Busy Days at Disney

Since I last wrote many things have happened, including:

• Moving rooms in the apartment (my new roommate's name is Sam)
• Family visiting for a weekend earlier in the month. It was wonderful seeing them and showing them around my new world.
  
• Saying goodbye to my dear friend Nick. His program ended so he went back home to Michigan. I have yet to find a "replacement friend".
  
• Flying home for Landon's first birthday! He's growing up to be such a character!
• Creating a guest magical moment by explaining the whole pin trading process and then giving them a pin to  get started in the craze themselves.

I'm sure more has happened, but those are the things that are standing out at the moment. Today was very busy in itself. I learned how to make water art  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62USrmpuCWA) and spent an hour or so of my shift entertaining guests with my drawings of Mickey and Minnie. Towards the end of my shift, the night got really busy. I had a little girl start up a conversation with me while I was closing a restroom. She was in a stall and just randomly asked if I was the cleaning lady. I said yes I was and we ended up talking for about 10 minutes. I'm sure her parents were a bit worried that she had been in the restroom for so long, but I made sure she got back to her family safe and sound after our conversation was done. Then I had a lady approach me and tell me I have a very strong positive energy. She gave me her card and said to give her a call if I wanted her to do a psychic reading. Personally, I think all that stuff is pretty sketch, but it put me in a good mood to be told that. Then I dealt with my first unattended bag situation. I suppose to most people, that's not very exciting, but custodians get excited about the small things.
  Well I hope everyone had a wonderful summer and is ready to head back to school! Have a magical day!

Meeting a Celebrity

  Meeting Disney characters is all fine and dandy, but it's still nothing in comparison to meeting a real celebrity. Nick and I were eating at The Three Broomsticks in Wizarding World a day or so after the end of a big Harry Potter convention in Orlando. He was in his Hufflepuff robes, which also encourages employees to talk to him. Thanks to a very kind, helpful waitress we found out that Evanna Lynch AKA Luna Lovegood was eating out on the balcony. My heart jumped a little bit when she said that and Nick and I were quick to agree that asking for a picture and being rejected is better than never asking and never knowing. We left our table and nonchalantly walked out, taking pictures of the castle and surrounding area. Once Nick worked up the courage, he walked right up to her, apologized, and asked for a picture. Pansy Parkinson was there as well and he got a picture with both. I stood there while they talked about LeakyCon, contemplating asking for a picture, knowing I would kick myself if I didn't. Right as they were preparing to say goodbye, I asked for a picture and being as kind and gracious as I imagined her being, she said "Of course" and held her arm out for a side-by-side picture. I couldn't thank her enough, but didn't want to be a crazy fan girl either. After talking a bit more, we said goodbye and went back to our meal. We both just sat there for a few minutes, shaking and in awe over the fact that we just met Luna Lovegood. I was so happy I cried a few tears of joy.
  The rest of my day was made. I was in a slow zone at work, but every time I felt my smile slipping I just thought, "I met Evanna Lynch today!" and I was giddily happy again.
  I hate giving him more credit because he does not need any boost to his ego, but it is all thanks to Nick that I got to meet one of my favorite characters/actors from the entire Harry Potter series.

Journey to Space

 Sunday morning, I was awake bright and early to see the backstage area most CPs look forward to exploring: Space Mountain in Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland. My wonderful managers set up a tour for DTD custodial cast members and since one of them had worked the attraction, we learned a lot about Space. Seeing/riding with the track lit up definitely made it less scary. We were able to walk the track and learn a bit about operations. I was surprised to learn that Space is the slowest coaster on property, maxing out at 28 mph. In the dark though, with strobes lights flashing, the ride feels much faster and more intense than other coasters. Overall it was a really interesting trip and I look forward to seeing more attractions backstage.

Here's an idea of what it looks like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXyTPdOjWlo Nothing compares to seeing it in person though!

Playing Catch-Up

 I am not keeping up with this blog as well as I had hoped. Some days too much happens and by the time I am free to write, I would rather sleep. On slow days, I am usually just not in the mood to blog. So I am taking a page out of my wise cousins' book and am going to try the bullet-point method of blogging.

