Technology

Ever notice how much easier it is to Tweet, Blog, and vlog when you have a Droid? It's almost sad... Oh technology! What have you done?

Let the countdown begin...

It’s amazing how five months can change you - or practically a year, for that matter.
So it’s April 7th, 2009. By this time next month I will be frantically packing because I’ll be leaving Orlando in a week and a day. That’s beyond scary to me, but at the same time I know I’ll be ok with going back north. How do I know? I saw Fantasmic the other night and didn’t cry like I usually do when Sorcerer Mickey ends the show. I’m getting way too comfortable and I know that this isn’t where I belong.

Will I be back? – oh hell yes. I’m going Seasonal ~ so you people are stuck with me for a week every year. Deal with it.

Because the countdown has officially started, I’ve been trying to do everything I should have done in the last year but didn’t. Laura and I got free tickets to Universal Studios, so I finally went after nine years. Let me tell you, we have become such “Disney snobs” (as Deena has called me. Haha). We totally judged the park based on its physical appearance, theme, cleanliness, and guest interaction.

The park is great – and I am especially excited for the new Harry Potter island in Islands of Adventure. Their theming (themeing? Theme-ing?) is amazing – although sometimes too drawn out (i.e. Dueling Dragons. No wonder the wait time was 10 minutes, it took 10 min to just walk through the damn castle).

They did a wonderful job with the Mummy Rollercoaster. Animatronics, pyrotechnics, projections, and more special effects mixed with a coaster? Sweet.

We probably enjoyed the Simpsons ride a little too much – for the sheer fact that it totally made fun of Disney the whole time. We sat with an extended family, and no one laughed more than we did.

Out of Universal and Islands of Adventure – Islands is my pick. With the great rollercoasters (ie Hulk), the Spiderman ride (ingenious), Cyclops (Scott Summers – X-Men…) roaming the street, Seuss Landing, and the new Harry Potter Island, it really is well done. 5 gold stars to you, Islands of Adventure.

SeaWorld is up next – perhaps this Thursday? We’re trying to catch a day when Daniel will be there!

Last night was the first time I saw a concert at HOB (House of Blues )– sad, I know. We saw LADY GAGA, White Tie Affair, and the other opening acts (two or three others… LoL). Obviously going in, I only really knew three of her songs (thanks to Sean and Patrick for playing them for me to prove who she was so I’d get tickets. Haha) I really did have a great time, although I was deaf and blinded for most of it. It was exactly as I had foreseen it – a giant dance party with a live band who happens to be famous; but with good dancers all around and amazing music, it really was a better night than I had thought it would be – so thanks to the boys for dragging me. It was also good to see some familiar faces – Becca’s roommates, Pockets (Note to self: Friend Joe), Audra and her friend, Patrick – and met some new friends.

Now I’m sifting through all my photos from my CP in order to start putting together my usual tradition: a good bye slideshow. I’m remembering all the amazing times I’ve had here, and I am so, so grateful for being able to have this opportunity. Let the countdown begin and let the good times roll!

Dreams come true

Yep. It’s three in the morning. I found a spot in the apartment where I can upload pictures, so I am trying to upload pictures like crazy. Unfortunately, it seems that my uploading keeps failing, so I’ll probably just go to bed soon.
My parents were here this previous week. Thanks to all my friends who helped make this an extremely magical vacation! I’m so glad that Patrick, Rian, Nicole, Abby, Sarah, Laura, Chad, Becky, Becky’s parents, Zuck, Ashlea, Grace, Hope, Anthony, and a bunch of my coordinators and managers got to meet my parents. LoL. We lucked out in seeing all of you, and my parents had nothing but nice things to say about everyone. They thought I really had a great network of friends down here – which I clearly do! 
SO proud of all my friends who went to auditions and PASSED! Lauara, Patrick, and Becca, you three flawless diddy doos. And doubly proud of Patrick for passing puppetry and Becca passing parade/show auditions. You two rock my socks. Nervous for my Nov. 20th auditions. We’ll see what happens!
This weekend is Soap Weekends and let me tell you – I’m having the time of my life. Hahaha. So many crazy people are here. I did end up buying a green dress that I have a whole story about. I feel like the story should be vlogged rather than blogged – not going to lie. It requires voices and emotion…Hahaha. I’m glad that everyone who works in DHS got a kick out of my long, involved saga…
I finally got to see the Christmas parade in person. Did I cry? Actually, not really – until the Toy Soldiers came on! Can you say they rock my socks? Because they absolutely do! They were my mom’s favorite, too. I love them.
And the castle lighting is truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I watched it for the first time with my parents – we staked out our spots 30 minutes in advance – and we all got teary eyed. When the Fairy Godmother lights the castle, everyone gasps. It’s magnificent – and if you’ve never seen it, please go. I have a video, but it will NEVER do it justice! I’m going to try and see it as many times as I can. It happens every day, regardless of the party or not.
PS SCROOGE McDUCK has meet and greets during the Christmas party. Can you say DuckTales and childhood? Because I can! I miss Disney Afternoons! Anyone else? Anyone? Darkwing Duck? Can someone just put a scarf on him and drag him from St.Canard or wherever the hell he is from so I can meet him again? Seriously. I miss him…
We had backstage parking today so I got to drive in back of the Fant Mountain. I was so excited. It was actually smaller than I thought, but still MAGNIFICIENT!
The Kim Possible World Showcase logo is up in Innoventions. I got so excited – yet sad that I probably won’t play it. That depressed me.
We only have, like, a month and a half left. That really depresses me…
IRON CHEF is well underway…well, kind of. Rules and pairings are still up in the air. All I know is that it’s going to be amazing, and I’m not sure if I’ll actually survive. Hahaha. But we’ll tape it, and I’ll make up fun stories about our dishes.
OK. It’s 3:15 AM. I need to wake up at nine, so I should probably get going. Lots of things to look forward to – Auditions, ROCK BAND II, the Christmas Story: Annie’s Secret Club’s Halloween Party, Thanksgiving CP Party, Thanksgiving Party at Steven’s, hopefully more Studio News things. I did Studio News this week with Max. Look for it in more than 100 backstage locations. Channel 95, baby!
I’ll talk to you soon!

