*March 2018*
Backtracking to the very beginning of my contract— it all started in the lovely city of Toronto. Although I live 20 minutes outside of Boston, in only 2 months-- Toronto stole my heart. Hands down Toronto is my new favorite city which is why I am most excited to share this post with everyone.
Day 1– on July 2cd of 2017, DCL flew me up to Toronto (Ontario, Canada) where our whole cast was going to be living and rehearsing for all of July and August. Now I know that living in a big city is very expensive especially if it’s in the heart of the city, so I expected a small, cramped apartment with no view but I ended up being blown away with the apartment complex that Disney puts their performers in. We stayed at the Rosemont Residence on John Street and let me just say, I would never be able to afford that place. It was absolutely beautiful; our apartment was spacious with all modern furniture and amazing views of the city along with the CN Tower. We had 4 to an apartment with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms which were also very nice. Each week a housekeeper would come and clean the whole apartment and wash our towels and bedding which was a blessing.
Because our 2 months in Toronto landed in the summer, we had the luxury of enjoying the open rooftop deck on the 23rd floor which had stunning views of the entire city including the CN Tower and the Rogers Center. We had a lot of cast dinners and wine nights up there which were some of my highlights from Toronto. I would also go up there quite often during our lunch breaks which was great since we were inside (4 levels underground) most of our days with rehearsals.
The location of our apartment and rehearsal studio was a blessing and a curse though. Although I did not have to pay rent, my money still seemed to disappear after each paycheck. Between groceries, daily Starbucks runs and shopping every week, I seemed to blow every paycheck I got for the duration of my time in Toronto. You can’t even blame me though; the Starbucks is directly next to the door of my apartment complex, and I had to walk past it every morning to get to the rehearsal studio anyway. Lululemon is located on Queen Street which is a few blocks away from the street I lived on and it only made sense to buy loads of active wear since I was rehearsing all day every day (plus Disney Cruise Line performers can become apart of the Sweat Collective which ends up being a huge discount for every purchase). I can’t forget about the Eaton Center which had every store imaginable and sometimes even two of the same store since it’s so large. I would usually walk there every Sunday (our day off) after brunch and spend a few hours there. It didn’t help that the 15 minute walk would turn into an hour because I would window shop on the way there and back. In my defense, the prices tend to be a little higher in Canada, especially in the grocery stores.
One good thing about our location that helped my bank account was the fact that I literally could walk everywhere. I walked to and from the grocery stores, the mall, shops, Starbucks, bars, nightclubs, the waterfront, restaurants, liquor stores, the rehearsal studio, even my chiropractor— you name it. I don’t think I called one Uber in all of those two months! Of course, the great location allowing me to save money by walking everywhere balanced out with the endless temptations of spending that money on everything else the city had to offer.
Near the end of the two months, our whole cast did a scavenger hunt to celebrate our friend's birthday. It was honestly the most exhausting, overwhelming, yet thrilling night there. We literally had to sprint (not a light jog) all over the city to find all the different clues that were planted. The team I was on won first place of course and we earned free drinks! It was all fun and games until we all woke up with sore calf muscles because we basically ran a marathon.
Another highlight of my time in Toronto was when my boyfriend, Nick, came to visit in August for my birthday. It was already amazing just to see him but somehow we really lucked out with our time together. We stayed at the Chelsea Hotel which was downtown and a few blocks away from the Eaton Center. The hotel was beautiful, with outstanding views of the city and also had a nice rooftop. We stayed there for 4 nights for a reasonable price after booking it through Hotwire.com. Fortunately, my schedule worked in my favor as well; I believe I ended up with 3/5 days fully off and the other 2 were only half days. That was just pure luck. We got to do some shopping together, wander around the city together, have some rooftop dinners, visited the Hockey Hall of Fame and went to the top of the CN Tower. All of it was nothing less than perfect and truly the best way to spend time together before I set sail for 7 months (not knowing if I would see him at all).
I have to say, the location of our apartment complex did not fail us when Saturday nights came around. We were right around the corner from a few bars and about a 5 minute walk to the main strip of bars and nightclubs on John Street which made it very convincing to turn down a night in. After all, the drinking age there is 19 which made me legal! The bars there were always a good night no matter where you went, really. It was very social and they weren’t too big so you could never lose sight of someone from the cast. It was also great living so close because one moment you could be singing karaoke at The Office Pub and 5 minutes later you’d be in comfy clothes getting into bed. The only downside to that was hearing drunk people screaming and partying in the streets until 4 in the morning on the weekends, even when you still had to be at work on Saturdays.
Toronto definitely changed the way I felt about living in a big city. I never wanted to deal with city life before. I thought it would be a lot more stressful than it turned out to be. Then again, our accommodations were almost too good to be true. I doubt that most people are lucky enough to live across the street from their work; that definitely made our lives simple. Before, I didn’t think I could survive without a car but I was actually genuinely happy to get to walk everywhere I went. It was a real eye opener and it gave me the chance to see the whole city by foot and love it that much more. I learned to downsize on the amounts of groceries I would purchase all at once and instead would make a few trips a week since now I was the one lugging them back home rather than my car. Plus it gave me more chances to take walks which I looked forward to. The thing about Toronto, specifically, was that the people were so friendly and kind, even the homeless people that I would pass by each day would always have something kind to say or even just a “good morning”. Every so often I would be generous without them even asking because they had been so kind and friendly. Even the Starbucks employees who we would order from everyday always greeted us with a smile that seemed genuine, we even invited a few of them to sit in during a rehearsal to watch a final run of one of our shows.
Although sometimes the noise of the street sweepers would keep me awake at night, I have to say I was amazed at how clean and spotless the city was. I had never seen a city so clean (which definitely made it more pleasant to walk around everywhere). I hardly saw any litter or trash along the sidewalks. That just goes to show how great the people are and how much they love and respect their city. You could also find an enclosed trash bin at ever 20 steps you’d take too which clearly goes a long way.
I’m positive that I could go on about the wonderful features of Toronto but to wrap up this post I just have to say how unexpectedly grateful I am to have gotten the chance to live in such a beautiful city last summer while getting to rehearse for my dream job with all arrangements paid for. Disney outdid themselves again by choosing such a random—yet relevant—city in a different country for their cruise line headquarters. I am already thinking about visiting my new favorite city for a weekend this upcoming summer. I never thought my favorite part of a cruise line contract would be the city we rehearse in before we even embark the ship, but ironically, thanks to Disney Cruise Line, I very much enjoyed the big city lifestyle.
Rachel xx
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