• Two weeks ago I went to Cirque du Soleil: La Nouba, a permanent show at Downtown Disney. The show was created special for Walt Disney World and cast member received a discount until the end of June. I have never seen anything so amazing. There were times in the show I could not clap because I was frozen in awe. Here's a link if anyone wants a taste of the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pxCDoeJgbQ
• Last week I finally made it to a beach! Wednesday Nick, Josh, and I made the drive to Siesta Key and spent the day relaxing in the sun. We also found a Kilwin's ( I found out that's a MI thing), which I was really excited about. It was a great day, but I'm just now healing up from the awful sunburn I got. 
• Friday, as most people know, was the final launch of the US space shuttle program. A whole group of DTD custodians made the trip over to Cocoa Beach early Friday morning (by early I mean 1 o'clock after everyone was done working) and we slept in cars parked along the highway in anticipation for the launch. I have never been into space exploration, but when the 9-second countdown started, I got chills. It was an amazing sight and well worth the point I received for calling-in for my morning shift at work.
• We have already had a mate move out and are expecting to get a new mate any day now. I look forward to meeting her and hope that she fits well into our house dynamic. 

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!!

Just Another Post

  I don't feel like anything extraordinary has happened lately, but that's not to say I haven't been busy. The most exciting event has been the backstage tour of the Beauty and the Beast show at Hollywood Studios. I finally got to see the show and then we met Belle and her prince (not the Beast) and got to walk onstage and see all the costuming things. It made me miss performing.
 Which reminds me that I mentioned auditions last time. I ended up going with one of my mates (Jenessa), Amy and one of her mates (Sara). None of us were offered a role, but it was still a really good experience and I would like to go audition again when I can. All that happened at the audition was this: there were about 180 or so girls and they pulled us into a room in groups of 60. Two ladies looked at us in groups of ten. They then called out the numbers of the girls they wanted to stay and thanked us for coming out and auditioning. Only one girl was called from our group if that gives you any idea of what standard Disney holds for their performers.
  That was Tuesday. Wednesday I spent the day at Universal with Nick, my neighbor and fellow Downtown custodial cast member. It's always fun to go to Wizarding World with him because he wears his Hufflepuff robes and everyone asks for pictures and/or directions.
  We're going to have our first visitor of our program this week. Sam's fiance is flying down from Indiana on Tuesday and we're all going to eat in France to celebrate her being here.
  Other than that, I'm planning on just relaxing on my days off. I worked quite a bit this week, not as much as  some, but still a lot. Hope everyone's finding their own adventures and having fun!

One Month Down, Six to Go

  I've been at Disney a month now. It went by so quickly and yet it feels like I've been here for a much longer time. More has happened in one month here than three months back home. Work is going great; I love my job and my co-workers have been wonderful. Living with 7 girls I don't know has been interesting. Learning to live with all the different personalities has probably been the most difficult part of the program so far.
  I have really enjoyed meeting so many different people here. I still try to talk to someone new every day. Lately, I've been talking to the entertainers on West Side and the merchants in the Marketplace.
  Amy and I are going to Look-Alike Auditions on Tuesday. Amy is from England and also works Custodial in Downtown Disney. I'm really hoping she gets offered to be a friend of Alice. I am hoping to be friends with Tinkerbell.
 

Remember the Time....

 ....I was in a parade at Animal Kingdom? Yeah, that was real-life yesterday.
 I had initially planned on going to the parks alone, but ended up meeting my friend Molly and her two Irish visitors there. Right after meeting Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore, a cast member approached us and started talking about Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade. We had never seen it, but we said we wanted to. He proceeded to ask us if we would be interested in being in the parade. We said of course we would!
 So we met Brian at the brown gate outside Safari at 3:10 and got suited up with the rest of the lucky guests. We were on the tiger float. It was just the four of us girls sitting in a rickshaw-like contraption, waving and smiling like 4-year-olds. We danced (as best we could since we were buckled in) and sang and called out birthday and anniversary buttons and blew kisses to all of our adoring fans. That hour (that I could have sworn was only 10 minutes) has been the best part of my program so far. Molly and I both agree that we do not want this parade to be our last, so entertainment auditions here I come!