Faith, trust, and pixie dust

Patrick made a comment the other night that I’ve been thinking about the whole time I’ve been here. We were on the monorail over-looking the MK and it was just like, “Wow. I work here. This is my life. It’s magical”.

But it’s not as magical as it seems down here. It’s a life. It’s a struggle. Yes, you get the free access to the park and the 50% holiday discount, but I can’t tell you how many people tell you to break free from the Mouse. I can’t begin to tell you how many people I’ve met who are living from paycheck to paycheck or who just came to work here to find work. Especially in today’s work world with the crazy economy, it’s getting tougher, and this is just one way to make money.

In a perfect world, I would love to stay down here. I’ve met amazing people, I have a lot of fun running around in the parks, I’m doing shows with STAGE (Look for A Christmas Story posters and info!), and I’m getting a lot of exercise running around; yet I feel the pain when paychecks come around because we’re college programmers ~ but it’s not like many Full Time positions make that much more than we do – which is awful. I’ve learned valuable work ethics and experiences which I will take with me in the future – ie the Basics and to stay in the “green zone”. LoL. I’ve learned about Corporate Communications and Guest Service the Disney Way, which is so valuable. I really feel prepared for NYC and the real world. Let it be known.

But at the same time, I feel like I’m going to be giving up part of who I am by leaving here. I won’t have this magic, and I hope to God I won’t be swept up in the harsh reality of living a “normal” life with a “normal” job in a “normal” apartment. As I said the other night, I’m leaving now, but it doesn’t mean I won’t come back in the future. I’m contemplating seasonal status, but not sure if I’d be able to get down here often enough to honor that decision.

I am, however, going to the Entertainment extension auditions no matter what. With the hold on hiring Entertainment, I know this is a slim to none chance – but I’m going to try anyway. This has been my dream since I was little, and I know I have enough energy to try and fulfill that one dream now.

I will never, ever, in my wildest dreams ever regret the decision of becoming one of the many Disney College Programmers. I am having a blast and plan on making the most of my next two months. I hope to blog a little more with indept entries during this time, so look for them – otherwise also look at my vlogs on Facebook. Some are…hilarious.

I really miss my family also. I hate having to call them every five seconds to tell them about an amazing experience or tidbit. I know my mom has told me I don’t need to call as much. Hahaha. My parents will be here in a week and I KNOW I’ll be an emotional wreck when they get here. I’ll hopefully be off when they’re here so I can spend as much time as possible with them.

I also really really miss my nutcase dog. :( My mom sends me pictures of her all the time.

All right, I should probably get started on my day. I’m off, but have A Christmas Story later on….

Talk to you later!

Boo To You...Happy Halloween

Ok. Not going to lie – I hear a lot about people transferring around when they work in Disney. Why stay in the same job the rest of your life when you can totally move around and gain valuable experience in other fields? When ONCE closed, I was NOT happy about being transferred to Hollywood Hills (aka Tower of Terror, Rock’n’Rollercoaster, and Fantasmic merchandise): Coaster was loud, we had to learn how to do pictures, Preview…, Tower’s edit and preview were boring, and you had to get to know new managers and new workers. Who knew when I would count money again, seeing as how we were getting there so late in the game. People thought we were new CPs – even though we’d been there since May. Grr. It was frustrating.

But my parents always told me to do my best no matter what the situation. Things would turn out all right in the end – and they really did. I became really fond of my managers – Walt, (Gus,) JT, Michael – who was in and out, Cheryl, Devon, DANA!!!!!!! – and my coordinators – Jennifer and Lauren. The other CPers and FTers rocked my socks and I had a great time fooling around with them all the time.

I felt a little out of touch with Rian and the Sunset people, so we continued doing backstage tours. We did the GREAT MOVIE STRIDE Tour and Rian and I finally fulfilled our dreams of doing the HAUNTED MANSION tour. They were so so SO amazing, let it be known.

