It's cheesy, but I truly think this summer i made friends forever. It's been a couple of months now since i got back in canada, and I've kind of avoided this blog just because I miss this summer soooo much. Yesterday was the interviews for next years group of summer cast members, and even though I wasn't there I couldn't stop thinking about disney and how outstanding this summer was. Being an entertainment cast member and living in Vista Way was absolutely incredible. Since coming back home, life has been busy. I caught my plane early in the morning, having fallen asleep pretty much right after writing my last post and being woken up less than an hour later by giuli arriving with her dad to drive me to the airport. I quickly shoved the rest of my stuff into bags, remembering everything except, unfortunately, my disney id. luckily i had taken a picture of it, so it isn't entirely lost but still disappointing. I cried when driving away from my summer home, then again when saying goodbye at the airport. I got through security and everything pretty quickly, and promptly fell asleep on an airport chair wrapped around my carry on luggage. I slept again on the plane, despite a gabby woman sitting beside me. After staying awake not wanting to miss a second for so many days i was exhausted mentally and physically. I landed in buffalo and found my nana, and we stopped at swiss chalet on the way back to her apartment. once we were at her house, i promptly (you guessed it) fell asleep, even missing part of the opening ceremonies of the olympics (disappointing cuz i LOVE the olympics.) I spent a lazy day at nanas house in front of the tv watching olympics, and then we headed home, with a small detour caused by some sort of propane factory exploding in toronto. After less that 10 days in ottawa, i moved to kingston and am living in a house that i love and really enjoying both school and friends.
Even Disney friends! a lot of us have kept in touch, and giuli and i still get to see each other all the time. She came up for queens homecoming, which was full of craziness (including drinking with undercover cops after they broke up a friend of mine's party, breaking into my own house and buying scalped tickets to the football game. good times lol) and then we went to brunch over thanksgiving. Next tuesday we are going to backstreet boys in quebec city, which i am super pumped for. I think the number one reason to participate in this program is for the friends. I truly have friends around the world who i love and have shared an amazig experience with. that is truly something special.
p.s i am trying to add pics up here but honestly the best pics of my time in florida are on my facebook, so if you have me on there just check them out instead of waiting for them to load on this page.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Friends Forever
Friday, August 8, 2008
T'ear'ful goodbyes
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The end is near...
July 28th:
After posting i headed over to apt. 2402 and watched the holiday with sam, giuli, hannah, and 'the gays'. it was a funny night, we talked through a lot of the movie, which of course made sam crazy. oh, we also picked up the tickets for graduation and surprised one of the boys with silly string, a balloon chandelier and a mickey peanut butter cup w/ a candle stuck in it.
July 29th:
Daisy Duck Town square, emh morning.
July 30th:
Day Off, went swimming then to cast connection and company d, then to studios, met the villains and pocahontas, and then giuli and i had a mini fight/misunderstanding (super silly, pretty sure we were all just stressed about having to leave soon and took it out on each other) so i left studios and had an early night.
July 31st:
Called in and went shopping with Giuli and Hannah. Went to the commons, walked through premium outlets to get on the I-Ride trolly which is cute and cheap but the slowest public transit i have ever been on. took us over an hour to get from premium outlets to prime outlets, which is only a 15 minute drive away! We were quite annoyed, but when we got to prime and started our shopping extravaganza we got over it pretty fast. We started with Victoria's Secret, then went to dinner, then starbucks, Bebe, Guess, Rue 21 and Charlotte Russe. At this point we had all run out of arms to carry our parcels, so we caught a taxi to downtown disney. In the taxi we consolidated our bags and checked the $$ status of our wallets, then we continued shopping at dd. well, first we ate at earl of sandwhich, then we shopped til we dropped, caught the bus home, and slept like babies, shopping takes a lot out of you!
Aug 1st:
Swam and tanned all morning with alison, then went in to work as a spare at MK at noon. Got pulled almost right away to lunch coverage at Judge's Tent Mickey B, into contemp dinner mickey 2. It was so good to be the boss one last time, I had been so worried that I wasnt gunna get the chance. My photo pass girl was really good in judges tent, she made a pass for me of picks of me and my minnie, carol, who I had worked with a bunch of times before. really cute pics! I ate lunch after my one set in judges tent with laurie, and then pulled the chef mickey costume. I had never worked contemp, so it was quite exciting! Mickey wears a cute chefs had and a red jacket, it is a cute ensemble. The characters for chef mickeys are mickey, pluto, minnie, goofy and donald. contemp is cool, we parked in th service area (as we always do at any resort) and climbed 4 flights of stairs to the restaurant, in a slope-y sort of stairwell that went inwards as we went up, following the slant of the inside of the building. Then we exited the stairwell and were kind of on a balcony thing, we could see the monorail track above our heads and could see the castle off to our left. then we stepped through another set of doorsm, through the kitchen and into our breakroom. (characters breakrooms are almost always in or under the kitchen, either way we cut through it at the beginning and end of our sets. I was group two, but I took the group one van run and learned the restaurants rotation and such, then watched reba and ate Wall-e cupcakes. our captain was one of the original donald ducks from the 70s-- he's an ornery midget who was absolutely hilarious. sets were good, pretty typical for the first couple, the last set was a little crazy-- i (Mickey Mouse) got carried around by a football player type guy, a server forced me and minnie to take a picture together (a BIG no-no) and there were some crazy guests with a polaroid camera. And then the night was over, at 11:18 pm. I had to go to security because the night before hannah had attempted to take the stuff i had bought at cast connection out of her locker, where we had left it before ging to studios. Of course security asks for reciepts, and I had mine in my purse, so the confiscated the items until one of us could bring in the reciepts :P so i went to MO-5, a building behind one of the main street facades. to get there I had to walk across one of the mainstreet balconies, right as spectro was going past, which was toooooooo cool! i got my stuff back without any issue and headed home.
aug 2nd
Daisy 1 Tusker house AK into Camp Daisy Lunch Coverage, a fun day, i liked tusker house and liz and kj were working at camp so it was fun. it was wierd to be a daisy who wasnt wearing her standard costume- daisy had giant hats and a very ak outfit that was cute but different. I was on turnaround, so 1.5 pay for 6 hours then 2x pay for the last 2 hrs, excellent, def made up for calling in thursday-- but I was EXHAUSTED, having got home at 1 am and left for work again at 5:30. So pool and then bed when i got home just after 3.
aug 3rd:
Daisy Town square: fun times, i love hideaway, last time working with eileen as my attendant, said goodbye to most of the weekend bid people, elana and the other munk whose name i never remember especially. got home and went to walgreens with angie then went to bed.
aug 4th:
Poly Breakfast- Lilo. Anna was working as my back to back and reading breaking dawn obsessively, and the other breakroom people were fun too. good, easy sets and then home, pool and walgreens again with angie, chris and chris, then sleep.
Aug 5th
LAST DAY OF WORK!! So sad in hideaway saying goodbye to people i have become quite close with, rob and copper and pluto and alexis and ashley and all the family fun and trolley people. KJ came visiting from expo side and it was just really sad. Abrah, one of the staging and performance specialist, came around and observedme than gave me a glowing evaluation and asked if i'd considered trying for face. She didnt realize it was my last day, she was evaluating me cuz it was my 60th day of work and they are meant to give us an update on how we are doing. I'm glad i got evaluated in daisy, i feel most comfortable in her, i am her so regularly that i really know what works in her and i play, A LOT, especially yesterday because i knew it was the end for me and i wanted to make it special. i think i was way more playful than i usually am, and the showed in my eval. She said that the writeup she did would be on my record and could potentially help me get rehired next year, even if it is past a year since my training and my colour coding has expired. At the end of my last set, my attendant got thepeople in the area to yell we love daisy and i did a little curtsy. ya i was crying a little in my head. Put away my costume for the last time and headed up into the park with michelle, who was headed to epcot. I was headed to dvc to get my id photocopied so my mom could get my discount on the membership. i got picked up and driven over there, cynthia took care of the photocopying and then i got ice cream and chatted with some former entertainers in the transportation area-- it was cute, as soon as i said i was in entertainment one of the managers whipped of her heels to show me she was a former mouse too. then i got a ride back to vista way, sam and i watched hercules on my computer then went swimming and hot tubbing with alison and giuli and went to sleep.
Aug 6th:
Day off, i let giulis fam squad into the park at studios early this morning, then alison and i played. it was fun, we got midway mania fast passes and exclaimed over the wierdly long line, discovered the ride was having technical difficulties and hadnt opened yet even though it was 15 mins after the park had opened... we got our fast passes for 12-1 and then headed to abc commissary, ate b-fast, went on tower of terror with creepy mist action then rocked rockin roller coaster, then did animation academy and drew goofy, and went back to midway mania. The ride was still closed so we got our pic taken with a Green Army Man, and then as we were walking away there was an announcement that the ride was opening, so we went straight in and got on one of the first rides of the day. it was fun as always. so then we headed back, alison had to head to work and i had to attempt to pack. I've got most of my clothes packed now, my issue is souvenirs. i have to run out this afternoon and buy a second piece of luggage, not as big as i thought i would need but def a decent size. tomorrow we have to get our final paycheque, go to our grad at epcot, then we are heading to mk for our last hours as cast members. we have dinner reservations at crystal palace (giuli loves tigger, so it's her deam meal, lol) and then we are going to watch wishes and spectro, obvi and then pull an all nighter. Friday giuli's fam is driving me to the airport, cuz i am taking one of her suitcases home (she has no room for it and her whole fams luggage in the car, so she is paying the extra baggage fee for me to take it on the plane.)and then i am off, leaving neverland for good. Havent decided what i'll do with this blog after this is over. I kinda like having a record of what i do with my time. It is too easy to forget everything you spent your days on.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Time is Flying!
