Tracking outside, lucky days and goodbyes - the final one..

My last day at work began at 1.15 and I am not ashamed to admit it was a really difficult day. Putting my costume on for the final time was a weird feeling, a feeling of loss because I knew that once this day was through my adventure in the happiest place on earth as a cast member at least was over, something that I would never get back. After taking plenty of pictures of the bus ride into work (sad maybe but I didn't want to forget a single thing) I got into the ops office nice and early and began work. The day was filled with 'lasts'. My last time on grouper, my last time on photocell but most importantly my last evac.

Ok so up until my final day as a track technician I had carefully avoided the dreaded outside evac simply because there is a mighty long section of track you have to walk in the heat. Well I had three cars and I got everyone out alright but I was sweating away. It was boiling! Not only did I run the length of the track to get everyone out but after walking it again as a double check tower called to ask me to walk it again to power up cars. It was tragic, but at least I was able to listen to some Wham on my phone whilst I waited for the power up ;) The day went too quickly in my opinion and just before the end of the day I wrote my name and nickname on the wall of ICPers. I was to close up Odyssy and before going outside I'm not ashamed to say that saying goodbye filled me with a storm of tears. It was horrible but I was happy to see Dan waiting for me at Odyssy, where we watched the fireworks and told off guests for trying to use the bridge hehehe. After work I went to TGI Fridays with my fellow cast members for a goodbye steak meal. It was really lovely and I was really sad to say goodbye to all the fabulous friends I had made. They really had made my experience magical and I was very sorry to see them go.

Thursday began with a start. I had decided to get all my packing done in the morning and then head to Epcot to hand in my costumes to costuming before starting having fun in the parks. My first ride had to be Journey into the Imagination as it was one of those things I had never done but always wanted to. Well to be perfectly honest I wasn't too impressed, but at least I had done it. I then decided to head to the bakery in Paris for one final baggette and creme brulee - a most excellent combo even if I do say so myself hehe. During one of my early days in Disney Louisa and I had watched the Players production of Romeo and Ethel in Italy, well today I thought I'd catch up with the Players again but this time in the UK with their most excellent show of King Arthur. Well how European did I feel sitting in the UK eating creme brulee? It was awesome! Nick came to meet me after work and we managed to have a little walk round the world before hitting up some rides. Number one on my agenda was obviously Test Track so after saying my goodbyes to all my friends, even going through the briefing rooms on the opposite site to hug my co workers at photocell we were let on the ride through the sneaky entrance i.e. no wait for us! It was great to be riding the ride like a regular guest although I did have a pang of sadness over the fact that my days as a track technician were officially over. Afterwards we scurried over to Mission Space which luckily enough was walk on and after the Orange Adventure we went on Soarin'. Thanks to my persuasiveness (as we only had one fastpass) it took us no time whatsover and soon we were taking the monorail over to Magic Kingdom.

Ok so every ICP spends their last day in Magic Kingdom but you know what, I don't blame them! We started with a little Move it Shake it Celebrate it, partying with Woody and Jessie and then after getting some much needed chocolate watched Dream Along with Mickey. We obviously looked like season pros as one woman even asked us who the pink princess was. Um I think you'll find that is Aurora - jeez why do people even come to Disney? Lol anyway after the show we went over to Frontierland where we got a fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We were just about to get in the queue for Splash Mountain when a couple kindly gave us fastpasses for that exact time. Of course we jumped at the offer and once again had a lucky non - wait. I did feel slightly guilty at passing all of those people in the standby line mind you! Nevermind, we were at the back and so didn't get too wet so it was all good. We had some time to kill before Big Thunder and decided to go on the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, which was again one of those things which is nice to do but I wouldn't hurry back. Soon it was time for Big Thunder which is always most fun and then we ended with some Philharmagic action. By this time the reality of my final day was really hitting home and I did get more than a little upset, but when you've spent a long time with people and in the place you love when you have to leave it is very tricky. We met my parents and after a little retail therepy got in a spot to watch wishes. Jayne and Amy soon joined us and having lost my parents to the ice cream parlour the four of us watched the show for the final time. A few group hugs later it was time to say goodbye and Nick and I were soon heading back to Epcot (where we left the car).

Friday was probably one of the worst days ever. After doing some last minute packing, it was shortly time to be out of the accomodation. Amy and I handed in our passes at the front desk and said our goodbyes. It was horrible knowing that I wouldn't see her everyday and sad to say goodbye to one of the best friends I have ever made. A similar situation occured with Jayne and then Ashley.

As my flight wasn't until the evening we had decided to do something to take our minds off the impending departure. Nick and I decided to try out mini golf at Wintersummerland at Blizzard Beach. We had a lovely time and naturally I won hehe. After a final trip to Downtown Disney where we finally found a Tramp to go with my Mum's Lady it was soon time to go to the airport. The flight home was fine but I was so upset at leaving I didn't really take much in.

So now I'm home and my blog is complete. I think you can tell how much my trip and adventures meant to me. Doing the ICP was the best decision I have ever made. I have not only grown as a person with my independence and strength but I met some amazing people and made such wonderful friends. It truly was, the time of my life.

Secret tours, nemo again and getting beaten by a boy...

I had previously signed up to do the Keys to the Kingdom tour (an exclusive tour around the Magic Kingdom, only available to Cast Members) and finally, Wednesday was the day. I got up ridiculously early and headed to the park. So early in fact that the park was yet to open so I was able to hear the park opening show which was a new experience :D Being in the park before hours is certainly different to say the least, it is unbelievably quiet, it's rather eerie. After heading to the sign in area and having received my 'guided tour' tag and free water our tour guide met us and began the tour. Of course, many of the secrets disclosed are 'backstage' and therefore I am unable to post them here but I shall post some.

We were taken around Main Street and shown the windows above the shops that have people's names on them. Unbeknown to many, all of these names are significant for the construction of WDW, including some of the false names given to the newspapers at the time of land buying. Roy Disney's window is at the front and it is supposed to be like the credits at the end of a film, starting with the producer or 'money man' Roy and ending with Walt himself as the director above the Main Street bakery. We were told stories about the construction of WDW including the fact that until Walt gave an interview to a young woman detailing exactly why he wouldn't like to buy swamp land, refering to all the work needed to it, did any suspicion point to the Disney company. 'Disney's The One' was the next day newspaper's front headline, followed by more cutting ones such as 'Walt's Folly' - well I guess they showed them, eh?

Other fun facts were how the sidewalk and the road are purposly painted different colours so people realised when they were stepping from one to the other and how Disney tries to blend in construction work with canvases painted like Main Street shops. We were then taken backstage. *Ariel image, car park, jungle cruise, tunnels, maintanence, pipes, deliveries*. Afterwards we were told about all the ghosts on the Haunted Mansion ride and how the imagineering designers were able to create such illusions. Fun facts - look to the right in the graveyard when you see a large lady with long Viking hair, there will be a grim reaper holding a hidden Mickey, also in the graveyard one of the fallen heads was the voice of Tony the Tiger. In the contstruction of the hitchhiking ghosts they were made as statues that rotate with you. *Mirror, Lights* Also there are chess pieces on top of the Mansion itself - they were put on the imagineer in charge's plans by his co workers as a practical joke however, he just left them on there. Mr Toad is in the graveyard in respect for the demise of Mr Toad's Wild Ride. We were further take backstage at Splash Mountain to see Goofy's Mirror, parade floats, rehearsing characters and the Splash Mountain waterfall. This was where we were able to see the slope indicating the fact that MK is built on the first floor as opposed to being at ground level.

After the tour I grabbed a choc fudge and headed to Animal Kingdom to meet up with Amy. We had a bit of a catch up since I hadn't seen her in a while during lunch and then went to Finding Nemo the Musical (again!). We were planning on doing the safari but due to time we decided we would go and see some of the animals including the gorillas which was awesome because I have never gone to the animal watch before. Nick came and met us and after dropping Amy back home we tottled off to Downtown Disney for a little while. It was really nice :)


I began work on Thursday with a good attitude which was immediately turned sour when one of the coordinators shouted at me on photocell in front of guests for something that was out of control. Number one- in order to retain respect from your staff you should NEVER call people out onstage and number two get your facts straight. Basically after we had gone 101, I was to fill the briefing rooms. However, due to people pushing through the doors the system of rotation on the videos in the rooms got out of sync and one room was empty when it was let out. It then looked like another one had gone empty but this was not the case as one of my fellow cast members had let them out early. When the coordinator called me up on this I explained that I had not let out two empty rooms. I felt that I needed to stick up for myself and argued my case. Luckily it was all sorted but at the end of the day it's never nice to be told off for something that was 100% not your fault. The rest of the day went by so so, I was able to watch illuminations and have a sundae so this pleased me immensely and brightened my mood. I was also able to put Heather, Ken, Nolan and Olivia on the ride which was brilliant - it's always nice to see people you know!