I got to see Patrick a lot more because I was working in merch shops for attractions, which was a lot of fun. PS. Sometimes guests seem so much more pumped up – or pissed off - at attractions. I met some amazing guests who were waiting around for party members, and there was many a thank you note slipped in to package pick-ups. It’s the cool thing about working in Disney. I’ll never forget the Australian family that gave me the kangaroo key chain as a thanks for backdooring them or the magical gathering first visit family I kept bumping in to in the park. I hope I can have more experiences like this is in the future, even outside of WDW.

Pleasure Island closed at the end of September. I got to go to the Adventurers Club – once with Steven and again with Carly and Patrick. KUNGALOOSH! I also went to Comedy Warehouse a few times. That was a blast. RIP PI. We love you.

Patrick heard about Kim Possible testing on the Hub, so Rian and I rushed to sign up. The four of us met up that morning all dressed in Possible black and Khaki. We officially joined forces to become Team Black and Khaki (props to Michael? For thinking of the name…). We had a blast that morning, and Nicole and I went on to do one more round of testing. No further testing has been posted, so hoping I’ll get to do one more round before Jan. We tested China, Japan, Germany, and Mexico.

And thus brings us to October. SUNSET OLYMPICS. So it seemed wrong for me to be on the Coaster team for Sunset Olympics, but it’s me, and we were gonna win. We were asked questions, and we rocked that. We had no clue what the categories were, but we all did our best and had fun making fun of each other for not knowing answers to trivia questions (or giving the wrong answer even though we had a Tell-a-Cast in our pocket). Hahaha.

The night of the Olympics, a bunch of the Coaster people ran around. We met and went on Coaster, Tower, and then we broke a part to look in shops, met the Power Rangers, and take more pictures. As we were heading to Take 5 to wait for the ceremonies, I saw Darlene. She asked if I could represent Sunset since everyone there was scheduled until 11 PM – when the closing ceremonies would be over. Good job[insert manager name here]. I went to the Villains stock room to pick up the flag and ran to the Fant trailer to meet up with the other flag bearers.

That night I got to drive a Pargo – with Juan bearing our flag – and accepted the gold medal for Sunset’s flag. We met the 2008 WDW Ambassador – Kerry – and took tons of pictures with her. We got free ice cream and got to go on Tower with the lights (and sometimes music) on. That was amazing.

Food and Wine started up – and I even got to do my dress up Food and Wine day with Steven, Becca, and her Patrick. Lol. I also officially got to go to MICKEY’S NOT SO SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY with Becky and Laura. That night was so much fun.

The MOUSETRAP, directed by Justin, was well underway. I was unsure if the cast would be very close, but we are all still very very close. The show went really well and we all really helped each other out. We had an amazing party at Ashby’s (Go Rock Band: Team MOUSETRAP), then all went to see Boyz II Men together (second row!), and then all saw one another on Halloween (because we went trick-or-treating to Ashby’s. Hahaha). I love them all and am so happy we all keep in touch.

A few other awesome experiences:

Going to Poly to watch Wishes and the water electric “I’m Patriotic” parade with Patrick. How we survived the hammock, I’ll never know.

Mickey’s Not So Scary – Round II. Yeah, Patrick and I went again on the 30th. It was an absolute blast and I finally met Minnie in her little outfit.

Stocking ONCE – hahaha. Yeah, we’re in the Ops building hanging and sizing shirts, pants, and…underwear? But we get to see the new stuff, listen to music all day, take “15 min” breaks, and go home a half hour earlier. Plus, we’re working with Diane and Liz – best stockers ever. It’s wonderful.

Downtown Disney with Laura. Yay for photo ops.

Meeting Jamie Deen (Paula Deen’s son). It was love at first sight

50% holiday discount…enough said

And that’s been my life in a nutshell through October. One post to go for today…

The End of an Era - Updating you on July-Early Sept

It’s weird knowing that we’ve been here 5 months and that yesterday marked 2 months until we leave. I hate this game. It reminds me of when I was studying abroad and had to leave all my friends there – and I still haven’t seen any of them (including Mary, who’s in DC right now) since 2006. I don’t like this game of really getting to know people and get really close to them, and then having to leave and never knowing if and when I’ll ever see them again…

But enough of that depressing stuff. I’m sorry my last blog was in July. Yeah, that’s right kids. July 18th to be exact. Obviously a LOT has happened since then. I survived STAR WARS WEEKENDS, which was pretty much me going every week to the motorcade and taking tons of pictures with as many characters as I had the patience to wait in line for. Never really got an official autograph, but I got copy autographs from everyone…? I think everyone. LoL. That was so much fun, and if I could get a job with helping the event planners for that I would totally stay down here – more on that in a bit.

P.S. WALL-E? AMAZING movie! Can’t wait to buy it at midnight at the end of the month.