July 8th:
Day Off
July 9th:
Didn't work til 3:28, so went swimming all morning and then headed off to epcot to work Mickey PM Character Spot. It was a good night, met some new people that i've seen a lot since then, Claire and Michelle (minnie and munk) especially. We had fun in the break room, character spot is a bit wierd, you have to take a van to the mouth of epcot's very deserted tunnel, which only goes under Spaceship Earth. Character spot has two seperate offset rooms, one with a TV couches and powerade which is a good 5 minute walk from the room where we leave our costumes and where the door on set is. C-Spot is also kinda high tech, with hangers for our costumes that air them out. The hanger has fans in the shoulders. it is strange. C-spot also has lights hidden above the windows in front of the set that go on when our back to back is ready to go on set. kinda smart, makes 5 minute warnings and such unnecessary. In the break room we watched "hunt for red october". I was supposed to meet giuli and sam after work to go see fantasmic, but ended up calling that off because giuli had a migraine, turns out this was good, since i got force extended after our captain forgot to close our line and we got offset almost 15 mins late. Bussed home with Michelle and her friend dustin, who worked in Canada and has now gone home to vancouver.
July 10th:
Up super early, caught the 5:30 am bus to MK with Michelle, who was a munk in townsquare while I was daisy in town square. We grabbed breakfast and then clocked in and pulled our costumes, then a bitchy duty lady got mad at us for checking in 2 mins late, even though we clocked in on time... so then we headed back to my home, town square's break room. I pretty much live there, not even exaggerating. I love it though, the people are hilarious. The breakroom is used by the attendants and characters for family fun day parade as well, so there are always lots of people to talk to. We watched willy wonka and the chocolate factory and talked to Rob, a hilarious munk and very gay guy who has worked at disney for years and years, Brittany, a cp attendant with a wicked sense of humor, Rob, an attendant cp from england who knows tiddelypom, another character who i have never actually met in person, Eileen, an older lady attendant who doesnt say much in the breakroom but when she does look up to contribute to the often inappropriate conversation always says something really wry and sarcastic. Giuli and Hannah visited me at work and met miss daisy, then we went character hunting (i think. This might actually have been on a different date, but it definately happened at somepoint in the last 20 days). We saw the 3:00 parade and then met hook and smee, timon and rafiki and then went home and went to walmart to buy food for our dinner party the next night.
July 11th:
My first time doing dining! I worked Lilo at polynesian, which I've done a lot since. It meant an early morning, a 5:30 am bus and a 6:18 clock in time. the people are funny, except the captain, daniel, who is a bit power happy but we all kinda ignore him. we get fed at poly, and the breakfast is yummmmmmy. 3 sets, pretty easy but I HATE lilo's costume. Too many snaps and layers of gloves and wierd boots and hevy head with almost no vision. And on top of that lilo isn't that fun. She is just kinda there. lame. so then i was done at 12:42, so I headed home and had a bit of a nap, then Giuli and Hannah came over and we made waaaaay too much pasta and alfredo sauce, ceasar salad and garlic bread. Tres yummy. Then we had smoothies and alison came over. And then I kicked them all out at about 11 cuz I had to wake up and go to poly again early the next morning.
July 12th: Lilo at poly again, but I have no idea what I did after my shift ended at noon...
July 13th: Daisy town square. I got there early to work on giving away my shifts while my family was here, but then got distracted and rememberedto check in but forgot to clock in. oops. Met liz, who i've worked with a lot since and gives me rides home :) dont know what I did after work...
July 14th:
Day Off, cast connection, company d, and the pool.
July 15th:
Stitch 2 tomorrowland, and then who knows what. I think we did hollywood studios, and went on tower of terror, and midway mania, but i'm not sure.
July 16th:
Daisy town square and then monorail to epcot for Girls Night! Hannah and Giuli met me at the electric umbrella and we explored epcot, ate dinner in england (flashing ice cube!) met jasmine and genie in morocco, saw acrobats in china, bought bread, berets and perfume in france, met tigger and friends in england, rode space ship earth and then rode the monorail with some drunk businessmen. headed to walgreens and bought candy and treats for movie night. We made virgin daquiris, ate kraft dinner and chips and dip and other junk food and then watched bring it on and had a slumber party. it was fun.
July 17th:
My fam squad arrived! Me and giuli went to get our hair done at kingdom kutters in the mk tunnels, which was fun and I died my hair dark and got it trimmed a bit. Then we met up with hannah, picked up our pay cheques, ate sub way and chatted with theo in the mouseketeria and went on the guest bus to the boardwalk, attempted to check in for my parents but didnt wanna pay the balance of the hotel, so went over to Yacht and beach, found sam at the marina and got wrist bands for the amazing pool. swam for a couple of hours then it started to rain so we went to beaches and cream for amazing ice cream sundays. then went over to boardwalk and giuli started to french braid my hair and my fam arrived! we went down to our room and then hannah and giuli left, we went to espn for dinner and then for a swim at yacht and beach. Then bed.
July 18th:
MK day! We did almost everything at MK, Castle show, met minnie and mickey, goofy's barnstormer, went through all of toon town, took the train to frontierland, saw the country bears, splash mountain x2, pirates of the carribean, big thunder got rained out, day parade got cancelled, haunted mansion, went home for 2 hours during the storm, and then went back and stayed til 2am doing tiki room, agrabah's carpets, big thunder mountain, spectromagic, wishes, laugh floor (jordie was that guy), buzz lightyeays space ranger spin, ate at cosmic rays, did the carousel, mickeys philharmagic, peterpan, and small world. I got back to vista around 4, left vista again at 5:30am to go to work.
July 19th: Spare, ended up pulled right away to poly as lilo, ERd after breakfast was done and went to boardwalk, met with my fam at the pool, then we went to gasparilla's for dinner, explored grand fla a bit, and then went swimming at y & b.
July 20th: Epcot EMH am, woke up early, caught the boat over to epcot and were there before it opened. We did Soarin' right off the bat, which I had never done before. I loved it!!! so cool, def wanna do it again before I leave. then we did journey into imagination, the living seas and saw the dolphin presentation, and then did spaceship earth. I ditched my fam after this and they continued to do some of world showcase while I went to vista for a few hours, then met them back at the hotel, where we got fancied up and headed to grand fla for 1900 park fare cinderella's dinner. The food was good, buffet style, and we met prince charming, cindy, and, the stars of the night, the Tremaines. Oh my goodness, they were HILARIOUS! stealing boyfriends, screaming at each other, yelling things like 'spin me' and 'cinderella, clean that up' and just completely stealing the show. It was terrific. From there we went to Hollywood studios and mom, olivia, barbara and I rode rockin roller coaster, and then all of us did midway mania before heading home and to sleep.
July21st:
Hollywood studios am emh. We got there as the park was opening and instead of running with everyone else to rockin rollercoaster and midway mania, went to star tours and then muppetvision 4d. as we were headed into muppets, we got dream fast passes, which was nice. then we ate breakfast at ABC commissary, watched Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (jordie got to be an extra), High School Musical, met kim possible, did backlot tour, midway mania, watched block party and all the atmosphere characters (citizens of hollywood) who were amazing and hilarious. We got rained out for lights motors action, did animation academy, rockin roller coaster twice, tower of terror (even olivia!) and then went for dinner at hollywood and vine, the fam went to see voyage of the little mermaid while i went backstage and checked my schedule and then went on tower of terror again and watched fantasmic and headed back to boardwalk.
July 22nd:
A down day, we went to a vacation club info session and then to olivia's cafe and then bought our cirque du soleil tickets and then hung out on the boardwalk. Olivia got a hair wrap done and then i headed back to vista.
July 23rd:
Woke up early thinking i had to work, went to work, didnt have to work (my shift got picked up) attempted to get from mk to boardwalk, very hard to do before mk is open. Took the monorail to epcot, waited for epcot to open and then walked through to boardwalk. met family, went to ak. Kilamanjaro, Kali river rapids, festival of the lion king, nemo, everest, rain, y&b cape may cafe, back to vista.
July 24th:
Slept at vista, relaing morning,then met up with fam and took olivia to MK for the afternoon, saw day parade, went on the carousel of progress, met stitch, rode the tta, went on space mountain, the tea cups, met ariel, did it's a small world, and went shopping, then met with family to see spirit of aloha dinner show at poly (so amazing!) and went to sleep.
July 25th:
Worked at hollywood as daisy at the hat. EMH mornings, 2 sets then met my fam at the gate, let them in and went to ABC commissary for bf with them, got the pink tray which meant a magical moment free dessert (random) ate in gmr breakroom and then did a special meet and greet with my fam got to meet 6 vips all at once (if you count stitch as a vip...) they were super excited. then finished work, met mom at the hat and left the park, went downtown for some shopping, saw cirque du soliel (it is just as good the second time around!) and then they went to the hotel and i went to vista.
July 26th:
Daisy Town square, and then i saw daisys everywhere. First i got attacked by ducks at the guest bus stop, then the bus drivers name was daisy, then I saw a daisy fresh maid service van, then i went to downtown disney with mom and livvy and one of the shop clerks name was daisy! After down town we took a taxi to my apt and i showed them around, packed a suitcase with a bunch of stuff i dont need here and said goodbye to my fam for 12 more days. and then i went to sleep cuz i was exhausted.
