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.