August more people moved in – like Becca Lebson! So excited she’s here and SO proud of her driving skills on the Backlot Tour. August was also when we did TWISTED TALES, right? God, everything is just melting in to one another. I joined STAGE and met some amazing people. Steven, KatieQuinn, and Justin directed the three shows – and it’s also where I met Laura. Since then, Laura and I have been unofficially attached at the hip and Steven….no words. Hahaha. They are definitely two of my best friends down here and I trust them with my life and feel blessed to know them and their craziness.

PS During the summer I saw Kate Cassidy and her family (Kate and I went on TSM together) and SEAVY!!!!!!!!! Seavy and I went to EPCOT together and ran around in the rain – I mean, let’s be real. It’s WATER people! We also got a picture with the fabulous Lightning McQueen and Mater. : )

September - Joe Lezza was the next CPer to arrive! He’s over in MK doing the Jungle Cruise. If you haven’t gone, recommend him as a skipper ASAP. He was the only reason I laughed during the ride…that and the giant butterflies…

By September, I started to get to know Rian and Patrick a bit better. Let’s be real, I started talking to them through Facebook because I have no life. Rian is stuck with us at Sweet Spells, and Patrick is on DHS’s DreamSquad. I met the DreamSquad through Al because of pin trading. I was looking for a certain pin for a guest and I was told to speak to the Don of the Pin Mafia – Al. Hahaha. So we started talking and said he’d get the pin and to leave my number for him in the Dream Trailer.
From then on, I’d go every once in a while to talk to Al about Wall-E (because he WAS somewhere in DHS at SOME point!) or pins and each time I’d end up talking to the DSers. Somehow, I found Patrick on Facebook and we all planned to go to the BOO TO YOU preview.

That night Steven was supposed to go but he didn’t because he sucks. The group ended up bring Rian (and later Michael joined us), Patrick, Nicole, Laura, and Chad. We ran around DHS – doing the jump pose – and then ran around MK (It’s a Small World Party boat…) – also doing the jump pose. From there we snuck to the tunnels to wait for the parade, talked to Al (who had been doing his TA) and then was ushered to ToonTown. We made a run for it, got a great seat in front of the techie, and saw Tracy who was making sure the Headless Horseman’s Horse was doing well. Awesome!

By this time, ONCE UPON A TIME/MOUSE ABOUT TIME/SUNSET CLUB COUTURE had closed, and thus began a new era over in Hollywood Hills…

A magical trip to Taco Bell...

So, tonight was magical indeed. I got out of work at 1 AM, and met Nicole in costuming. We waited a bit for Ben – but he was helping Dana power wash Ranch…or something….

So it was just one of those nights that screamed Late Night T-Bell Run!, so Nicole and I ran to Taco Bell. As we were waiting, there was a taxi two cars in front of me. Yes. A bunch of people took a taxi on a late night taco bell run. WHAT?!

And then, all of a sudden, I heard the beginnings of Fantasmic. Thinking I was either going crazy because we go every week or it was Nicole’s CD, I brushed it off. I then heard my phone go off. It was a text from Nicole saying, “Someone is playing Fantasmic in their car…”

I told her I thought it was her playing it, and she said she thought it was me playing it in my car. Then she texted me again to say that she thought it was the guy in back of her playing the Fantasmic music since he was air conducting…yes…you read that right…air conducting. Good times.

This led to the string of amazing text messages:

Nicole: Disney followed us to Taco Bell

Me: Oh God. That’s just sad.

Nicole: No, it’s MAGICAL!

…What a night!....

I've seen Fantasmic 4 times...is that bad...?

Hey guys!

Sorry it’s taken so long for me to update. It’s been so crazy here! I was trained to count money and close the store at night, so my hours have been crazy – usually 4 or 5 in the afternoon until about one in the morning (if not a little later due to EMH – Extra Magic Hours).

Life is going pretty well. I’m starting to learn my way around Florida – which kind of scares me. Mostly everything is within a 5 mile radius, if not closer. Disney’s not too far away. I now know the quickest route to DHS – I can usually get there in 10-15 minutes ~ which is especially useful when I’m running a little late… I can get out of my car, changed, and to Sunset Blvd. within 15 minutes (which is awesome! Good times).

Remember how Wall*E will be open Friday? I’m so excited. The Studio Store in DHS was the first store on the resort to have Wall*E merchandise! I bought the little Wall*E and Eve doll and wore Wall*E on my shoulder when we went around EPPCOT for Chelsea’s birthday. Everyone kept asking me about where I had gotten him. Holly (one of my managers) said this was the fastest selling pre-movie merchandise that she had ever seen. We can’t stock quick enough. I’m going to try and get a mechanical Wall*E for Becky and Katy.

The apartment is going well. We have an inspection on Tuesday – maybe we’ll get a box of candy? I have a lot going on but I’ll probably try to clean as much as possible tomorrow… J Yay dishwashers!

P.S. I started uploading Vlogs on Facebook. If you want a laugh and we’re friends, check them out.

I swear I’ll do a SWW update soon!

GtG. I’ll talk to you soon!

Another normal day in Disney World

“There’s the Tower of Flowers…”

“Is it scary, Daddy?”