July 27th: Daisy Town square, liz and michelle were both there, along with erwin and a whiny horace horsecollar who whined her way into a costume disapproval. It was a fun day, we watched pretty woman, used up my dining plan by getting 5 meals at caseys and eating that in addition to more xmas in july leftovers. Brandy was our captain, and she is hilarious. We made plans for all of us to go to see dark knight in the pm, but I ended up not going because i wanted to use up table service and snacks and so after liz gave me a ride home Giuli and i headed to hollywood and vine and ate way too much, then went to sweet spells, a bakery and candy shop and bought 15 snacks: 2 things of cotton candy, 3 things of popcorn, a candy apple, a brownie, a nemo cookie, a dory cookie, 2 candy coated marshmellows, 2 peanut butter cups, a piece of fudge and a bottle of water. Good times. We came home, went to hannahs apt, went to walgreens, went to giulis apt, went to alicons apt, went to my apt and predrank, and then went to house of blues. It was so cool inside! It is two floors and lights and people and just a really good atmosphere. I liked it way better than hull clubs, less grinding more talking. Us 4 got hit on constantly, it was kinda hilarious. Hannah lmost got picked up by a girl, and giuli's life with a guy was recited to her-- how many kids, where they would get married, when they were getting divorced... apparently the divorce was my fault, cuz i was the guys mistress... it was a really fun night just laughing at pick up lines and dancing. One guy from mexico predicted that we knew each other because we had similar facial expressions. we found his reasoning pretty strange-- obvi we knew each other since we were all chatting all night!! One guy called chris just laughed at all his friends attempts at picking us up and then asked us what the lamest one was. turns out he had just got home from vancouver, where alison is from, so they had a chat about the island. and then we danced some more and headed over to the bus stop. The bus was full so we took a taxi back, and went to sleep.
July 28th:
Day off, slept in way late then went swimming for a bit and have been lounging around all afternoon. and then i spent almost 3 hours writing this post.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
glossary
Glossary: (cause i thought maybe you'd like to know the lingo)
MK- Magic Kingdom
DAK- Animal Kingdom
EC- Epcot
Studios- Hollywood Studios
Poly-Polynesian Resort
Grand Fla- Grand Floridian Resort
Contemp- contemporary resort
Animation- To bring to life, to make real- using actions that fit with the characters personality bringing the costume alive.Backstage- area behind the scenes where guests should not see.
Back-to-backs- two performers who perform the same character in the same area; performers alternate so only one is on stage at a time, this ensures constant character coverage.
Basics: Black shorts and gray shirts worn under character costumes. Checked out in the parks and cannot be worn in the parks or home (although to get to certain set locations we march through the park in basics, barcodes on the chest and all, with our black character bags holding our costumes. i often wonder what people think our jobs are... a bunch of overly short and tall people who go in a door mickey and goofy later come out of...)
Character Attendant- An assistant to the character (and their lifeline/best friend)who watches the character on set and helps with line coverage, guest flow and keeps guest counts.
Costuming- WDW has the largest working wardrobe in the world,and character costuming is part of it and part of a characters daily rountine. All items are scanned out, and everything from socks to skull caps, sneakers to heads can be found inside. Rows and rows of mickey heads, cindy dresses and cruella coats...
Defog- Used to stop fogging on lense eyes
Disney Service Basics- Rules to live by at disney, repeated constantly and the WORK. - I project a positive image and energy.- I am courteous and respectful to all guests including children. - I stay in character and play the part. - I go above and beyond. - because I can make a difference for a guest. All roles in the disney company follow these guidelines everyday.
Duty Base- Where characters check in, do warm ups, and spend time as spares. At MK, called the zoo, at epcot the PICO building, AK the Parade building...
Early Release (ER) permission to leave work early without penalty or pay.
Face characters- portrayed by someone who looks like the character and the face is seen on set-- ie. Snow White
Fur- Characters performed by entertainers wearing a sculpted character head, whether or not the character is furry.
Fitting- Process of trying on a specific costume for management approval
Height Range- Measurement Scale which determines what characters each cast member can wear- ie. Duck, Mouse, Munks, Smee, Pluto, Goofy
Judges Tent: Character greeting area in Toontown behind mickey's house, mickey and minnie are located in this location.
Off Set Locations: 'break room' where characters rest between sets and prepare for the next sets. Usually has a tv, some movies, lots of racks and hangers for costumes, a fridge stocked with yellow powerade, a water jug, and some couches. Some are nicer than others.
On Stage- any guest area
PASS- Pass Show flow ensures everyone (characters on set, attendants, and photo pass) know whats going to happen with each guest, and ensures each guest has quality interaction with each character. An Acronym-
P- Preshow- A wave or outstreched arms welcoming the next guest to come forward. The beginning.
A- Activity- hi-5, dancing, pointing out pins, playing peek a boo, pointing out characters on t shirts, any kind of interaction with the guest.
S- Sign and Share- signing the autograph and showing it to the guest.
S-Snapshots and send offs- posed pictures and good bye hugs, waves. The end.
Sets- A character experience or meet and greet. during the summer, they are 20 mins on stage in an outdoor location followed by 40 mins off set in a break room, or 40 mins onstage in an indoor location followed by 4o mins offstage in a break room. Usually a shift has between 6 and 10 sets, though some shifts have as few as 3.
Skull cap- Surgeons cap used to keep hair from falling in a performers face inside the heads.
Spare- Extra character scheduled to fill in for those who call in sick or request an ER. AKA most boring shift of life.
Traditions: Class that marks first day as a disney employee. the passing of the disney tradition to new cast members. emotional day at disney university.
Vista Way- Apartment complex where I live.
VIP Characters- Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto (the fab 5) Chip and Dale are also often added, and Daisy Duck, and Stitch has been upped to VIP status. Originally referred to the original characters, now refers to popularity and frequency of appearances.
Walk time- each shift includes 20 mins of paid time at the end of the shift used to return costumes, change clothes, etc. You may clock out anytime during this period.
Warm Up- Stretch program at the beginning of each shift. Mandatory.
West clock- bus stop at MK cast parking where you catch the bus to the tunnel entrance.
Adventure Ho!
Giuli and I didnt decide to go out til like 8, gemma had already left to see wall-e and sam and angie were having a girls night watching chick flicks. I'd had a dull day and giuli had worked all day, so we wanted something interesting. We didnt leave for PI until past 9, got a milkshake when we got there and then waited for the 10:25 seating of Comedy Warehouse. The club itself is really cute, with old disney memorabilia all over the walls. They seated us and then asked about drinks etc, and then the keyboardist sat down and did the little intro, then the show started. It's kinda like whose line is it anyway, and the actors and actresses are terrific. The show was an hour and a little bit, and was excellent. Then we wandered over to the adventurers club, which is also a comedy club but is a little quirky.
Basically, it is open house day at the 1937 adventurers club, and there is a very strange group of characters assembled in ramshackle mansion. They move about different rooms and do little skits. We got there in time to see a library show with the professor and the Club President, where they attempted to put on a radio show. It was really hilarious, but an extremely drunk and confused audience participant kinda stole the show. He was called to the stage to be the 'sound guy' which meant holding up the signs for the audience to react to, but he just couldnt get the hang of it. It was really funny. And then we stopped at mcdonalds on our way out, and were home at about 12:30. A good night, i def got my daily dose of laughter.
Monday, July 7, 2008
it's been a while
me in the middle with giuli and hannah at mk
Saturday June 28th
Stitch at the Hat at Studios-- This was a fun day, different from other days I've been in this location cuz of Star Wars Weekends! We shared an off-set location with Leia Minnie, Jedi Mickey, Darth Goofy and Storm Trooper Donald. They were very cool-- donald was actually a guy! (rare) he did an awesome robot :) normal sets for the first two, the 3rd was during the star wars parade, so we did a roaming set in the great movie ride courtyard, which was really fun, then took a big group picture of all the hat characters. after my work day was over, i watched block party and then met up with giuli to explore star wars weekends. We met Leia Minnie (the same girl who was in my off set location, which was fun, she recognized me and gave me big hugs) and then tried to meet chewbacca, but it started raining. So we met mike and Sulley instead, then played with the singing in the rain umbrella and walked up and down streets of america. we tried to watch the Star Wars Hoop-la show, but it was downed due to rain. So we went home and to bed.
Sunday June 29th
Dopey in Germany (epcot.) Worked with a snow called whitney who was awesome, and then went home and did i dont know what.
Monday June 30th
Day Off, went to studios with gemma and friends, and giuli, went on toy story mania, did an animation academy class, saw block party and then went to partners, and then sam and I went hot tubbing.
Tuesday July 1st
Tuesday was a highly anticipated day for me-- it was the day of my kidnapping! Giuli and Gemma had given me strict instructions to be at their place by 7 am. At almost 8, we departed, along with jennifer, to the club house, where we got into a mears shuttle. we arrived a little later at universal studios! It was a blast, i really enjoyed it, although i could really see the difference between the service standards there and in Disney.
We started out the day at the Simpsons ride, which was very cool, and hard to describe. I would def recommend it tho! And then we visited Gemmas very dear friend E.T, where she attempted to buy out the shop. We saw the Terminator 3d show, and then watched a hilarious Horror Make-up show (hilarious except the line 'this isnt the magic kingdom,we dont have to be nice to you) and then we went to watch the Shrek 4-D show, which was cute, and then had lunch at Monsters Cafe, which played clips of old cheesy horror films. It was tres gory and fun.
After lunch we did Twister, which was basically standing in a room while things (including an obviously plastic cow) whirled around you, Jaws, which had an obviously plastic shark swimming towards you, and the Mummy, which was an AMAZING roller coaster with fire and all sorts of cool effects. Then we did Men in Black, which is kinda like buzz's space ranger spin in mk. We ate Dippin Dots too (love!) and then headed over to Islands of Adventure.