On Friday I had planned to meet up with my parents for breakfast before work which started at 1pm. We went and had a lovely brekkie with pancakes galore!!! I then went back to the villa for a little snooze before we left for epcot. Hey I had been working 12 hours the previous day!! Work was good although it seemed distinctly different minus a load of CPs/ ICPs and not as good. Althought all the guests I encountered were pretty awesome and some even recognised me when I was on my lunch which was fun. They then came, sat and chatted to me which was really great. Guest interaction was my number one favourite part of the ICP. Nick picked me up after work and we went to Macaroni Grill which was amazing (and swish!) and I had a most lovely italian meal.

Saturday was pretty uneventful just another long day at work although we had quite a few zone stops and evacuations due to weather. My top favourite questions from guests during down time: (during inclement weather) - Q - How long will the attraction be closed? A - When the weather clears. Q- How long will this be? A - I have no clue... its..weather. (during 101s) - Q - Is the ride closed? A -(Dan Wade) Yes. Although the day wasn't completely uneventful as I was able to put my parents on the ride and they were able to see my grouper skills which was funny. Needless to say they were very impressed hehe ;)

Sunday I was working again (obviously!) but beforehand I was able to get some laundry done. My day went pretty quick and I was even able to do the ride through at the end of the day - my final one *tear*. It was funny but throughout the day I kept thinking this may be my last time on .... or.... positions. It was a horrible to think that my program was coming to an end. Ladarius, Dan and Andy asked me to go to Downtown Disney for some 'English' fish and chips at Cookes of Dublin. It was really nice but I think I'll stick to the real thing from now on :p I then met up with Nick for a little wander around Downtown Disney before heading home.

Monday was just another work day I'm afraid to say, long but with plenty of Brits to keep me entertained. On Tuesday I had my homeroom meeting with Curtis which went well and I got a nice feedback report. It was great to hear nice things my co workers had said about my positive image and attitude. Although I had an early shift (starting at 7am I didn't mind too much as it gave me the chance to do station walker for the last time. As it had been quite a while since I had last been through all the door checks I kept having to get nudged by tower as to where I should be hehe, nevermind at least I got it done on time. Nick said he would meet me after work and as I finished at 3.15pm I basically had the rest of the day. My mum and dad said they'd meet us as the plan was to go to see Fantasmic for the final time. We did Indiana Jones and the great movie ride. Unfortunately it was raining pretty heavily so after going on Tower and Rock n Rollar Coaster Nick and I sans parentals went on Toy Story Mania where Nick got 180 thousand and I got just over 150 thousand, grrr beaten again! Nevermind I will beat him one of those days.

Dinosaurs, assaults and cute cousins...

On Saturday I had planned to be picked up fairly early in the morning by my parents, drive to Sizzler to have breakfast then head to la Kingdom le Magic in the afternoon. I met them outside Chatham and to say I was pleased to see them didn't quite cover it. We had a lovely reunion and soon headed for some food. We pulled into the parking lot and suddenly another car appeared. Unbeknown to my my grandparents had decided to surprise me! I honestly had no idea, it was a great surprise :D

We had breakfast (pancakes!) and went back to Chatham to show them round. After a quick look at the untidy mess we went to view the parental's villa. After a swim and a game of pool later it was time to head to Magic Kingdom sans Gran and Grandpa. We went on Big thunder mountain, the haunted mansion, pirates and philharmagic. I had booked us a surprise meal at Tonies on Main Street USA citing a family reunion as our cause to celebrate. The lady and the tramp theme was wonderful and the meal was great. A fabulous choice even if I do say so myself hehe ;) We wore our 'family reunion' pins with great joy. We had then planned to meet up with Nick after he finished work and after the 'meeting the parents' introductions we headed to tomorrowland to go on Buzz (I beat my Dad!) and monster's inc laughter floor where Nick was picked on to 'get up and dance' which was a real treat :P By this time it was getting late and so we headed back to our respectful homes as SOME people had to work in the morning.

I worked 10am - 9.45pm and had a pretty good day albeit long. The last couple of weeks broke up the tradition of me getting stuck with stand by and pit crew on rotation. I finally was able to get positions such as grouper (my favourite) and photocell. Although the majority of guests were pleasant during this period I had two situations which made me think that unfortunately Disney joy doesn't quite reach all those who visit the magic. The first was a man who approached me on pit crew. As I had to load the cars I politely asked him to move off the platform so I could do my job. He began ranting and raving at me about his lost son. I asked him if he was a single rider and said that if so they all exit at the same place. Again I asked him to step down and he shouted straight at me, making a fist as if to hit me. Luckily a couple of other track technicians saw what was happening and intervened. The man swiftly exited and I was left rather shaken. It wasn't nice but I was happy to of had the support of my team. The second incident was when I was at grouper. Suddenly a man made to jump on the track swearing abuse but was restrained by his family. Aparently there was a man on the ride who had been inappropriate with the first man's daughter. Luckily a fellow CM intervened. Again it shook me up but these type of incidents are rare and the majority of guests I witnessed were just excited about being on holiday.

Well, back to Sunday - after work I was picked up by my parents and after an unsuccessful visit to Publix (it had closed!) it was time to say goodbye and head back to sleep. Monday I had off and after a neccessary long lie- in I got some bits and bobs done before meeting with my man for some fun at Disney Quest. We really enjoyed the vintage arcade games as well as some modern ones (guitar hero anyone?). We did the mighty ducks pinball, aladdin's magic carpet ride and cyberspace mountain (thrill factor 4), had a little parfait and a peanut butter and chocolate muffin and after a break returned later to do pirates and virtual jungle cruise. Ok so I fell upon seeing a dinosaur on jungle cruise and dropped my oar, no need to laugh though! No help or nothing, just laughter grr :p hehe. We played skiball and I am proud to say I managed to get in the 10 000 target! Anyhoo, we then went to Olive Garden for some lovely food *ranch salad* and went home to watch a couple of movies. Overall a fabulous day with excellent company :D

On Tuesday we had planned to meet the parents early in the morning to make the most of our day at Hollywood Studios. We started with the Tower of Terror and went on to do Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Muppets 3D, One Man's Dream (during the storm) and of course Toy Story Mania. I was so happy as Me, Nick and Mum all beat my Dad for once! Mwhahaha. We had a nice meal at ABC cafe and had a wander round the Christmas shop, getting a few pressies for back home. Soon it was time to go to Downtown Disney as we had arranged to meet up with some relatives who we hadn't seen in years. We all had a great time at the Rainforest Cafe and it was lovely to see Heather (my Mum's cousin), her husband Ken and their children Olivia and Nolan. Nick had great fun playing with the kids and it was a treat to be in the Rainforest as I hadn't been in absolute years. After the most delicious chocolate cake known to man was eaten we had a look around World of Disney and then parted to go our own separate ways. Another wonderful day in the place of magic.

Universal, hysteria and Beetlejuice's bum...

Friday I had off so Amy, Jayne and I decided we would go to Universal Studios and Island of Adventure for the day. We got up fairly early, caught the bus to the Commons and took the short walk through the premium outlets to get the iTrolley to Universal. A short bus ride later we trudged through the greenland and wandered past the Hard Rock Hotel to the parks. We got a multi ticket and thought we would start our day at Island of Adventure as from our estimation it would probably be busiest. First we went to the Daily Bugle and accompanied Spidey on a tour of the city. I LOVE the spiderman ride, you get to wear 3D goggles, get splashed and shot at and get to move in the most attractive buggy car ever. It was fabulous and Jayne (who had never been to IoA/ Universal before) loved it too.

We then went through toon lagoon and onto the Popeye water ride which was, unbelievably enough, walk on. Well, although we wore our ponchos we got absolutely drenched. Luckily my bottom half was covered but my hair was soaked and Jayne wasn't too impressed that her jeans got wet and began to expand. Me and Amy enjoyed it though! After drying off a tiny bit, we decided to undo all of that goodness by going on the Jurrasic Park water adventure which only had a 5 minute wait time (madness!). Again the ponchos were out but Amy thought she was tough enough and so how much we laughed when she came off dripping wet whilst me and Jayne were bone dry. Yay for the power of the ponchos.

After watching a magic show in the Lost Continent (hmm I wonder if the tricks come with an instructional DVD - lol) we went to see the Eighth Voyage of Sinbad; one of my picks as the last time I went was over 4 years ago and I had fond memories. Unfortunately the show didn't quite meet up to said memories but neverless it was still good. We passed the construction of the new Harry Potter land and couldn't resist getting a little too overexcited, especially as we saw Hagrid's hut from line of the Duelling Dragons.

It was soon lunch time and we had all agreed to take a break from park one and head to the HRC for some munch. This time I had a HRC burger and it was definately worth the wait. One of the nicest meals I've had and the fact that 'gettin' jiggy with it' was played in the backround cemented the fact that I 100% love that restaurant. A quick snap of Rocky Horror and Blues Brothers memorabillia later we headed to Universal Studios. We asked the woman at the entrance about the new rollarcoaster which was being tested by crew members, specifically when it would open. 'Oh it's not been released yet, but possibly sometime in the next month'. Of course unbeknown to us the bloomin' thing was opening that very next day!!!! We were most upset when we heard the news. Oh well, I'm sure I'll be back.