“No son. That’s fun”

I was talking to Kim D. on the phone today and she asked what I was doing. I laughed. Normal for us is going to the Magic Kingdom to see the “Dreams Come True” parade at 3 PM…. How weird is that?

Work has been going well – although I’ve realized I prefer to be on the floor rather than making cotton candy and caramel apples (though I will admit making caramel apples allows you to watch the SWW – Star Wars Weekends – Parade…which is pretty legit). Training with Patricia, Evelyn, and Lynn Dee was amazing. They are all so sweet and so knowledgeable. I see Lynn Dee and Evelyn all the time, but unfortunately I haven’t seen Patricia since training… : (

I was able to work Animation Courtyard – which was SO much fun! Supposedly only one/two/three CPers get to work the Animation Gallery in the Courtyard – since you must be trained – so only those who are recommended and exhibit great people skills get to do it. Thus, my new short term goal is to earn a spot at the Animation Gallery. It really is one of the coolest places. They have Lenox and Gucci statues, paintings, cells, drawings, Animation books, music books, etc. I love all of it and I would love to be trained to know everything about the merchandise.

Luckily my hours haven’t been that bad. I’ve been working 8ish hours every day thus far, although I’ve been hearing about the twelve hour shifts that other CPers have been getting. I think the longest I’m scheduled for is 10 hours, so we’ll see how that goes!

I had my first day of class today with Scott – aka Obi Wan. I’m taking Corporate Communications – and this guy is FANTASTIC! He is a colonel and a Dr (with a doctorate in Communications – go figure) with an impression job history. He is very knowledgeable on the here and now, and he says he’s Harrison Ford’s age. Coolest guy ever. I think we’re going to have a great class – plus there are a bunch of international students in our class (I actually think they outnumber the Americans), so it will be interesting to hear what they have to say about businesses in their countries!

So I’ve met wonderful people and have become pretty familiar with the area. Oh! P.S. Devin B was the first Muhlenberg-er that I met in Disney World. Chrissy and I had dinner in Planet Hollywood (Quick side note: We went to get a table and there was a 20 min wait. Chrissy asked about cast discounts, and when they heard we were cast members – they sent us inside for seating automatically. AND we got 20% off…! Sweet) and then met up with Devin and his friends in front of the WORLD OF DISNEY store. We went to the Rainforest Café to brave the volcano. Good times.

I was in MK today with Molly. I saw the DREAMS COME TRUE Parade and then we went to the Laugh Floor and Stitch’s Great Escape (after we saw the talking/moving trash can. SO cool! See below quote). By the time we left Stitch, it was pitch black outside. There was a lightning and thunder storm, so we decided to just go home. We both had dinner and then crashed. When Chrissy came home, the two of us went to Publix at 10:15 PM (since Target was closed. Boo). We came home, and here I am!

Well, I have work at 10:30 AM, so I better get going. Talk to you soon!

“Kids, go to college for six years and you can be a talking trash can, too! Liberal arts is the way to go!”


Look for the SWW (Star Wars Weekends) edition of my blog - COMING SOON!

Life as we know it - Disney Style

You know, it’s weird to be working here at Disney World.

Molly, Chelsea, and I wanted a snack/lunch the other day – and we were in DHS (Disney Hollywood Studios) – so we decided to go to the Sci-Fi Drive-In Diner. We sat there at our flying saucer table, drinking soda, and eating artichoke dip like nothing was out of the ordinary and Molly goes, “This is weird. Here we are eating a normal lunch while people are sitting near us eating a once in a lifetime dinner…”

Molly and I have been running around the parks lately since we have our cast passes (aka free park admission and free parking) and it’s so weird knowing that we have this access and there are people to the right and left of us who are there for the first time and have been saving up to be there for a long time…. We are so privileged and I hope we never take it for granted while we’re here doing our slave labor. Hahaha (Wikipedia, anyone?)

All right, here’s my update on what’s been going on!

Day 5 – We had our Hollywood Studios day – this day is known as On With The Show. We went to DHS in the morning and started off with a tour of the park with Andrea and John (they totally rocked my socks!). We went around, did map exercises, learned trivia about the park, and then went back to have lunch. We continued a bit with the tours and then went backstage to complete more computer programs …ugh…but Laretta saved us. If you’re doing merchandise in DHS, most likely you will meet Laretta. She seems like a tough cookie but she was a real sweetheart. She helped with costumes, helped with accessories, helped me with a locker lock, and then we talked about hitting it big in Atlantic City. Haha. I hope I see her around DHS.

On Day 5 we received our schedules and costumes – although I have a “training costume”. Laretta said I would be getting two different costumes since I’m scheduled to work in two different areas.

I found out I had two days off, so Molly and I ran around the Parks. On Monday we started out with our first Grocery Bingo. In the second to last round - we WON! I will post pictures of what we won soon, but it was a glorious feeling! Love abounds! Then we went to EPCOT. We rode Mission Space, Test Track, and Soarin’ – all amazing! I think we went shopping … God the days just meld in to one another. This was also the night that we tried to get KOTOR to work for him. Molly’s friend Adrian helped us for at least an hour – and then it worked! We’ve been playing it since.

On Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom. We went in the morning to go to EE (Expedition Everest), ride the Safari, do It’s Tough to Be A Bug, etc. After that we went to Publix, the comic book store (Uh…let’s discuss for a minute the fact that when you walk in there is a whole display of DOCTOR WHO stuff. The guy sold me a rare Doctor-Christopher-and Rose poster from the first season. Woo hoo), Target, and had dinner – chicken parm. Yum. I can now add that to the list of things I can cook.

Today is my first day of work. I have work from 2:30 – 11 PM. AHHHH! I’m meeting Patricia at the Costuming Building, and then we’re going to SWEET SPELLS. Let’s make some candy! The next few days I have work from 8 – 4:30. Not too bad. Good times had by all.

I'll update soon!

You must not forget: it all started with a mouse...

I wanted this blog to be a resource guide for any future new college programmers and I haven’t been doing too well. This is the post where I try to explain a bunch of things to quench the nerves of new CPs.

For those of you from the North East who want their cars, I highly recommend taking the autotrain. It wasn’t the most comfortable sleep you’ll ever get, but I met a bunch of CPers on the train. We stayed up till midnight playing card games and then found empty seats by each other to sleep in. We all woke up, went to breakfast, and then waited for our cars together. I was the only one there by myself so of course everyone got their cars before me. LoL.
If you take the autotrain, it’s a really easy drive to Orlando. I believe it was a left out of the parking lot at the stop sign, then another left at one point. I took I-4 to Exit 68. From there I made a U-Turn in the Crossroads (you will be there A LOT) to get to the other side of 545 to get to the Holiday Inn Sunspree – where I stayed. I highly recommend staying there because you are across the street from Vista and right down the road from Chatham (ish…you’ll see when you get here…)

First day – The first day is really easy. You get to check-in (which I recommend getting in about two hours earlier). There was a DJ there playing music and asking trivia questions (FOR PRIZES! We got a purple Disney CP photo album!). You wait on line and then sign away your soul. Hahaha. We asked for two groups of roommates to stay together and they actually let us – you just need to let them know as soon as you get there. You then go, get your key, and take your picture for your Vista/Chatham/Patterson, etc. housing ID. You’ll get a bunch of papers and it will be overwhelming, but it’ll be amazing. – The rest of the day you get to move in. You’ll have a housing meeting at some point – and then everyone runs to Wal-Mart. WOO!
Second day – It’s the day you’ve all been waiting for! You get to find out your role! They split everyone according to your last name and then when you go to the table, they hype you up about what area you will be working in (Park and then what area of the park you will be in). You still don’t know your specific job.
You go through all the paper work and fingerprint stuff to get cleared to work (and you get the 6 free passes for friends/family) – and then you can sign up for classes. That’s it! We ran to the Outlets to get stuff for the Disney look. You have the rest of the day free, so use it wisely! At night we had the pool party. If it’s themed, dress up! You’ll get lots of prizes! We got t-shirts and the coveted Disney CP beach towels.
Third day – Traditioooooooooooon! Tradition! Hahaha. Yep. All rumors about Traditions being a four – or little more – hour class are true. It’s four hours of Disney trivia and workplace ethics. We had Jessica as our Traditions leader, and she rocked my socks. At Traditions you get your NAME TAG and your cast member ID – aka card that gets you in the parks for FREE! (P.S. To get there everyone gets on the A bus to Disney University. I also recommend getting there at least twenty minutes before your bus is scheduled to leave to get a spot on the first bus).
Usually everyone then rushes to a park. We came home after traditions to have dinner and then we ran to the Magic Kingdom. We had a BLAST! A bunch of other CPers were there, and we all screamed as we walked in. J It was wonderful. We stayed through Spectromagic and then headed out.
Fourth Day – The fourth day, today, is up in the air depending on what role you have. For merchandise, we have our merchentainment class today (or at least I do). I have my class as 1:30 PM at the Disney University (which is where Traditions was held – which is ALSO where one Company D store is!). After class I’m dressing up for the Disney Pirate and Princess Party! AHHHHHH! So excited!
So that’s my brief update on the first few days of the Disney College Program. If you have any questions, feel free to post them! J Talk to you soon!

The 80s threw up on us!

So I can't talk long. Still no internet, but we're back in McDonalds (or at least Chrissy and I are).

Today we found out our placement. I'm in HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS ("How do you feel about Lights, Camera, Action?!"). I'm switching between the Animation Courtyard and Sunset Blvd - aka where Tower of Terror is. HOW IRONIC! I'm not sure what I'm doing, so Im SO curious!

We then went to the outlets and Wal-Mart (we live at Wal-Mart). We went to Mickey's Retreat and went in the pool for a bit. I fell asleep for about an hour and then we dunked back in again before going home to get ready for Tink's Punk Rock 80s Dance Pool Party.