Gotta say I liked islands of Adventure better than Universal Studios. Universal was cool, but a lot of the rides seemed either dated or 3D, which is cool but there wasnt a lot of variety. The theming at universal was cool, a lot of landsapes and such, but overall it was fun but not amazing. The roller coasters at islands of adventure were AMAZING.
We started out at the Hulk, which was incredible, and then walked through Super Hero Island to Comic Book City where we went on Dudley Do Rights Rip Saw Falls, which was like splash mountain but way steeper, and with a way longer queue line (not that there was anyone in the queue, but we had to walk all through the line area anyways). Giuli made me sit in the front of the log. I got soaked, and the view from the top of the drop was terrifying.
Then we walked through the jurassic park area, which i wasnt fond of, i really hate dinos, so we continued to the lost continent, where we rode the blue and the red side of dueling dragons, another awesome roller coaster. Strangely, nothing had anylines-- literally, the longest line we stood in was for Jaws, and that was only 30 minutes. so after the Dueling dragons we went to Suess Landingand rode the Trolley in the Sky, and then left islands of adventure again. By this time my feet were killing, so we sat for a bit, then giuli really wanted to do jurassic park so i went with her and waited outside while gemma and jennifer dis the jimmy neutron ride at universal. Then we went to see the Universal laser show, which wasn't anything amazing-- it was fireworks and clips from moview projected onto white floating thingys-- but the fireworks werent even as good as local ones in barrhaven on canada day. we were unimpressed. Then we went to Hard Rock Cafe, which was awesome, and then headed home.
Wednesday July 2nd
I was a spare at mk starting at 6:18 am. I didnt get pulled for anything, but I did get fitted and disapproved in jiminy cricket. I left at 5:30 pm, went to the hot tub with giuli and hannah, and then went to bed really early.
Thursday July 3rd
Spare again, starting at 6 am, got pulled for one set at judges tent, spent my lunch in ariels grotto visiting my friend from training, karley, and then helped decorate the warm up room/duty base for 4th of july. Left at 3:30, went home for a nap, left again, met giuli and hannah at giuli's work in the Grand Floridian Resort, ate at Gasparilla's (her work), took a boat to MK, watched the AMAZING fireworks for the 4th of july (a day early but who cares?) and then went to Hall of Fame, met Chelsie as Princess Aurora, then met belle and cindy. Went to judges tent (where I had worked earlier in the day...) and waited way too long to meet mickey and minnie. Then home and to sleep.
Friday July 4th
Stitch 3 at Island Mercantile. A good day, but a long one. a bbq at the parade building for all of entertainment was fun tho, with lots of awesome desserts. Off at 5:30, home, nap, Giuli and I decided to see 4th of july fireworks at Hollywood studios, which were even better than the ones at MK (tho much shorter). We got there on a bus 10 mins before they started and were on our way home on the very next bus. sleeeeep.
Saturday July 5th
Daisy at the Hat at Studios. Fun, easy, short day. Home by 2:30, 3 sets and a magic moment. Afterwards went home and had an early night.
Sunday July 6th
Daisy 1 townsquare, MK. A really good day, i love being daisy, shes so girly and diva-licious. Done by 3:00, got a ride home, which was great. Another early night, after visiting apt. 2402.
Monday July 7th
DAY OFF. apparently the physical toll of these costumes is catching up with me-- i'm exhausted. Or it might be the early mornings i've had this week.... Mostly today i've cleaned my room, talked on the phone with my momma, and have plans to swim this afternoon. Fun Stuff!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Birthday Bliss
So June 24th, in the evening, I went to wishes with Sam and then we went on the Tomorrowland Transit authority ride in Tomorrowland. June 25th I chilled with giuli and then met up with Sam and Angie at Hollywood studios, where we went to ABC commisary for dinner then to Rockin roller coaster, where we had crazy people behind us i the queue. Then Giuli and Angie headed home and sam and I saw fantasmic, and then took a long and loud bus ride, which arrived at Vista Way just as the clock struck midnight and my birthday began.
And what a dramatic birthday it was! Giuli was having boyfriend drama when we got to apt 2402,and then sam gave me a DVD she made with a fairytale story of my disney dreams so far and a cute princess card, and the Disney Birthday Button. I went home to bed after this, and I guess some room mate drama erupted at 4402, and then Angie felt sick and gemmas legs went numb.... random.
So when I woke up, i started to talk to giuli online. Giuli who shouldve been at work. She slept i, so ended up staying home. I went over there and giuli had made pancakes, and then Gemma, Jennifer and I went to Hollywood Studios. We saw Beauty and the beast (and four for a dollar!) and then did rockin roller coaster again. I bought mcdonalds fries on the way out of the park, which gemma was suddenly in a rush to leave, so I ended up having to put them in my purse in order to get on the bus. On the bus we got like 5 calls from giuli asking where we were. It started pouring rain, so much that it looked like we were driving through a waterfall. Gemma told me that instead of getting changed at home and walking to her place dressed I should change at 2402 so she could see my style.. (i was confused by this too). So I ran through the rain to my house, then ran through the rain to theirs, and knocked on the door soaked to the skin-- and it opened to 2 cameras, a lot of balloons, ribbons, sticky tack and dental floss, and a cake and candles. SO CUTE, i love my friends. Giuli and angie had set it all up while gemma and I were out. Sam was at work, but joined us later at cirque, which gem couldnt come to cuz she was going to work. We ate cake and it was delish, and then i got four boxes of mike and ikes, including sour (i mean zour! lol) ones, which caused many puckered faces to be filmed. I also got a hannah montana card and a celebrate card (both musical, which caused some dancing!) and a note saying that I am being kidnapped on tuesday... still no idea what that means but i'll keep you posted. and the, after a brief photoshoot and my highjacking of gemmas tiara, and then giuli, angie and i took a cab to planet hollywood. The restaurat is really neat, the food was good, but they stuff so many people in it felt a little claustrophobic. there was even a dj wearing sunglasses, lol. after dinner we walked around downtown, and Giuli broke her high heels, I bought a bag, we bought some chocolate, giuli though she was gunna get fired, and then we met up with sam and jennifer and took our seats. The theatre is beautiful and our seats were ideal-- centre section 204, row jj, middle of the row. We were the third row from the back but I thik we had the best possible seats, cause we were eye level with the high flying acrobatics in the show.
The show started with clowns coming out and doing a cute little skit, and then there was acrobats and trampolines, and tightrope walkers and trapeze artists, and little asian girls doing flips and bikes and spere things and it was just incredible. when it was over, we met up with some of angies friends who were going to see the midnight screening of Wall-E (which opened at midnight) and chatted with them for a while, then went to mcdonalds and my birthday officially ended. and then the bus home, a good nights sleep, and I work at noon. Today I have my basics class, which is part of wdw continual training, then I have a 2 hour shift gap, then I am mickey in Judges tent.
saturday: Stitch at the hat in Hollywood studios
Sunday: Dopey in Germany
Monday: day off
Tuesday: day off (kidnapped?)
Wednesday: MK spare
Thursday: MK spare and going to watch preview show of mk 4th of july celebration fireworks
friday: AK Stitch, Island mercantile
Saturday: Daisy Duck at the Hat in Hollywood
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
A weekend forgotten
Oops, didnt say anything about the weekend...
June 20th:
Pretty typical day in germany with snow white, except snow got pooped on by a bird (hilarious-- her response, "oh thank you my little forest friend" I almost died laughing!) and our last set was rained out. Went to downtown disney afterward, ate at wolfgang pucks and then went to the Virgin Megastore, then saw Sex and the City Movie-- TOO GOOD! home super late, exhausted.
June 21st:
Mickey A1 judges tent-- a normal day for mickey mouse, watched a few movies in the break room, got an autograph book thrown at my face by a scared child and had another child run screaming from the room, almost ruining some magic. Jumped rope with the queue rope and rode the bus back to the tunnel in costume. Made a costuming guy's day. Went to MK, DAWM rained out, gemma felt sick, ate at peco bills, went to haunted mansion, thunder, home, other boleyn girl, sleep.
June 22nd:
Stitch 3 Tomorrowland: Getting to know the attendants and routine at this location really well, i love being stitch, best set ever in the rain with some newlyweds, a pen that didnt work, and an umbrella. super fun day. Went home and fell asleep by 6:30 pm, slept til 11 next morning.
June 23rd:
Day off, sleep, cashed paychecks, Outlet mall, sleep.
Daisy Day
Today was fun. My first day ever working at studios. I started at 8, so caught a bus at 7:02am and arrived at the toy box slightly early. Clocked, Changed and Checked, pulled my daisy costume and warmed up. Loaded all the costumes for characters going to the hat into a giant garbage bin type thing and walked through the park to our offset location, inside the great movie ride building. Changed and went for our first set at 9am. It was me as daisy with minnie on oe side of the hat, lilo and stitch on the other and donald in the middle. 3 sets with long breaks between, then we loaded our costumes back into the garbage bin thing and went back to the toy box. Waited for another hour, then changed back into costume and got onto a pargo (golf cart) which took us to guest relations where we did a magical moment with a randomly chosen family in a very small room. 2 little girls, very cute. And then we returned our costumes and waited to clock out. Clocked out at 2:10, and went into the park by my self to watch block party bash, it was very cute and different from all the other parades, but I still loved stars and motorcars. Pixar is taking over! It was cool from my perspective though, cause I say the parade performers in costume backstage and then on set as well. I dont know how they do it-- block party is really long! I dont think i want to learn that show, i dont have the stamina for it. Oh, ran into angie working, she was playing hockey with some kids and her custodial broom. and then I had chicken nuggets at abc commisary and came home. Start work early tomorrow, and then thursday its my bday!! woo hoo 19 :)
Friday, June 20, 2008
Some days in the life of an Alien
So June 18th and 19th I spent in Stiches Shoes in tomorrowland, Pretty normal days working from around eight to around 5. I was Stitch 2 and Stitch 3, so no welcome train for me. Hanging out with buzz lightyear and the guy who operates push the garbage can is always fun, watched some daytime tv and some Sabrina, Full House, and Sister Sister, and avoided rain. wednesday night Giuli and I had mac and cheese and a lazy evening-- we attempted to watch a movie but fell asleep instead. Thursday I went from work at MK to play at MK, with Gemma and Giuli. We attempted to watch the castle show, Dream along with mickey, but it started to rain and the show was pulled, so we ate at Peco Bills then went to the haunted mansion. While we were queuing there it started to thunder and lightning which was slighty creepy, going into a hauntd house to seek shelter from a storm... but we survived. Then Gemma went to work at the main st bakery and cone shop and giuli and I went home. We visited with sam, ordered pizza and wings, and chit chatted about life, then i went home and slept.