As our last Universal trip was unceremoniously rained off we had vowed only to do the attractions that we had not done previously. First it was a trip to the I love Lucy shop where we literally bumped into Lucy and Ricky themselves! It was then time for Beetlejuice which was AMAZING! and every bit as good as I remembered although it had been changed slightly so no Santana :( Nevermind, I was also lucky enough to get a personal video message from Beetlejuice himself when he shook his bum in my camera - oh memories.

After the show we headed to Delaney Street to see the Blues Brothers in concert. Jayne is rather a fan and so got rather excited about the whole thing. Her reaction was kind of peculiar to me and Amy who of course realised they weren't the actual blues brothers. Oh well, she really loved it and that's the main thing. I think they could sense her enthusiasm and picked her to dance with which was lovely. It soon turned out to be a dancing in the street kind of affair so I obliged and danced the conga with the BB crew. They were brilliant and it was worth it to see Jayne - it was like her Birthday and Christmases had all come at once!

A ride on the Mummy and some Ben and Jerrys later we went to view the Horror Make up Show; again a favourite of mine. It was definately a treat for all. Afterwards we headed back over to IoA where we went on the Hulk, Doctor Doom's FearFall (where we nearly got into a fight over a woman opening a 'Do not open door' - thanks Jayne lol) the fire Duelling Dragon and the carousel at Seuss Landing. We went on the armchair ride through the Cat and the Hat and then decided to go back to Universal. After doing Men in Black Amy and I had decided we had had enough. Jayne really wanted to go on the Simpsons ride so while she rode that Amy and I had a little look around the shops. Twelve hours after starting the day at the parks we were still there and once Jayne had met up with us again we took the short walk back to the iTrolley and caught it to go home.

I had a fabulous but long day. Tomorrow I was to meet my parents, little did I know they had a surprise waiting for me...

Fastpasses, Pancakes and Nemo...

Ok, so I haven't posted anything in ages and now my memory is slightly fuzzy but I'm going to try my best to capture my last three weeks working for the mouse as best as I can.

Monday I began work at 1pm which meant that I could get a few odds and ends done before starting. Work itself wasn't the best of experiences as instantly I was at odds with a guest at Fastpass Distribution. Usually I don't mind this position as although you are outside with no fans you are constantly busy. Seriously, someone should really memo Disney - note to update the machines - they are certainly no spring chickens. Anyway back to the point. A guest complained that one of the machines didn't work, well fair enough, however when I put the card into one of the working FP machines she received a ticket informing her that she already had a FP for Soarin' in the two hour between FPs period. According to her she had just entered the park. Anyhoo she asked for my name as it was ridiculous that she would have to take the two minute walk to guest relations to sort out the problem with her park admission card. After offering her the correct spelling of my name I swiftly moved away knowing that I had done my job correctly. Well nothing ever came of it and to be honest I think she was more annoyed about the walk than the actual FP.

We had some downtime during the day and I learnt a few things about the attraction, for example the fact that the crash doors are made of styrofome and are painted to look like real wood. I also had some trouble with a couple of young boys trying to provoke and annoy me on standby. I don't understand why people have to antagonise someone else for their own amusement. Therefore I was really pleased when Andy gave them a little 'friendly' warning and luckily once the attraction was 102 they were on and off the ride swiftly. At the other end of the scale though, I met some lovely guests who came from Hellesdon, Norwich! How bizzare, they had even gone to the same school as me - it really IS a small world!

That night after work I went out with my fellow cast members for a kind of leaving do for some of the international and college programers. We went to Bennigans and I had the most delicious chocolate brownie ever - I had been craving something sweet all day, I think Tyler was pleased when I finally had it so I would stop complaining! Although I had a great night and got a lift home from Amanda's roomates it really got me thinking that I didn't really have that long to go before I would be saying goodbye too. This wasn't a happy thought.

The next day I didn't start work until 4.30 so me and Amy decided to go to another character breakfast. This time though it was the big one - the Grand Floridian 1900 Park Fare character experience. I've always wanted to visit the Grand Flo so this was definately a big deal for me. We had a reservation for 10.50am for breakfast but when we arrived were told that an additional wait time would be added so we decided to have a little look around. The resort itself is absolutely gorgeous and I would love to stay there one day. After a little nosy around and some shopping it was soon time for food. I had the usual - fruit, way too many pancakes and Mickey shaped waffles. Amy had a made- to- order omlette which looked lovely. We were joined by Pooh, Tigger (Tigray!), Alice, Mary Poppins and the Mad Hatter. It trully was magical!

Afterwards we decided we would explore some of the areas in the MK district exclusive to cast members. Although we went to the Disney University Company D we were really disappointed by what was on offer to purchase. We then went to property control/ cast connection where I succeeded in purchasing a lovely (cheap!) t shirt. Our next destination was MK itself and instead of going on our usual rides we figured we'd opt for some of the not so well recognised ones including Snow White's Scary Adventure and Aladdin's Magic Carpets both of which I enjoyed immensely considering the last time I went on them I was 7! Philharmagic was also on our hit list = always a must. Soon it was time for me to scurry onto work and there I worked until 12.45 (grr for Extra Magic Hours).

Wednesday was the day to say goodbye to some of my fellow ICPers and beloved cast members so it definately started with a grey cloud. Yet some light relief was to be had when the Prince of Saudi Arabia visited our attraction. He jumped out of the car when it stopped and started shouting at me in his native tongue, unbeknown to me on pit crew he was upset because he had lost his hat. Um... surelly he would have enough money to buy a new one?!? Oh dear some people are never happy.

The wheelchair lifts were 101 and so we had to give cards to guests for them to come back through the exit. Although this in theory was perfect, in practice it wasn't great as there was no communication as to when to put a return time and so Station Assist kept having a queue of wheelchairs and no method for putting them into cars. I will never understand why, during wheelchair downtown the position of wheelchair wasn't dropped. I dreaded that position as you just stood around until the next rota or break went through. By the end of the night it was time to say goodbye to Fabi, Andre, Andrea and Chad. I'll admit I was upset especially because I felt that Chad was one of my TT best buddies and I knew how much I was going to miss him. Luckily Nick came to pick me up and we spent some quality time together at Downtown Disney. He really lifted my spirits after a hard day - such a great boyfriend! :D

As I didn't start work until 4.15pm I decided I would have some fun and with no one free I went to Animal Kingdom by myself to FINALLY do the safari! Although the wait time was 50 minutes I figured this may be my only chance to go so I waited in line. Of course by the time I got to the front something had gone wrong and they had stopped loading the Range Rovers. Typical! Luckily it wasn't a major problem and they were soon up and running. The thing I love most about the safari is how secluded it makes you feel from the outside world. Disney have really succeeded in making you really feel like you are in Africa, it was amazing. The sky was blue and it was a lovely day so many animals were out for us to see: Hippos, Rhinos, Giraffes and Elephants who were consequently 'playing' with each other. Well at least they had fun, hehe!

After the safari was through and Simba One had scared those nasty poachers off I met Flick whilst walking around the park. A photograph and hug later I had lunch and made my way to the theatre to see Finding Nemo the Musical. This was to be my first viewing in two years so my memory was slightly hazzy. Oh my goodness I LOVED the show, so much so that I've been singing the songs ever since and purchased the mighty soundtrack which I still listen to frequently. It was fabulous, the puppetry was brilliant and the singers were all great, a very worthy visit. After the show Nick came and met me and we went on Everest, a kissy picture later we decided to nip to Epcot as I didn't have too much time left before work and we fancied going on SpaceShip Earth which was lovely.

Work was good and I had two absolutely precious encounters with two tiny tots. Both were adorable and telling me all about their vaccation. I asked the princess for her autograph and we've been firm friends ever since. The pirate also loved test track and was telling me all about his orientation at the Pirate League. As it was extra magic hours I had my second encounter with a celebrity, the first being evac - ing Rubin Stutter (from American Idol) and his family from the ride during a downtown, the second being an encounter with the famous basketball twins the Lopez brothers who are over 7ft tall. I got a sore neck looking up to them! Naturally they wanted a car to themselves (and their puppets) so being the nice track technicians we are we swiftly obliged. Soon it was time to go and after telling guests no you can't ride again, we're closed for the 200th time sleep was calling.

Training, Roses and shopping

After working until 12.45AM on Wednesday morning it was difficult to get up however, as my purpose was to go to a character breakfast, it was worth the extra effort. Amy and I had decided we really wanted to go to Chef Mickey's at the contemporary resort before we left and so Wednesday was to be the day. We got the resort monorail to the contemp and had a little look around before making our reservation. We had to get our picture taken for one of these 'bringing round your table to squeeze more cash out of you' pictures. Anyway it was soon time to be seated and we were shortly directed to the food, which was just as well as I was about to collapse with lack of food.

To start with I had smoked salmon (my fav) and melon, then I had a grand total of 7(!) mini pancakes, bacon, egg and a mickey shaped waffle. I finally finished with a donut and two brownies! Ok so I'm now a bit of a chub but nevermind I extremely enjoyed all my munch as did Amy with hers. We met all the characters including Goofy, Pluto, Mickey, Donald (who remembered us!) and Minnie although Minnie kind of bypassed our table due to the huge family next to us we got to see her before we left. We also did the celebration - throwing our napkins in the air and waving them about which was fun and bumped into a few people from the ICP who were also having breakfast for a friend's birthday.

