able to come up with some potential story ideas simply when sitting in busier areas, such as Sunset Boulevard at Disney's Hollywood Studios, or when walking from one work location to another.
I missed my monitor more than I thought I would
I didn't think I'd miss my computer monitor from home so much.Jenna Clark
Although an extra monitor isn't a necessity when it comes to doing my job, it sure does make some things, like referencing multiple tabs and keeping organized, easier.
Since I've made it a habit to use my monitor when working, I found that some tasks which would've normally only taken me a short amount of time took longer when I was working at the parks because I didn't have the external screen.
I know I technically could have brought my monitor with me to the parks, but it wouldn't have been feasible or ideal as I would've had to carry it in a large duffel bag or even a suitcase. It would've likely also caused some difficulty when making my way through security.
I was more productive because I could reward myself with a treat or a character meeting after each task
Meeting characters was a wonderful reward for getting work done.Jenna Clark
When working at my home office, I sometimes have difficulty focusing on the task at hand and admittedly spend more time than I'd like scrolling through Twitter or TikTok.
However, when working at the parks, those distractions were alleviated as I told myself that after I finished each major task I could take a break and meet a character, watch a cavalcade, or buy a snack if I was up to it.
So, naturally, I worked more efficiently because I knew I had something to look forward to. I'm a believer in celebrating the small wins in life and rewarding myself with some magical moments throughout the day made working from the parks even more fun.
I was shocked by the lack of indoor seating areas that I found to work from
If you want to work indoors at Disney World, you may need to buy some food.Jenna Clark
Considering Florida tends to be very hot the majority of the year, I was surprised by how few indoor seating areas there were available in the parks. I found that a majority of the indoor spaces where I could sit and work at a table were at quick-service dining locations.
Although you can sometimes simply walk into a quick-service restaurant and sit at a table as I did at Pizzafari, there are other times when staff will check if you have a mobile order in the works or are headed to order food.
With that being said, it's safe to say that if you're wanting to sit and work in air conditioning, have a couple of dollars handy just in case you need to purchase something.
I'll probably bring my own lunch next time to save money
Some of the food at Disney World can get pricey.Jenna Clark
Although buying a meal from one of the park's quick-service restaurants can be convenient, I find many of the meals are expensive for food that is average.
A chicken-strip meal from Columbia Harbour House at Magic Kingdom cost me $10.50. I'd much rather save my money to treat myself to a table-service meal for a special occasion in the future.
I also wasn't able to use my annual-passholder discount at quick-service dining spots.
Nvidia's quarterly results blew away estimates again on Wednesday, and as the company moves to its next-generation chips its CEO sees supply, not demand, serving as its biggest challenge.
Marvin Harrison Jr., Fanatics said, “rejected or ignored every request” from the company while refusing to fulfill obligations of their contract that was signed last May.
All five of these hitters were drafted highly in fantasy baseball leagues. So far, they have not lived up to their ADPs — and that's an understatement. Scott Pianowski analyzes.
When Hayes arrives this week, although she'll have plenty of familiarizing to do, her core — the players, the most important part of any national team — will largely already be in place.