Today (june 20th) I'm Dopey in Germany (epcot) I start at 12:06pm so I've been vegging ths morning. I might be going to Hollywood studios tonight, but plans arent firm yet. :)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Busy-ness as usual
June 12th- Evening:
After my sick day naps, I headed over to Apt 4402 to chill out with Giuli. We ate a quick supper of box mix mashed potatoes and then, when Sam got home we headed off to see where she works- the Yacht and Beach Club. We got all dressed up and got on two stinky buses, and then wondered around the pool area for a bit. I'm a big fan of the pools, and the pirate slide. We stopped at Beaches and Cream for some ice cream, and then headed across the lake to the Boardwalk. We could see the Fireworks happening at epcot, which was kinda neat, and the movie Cars was playing on the beach. There were cute little swings along the beach, and five people bikes for the boardwalk. Being the smarty pants people we are, the three of us didnt realize you have to rent out the bikes, and accidentally hijacked someone elses, in our dresses... oops! We poked in the little shops and peeked at the pools, since my mom and sister and jordie and barbara are staying in the Boardwalk in July. and then we headed home and went to sleep.
June 13th:
I was a spare on friday which means that I didnt have an assigned location, a job assignment which means if someone calls in sick or wants an early release I would work, but if not, I would chill in the character zoo (the entertainment base in the tunnels at Magic Kingdom) for millions of hours. My shift started at 6:18 am, which meant I had to take a little shuttle van to west clock at 5:30. The guy driving the shuttle van didnt know where west clock is (which is ridiculous, it is where every MK cast member has to go before going to the tunnels and is where the shuttle was supposed to be going to) so we went to contemp, grand fla, and then west clock. This meant that I didnt arrive at work til about 6:10.
I quickly clocked in and went to costuming to scan out basics (the gray t-shirt, blue shorts with barcodes on them that we are required to wear for warmups and under our costumes) then checked in at the duty base. This process is the same for everyday I work at any of the parks-- it's called the Clock, Change and Check, and it must be completed before our shift officially starts.
If you're a spare, checking in with the duty window is exciting- they tell you whos called in sick in your height range, if anyone is. If not, which was the case for me on friday, you go into the warm up room and do one set of warm ups, then sit. Friday the warm up coach wasnt there, so we did self warm ups and sat. And sat. there were 6 mouse heights, an alice, a poppins, a cindy, an ariel and 2 plutos, plus 2 goofys and a charming all sitting around. Many of the other spares had nintendo ds and were playing mario kart frantically. I was people watching. It's kinda cool, because every character performer must warm up, so you see aladdin run through, or the mat hatter and a prince eric kissing, or a poppins bitching to a bert with a southern accent instead of an english one. Even with all the people watching, 5 hours of sitting made me extremely bored. I went to lunch, came back, and most of the face characters had been pulled or gone home. We sat for a few more hours, and at 3 pm us furs got pulled to do random sets in toon town merchandise and queue. I was Meeko, then there was a dopey, a daisy, an alice, and a prince philip. Random, I know. We also didnt have attendants (aHhhhh) which meant we got mobbed with children. We were only doing 2 twenty minute sets, so not a huge deal, but still annoying. We also were sharing an off set location with Belle, Aurora and Cindy, which was fun, but the faces can be snobbish sometimes.
And then, I went home at 5:30 :) Yay. 9 hours of sitting and 2.2 hours of work is exhausting.
Then Giuli and I went to Downtown Disney to see Baby Mama at the AMC theatre. And then sleep. Woot.
June 14th:
Same wake up and clock change check story at the 13th, 6:18 start, 5:30 bus. I got pulled to be mickey for contemp breakfast almost right away, only after I'd pulled my costume, and got into the van, mickey showed up. So then I returned my costume, went back to the duty base, and got pulled for minnie for poly. and the same thing happened again. So I returned my costume, got back into the duty base, and was sent to help out costuming with 2 other spares. After an hour of folding socks and cowls, I got pulled to epcot as Dopey in Germany. Fun Times. Another spare named cassie drove me over to epcot where I checked in with duty and was told to go to lunch. During lunch, a strange thing happened. People kept calling me Sophie and saying hi to me. Like, 7 people. Apparently I have a twin. Very wierd.
After lunch, I pulled the dopey costume and caught the van run to Germany at 12:40. My first set was at 1:20. So much fun to be dopey, and the Snow White I was working with was one of the ones who was a spare with me the day before. My Back to Back dopey was cool too.
In between sets we watched notting hill and I discussed politic with the Photo pass guy. 5 sets later, at 6:12, I was done. Returned my costume, and caught the bus home. I had a bit of a nap, then went and visited 4402 and sam. We chilled til Angie got home, then went to Bennigans and Walgreens. And then Bed.
June 15th:
I was Stitch 01 in Tomorrowland. I left at 6:57, started at 7:30 and clocked changed and checked. When I checked in I found out Stitch was in Welcome Show and Welcome Train :) SOOOO EXCITING! I pulled my costume, did warmups, then put on my costume in the tunnel. Then Snow white (same snow as the day before) showed me where to go (toon town rehearsal Facility.) All the welcome train characters waited there haf dressed for a little while-- Stitch, Mickey, Alice, Snow, Daisy, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Jiminy Cricket, Mary Poppins, Chip and Dale. A manager came i and got us all to sign an autograph book and a magical moments certificate for the family that won the oppurtunity to open the park. Then we all finished getting dressed and went out to toontown to meet the family. They were all crying with happiness as this huge group of characters gave them hugs and welcomed them to the park. Then we boarded the train, spread out to take up most of the seats. mickey sat with the family toward the middle of the train, I was in the first row of the 3rd car. We choo chood along to the Main st. Station, where we waved from the train while dancers danced in front of us. Then mickey announced that he had brought along friends to open the park, and we all stepped of the train and helped him "count backwards from 10" to the time the park officially opened. Stitch apparently always takes this literally and turns around to count, so I carried on that tradition and turned around, then daisy carried on her part and scolded me and turned me back the rightway. And then we stepped back through the train to the station,filed through and into the expo hall ofset location, where our personal gear had been brought from the tunnels. I picked up my bag and walked across the parking lot between mainstreet backstage and tomorrowland backstage and Stitch and Buzz lightyear's breakroom. After that the day was pretty normal-- kids love stitch, possibly even more than they love mickey, and it is always really fun to animate him, despite the heat and weight of that costume. it is to stitch that kids frequently say "i've been looking all over for you!" or "i saw your movie" which I think is too cute. As usual, I greeted a couple of make a wish kids and families, which is always emotional for me, and due to rain one of my sets was cut a bit short. And then at 5:30 it was time to go home. In the changeroom of the tunnels tho, I ran into giuli and joined her and gemma in a MK adventure in the rain. We ate ate Pinnochio's quick service place in fantasy land, then went on splash mountain and big thunder then watched the tiki room show and country bears. and then home and to sleep.
June 16th
Day off
Sleep
Supposed to meet gemma in mk cafeteria but she was at home sick
monorail to
Epcot - Living seas with nemo, Canada, England and dinner in France
home and sleep
June 17th
Day off- day with Gemma
Epcot- Soarin Fast passes (that we never used cuz life got busy and there was 6 hrs between when we got them and when we could use them), canada, England (met Lord Kensington, lol, and bought a mars bar ), France (met Princess Aurora), Morocco, Japan (fans and mirrors!)
and then after a morning of shopping and poking in the pavillions, we needed to go to downtown disney to buy our tickets for cirque du soliel for my b-day. Apparently no buses run from any of the parks direct to downtown disney, so we took a bus to Port Orleans French Quarter resort, had our feet in the pool there for a little while, then got on the water taxi to Downtown marketplace, then another one to west side. Bought the tickets, then took a bus to contemporary resort, and walked from there to MK, went through the park, into the tunnel, bused to west clock, and crossed the paking lot to Cast Connection- aka the best store ever. Discount discontinued disney merchandise, damaged merchandise, lost and found from the parks, and excess stuff from the resort rooms. Literally it has everything from golf carts to wall paper to t-shirts. I got a decorative plate that is gorgeous for $9 and plan to go back and get lots more stuff. We then went home with our finds, and were going to go back to epcot but realized we had missed our fast pass time :P so we went to CiCis pizza buffet instead. CiCis is cheap, but I wouldnt recommend the food. And then we did our laundry and went to sleep, with a little drama thrown in there for good measure.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Judges Tent and Island Mercantile
Saturday June 7th:
Sleep
Bus at 4:30pm
Clock in at 5
Warm Ups
Chatting with Anne
Pull Costume
Off to the Judges Tent
The Todd
Baby Abigail the poser (too cute)
Sets til 11:00
Super Soap Conversation
Gay Days, Mickey's Red Pants!