After brekkie we decided to hit MK for a bit before work; we did Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it and partied with Woody which was awesome and went to the Monster's Inc laugh floor. We sent in one of the jokes at the end of the vicar of dibley although they must have decided that jokes about cows were more appropriate hmph! It was good but none of the people who got picked on really participated so that was a bit of a shame. As I started at 2pm we decided it would be best to go and do something at epcot before work. Unfortunately Test Track was down so we just took some pictures and looked around mousegear. Nick came to meet me for like 30 minutes before work and so Amy and him ended up having a day out together - alright for some! I had to go to a Safety in Motion workshop which basically gave me a load of information which was unneccessary for my role in Attractions (info on stuff like picking up boxes, etc) and it was pretty difficult to stay awake to be honest! Wednesday was Fabi and Andrea's last day so it was sad to see some of my fellow track technicians go back to Mexico. Fabi drew us all as cartoon characters on the board and of course I was linked to Harry Potter hehe. After work Nick picked me up and we went to Downtown Disney where we had a wander; I had a sundae and he had a McDs. It was really nice.

Thursday I was back at work and had a non closing day as I had exchanged my shift with Logan to have my Saturday off. I had previously tried to get an ER (early release) for absolutely ages but hadn't succeeded on the account of me being a closer. Finally I got an ER for 3 o'clock and after a few chores Nick and I finally went to see the Ugly Truth which was really funny and had a stroll round Downtown Disney. Friday was to be a bit of a Jayne and Kirsty kind of day and we had decided we would go to publix before hitting a water park in the afternoon as we get Cast Member benefits after 2pm. After the big walk to publix we both felt we needed a little rest before hitting the water slopes. An hour later we were ready to party and got the dreaded bus to BB. As we had never got the CM BB bus it was kind of confusing where to go backstage and we got told off for taking a picture of Goofy's BB trailer. Eek nevermind, we had some diddy donuts inside the park and got to work on the rides. We went down the rapids and did the two big ones (summit plummet and slush cusher) twice! It was a great day and I even met a new friend waiting for SP who liked to tell me his 8 year old life story and adventures with spongebob. We also had a laugh playing the rate the lifeguard game on the lazy river and Jayne's shamoo impression getting into a rubber ring provided me with some much appreciated entertainment.

We also made friends with 'the best lifeguard ever' Liam whom we had our picture with and harrassed the photopass women for photos. After Blizzard we had decided to go to Pop Century for food and to have a bit of a wander round. However, as we had got to Pop so late as we stayed till park closing it was too dark to explore the resort. We settled for free drinks and a resort bus to Magic Kingdom where we rode the tea cups, watched wishes (*Tinkerbell!*) and watched Spectromagic. It was great seeing Spectro again although I definately felt it on the way home as my head was starting to bob asleep.

The next day was my other day off and Nick and I had decided to go to Florida Mall for the day. I was mightily surprised when my man arrived with roses for me and a 'best girlfriend' award, it was the sweetest thing ever and really made my day :D Florida Mall was fabulous, really clean and the shops were all really nice. We spent some time in the bookstore and M+M world, where we stocked up on sweet treats and Nick bought a few things. I also bought Hannah Montana 3 the Sondtrack (ok I love Miley Cyrus, so sue me :p). The foodcourt was really great, much better than premier outlets. It was also really funny seeing some of the similar shops seen in England for example Clarks shoes and Claires - no Boots though! We then decided to watch some films round Nick's including Alice and Wonderland which was purchased at FM. I had never seen the film before but now I'm really looking forward to seeing the Tim Burton version.

Sunday I began work at 7.45 but finished at a reasonable time for a change. This meant one thing - I was able to do my ironing!!! I managed to get my giant load done before the office closed and Jayne suggested we hit up Olive Garden which we did. We got the bus to Crossroads and walked down, getting honked on the way = not fun :( Anyhoo Olive Garden itself was amazing and I had salmon.... and broccoli! Yay! Although extremely full we decided we would get some exercise and walk all the way back. At the time it seemed to be a great idea but in practice it was awful as we were too full and too tired. To make matters worse, many American coaches passed us, sniggering as they went I'll bet. When we googled the distance we realised we had basically walked nearly 3 miles. This did not amuse me. Later Nick and I met up at night as he was working during the day.

Birthdays, Sleep and characters

Ok well Friday began Amy's unbirthday and we had booked a lunch with the Princesses so we headed to Epcot. As our booking was for 12.10, we had some time to kill and decided to look around epcot for a bit. We went to China and I bought the most awesome fan ever,.... ok so it was actually broken but I got a swapsies and I was chuffed. Newsflash: Florida is hot hot hot and so I kind of wished I had bought it sooner but it was amazing, AND went with my outfit :D

I tried on a Cinderella dress which consequently left me and Amy completely covered in glitter. We were soon formerly 'announced' and headed for our table. The restaurant itself was gorgeous and set out as if in a far away land castle. We had a picture with Belle and were then directed to the menu. I decided to have the lamb stew for my main. As part of the experience we have an all you can eat buffet which included the most amazing smoked salmon I have ever tasted. Did I mention the smoked salmon Amy? hehe. During our main courses the princesses visited our tables. We met Aurora, Snow White (Amy's favourite and one who knew her by name 'Are you Amy?'), Cinderella ('I love your freckles') and Ariel (my favourite!). They were all very nice and extremely into their characters which made me smile. It was definately one of those 'once in a lifetime dream experiences' I have fulfilled. We had our family platter of deserts including the chocolate mousse, custard puff and strawberry bread; they were delicious. After getting the professional picture as a girft from Belle and also a birthday card signed by all the princesses with their personal colours it was time to go.

We decided to find Mulan and Jasmin round the world to make our princess day complete. Luckily Mulan was out in China (next door to Norway) and Jasmin (minus Aladdin) was at Morroco. After unsuccessfully trying the Kim Possible mission challenge and meeting Donald Duck in Mexico we decided to take in some of epcot's finest attractions. Naturally we rode test track - it was rather awesome as we went on through the exit and thermal imaging FINALLY worked! Of course Mission: Space was next and my friend Jamie was working the 'more intense or less intense' section so we were able to get a fastpass and ride. Orange is so much better than green I have determined as you can really feel the G force and spin! We did the classic spaceship earth and purchased treats from the backery at seasons. Nick met up with us and we went on the seas with nemo and friends and turtle talk with crush (*to small child*'what so you eat dude?' A-'fish' C- ::O remember fish are friends, not friends.' 'Watch our Dory, Reggie's here' LOL). After being rained off at epcot we all decided to go to Downtown Disney to watch a film. Although we initially intended to do the sneaky thing of staying in the theatre to watch two films back to back what we didn't count on was the attendant checking tickets. Therefore we were just able to watch one (the Orphan) which Amy and I enjoyed but Jayne and Nick, not so much. A lot of audience participation was apparently needed as every so often you'd hear some big American putting their two pennies worth in. Grr.

After the film, Nick dropped us off and after precious sleep it was time for Amy's birthday celebrations to begin. We got the bus to MK and after getting extremely snazzy pictures of the three of us outside the castle and our celebration pins from guest relations, it was time for Amy to get a birthday waffle sundae before Move it, shake it, celebrate it started. We had negotiated it so we were with the 'classic' characters e.g. goofy, Donald and Mickey. The Mickey we had was unbelievably enthusiastic and energetic. It was funny as one minute we were twisting solo and the next I had Donald tap me on the shoulder to dance with him. It was awesome and so much fun - definately a magical moment dancing with Donald on Main Street USA. After the parade show we wandered to frontierland and got fastpasses for splash mountain and rode Big thunder mountain (Jayne's first time!). Amy wanted to head to toontown so that is where we ventured. We toured Minnie and Mickey's houses and went to meet the fairies in Pixie Hollow where Nick met up with us (autograph book in hand). We met all the fairies including Tinkerbell who asked if I was a garden fairy as I was wearing my own pixie dress. Although I haven't seen the fairy movie and didn't really know who they were they all seemed to have a fabulous grasp of their character (my fav was Fawn and her super quick recitle of animal names when we were getting our photos taken).

After the fairies we headed to Philharmagic and to pinnochios for lunch, after which it was time for Nick to go to work. We said our goodbyes and went on haunted mansion. Hidden Mickey -ed out we then went to the Hall of Presidents in Liberty Square. This is when I really noticed the culture difference between Brits and Americans - brits would probably just sit there if it were Prime Ministers but the Americans were cheering, clapping and crying as the different animatronic presidents were introduced; it was bizzare. Before the Dream along with mickey show in front of the castle we went to do some shopping and came accross an acopello group who seranaded us with 'Walking Down Main Street', 'Happy Birthday' (to Amy) and 'Mister Sandman'. I felt like we were in a promo for the park, it was amazing! The DAWM show was great, I enjoyed it immensly even if it was basically the exact same show as two years ago. We then went on Splash mountain, which was my first time this year. I finally feel like I have done MK now that I have done that ride! I got a Mickey's Premium and we went to the laugh floor. After Amy bought her princess balloon we headed home on the monorail. The monorail itself stopped outside the wedding pavillion as a wedding was in procession. Although we didn't see the bride or groom we saw the wedding party, and a random wedding crasher in her swimwear. It was a slightly disturbing sight to be honest.