My WHOLE apartment got dressed up in 80s clothes for the party.We got so much free stuff for being dressed up - aka a Disney College Porgram towel and a t-shirt.

We are so upset because Eriko will be leaving tomorrow morning. She didn't get her working papers in time. She is such a sweetheart and we will really miss her.

OK. GtG. TTYS!

No internet. :( It's London all over again

Hey guys!

So unfortunately the internet is not working in our apartment, so we're here at McDonalds using the WiFi. :) Yay

Check in went well. We got there at 7 AM for 9 AM check in - and people were there already! They started sending in groups of 5 at about 8ish and then we finally got in. We went through, got our apartment assignment and keys (a 4 bedroom apartment at Chatham - apartment 19101), got our pictures taken for our Chatham IDs, got our parking stickers, got our fingerprints taken for background check, and then went to hear about classes and future programs.

We went back to our rooms, unpacked for a bit, and then Chrissy's mom drove us to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. We then had our (boring...shhhh!) housing meeting for about 2 hours - then went to Target to buy food and anything else we needed.

We have 8 girls in the apartment - and all are FABULOUS. Michele and Stacey live in room 3, Eriko (who is from Japan!) and Becky live in room 4, Molly and Chrissy live in room 2, and Becky and I live in room 1. We have a wipe board in the common room and star post-it notes (ala 318 Albright) in the common room for quotes.

Chrissy's mom made dinner for us and then we went on a 30 min tour of Chatham. We talked to a bunch of guys, found the pool, learned the pool rules (and hours), and then attempted to get on to the internet at the Clubhouse...which had actually closed at 5. Damn.

We've been dying to get on Facebook, so here we are at McDonalds. Good times.

The girls all seem so sweet and we all seem to click. I'm so so so so happy. Chrissy, Molly, Becky, and I all share the "Under the Sea" bathroom. Good times. And hidden Mickeys keep popping up on all the mirrors...in fact, it seems Mickey wrote "Mickey was here" with a hidden Mickey on our wipe board in the common room...did we miss him? ;)

I think we're taking it easy tonight since we have our "role" meeting tomorrow at 8:30 AM. What does that mean? WE FIND OUT WHERE WE WORK!!!!!!!!!! I am SO impatient and can't wait to find out where we are being placed!!!!!!!!!!

That's about it for now. I'm dead tired but so happy with everything. I love Disney. :-D

P.S. We might watch Enchanted tonight! I miss you, Noteworthy! Let's sing for Patrick and Amy again!

The AutoTrain Diaries: What state are we in now?

P.S. Note to yesterday’s entry on the hotel: our 8 AM wake up call came at about 8:11 AM. That was kind of the real reason they lost. LoL.