Off early
Walk to the mouth of the Tunnel as Mickey
Blisters
Waiting to Clock out
Home by 12:30
sleep
Sunday June 8th
First Day back at AK
Bus at 6:57 am
Clock in at 8:15
Pull stitch costume
Warm ups
Long walk to Island Mercantile
Off set trailer
Back to the Future 1,2,3
Sets
Lunch at Pride Rock
Chatting with a dream maker
Sets
Parade sets (Standing behind people watching the parade, waiting for them to notice you have no line...)
Poor Pluto
Skip
Clock Out at 5
Home
SLEEP by 6 til Next morning
abandoned sandwich-- made and forgotten
Monday June 9th
SLEEP
AK with Angie 9:45 am bus
Nemo the Musical
Kilamanjaro Safaris
Kali river rapids
Backstage- lunch at Pride Rock
Festival of the Lion King (SO GOOD)
Meeting Minnie Mouse
Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade
Happy Birthday, Donald Duck
Primeval Whirl
Chatting with Donald's "friend" at the bus stop
Home
epcot for food with angie, hannah, gemma and giuli
Mexican
Trying to get to france
Illuminations
Candy
Missed Bus
Cought stinky bus
"Is the toilet air conditioned??... it's an extra seat!"
"so england, wales, scotland are all countries, and Britain is a country they are all inside of? So they are provinces then!"
Home
Hot tub
Thunder storm
Sleep- on 2402's couch :)
Tuesday June 10th-- Social Security Appointment!
Wake up on 2402's couch
6:30 am bus
Social Security office
over prepared
home by 9:30 am
SLEEP
Wake up at 1:30pm
Off to Magic Kingdom with hannah, giuli, angie and jade
Cosmic Rays
Space Mountain
Maybe we should have checked the weather
Torrential rainstorm
Thunder and Lightning
SMOOTHIE!
Into the tunnels
looking at the costume heads
Hilarious bus ride
home
Walgreens
Movie Night
Chinese food
Brownies
Yum
KD
Step Up 2 The Streets
Home
Sleep
Wednesday June 11th:
Sleep
6:57 am bus
8:00 clock in
Stitch at AK
Warm ups
Irene
Sets
Women's House of D
Miss Congeniality 2
sets
Clock out 4:42 (?? random time to end a shift!)
Check in with Dave from Management
Home
Boardwalk Outing with Sam and Giuli Beaches and Cream Home Sleep
Thursday June 12th:
Sleep
Home sick (period :P)
Sleep :)
Love it here still, really having a great time :)
Friday, June 6, 2008
First Day of Work
Ok, just in case you're curious, I do hope to backtrack in detail-ify these posts over the next couple of days, but in the meantime, and just in case I never actually get to it these summaries will help me remember what i wanna say and remember about each day. Sorry if it doesnt make good reading at the moment, hopefully i'll not be as exhausted at the end of the day once I get used to the pace. So, this post is gunna be yesterday and today!
Yesterday (Thursday June 5th)
Sleep
Sleep
(Day off)
put lotion on sun burn
Sleep
Lunch
Sleep
practice autographs
sleep
go to studios w/ angelica
TOY STORY MIDWAY MANIA!
Disney Animation attraction
Draw Stitch!
Jarvis
Wendy's :)
Home
Sleep
Today:
Woke up hours before my alarm
bus at 9:05
Clock, Change and Check by 10
Warm Ups with Anne (my trainer from day 1)
Chipmunks music
met my minnie
pulled costume
bus to toon town
the mouse house!
Meeting tons of mickeys
First Family-- A special visit in the Teardrop because they were too big to fit through the doors of judges tent. Very sad, but very special, the boy could no longer stand , his legs couldnt hold his weight.
Which door?
Room C
Ride that watermelon, Minnie!
First Sets
Daytime TV!
Lunch
Burning Toaster (It wasnt me! It was the cockroach!)
Sparkle
bus to tunnel
costume return
change, clock out at 9 pm
bus to west clock
home
sore feet
tired now :)
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
I'll fill in the details of training later, i have lots more to say and dont wanna forget it, but cant do more than one entry at a time, i get bored of staring at the screen. Today is my first day off in a week. Tired but so happy with my job and how everything has been. Tomorrow I have another day off, then friday i'm mickey in toontown, saturday same thing.
So today:
sleep sleep sleep
Pool with Gemma
Chilling with the Chrises
No Sunscreen, ouch factor!
Lobster Steffie and Lobster Gemma
IHOP
Walmart
bed
TRAINING DAY FIVE-- OPENING DAY
Magic Kingdom
Trainers: Vivian and Danielle
tunnel tour
How to do dining experiences
liberty tree
crystal palace
Magical moment
costuming
Stitch!
First set-- LOOK MOM, STITCH!
Stampede!
falling neck fur
Stitch, Friar Tuck, Brer Bear, Gepetto, Pinocchio, King Louis
Assessment
Cast Services Introduction, Cast Support Introduction
golden ticket
Lunch in the Mouseketeeria
Two more sets
tour of the character zoo
colour coding
clock out
home
walmart
thunder storm!
the Chris's
Battle of the Sexes
Apples to Apples
Home
Sleep
TRAINING DAY FOUR-- FineTOONing
Hollywood studios
trainers: Sonali and Danielle
Toy box
costuming
toy chest
warm ups
travel to MK
Costuming
where are Marie's feet!
Heavy, tight costume
first sets in toon town
how to be a GOOD disney villain
"I'm named after you, marie"
Marie, Sheriff of Nottingham, Baloo, Mr Smee, Meeko
Lunch in the Mouseketeeria
faces backstage
ariel and eric
more sets
Back to hollywood
bus stop
RAIN!
Home
Hollywood again
Backlot Tour
Fantasmic!
Home
Pool/hot tub
sleep
TRAINING DAY 3- PREVIEWS
Epcot
Trainers: Jo Ellen and Kristy
behind norway
costume room
American adventure
first sets with guests!
Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Mickey, Big Al, Wendell, Gideon, Mr. Penguin
Bye, Sabina and Trista :(
Face Babies
Give kids the world
Dip
Discovery diner
3 more set
costume return
stories (tears)
home
sleep
TRAINING DAY TWO-- THATS ANIMATION!
summary:
sleep in!
DAK behind the scenes
parade building
early
trainers- Jo-Ellen and Danielle
character basics
costume room
maingate
t-lab
lunch
warm ups
good job video
First time in full costume
head and shoulders knees and toes
character story
3 sets
tired
home
walking macaroni and cheese
quick costume
mk
Pirate and Princess party
Tea Cups
Pooh Ride
Parade
Splash Mountain
Big Thunder
Fireworks
Two Jacks
Buzz Lightyear Ride
home
Sleep
TRAINING DAY ONE- THATS ENTERTAINMENT!
Training day 1 (Friday May 30th)started pretty early in the morning. We had to be at the DAK wardrobe building at 8:15, which meant catching a 7:45 bus. On the bus, Sabina and I met Adam, Jackie and Trista, from Canada and Hong Kong respectively, who had completed earlier auditions and were also in our training class. We waited outside the building, and once again were picked up by a white 15 seater van. Apparently these vans are popular in our department. This one had Jo-Ellen at the wheel, the first of our trainers. She took us to Main Gate, a WDW office building with the entertainment training facility at the very centre of it. There we met Anne, our second trainer, who had the most happy laugh I have ever heard, and Karley, a floridian also in our class who was training to be fur and face characters-- Ariel is her face friend.
We began our training with Anne, who took us through the basics of animation and the importance of our role to many people. We watched a video of a little girl named Maggie who said to Mickey Mouse, "I've been waiting my whole life to meet you". It was touching... most of us cried, cause that is us now.
Halfway through the morning, we were interrupted by a crash at the door. When we opened it, there was no one there. A few seconds after we closed the door again, the door crashed open and the boss himself trolled in, waving a huge white hand. Mickey Mouse had arrived!
After greeting all of us, Mickey helped Anne demonstrate various picture poses and dos and donts of our job. For example, if a woman is in a bikini top the only approved pose is to link arms with her. In any picture, bot of our hands must be visible at all times.
We then went to lunch at animal kingdom's backstage cafeteria, called the Pride Rock caf, and got connected to the cast member website called the Hub in the Disney Learning Centre there. After lunch, we visited an off set location, where entertainers wait for their next set on stage to begin. This was my first time seeing people half in costume and it was a little jarring.
We went into camp Minnie Mickey and watched a set, observing things we had learnt that morning. It was very cool. At one point, mickey posed in a girl pose, and was subtly but instantly corrected by his photographer and attendant. Goofy forgot his hat, and had to go back for it, which was also kinda funny to see.
After our observation, we went back to main gate to practice walking and posing like a girl or boy character. this was cute, when we were boy we walked to I'll make a man out of you from Mulan, and when we were girls it was the Feminine song from aristocats.
Then we went to the T-lab for a bit and did some courses we had to do and then, we played a game called prices please, where we had to guess the costs of each part of a character costume. Lets just say they are expensive, and the buzz lightyear costs more than many cars. Once that was finished, we got to try on our heads, hands and feet for the first time. I was mickey, and the first time I saw the world through mickeys eyes was very memorable, I loved my job instantly.
After that it was time to head home.
We wantedto see Sex and the City friday night, and a bunch of canadians and brits headed out to disney in the hopes of seeing it, but it was all sold out, so we went to magic kingdom, taking a water taxi from downtown disney to coronado springs resort and then a bus to MK.. We went on the Pirates of the Carribean and the Monsters Inc Laugh floor, and didnt watch either spectro or wishes, which was wierd for all of us, cuz it was the first time i'd been in a park and not done the fireworks/parade. Lines are def shorter when everyone else is focusing elsewhere, and you can hear the fireworks inside louder than I would have expected.