Amy had requested that we all go to Planet Hollywood for her birthday so after a power nap for the three of us me, Amy, Jayne, Ashley and Joyce headed to PH. It was awesome, although we were quoted an hour and a half wait we went straight up and onto a table! There was loads of great film memorabilia including Dorothy's dress from the Wizard of Oz and the music they played was unashamably great! Plenty of opportunities to get up and dance including the habitual Y-M-C-A. Everyone seemed to have a great time and after a shared appetizer, main course and brownie desert we left. The car ride home was also eventful with plenty of nonsense and one liners - oh the joys of girls' night!

Sunday was the time for much needed sleep and a couple of chores before work. Work itself wasn't great as I had a guest shout at me because we were out of fastpasses and it was ridiculous that he had to wait for so long. We had a few problems on the track itself and so we were playing the 'technical difficulties you may have delays' spiel so after waiting a while the guest exited and complained that he left the line after the spiel was played and there was nothing wrong. When I tried to offer my apologise I was told to apollogize to HIM gesturing to his son. I was kind of taken aback because at the end of the day it wasn't even my fault so why should people get away with emotional blackmail? Anyway to get them out of my hair I gave them rider switches so they would be able to go through the fp entrance. Later when they were getting out of the car at pit crew he was like 'thank you kirsty' I was like don't you shout at me and be insincere nice. So in short I wasn't 'projecting a positive image'. I had a problem with another lady who tried to use the wrong guest assistance card to get through the fp return. After I explained the difference and gestured to her to go to guest relations to get the correct stamp she wasn't happy but later returned and thanked me for my help. I love being right.

I met up with Nick at night for a while and the next day started work at 1pm, before which I had a most excellent McDs. I was kind of annoyed at work as for some reason I kept getting stuck in the rotation of standby, pit crew, standby, pit crew. They are not the most challenging or interesting positions and when you are not really in the mood to work in the first place they kind of add to your frustration. Nevermind, work went pretty quickly and soon it was time to go home. Amy and I had decided that before I tottled off to work on Tuesday we would go to the premium outlets as we both had not been yet. The stores were pretty good and we both got a rather lot. I got 3! pairs of jeans (denim, black and purple) and purple converse. It was crazy as one of shops advertised that if you try on a pair of skinny jeans you'd get $5 off your purchase, then if you bought two pairs they would be $19.99 each. So I got two pairs for the price of one. Result. The food court was different to how I remembered and I decided on a chinese. Well after paying I don't know exactly what happened but my tray tipped over and my food went all down me; my shorts, my legs and feet were covered. Although I ended up getting fresh food I really didn't like it and so after all of that I ended up buying a subway! Soon it was time to go to work for extra magic hours and then sleep.

Thursday

Whoops I appear to have gone over a week without any news so I better get typing!

Well Thursday began my trio of days off and I woke up early to meet Ariella at DHS as this was her last day before going home. As I was early I went and watched HSM in front of the hat and had a little wander - searching for the Fantasmic soundtrack before she arrived. I went to guest relations as I thought it would be nice to get the I'm celebrating pins. Ariella's had '... last day as a cast member' and mine had '... Ariella's last day :('. This was to be our first meeting as although I had talked to her through the wonders of FB we had never been able to meet (with her being from Canada and the like). Well she is an absolutely gorgeous individual both inside and out. I had a brilliant day with her and was so happy we finally met up.

We decided to get sundaes and watch Beauty and the beast as this is one of our most favourite shows. The Gaston we had was amazing and it was nice having a wee chat as we sat and watched. The next attraction was Rock n rollarcoaster although as the line was so long we decided to get fastpasses and go on ToT instead. Of course this was awesome but we had to wait outside in the garden area which just proves how busy the parks are getting as we've never had to wait like that before. Ariella told me a few good stories like the time she met Celine Dion backstage at Splash and the fact that Johnny Depp supposidly stayed in the Animal Kingdom lodge and went to the Pirates League a couple of weeks ago! Tot was great and when we came off a rather older gentleman CM began talking to us (he said he only talked to the pretty girls hehe) which was nice. We went to Disney Animation and met sorcerror mickey which is what Ariella really wanted to do and did a little shopping at the backlot tour shop (Ariella got a villain monopoly and I got the fantasmic soundtrack!) We then decided to get pizza for lunch.

By this time Nick had finished work and headed to DHS to meet us. We had our lunch and decided to go to the Muppets 3D. I <3 ed this as usual and afterwards we headed to Star Tours. However, the wait time was 50 minutes and none of us thought it was really worth such a long wait. Instead we decided to go and do Tot again as our FP time wasn't quite there and as the tot host saw that we weren't quite willing to wait 40minutes and saw what we were celebrating he gave us fastpasses for nothing. Magical Moment alert!

We then ventured to R+R to try and get Nick in with our FPs. Luckily the host gave us a rider switch after we explained the situation. What he didn't seem to notice that I knew that rider switches are vaild for 3 people therefore we decided we would use the RS first and then Ariella and I would go on again using our FPs. Hehe devious but this was Ariella's last day and her favourite ride so I didn't feel bad at all. The R+r itself was celebrating its 10 year anniversary on this day. There was talk that the band Aereosmith would be arriving in the park but no such luck. Anyway by the time we finished Ariella decided to go home and pack and Nick and I rode Toy Story Mania during which I'm ashamed to say he beat me (not by much though!). After this the heavens opened and the rain was so heavy it was difficult to see where we were walking. We decided to go home as I had my graduation and needed to get ready.

Graduation itself wasn't anything special. Perhalps because it was at night and still raining but it was kind of a let down. We got free graduation ears, food, water bottle and diploma but there was no official ceremony of sorts. We got our picture taken with Minnie but Mickey had gone by the time we got there and Amy and I left after only half an hour. It was nice to see some friends there though. As Ariella had mentioned during the day that she had had lunch with the princesses at norway I was intreged to find our more so I booked a reservation for the next day and that is where my story will begin next time.

Days of fun and hot fudge sundaes....

Oh my goodness I cannot believe how far behind I've got on my blog! Well here is the latest news from overseas.

On Wednesday I waas working from 3pm so decided to go to Epcot early as a certain person was working character spot. Unfortunately the wait was mega long (tour groups) and although I tried my best to meet before work I had cleverly brought work trousers, shoes and socks but no top so had to scurry to costuming for a fresh costume. So I didn't see him but instead I went to Paris and bought a Creme Brulee - I've become obsessed; they are gorgeous! And I went on mission space for the first time this year which was fun. Work was until 9.30 so I met Amy and we went through Saratoga Springs to Downtown Disney. The resort itself looked lovely and I would love to have a look round during the day to see it in all it's glory. We went to TRex which is the new restaurant at downtown. It's dino themed and extremely nice (there is a cold room as well as a hot room!) although it did feel a tad like a rip off of rainforest cafe as it went dark and the dinos moved simiar to the animals in the rainforest. I has salmon, rice and veg and it was delicious although extremely expensive! We also decided to share this desert which was obviously meant for 4 as it had 4 bits of chocolate cake and loads of ice cream. There was even a smoke machine thing in the middle. It was extremely awesome!!!! Of course we ended up bringing two bits of cake back as we couldn't eat it all but we tried! It was our everest and we failed. ('if you eat this cake, we will eat you')

Thursday = cake for breakfast as I was running low on proper food; it was amazing though! :D I went to meet Leom by the pool which was lovely and we had a great chat and catch up. I went to the gym for the first time as well which was great as it was nice to feel somewhat fit. It wasn't as good as the UEA gym and has virtually no machines but it's better than nothing! I got my stride on to Wicked and nearly took out some bloke with a weight - my bad. I was able to speak to my family in the afternoon as it had nearly been a week since we last spoke.

I had Friday off so after doing some chores including my ironing Nick came round and we eventually decide to go to Blizzard Beach. This was my first waterpark trip of the year and his first since moving to Florida so it was rather special. Donut time came and went and we enjoyed some time together in the wave pool (swim away!) and the lazy river (bridge). We also went on some of the rides including the double rapids which were sooo much fun and the raft ride. No summet plummet though as some people were too scared hehe :p We then went to magic kingdom for nighttime entertainment. Philharmagic and chocolate fudge later it was time for wishes which we viewed from Frontierland. Great view and awesome end to an amazing time. Best day ever :D

Saturday was planned to be Kirsty and Amy's DAY OF FUN!!! and day of fun it was. We started our day at Animal Kingdom, got our cookie, celebration pins from guest services and went for fastpasses for exhibition everest and went on the river rapids. Although we were sweltering hot we didn't count on getting so wet that our clothes were rubbing when we walked and of course this was mightily attractive. We decided to go to the tree of life for 'it's a bugs' life'. We were made 'special' bugs and looked awesome in our 'bug eyes'. I love this show and it was my first time there this year; it was fabulous. We had made reservations to go to Tusker House for lunch so we headed there. The food was extraordinary and the all you can eat buffet certainly lived up to its name! It was lovely to have loads of different food including roast potatoes and green beans! Although my main course combination was rather odd, the desert combo was amazing. Brownies, donuts and cookies, it was intense.