So here I am, on the autotrain. It’s 4:10 PM according to Windows time. We were supposed to leave at 4, but we left a bit earlier. We really started to pick up speed at 4. To be completely honest, it seems like there is no one on this train. But then again it’s Memorial Day weekend. That’s probably why.
I’m excited for dinner at 5 because it’ll give me something to do! They’re showing Enchanted at various times, but I hope I’ll just be able to sleep for most of the duration of the ride. If so, I hope I’m not snoring on the train. My allergies were bad the last few days so I was so congested! – but I can actually breathe today. That’s a HUGE plus.
I’m still bitter about my Star Wars game not working. Seriously. 17 straight hours of Knights of the Old Republic. It’s every Star Wars gamer’s dream (or at least it would be my dream as a Star Wars gamer)! I usually spend days playing the game, and here I could have just played it straight through. So disappointed. Oh well.
Oh, look. We just passed the FBI training facility – aka we’re now in Quantico, Virginia. Yeah. They gave us a little book thingy of noteworthy places we’d be passing.
And as soon as I started my rant about the Star Wars game – it unofficially started to work. Weird. I’m gonna go figure this out. TTYS!
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P.S. We just found out there are 177 passengers in 62 cars (that’s it?!).
4:30 PM– we just passed Fredericksburg, VA. Ugh. SO close to having the game work. The start up page came up, and then my computer froze since the game stopped working. That sucked. I was really looking forward to training as a Jedi Knight for 17 hours (but I’ve played the game already. Don’t worry). Still waiting for the last game of the trilogy to come out – even though that won’t be for a while.
I’ve already taken a mini-nap after we boarded the train. I was reading the Life After School. Explained. book we received at Champagne Brunch. It was … interesting … No, it really was. I’m just not into reading right now. I’m thinking of what color lightsaber I would have made as part of my training and what crystals I would have installed in it… No. I’m not bitter at all.
Speaking of Star Wars – Star Wars Weekends (SWW) begin in, what, a week?! Yeah. Can I tell you how excited Becky and I are? I don’t think you can fathom my excitement. This has been my dream for years to go to this. When I was at Disney World during Spring Break, I frantically looked around for the Jedi Knight Mickey doll I stupidly forgot to purchase while in Hollywood studios. When I asked about it at the toy store in Downtown Disney, they asked if I was going to SWW. At the time I sighed and said “No”, but who knew I’d actually be coming back? I didn’t.
So, yes, I will be there. Who knows if I’ll be in costume. BUT, I do have my lightsaber made out of a kitchen pipe (Haha. Remember that trip to Loews, Lauren?). Yeah. I’m all Martha Stewart like that. The lightsaber, at least, will be with me. Maybe I can buy a Jedi robe somewhere!!!!!
OK. All childishness aside – I can’t believe I’m here right now. I’m getting ready for dinner so maybe I can just sleep the rest of the way…yeah right. Haha.
I’m waiting for Nicole to call in regards to tomorrow. Hopefully we get into Florida early. I wish I could get to my room because I’m really going to need to freshen up! Yay for 17 hour train rides. WOO!
I’m gonna text message Becca about leaving for FL. I’ll TTYL!
P.S. These chairs are really comfy…then again, I say that now…
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So I’m here on the train. It’s 7:30. While at dinner I sat with two people from FL (they were here for ROLLING THUNDER. The guy was originally from Essex County, NJ). The other woman, originally from El Salvador, was on the train to deliver her car to her daughter who lived in Miami.
While we were eating and talking, I overheard four people (two mothers and two daughters) talking about the Disney College Program. When everyone at my table left dinner, I approached and asked them about it. The two girls and I went to the entertainment car where they were showing Enchanted – and now they’re showing National Treasure. We met up with another guy who is doing the program, and there is another girl who is doing it. They’ll return to us after their 7 PM dinner.
I’m here typing as we’re all talking/watching the movie. I have my folder on the table in order to try to and see if anyone else recognizes the exalted purple folder. :-D We’re still not sure what state we’re in. Good times. But there are lots of trees and a carnival or two. It’s still sunny. J
Becca just text messaged me. She’s excited and can’t wait to hear everything.
We were talking about how many people were kicked out of Traditions the other day (when the May 19th kids moved in) due to kids not having the “Disney Look”. Yeah. They are strict. I need to take off my nail polish and look nice that day.
So far I am the only one here who is over 21. The other girl might be 22, too. We’ll find out when she’s done with dinner. The others are from all over – from Massachusetts to Connecticut, it’s pretty awesome.
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So, Stephanie is 21. She is also from New Jersey and went to Albright College. Awesomeness. It really is a small world after all!
Justin, Stephanie, and I stayed up until midnight. We watched Enchanted, National Treasure, and National Treasure again. Yeah. The movie got old after a while to the point where I could recite lines and act out scenes. Bad. We also played every card game imaginable – including Go Fish. Yeah. We got that desperate.
It’s almost 9 AM and we’re in FL. We should be arriving in about 10-12 min they just said. YAY!
Are we there yet?!
So we went to bed in the car nearest the entertainment car around midnight. I slept until 5:06ish. Yeah. Amazing. Around 6 I woke up to use the bathroom and attempt to freshen up. The three of us grabbed breakfast with a girl originally from FL who had just moved to VA. She’s going to visit family.
We went back to the entertainment car to play cards. We played another game of War, moved on to Texas Hold ‘Em, five card Poker, and then BS. I lost most, if not all, the rounds.
We got bored after a while, and now I’m on the same car as Stephanie and Justin. I have no clue what the conductor just said…oops…
So, the three of us kind of became legends last night. Everyone thought we stayed up all night in the entertainment car. We should have just told people that we did. That would have been awesome!
Damn. We’ll start de-train-ing in about twenty minutes. Argh. I’m so done sitting on this train.
Ooooooooh. The current outside temperature is 78 degrees. Thank God for semi-nice weather. It’s sort of…gray…outside. Blah.
What state are we in now?
So close, yet so far. Twenty minutes will be a great test of my patience! LoL. I’m just so excited and can’t wait to get to Disney – and find out where I’m working tomorrow! Check-in starts at 9, so I wonder what time Becky and I will get there.
Well, GtG. TTYS!

It's 8:30 AM, and I'm here at the Hotel Palomar ~> http://www.hotelpalomar-arlington.com/

OK. Don't get me wrong. The hotel is GORGEOUS. Modern art everywhere. Animal print pillows, etc. (which Lauren and Rosette would DEFINITELY appreciate) and dogs walking around (since it's a pet-friendly hotel). But just the little things started getting on our nerves...

Ok. We are not big complainers. Or at least I hope we're not. But when the only restaurant in the building - which just opened 6 months ago - is closed for Memorial Day weekend and the following week - wouldn't you alert your guests? And the room temperature kind of sucked. It's fun kicking off the blankets constantly at night, but after a while, it gets old - especially when you should be sleeping.

But we did find that great restaurant last night, which was good. And it's still funny to see dogs walking around - although we're trying to figure out what our dog, Lacey, would have been like here. She probably would have been trying to drink the Chardonnay as she climbed on the table from her chair... Yeah. My dog sits in chairs...

So we're all getting ready. We'll go downstairs for the breakfast, get our cars, and then head out for Lorton for the autotrain! I don't think I'll get service down there, so I'll post as soon as I can! :-D