And then It was home and sleep for me-- it was a long exhausting day!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Just so you know
Hi people. You may have noticed myblog is no longer open to everyone. This is because as Youknow I have a special role at disney world that we want to preserve the integrity and secrecy of. So from now on, this blog is invite only. i will still be telling you about my experience, it will just only be immediate friends and family as well as other disney cast members. I havent updated in a couple of days, new posts will be up shortly. For now, I passed my audition, started training on Friday, and Training days one and two were awesome. I also went to the magic kingdom twice, once for the Pirate and Princess party. And, tomorow I will be "on set" for the first time, doing 5 20 minute sets of minnie mouse in epcot. Very Exciting. More news and info coming soon. Love yous!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
WELCOME TO WALT DISNEY ENTERTAINMENT
Eek! Today started off lazy, lounging around til about 3 then heading to the Clubhouse to be picked up by a white van. Since I was being picked up at 3:00, I was reluctant to do anything in the morning for fear of not getting back in time. So I stayed pretty close to home most of the day, and then headed over to the pavillion at about 5 minutes to 3. On the way down the stairs out of my apartment, I twisted my ankle, then got worried about the time so promptly forgot that my ankle hurt and ran the rest of the way. The pavillion was deserted, which worried me, so I pulled out the flyer about the audition and realizd I was supposed to be at the clubhouse (which is right next to my apartment...). So I ran again, and met up with Sabina, a girl from my traditions class who was also auditioning. At about 3, a white van pulled up in front of us, and Robert, an Entertainment cast member greeted us. We got into the van and met David from Mexico. On the way to the audition, we picked Roberts brain for info on entertainment, costumes, and of course, the particulars of the audition.
Finally we arrived at the Disney's Animal Kingdom Wardrobe building, which is where they store the 'costumes' (uniforms) formost jobs in that park.It is not walking distance from DAK like the wardrobes of the other parks are, and it also has a huge rehearsal facility in it used for auditions. Us three international students got a bit of special treatment from the very beginning of the audition process. Robert escorted us everywhere and pretty much did all our talking for us. While the hundred or so other people responding to the open call were given numbers, the three of us were given letters (I was A), affectionately called the alphabet kids, and wer the first to do each section of the audition.
We arrived to see people lined up in a huge room, being assigned numbers. The audition didnt start for almost half an hour, but we had some paperwork to pass the time. They did the audition in halves, with the alphabet kids and 50 others going first. The first half of the audition was an easy dance routine. It was only two counts of eight, and not complicated at all. We learnt it as a group then did it across the floor in groups of three (guess who the first group was???). Then we were ushered back into the holding area while the second group went through the same thing. While in the holding area, the entertainment people began calling names. About half our group was sent home without completing the audition. When the other group was finished, more names were called to go home, then the remainder of us were split into two groups- most of us, myself included went to an animation workshop... about 10 were sent to a dance intensive workshop.
The animation workshop wastough. We learnt a bit about how to make costumes alive and meaningful, and then they play 1 minute and 55 seconds of speedy cartoon music and told us we were late for something and to get ready quickly. we repeated this several times before doing it for the panel in groups of 6. It was exhausting, we were really moving and bouncingand being full of energy.It was fun though. So then A,B and C exited the audition hall and waited in a little breakroom. We all passed the audition!! They gave us the news and then told us our schedule for the coming 5 days of entertainment training. We then went home.
There was a pool party thursday night in my apartment complex and I went for a bit, but I was so physically and mentally exhausted from the audition that I didnt stay long. Early bed for me-- I thought. But as Iwas getting ready for bed, Kristal from the CRP called and then I called angie and we all chilled for a while, then I realized I had no dress pant for my training, so angie and I made a late night walmart run. Ifinally went to bed, not quite as early as I'd hoped :)
When you wish...
Wednesday:
Ok, so Wednesday morning we all woke up confused in Apt 2402's living room...I remember closing my laptop and asking who wanted to walk me half way home cuz i'm a chicken, and then I guess we all just fell asleep. We were exhausted, it's been a busy couple of days, and yesterday, Wednesday, got even busier.
After waking up, i went back to my apt and got ready for traditions, which has quite a strict dress code. I showered and talked to my mum on the phone, then headed back to apt 2402 for pancakes. I ended up having toast with nutella (don't know why) and then once all of us were dressed we had a little photo shoot.
We then walked to the bus stop and again waited forever-- The regualar, scheduled busses come really regularly,but the buses we have been taken are special, just for icp people and they are always late.
When we got on the bus, we sat at the very front and on the dashboard was a shoe. This made us laugh. Just one, girly shoe, obviously forgotten.
So we took the bus to Disney University, which is behind the Magic Kingdom and is Cast Members Only :) The building is so cool on the inside, with tons of pics and screeshots and disney memorabilia. My classroom was themed "you've got a friend in me" and was very cute.
For those who dont know, Traditions is the First Official Day of Work for new cast members. It is the passing down of the disney culture, traditions, and ways of doing things to the next generation of staff. we learnt the disney point and the disney scoop, Disney-ese, and tons of other stuff in this 4 hour session. It was really cute. Every time we participated we got a "criitter" whish is basically a little disney character figurine. I got Mickey, Pluto and Daisy :) Gemma, Giulianna, and I were in the same class, at the same table, along with Nicole from Newfoundland and Sabina from England-- Sabina is also a character performer, so that is exciting that I've finally met another one. So ya, traditions was cool, long, and emotional. When they played a couple of the movies about making dreams come true and such, half of us ended up bawling... But then it was over and we left Disney U, rushed back to Vista Way, changed ate, and headed to Magic Kingdom.
We decided to go in on the monorail to give sam, who has never been before, the full effect of walking down main street. It was awesome to go through the cast members only entrance on the side of the turnstiles. We got into MK late, about 7:30 ish, and guests were already sitting along the parade route, which we really wanted to see, but the parade wasnt til 9 so we decided to do a couple of attractions and then hope we found a spot to watch. we got lucky, walking right into Philharmagic, It's a small World, and Haunted Mansion. It was really cool to see the changes that have been done to Haunted Mansion! I was really impressed :)
We sat to watch the parade right in front of the haunted mansion, with a family from missouri who were very friendly. Spectro magic was terrific as always, and so was Wishes, the fireworks, which we watched from in front of the castle. We all cried a bit then too, and had a group hug. We just cant believe we're here. So then, we exited the park and went home, but not in the usual way-- we went into the cast member tunnels under the magic kingdom. All I can say is they were very cool. We took the bus from the end of the tunnel to the westclock, the main bus stop for cast members, then waited for ever for a bus back to vistaway.
By the time we got home we were exhausted, but very happy and impressed.
Summary:
Woke up at apt 2402 on couch
talked to mom on phone
pancakes/toast
got ready for traditions
late bus
lost shoe
traditions
critters
disney u
crying
rushed to mk
mk
philharmagic, small world, haunted mansion
chatting with ppl b4 parade
spectromagic
wishes
tunnels
west clock
long wait for bus (!!)
tired
bed now, fill in details tommorrow (I dont have my audition til 3:00, so i promise I'll put it up b4 then)
Plan for the next few days:
Thursday: Audition, Trip to the Studios (maybe), Pool party.
Friday: Dont know my work schedule yet, then seeing the Sex and the City movie at Downtown Disney, then going to a get together at Chatham.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Dictionary of Differences
Today was good :) Started out a little rocky with the bus to our orientation being super late, but after that it was pretty smooth. Orientation this morning was boring, they talked to us about banking with the Disney bank, Partners, and what we can and cant do with our work visa (to prevent deportataion). That presentation was pretty cool, themed to Toy Story with us as the Aliens... haha. And then we had lots of paperwork-- Interrupted by falling asleep on apt 2402's (angelica, sam, giuli, gemma's apt) couch.
It's now thursday, but I'm gunna try to expand this entry...
Tuesday:
The paper work at our morning orientation was mostly to do with homeland security and our status in the country. We then had a presentation by Partners! The bank exclusively for disney cast members and their families. After that, we got back on another late bus, and headed back to vista way for a little break. At 2 ish we had another session, this one was here at the Vista Way clubhouse, and was one of the walk around and go to certain stations. At this session, most people found out their placements-- Angelica is a custodian at The Studios, Giuli is Food and Beverage at the Grand Floridian Resort, Sam is a Lifegaurd at Pop Century resort, Gemma is Food and Bev on Main Street of the Magic Kingdom, Alex is Lifegaurding at The Beach Club resort, Fanny is F&B at All Stars Resort ... and thats all I can think of off the top of my head... Me though, i just found out, again, that I have an audition thursday afternoon. Most people start their training on thursday, but apparently i start at 6:15 am friday morning... or thats the rumor anyways.
So after we got our assignments, we got out main gate passes, the little card that lets us let up to three people into the park on 6 days. Then we walked from the clubhouse to building 26 to have a class on filling out the tax form and we signed our life away in the form of confidentiality agreements and release of idea forms, which basically means that any ideas, suggestions or thoughts we say at work belong to the disney company :P.
So then we went back to the apartment, and waited for angelica to come home so we could go to Walmart. And waited. And started the Distionary of Differences, for all the words and phrases we say that are different from each other. And waited. And thought, this isnt like her, but we didnt have a way to contact her, so eventually we just left, leaving her a note to call us when she got in.
We took the bus to Walmart, chatting with this guy from Haiti, which was cool, and right after we got inside the supercentre, we got a call from angie- poor girl had gotten lost on the way back from visiting her parents and ended up on the turnpike to tampa bay, then the security people at our complex wouldnt let her park the car they had previous said she could park for the week. Needless to say she was upset. eventually she got through, but the 10 minute trip home had taken almost 2 hours. So she didnt come to walmart, and we bought cookie dough to make her feel better, and the blouse she needed for traditions.