We waddled to everest which was great; I even saw a hidden mickey and rode dinosaur which again was great although slightly scary. I spoke to a fellow cast member about the joys of pulling on the yellow strap and forgot that Bill Nigh the science guy is in EVERYTHING!!! We then decided to go to the festival of the lion king where a little girl asked me if I was also with my mother. I laughed and said no she's just my friend. It certainly made me chuckle, I'm not sure about Amy though hehe. The show was awesome. We then went to the bus stop to get to Typhoon Lagoon. As you cannot get a direct bus to this water park we had to go to Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was lovely and although it took us nearly an hour in total travel time it was so worth it as it was nice to look around a popular resort. The resort looked grand and also very private and secluded I can definately see why the stars would go there.

Typhoon Lagoon itself was great although I think it is slightly older in Blizzard Beach. The wave machine was extremely intense and I kept getting sucked under. I think it was a proper surfer simulation but it was still fun. The lazy river was good too although rather crowded and I still can't get over the fact that I got sprayed by some evil child when I was obviously relaxed and not wanting H2O all over my hair!!!! We rode a few of the ride including slush gusher in the terential downpour that never wanted to stop. We got hot chocolate and attempted to wait it out but unfortunately it wouldn't quit so we scurried to get a resort bus as we didn't know where to get the CP bus from. A trip to Pop Century and home to a hot shower later and it was time for bed.

Work has been good recently and I last week I performed a magical moment family of the hour and the family even asked to get their picture taken with me. It was awesome! Usually I'm in people's pictures accidentially so it was nice to be wanted for a change hehe. I've also got a great service card for my efforts as grouper which has been really difficult recently with the huge tour groups who do not speak english and who do not appreciate the single rider concept! The ride has also been going 101 (braking down) alot so that's always a challenge as you have to evacuate the guests and then deal with them complaining later. There have been loads of brits though so it's nice to hear a familiar accent and I was also speaking to one guest from Norwich the other day! I also like to have fun with guests and say if they're wearing a universal top or something that I'm sorry but they cannot go on the ride. Luckily everyone takes it in good fun.

After work on Sunday Amy and I decided to go to Fantasmic. This was my third time this year but Amy's first. We were rather unsure as to whether it would be playing as again it was raining. We were so glad we did though and rode the rock n roller coaster (thanks to a re entry and +1) before the show. A sundae and brownie later and we were good to go. Waiting for the show was a pain though as although we had perfect Mickey centre seats we had Brazillian tour groups on either side who decided it would be fun and not extremely annoying at all to cheer and chant to each other. We were amused. Not. During the show it was decided we would attempt a reinactment of the show which can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUgqU-4C8ao this was sooooo much fun to make and I really had a blast. I laughed so much, Amy is awesome and such a great friend. She bought the wishes soundtrack which definately gave her brownie points with me :D

Monday came around and I had a pretty good day. At grouper I was asked to take a picture with an unbelievably cute little boy who was awesome, guests were nice and it was a great day. I had a Disney Basics class which went well, we had to work in teams to work through the Disney basics and naturally our team had the best name (Skuttle's Dinglehoppers') although in DB jepardy we lost by missing out a simple but crucial name :(. At night the guy came and we watched Hercules which was nice.

Tuesday came and after a trip to MDs we decided to go to Epcot before I had to work. A touch of character spotting was in order so we ventured around the world. Starting in the UK we met Tigger, Pooh and Eeyore (but no piglet = sorry Becs!), Alice in Wonderland (worst accent ever! 'Did you see the white rabbit?') and Mary Poppins (again). We saw Louisa and I sneaked a picture of her in her costume. We then went to France for my creme brulee but bumped into Beauty and the Beast instead. I decided on chocolate mousse for a change and it was very good. After nearly having a panic attack after realising the bridge was up and I had to get to work we finished circling the world and I was back in plenty of time! I had noticed on my schedule an 'I can make a difference' but I wasn't too sure what that meant. I got asked by my coordinater if I was early (as they don't get told about these classes)but I explained and he radioed the coordinater of training.

As the class was in the Land building I got a ride backstage epcot where I was able to see old sets and other secrets. The class did pretty much what it said on the tin, we acted out scenarios and had to decide if it was poor, average or 'disney' service. Where our class was held joined directly onto the characters' room and so I'm afraid to say some of the magic has been lost. Yet back at work some of this was restored as I had fantastic guests who really loved my Mickey stickers, plenty of princesses and one little girl hugged me randomly when she got off the ride as she loved it so much. Of course this was sticker worthy. Max asked if I fancied going for ice cream during our 45 minute breaks and although I had been fairly healthy by having fruit the idea of having cookie dough for the first time in Florida filled me with excitment. Of course it was amaaaazing!

Wednesday was laundry day and gyming again. Work was good although I wasn't particularly happy with the way one of the coordinaters talked to me infront of guests when I was only doing my job correctly. I do not mind getting told off if I am doing something wrong but when someone is swearing at you, your good mood is rather ruined especially if you are correct in your actions. At 5 we had to close due to technical problems, an evac was in order and then we reopened. 20 minutes later we were down for incliment weather. We did not reopen and as I was in station I did nothing for 3 hours but chat and sing showsongs/ dance with trey. What a great job! As a closer I don't usually get to see the nighttime shows but luckily illuminations was 10 minutes late because of the electrical activity and as I was closing I was able to see illuminations on my close. It was an epic finish to a mixed kind of day. Me and Nick went and got pancakes - I was starved and then it was time to go home.

Thats all for now folks, see ya real soon.

xXx

Breakfast and Fantasmic times

Sunday night brought with it our flatmate 'slumber party' i.e. Jayne wanted to have a sleepover ala on the living room floor with blankets. We watched 'Labor Pains' (with Lindsay Lohan) and ate take out pizza but the whole sleeping on the floor thing never came to flourish as I was extremely tired.

We decided that Monday morning we would go out for an all American breakfast. While this appeared like a straightforward plan it was not without it's complications. Where to eat? Where was close by? Well without the car we relied on we decided to get the bus to Vista and walk to I Hop which was apparently not that far. Jayne, Amy and I ventured out only to realise that on some American roads a sidewalk is not built as standard. We then had to cross over 8 lanes of traffic to get to the other side. I felt like a very small chicken trying to cross the road. Also it began to rain and we had to trudge through grass. Soon we were on the correct part of the road but of course now on the opposite side. We saw the entrance to WDW and felt like we had walked for hours when of course it was only 20 minutes. Eventually we got there and across the road. I had pancakes, bacon and egg and it was immense. Best breakfast ever! Naturally we decided to get a taxi back and it was off to work for me.

Work on Monday was fabulous as I got the opportunity to do a couple of 'families of the hour' magical moments. This is when you choose a family to ride the ride from the front. At this point the wait times were hideous so the family I chose were so grateful to get on straight away they asked for a photo with me!!! I felt so honoured - they were great and they even came and found me afterwards to thank me. It's nice to feel loved. My second family were equally great although no picture with them hehe. I finished work at 00.15 and Nick came to pick me up and we went and watched Enchanted which was very nice - I didn't realise the original voice of the little mermaid had a part in the movie!

Tuesday came and we went for brunch at mcdonalds - it was sooo good! Work wasn't so great as I kept getting not so brilliant jobs including dispatch with loads of people who could not speak english and wheelchair when there were no wheelchairs. Also having to explain what a single rider is for the millionth time can get rather irritating. The day dragged but I was very excited as we had decided to go to see Fantasmic that night. The man picked me up and gave me a special present of a twix (my signature chocolate in America) and a 'happily ever after' pin which made me extremely happy! We wore our pins and went to DHS. I hoped to ride a ride before the show but the line was really really long and we figured it would be best to wait. We sat in Mickey (middle of the house) and watched the show which of course was amazing! even if the indians bounced back up after they were shot hehe. Exiting the park we got wished a happily ever after which was really nice after a magical night.

Today me and Amy are thinking of going to TRex after work so that should be fun. Well till I write again take care and see ya real soon.

xxxxxxxx

Howdy guys!

The last time I blogged it was near to 3am so finally at a sensible hour I am able to write up my activities. Thursday allowed me to have a longer lie as I was to begin work at 6pm. Jayne suggested we go to Disney Quest and as I hadn't been before I was intreged to find out what it was all about. We set out to go early and got there about half an hour before the place even opened! Naturally this meant we were required to go to the Candy Cauldron for fudge brownies and caramel apples. We then went to the Magic Shop where we observed some tricks and got attacked by Rocky the best seller! Afterwards we got our tickets (bargain at $20!) and it was into the Quest we went.

We decided to hit the Cyberspace mountain first. This was amazing as you interactively build the coaster (with the help of Bill Nigh the science guy) and then you ride it ala simulator. We had many twists and upside downs - it was awesome and had a thrill rating of 5/5. I did wonder
if I needed a bag but luckily I was ok :D After that we went to Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride which involved placing a huge helmet on your head followed by a virtual camera. We had to find the gems in order to save the genie. Unfortunately my helmet kept slipping and so the screen was unclear and I couldn't see where I was going. No cast member helped me when I asked and because you work as a team of 4 Jayne and I were put with two others who had clearly played before. Consequently it was over quickly.

We then went on Invasion! An ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter in which we had to shoot aliens in order to save astronauts. Although a 4 player game Jayne and I decided to have auto pilot and shoot the bad guys. I felt very masculine but it was awesome! We then went on cyberspace mountain again (only 4/5) and decided to get food. Hmmm chicken strips.... they were amazing.

Mighty Ducks Pinball was next and it was a race to rank up the points. The machine really gave me a workout as I kept getting stuck in a corner. Naturally I came second from last - oh my goodness I'm bad at games but it was really fun. We enjoyed use of the free arcade games including guitar hero, percussion power (beat it vs oops I did it again), lights and theme pinball (POTC, Spiderman, Indiana Jones and Batman). Next came virtual Jungle Cruise - you sit in a raft which inflates and you have to steer yourself through the prehistoric dinosaur age. It was certainly a workout for your arms. It was really good but surprise surprise we got stuck in a corner and couldn't seem to manouver ourselves out: typical!

We decided to wait in line for the Pirates of the Carribean ride although we weren't really sure what it was. The cast member in charge was a fellow CP so we had a good chat before boarding the ship. We were required to wear these dodgy 3D glasses before shooting our cannons at the ships to gain treasure. It was soooo much fun and we got splashed as the boat rocked. It was absolutely brilliant. Short on time we decided to go on Cyberspace Mountain again for the third time. This time we decided to go for all red and so the attendant was kind of taken aback when she asked if our 10 upside downs were correct. During the ride we got the giggles on a major scale and were dizzy with laughter at the end. You get to watch a preview of your onride video and it was immense. My hair was all over the place and Jayne was defying gravity. We decided to get the video. However, by the time we got it it was time for me to get the bus to go to work. We ran as fast as we could and consequently I fell over majorly scrapping my knee! LOL. I got to work on time so that was the main thing. Guests were really nice and I even had a big conversation with one guest from Australia. It is really nice to help guests who appreciate your effort. Dan gave me and Andy a lift home which was great as I stood and watched the bus slowly drive off just when I came outside.

Friday came around and I had a lazy morning. I slept in and spoke to my family on skype which was nice. I had planned to go to Hollywood Studios with a couple of people but unfortunately all of them cancelled due to illness, work or groccery shopping. This was a major pain but I decided to go anyway as I planned to party with woody and couldn't disappoint a toy story character! So I got the bus to DHS and found that I had left my battery for my camera at home. I couldn't believe I made such a stupid error! I considered getting off the bus with no camera but thought it would defeat the purpose of the trip so I went home. An hour and a half later than planned I arrived. I went to Voyage of the Little Mermaid which was incredible (if short!) and took some photos. I then went to get some pictures with the Monsters Inc characters which was fun.

Finally it was time to go and see the Toy Story guys. It was mega fun and I was even in the middle of a tug of war between Woody and Buzz - which one was I to choose?!? :p I went to Muppets 3D and then waited in the singles line for rock n rollarcoaster. Of course I now stay in cast member mode wherever I go and so got to talking to some of the guests who were from Edinburgh no less - it was very nice. After, I met up with Nick and we went to Mk to ride the teacups and to meet princesses. Although the wait was forever it was worth it and I felt very regal ;) Yesterday we were supposed to spend the day together but it didn't quite go to plan as he was called in to work. After a quick earl of sandwich (cannonballs), I had a look around Downtown Disney and came home.

Amy and I decided to go and see a film so we went and got a sundae before viewing Bruno. It was funny but extremely offensive. We met Andy (another friend of Goofy) on the bus home which was nice and got to bed. Today I had to get up at 6am to start work at 7.45am. I had an okay day, a kind of mix as I had some nice guests but some not so nice, especially at the fastpass return. Although I did get a good service card for my role as grouper which was nice and I bumped into Leom at Discovery Diner. Hopefully we'll be able to meet up soon.

This evening Jayne and I attempted to go to Mickey's Retreat but by the time we got there most of the fun stuff had closed so we just headed to the Chatham Pool instead. It was nice to relax after a stressful day at the track. Tomorrow I'm scheduled to work till midnight 15 but I'm hoping to nip out early.

Well that's all for now guys, thanks for reading!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Good Morning

Hey there everyone, again apologize for the delay, once again I've been caught up in the never ending cycle of work, play and sleep. So prior to my last post I felt I missed out a night that I spent with my girlfriends (Jayne and Amy) when we went to downtown disney. The reason I needed to add this experience to my adventures was the fact that I bought my first present for home and we went on an archaeology dig in the wonderful TRex. Naturally we found lots of amazing, valuable and ancient artifacts using our tiny paintbrushes ;) I bought my postcards and stamps - hopefully they've all arrived home by now.

Ok and back to this week. Well on Saturday morning I did laundry and ironed and spoke to my family through the new technology I like to call skype. It was wicked seeing them again although I wasn't feeling too good and had a bit of a sore throat. On Saturday night the guy came around and we watched Inkheart which was really good *swoon for Paul Bettany!*. The next day we had brunch at the wonderful MaccyDs and soon it was time to head for work.

Work's been pretty crazy at the minute as there are so many tour groups who can either not comprehend english and the single rider system or choose not to comprehend english or the single rider system. Similarly at dispatch it is a real struggle to get people to PULL ON THE YELLOW STRAP. Eventhough it is there where they plug in their seatbelts they willl continue to look directly at me although I plead with them to LOOK DOWN!! Nevermind.

So on both Saturday and Sunday I noticed that I had white spots at the back of my throat and feared the worse - tonsilitus. I was scheduled to work 7am - 1pm and had to begin station walk which is pretty much a ride inspection. Of course this was only my second attempt and found it rather confusing as you have to go through certain doors and corridors and I couldn't remember where they were. One of the other Cast Members was really rude to me and spoke to me as if I was an idiot. I was not amused. I was then sent to dispatch where I began to feel shakey and lightheaded. At 8.45 one of the lovely managers told me to go home as she said I looked really ill. I took the bus home and slept for a couple of hours.

After seeing the pharmacist and feeling like I needed to get my throat checked I grabbed my paperwork and in the afternoon called CentraCare for free transport to their clinic. At this point I was absolutely terrified. I got in and was asked to show my insurance, the driver told me if they didn't accept it I would have to pay the full price. He was not friendly and this did not ease my illfeeling. Inside I was told to find an American contact number for my insurance and asked to fill in some paperwork. After going through the whole of my insurance, calling every number to be told it was either unable to connect or not recognised panic started to creep in. Also even the numbers it gives you to call from abroad were apparently invalid. As they wouldn't accept my insurance I got asked to pay the $230 fee. At this point I had my card, a travellers cheque and some cash. I filled in the forms and was told to wait. An hour and a half later I was called in and was weighed, my temperature was taken and my bp was taken. All of which was done in silence. No one told me what or why they were doing what they were doing and no one answered my questions. I was only told a doctor would see me shortly.

An hour later, the doctor came and asked me loads of questions. She examined my throat and told me it was an infection. I was like :o how did I get that. She said there were a lot of causes most common being steroid use but it could be down to dietry change or being run down. She took some blood work and informed me that I have a very low immune system, prescribing me one tablet of diflucan and told me that I would need further blood work when I get home to investigate.

After waiting for ages I was finally able to go. Luckily I just had enough money with the disney cm discount to pay, but did not have enough for my tablet. Feeling extremely stressed I walked into a puddle which basically cemented this day as awful. My shoes were skwelchy.

The whole process took 3 hours in total. I got free transport back and Nick came to see me. We drove to wallgreens where I got my prescription after I picked up the $11 (for ONE tablet!!!) bill. Later that night we went out for a meal - steak no less! - and played mini golf which was so much fun. Of course I beat him and even scored a hole in one! Naturally he blamed being put off by the exploding volcano but come on we know differently! We then had a wander round downtown and I got a mickey premium! I was so happy we went out as it really did turn an awful day into a lovely one.

Tuesday came around and it was back to work again. I had a fabulous grilled ham and cheese and really enjoyed my day. Great guests and fun with the cast members, especially Mark and Logan who ganged up on me when I was on station assist! How very dare they hehe! Anyway, I finished at 5.45pm, emailed my folks and got ready to go out. Of course this was THE night, the Harry Potter night. Nick and I had got our tickets prior to the midnight showing but Amy and Jayne haden't. Unfortunately it transpired that they were showing the film in multiple screens and we weren't in the same one. Although it was a pain to be parted from friends, luckily Nick's friend was able to join us and we waited in line to be seated after getting some munch. Unbelievably we were there 2 hours before it started - this is how big harry potter is stateside. It was crazy, people were dressed up and reading the book in the theatre- but it was amazing, and the film rocked so that was a plus!