We somehow managed to spend 3 hours in walmart, i got shoes for my audition, a mattress cover, some food, an alarm clock... and we decided to make a big dinner, the girls from the uk wanted us to try curry so we had curry chicken and rice. They were shocked that we had never had indian food before, and even more surprised at how small the oriental foods section of walmart was. They were so cute when they got to the english food section, i thought they would buy everything they liked the taste of home.
By the time we got home (in a taxi, we just missed the bus which is probably a good thing, getting all our junk onto the bus would have been hard...) it was 9 o clock, by the time we had dinner and made cookies it was even later. So we went for a swim and chatted a lot, and then I started this blog entry and apparently, at about 3 in the morning, we all fell asleep in the living room-- cuz we all woke up there the next morning. Me on the couch, cam on the floor, giuli on the armchair-- Ang and Gemma were smart enough to actually go to their beds...
Summary:
Orientation: Visa Info, Forms, Banking, work locations, tax forms, main gate passes, class thing in building 26
angelica gets lost, trip to walmart for three hours (!!) Chatting with ppl on the bus, missed bus, taxi, curry dinner, burnt cookies, chatting, swim, chatting, attempt at blogging, sleep.
Cockroaches and Elevators
Ok, so i've missed some stuff out of my last couple of entries, so this is an add in:
Elevators: On the way out of my nana's apt on sunday, we got stuck between floors because they shut down the elevators when an alarm went off. Needless to say, I kinda freaked and was sure I was gunna miss my flight :)
Cockroaches: So I saw a cockroach for the first time last night, not in my apartment thank goodness but we all kinda freaked and stood on chairs spraying it with lysol... were real girly girls apparently...
Vista Way: I never gave a real description of where I am living. Vista Way is an apartment complex that houses approx 2500 student workers- international and american. It's one of 4 similar complexes that altogether house some 9000 students. There are little buildings in a village sort of thing, with 6 apts in each building. I live on the third floor of my building, which is nice because our cieling goes up into a point, much higher than the other floors, and we have an extra semi-circle window on top of our picture window in the living room. I still haven't posted the video i made of our apt, but it'll be up here soon. We have three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a big kitchen, living room, and it is all really spacious. My apt is right beside the pool and volleyball court, beside the clubhouse and not far from the bus stop. The busses run constantly and are coach busses exclusively for the use of cast members living in the complexes. The pool and hot tub are really nice, and weve already gone swimming 3 or 4 times.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Disney Delirium
First full day and it was great. I'm exhausted, but i don't wanna forget anything so this'll be a bit of a quick and dirty post with just the facts-- unless i get distracted and start putting more detail in it, which i probably will...
I woke up pretty early this morning, especially considering the time I went to bed at last night. When I opened my eyes I was instantly fully awake, which is so wierd for me. Anyways, I got up just about right away and chatted with people on facebook and msn for a bit, and ate breakfast with my roomies and finally really met and got to know them all a little better. There is Fanny, my roomie from Hong Kong who will be a quick service food and beverage server, Alexandra the lifeguard from Quebec City, Patricia from Mexico, who I think is doing housekeeping, and Sara from England and i cant think what her role is... I've met so many people it is hard to keep it straight. So after breakfast and a shower I went over to Angelica's apartment, which right now I'm still way more bonded with than my own, which I think is fine. My apartment is really organized with our cleaning schedule and good talks about what we need for the common areas in terms of shared stuff and responsibilities, and we all chat with each other, but all of us kinda split up during the day because we all have other people we know and are hanging out with. It actually is a good dynamic because you are way likely to fight with someone that you are not best friends with. Apt 2402, on the other hand, I've clicked with most of them completely and pretty instantly. There is Angelica from Canada who will be a custodian, Giuliana from Canada who is a quick service food and beverage server, Gemma from Wales who is merchandise (i think... I might be wrong there...) Samantha from Liverpool, England who is a Lifeguard, and then two Jennifers from hong kong who haven't really spoken much to the rest of us, but seem nice. It is mostly the five of us-- Gemma, Angie, Sam, Giuli and myself-- who have really spent a lot of time chatting and joking, I feel like I've known all of them for ages.
I think one of the things happening is language barrier divisions. Though everyone speaks a little english, it is way easier to find similar humour when the language is the same-- although with the accents and slang sam and gemma use, sometimes we might as well be speaking different languages. I've learnt lots of new words, some fun curse words and helped clear confusion about crisps and chips and how they are different :)
The way the five of us get along hasnt taken anything away from the dynamic atmosphere of living with people from all over. It really struck me in the shower this morning as i looked at everyones toiletries on their little shelves-- spanish, chinese, french and english were all there. It was really neat. Right now, Fanny is showing Patty places in Asia on google and patty just finished showing mexico. English is neither of their first languages, but both are speaking it. I admire people who emmerse themselves completely into a different culture the way people on these international programs have. Even the europeans like gemma and sam are faced with big differences, it would be crazy to be in a foreign country with only a basic knowledge of the language.
Anyways, tangent over, back to this morning. for orientation we have been divided into groups and we have different timeslots for different things. It's really well organized, with 300 people getting loads of paper work done really quickly and without ever really standing in line. So Angelica's was early, like 8:45 am, so around 9:30 i headed over to her place, she was done the first part of her orientation, which was just a bunch of forms and such, but the people at the border hadnt given back one form that she had to have, so that was a bit of an issue but its all solved now. So then gemma and I headed over to the welcome pavillion for our allotted time of 10:15. There was music playing outside, and a guy asking trivia questions periodically (really easy movie trivia, I got a photo album with the international programs logo on it for answering the question "where does Mufasa's family live in the Lion King" (Pride Rock). ) we gradually snaked around the room filling out various forms and getting our id photo taken for access to the apt complexes and going through the disney look book procedures and having our medical insurance checked and our visa status confirmed by immigration people. There were enough people helping at each station that once you finished one station you could go directly to the next with no wait. All the Cast Members helping us with the costume read addressed us by name (we were wearing nametags, but still) and asked us how we were doing and everything right away, it was nice.
So all that took a little under an hour, but I think if it was any other company attempting to get that much stuff accomplished for that many people we would have been there for hours and hours standing in long lines. So then I went back to my apartment and ate lunch and visited again with myapartment mates, then went against my schedule (gasp!) and went to an earlier housing welcome session at the commons than I was supposed to. Since we wanted time for a swim and to go to Downtown Disney, it didnt make sense to wait around doing nothing while waiting for our session to start-- the 5 of us were all scheduled to take a 1:15 bus to the commons for a 3:00 presentation, but instead we took a 12:15 bus for a 12:30 presentation and were out of there by 3 with way less waiting around. The housing welcome session was a presentation from Price Management, the people that oversee our housing, and disney about rules and protocols and special events and such. It was long but sometimes slightly amusing.unfortunately, they had it set up that we needed to pick up some documents organized by name after the presentation, and since we werent technically in the group, ours werent ready yet, so we went home for a swim for an hour or so then caught a 4 oclock bus back to the commons, and picked up those papers. Part of my paperwork was the notice that my audition will be thursday afternoon at 3:00 :) I'm excited! Most people will be finding out their work locations tomorrow and meeting with their trainers-- not sure how that works for me but i'm sure they have something planned, since it is on my itinerary to do that as well. After getting that stuff, we went straight from there to downtown disney.
Sam has never been to america before, or to disney anything before (she was a disney virgin!) so she was entranced by downtown disney (cant wait for her to see magic kingdom or any of the parks, she was so impressed!).
I definately finally felt like I was in Disney World when I got off the bus and saw all the kids with ears on :) In one of the stores we all put on ears and took a pic of ourselves (its not on my camera or it would be on here) we figure when we "graduate" at the end of our program, and they give us the graduation ears well take the same picture, which will be cute.
So ya, we did the marketplace section of downton disney and decided that we're gunna go to Planet Hollywood and to see cirque de soliel on my birthday, which is a month today (well, now we're past midnight so I gues yesterday), because a special discount for cast members to see cirque for $40 which is 50% off, ends two days later, plus its my birthday and I want it to be a fun night.
Then we were hungry, and since we were all a little dressed up we didnt want fast food, so we decided to check out the Rainforest Cafe. The wait was over an hour, but as were discussing whether wed wait or not a guy came out and asked rather quietly to the back of the line if any of us were parties of 6. We said, no were a party of 5 and he said wanna sit now in the bar area or wait an hour, and then he seated us right away! (now thats disney magic) so we waited literally less than 30 seconds!
I'd never been to a rainforest cafe before, and it is def my new fave restaurant! It's all setup with animals and toadstools and such-- I have a video of it that i'll put here in the next couple of days, i just havent had time to put them on here yet. The bar is under a mushroom thing with water dripping off the edges-- it's hard to describe but really cool, and periodically the sky gets darks and it storms a bit, then there is a rainbow... too cool! The food was good too.
So we shopped a bit more, bought mystery bags at the mickey mart and were way to excited about opening them (we got binoculars, playingcards, a ratatouille watch, and some other stuff) and pressed some souvenir pennies, which i've kinda decided to collect while i'm here. An then we headed home, (we were directed to the bus stop by a security guard named mickey. We decided that maybe people named after characters should get paid more, because it is entertaining to guests) and had another swim in the pool and the hot tub. Then we chatted a bit and seperated for the night.
So that was pretty detailed, it's taken me an hour and a half to write, and I am going to sleep like a rock tonight, i'm falling asleep in this very uncomfy chair. g'nite!