Wednesday morning came and it was time for our official house meeting. Regardless of the fact that the majority of us got in at 3am the meeting was at 8.30am and so we were all rather sleep deprived. Hopefully we've now got some of our issues out in the open and can help clean the air. After a much needed sleep I set to work on tidying our room for our inspection which took place today (we passed and got cookies so yay!). Work was brilliant - again the guests were awesome and I even had this one girl who was my dance partner for the hoedown throwdown in the fastpass return line! It was madness but also a stroke of genius. The man met me and we went out for some much needed food - my attempt at making pancakes earlier did not work out the way I planned so it was a really nice day again although towards the end of work a guest did get rather aggressive when the ride closed due to the electric storm. I seriously thought she was going to hit me! She was 6.

So I have another story to tell but I feel like I've written quite enough for right now so am off to bed, till next time

xxxx

Weekly update

Sorry for the delay folks, like I keep on mentioning time seems to go quicker when you're stateside, especially when you're working for Disney.

Well, Tuesday night I ended up finishing at 12.45am although I was under the impression i finished at 12.15! I was most unimpressed and Andy (also from the UK) said that when the computer came up with a position in pit crew as opposed to offering me my bumpout, he wished he had his camera as my face was like :O! Perhalps I misread my shedule; most likely is that they changed my schedule without telling me! Nick came and visited me at work and then he offered to drive me home which was very nice. Closing up the track was rather challenging, and it was most unusual being in the park after hours, especially when there are no guests and the attractions are all off. Getting the guests out was also rather painful as they seemed to take forever to decide on their purchases from the gift shop! Epcot at night certainly reminds me of a ghost town.

Wednesday came and I had to attend my social security meeting at the social security office. It was great seeing a few people who I haven't seen in a while, so I chatted to them in the wait although the 5am start displeased me greatly. Unfortunately my details were incorrect (typical!) and so they took my passport, although I was reassured a couple of times that I would receive it back at Chatham shortly. Luckily the meeting only lasted a couple of hours so I was able to buy the most amazing donught ever from the seven11 and head home fairly early. I thought about relaxing by the pool before work so headed out. I was there 30 minutes and the heavens open - I believe I'm a weather jinx! I came back, thought I'd venture out again with Caroline my french housemate and again I was rained on. I was not amused. On wednesday night Nick and I went to downtown disney where I bought the most amazing brownie known to mankind, we just sat, chatted, ate brownie and watched the world go by :D

On Thursday, me and Louisa went to epcot for the day. We finally did honey I shrunk the audience which of course was fabulous and went round the world pavillion. We met Belle and bought creme brulee in France. In Italy we watched a most excellent improv production of Romeo and Ethel hehe - you should have seen who they picked for the '16' year olds, it reminded me greatly of my Gran's 'marriage' in Epcot many moons ago! We ate fish and chips in the UK pavillion (where Lou works) and I finished with my creme brulee. We waited for the Italy production to do King Lear at the UK but unfortunately it was rained off. Before Lou went (to Encore -choir- rehersals) we went to innoventions and learnt about recycling. This sounds really boring but it was so much fun, as it's all interactive games and the such! We even had our own mini trash trucks :D Oooo and I also purchased my baby Belle who is, of course, mightily cute. Thursday night I headed from epcot to Magic Kingdom where he was supposidly working. Although when I got there he had clocked out so we did a few rides and had a tour of the MK tunnels.

Yesterday was my final day off for the week and so I headed to universal for the day with Amy and Lou. We took the Itrolley which cost us a grand total of 25c! After getting our tickets we shimmied to our first ride - ET. Of course I was not the most willing of guests but no one can resist a walk on ride. We gave our names to the lady - Mildred, Ethel and Edna- who was very addiment that these were not the correct ones, even daring to ask Ethel how long she'd had that name. I'm so very pleased I work for Disney!

After hanging in the playground for a bit - soooo much fun! the next ride we went on was the simpsons which although I had doubts about as they replaced the wonderous Back to the Future ride with this, the decor was superb and it was a great ride. Even if we got stuck for ages. A reride later and we were happy and laughed at the EXTREMELY subtle digs at disney (it's a small world and pirates). Next was men and black which surprise surprise stopped halfway through. Luckily it was only for a few minutes and it gave us ample time to rank up points (yay for coming second!). We did a lot of the other rides including Jaws and Shrek and watched fear factor live - which was good but rather disgusting at some points) Mel's diner came a calling where I had the best meal ever! We then went to the Horror Make Up Show; same people, same premise, I loved every minte of it and then the heavens opened. It rained. And it rained. And it rained. When will Florida will give up on its obsession with the rain and be sunny again soon? That is the question.

Beetlejuice was rained off so I was extremely upset as afterall this is what I came to see. We rode the mummy although the ride stopped in the scarab beetle bit eek. No reride and soon they were playing the 'ride delay' spiel. Disaster was closed so we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe where we shared a platter starter and choc fudge brownie dessert. Both were lovely and I got my HRC tee although I'm more than a little convinced that my sister has the same one oops!

Anyhoo despite the weather and of course the rain, I had a brilliant day so thanks ladies! Now off to do the weekly shop before work.

Take care

xxxxxx

Soooo tired

On Thursday Ashley and I headed to MK for the day of fun and adventure. Luckily we were able to hit up all the rides we wanted (although still no Splash Mountain!) and watched the 3' o clock parade - 'celebrate a dream come true'. It seemed to me that some 'recycling' from the 'year of a million dreams parade' had occurred but it was still a good ol' Disney event. We were later joined by Nick and Kev (and Fredrick the ghost) so it turned out to be a good day all in all.

Friday it was back to work and more Track. It was assessment day and I was rather tense. I had to complete a 160 question test, walk track and rotate positions. It luckily went well and I was happy to be complimented on my grouper positions. After work me and a few of my housemates went to Cicis for some all you can eat pizza. Pizza was good but the walk back to Vista was a bit of a pain :( - bad times!

The fourth of July brought with it its own challenges. Laundry again in the morning and a trip to the nearby publix. Note to self never ever walk to this store to buy bottles as the walk back with the bags will actually kill your arms! To top things off work was mega busy in the afternoon; plenty of folks off to see the fireworks. I was put on the rotation for the first time and put to work on my own which was rather scary to say the least. After my shift I quickly ducked out mid fireworks and we went out for a meal which was lovely. An early rise for Sunday's work and a rush to meet Goofy in the pm.

Yesterday was pretty awesome but has consequently left me extremely tired. The toll of working for the mouse is beginning to take it's effect. It's funny how easily I slid into the new time zone and routine of life in the States but perhalps the lack of sleep has overridden this ease hehe!

Off to sleep. I'll write soon.

xXx

Adventures

Last time I blogged I had just been to my Discovery Day, singing Sweeney Todd songs with Leom in the line for Soarin'. Ok so on Sunday I had a day off and after doing my ironing on a funny little travel board Louisa and I, with Heather headed to the Studios where we met Nick. After watching the block party which was both amusing and slightly scary we headed to the Great movie ride to annoy and request a tour by a certain Irishman (who was not at all annoyed when the audio went during the Wizard of Oz section of the tour ;D).

We had such a lucky day as first of all we went to the character greetings where we met a whole bunch of characters including Goofy and Max, Minnie, the evil Queen, Mary Poppins and Pinnochio. We headed to the Backlot Tour where we were picked as 'volunteers' to the beginning action sequence i.e. you get soaked when they demonstrate pearl harbour style stunts. My role was wacky, Lou's was crazy, go figure :p. We went on the Tower of Terror (squirrel) and my fav the Rock and Rollarcoaster (free rider switch passes! Thanks Lou's friend!). After meeting with that awesome Scotsman Leom we boogied to Toy Story Mania where we were given fastpasses by a lovely passer-byer. Thank goodness we avoided the 70 minute queue!

The tower and the Rock n rollarcoaster were calling for another couple of rides (ride buddy Nick!) and then we went to see Fantasmic! This was amazing - i thought of you laura at the colours of the wind moment :D! I think they'd slightly changed some of the fireworks and such so that was refreshing. It was so much fun and reaffirmed the fact that a. fantasmic is my most favourite nightime show ever and b. the studios is my absolute favourite park ever.

Monday began another week working for the track. Training with Efrain is so much better and we were performing more of the roles we would perform on the show scenes. I love station assist as you are able to speak to the guests and wish them a happy birthday or anniversary or ask what they are celebrating (the badges), same applies to standby/singles/fastpass greeter although when the ride brakes down and you're a greeter you have to deal with many disgruntled guests. There are also the positions of grouper (party of 4? 2 to row one, 2 to row 2 and a single to one and two) which although looks easy but with two lines, 4 pits, 8 rows it can get mightily confusing.... especially when guests themselves have no idea how many people are in their party! Wheelchair assist calls for you handling guests with special needs and using the , manual lifts which can prove to be amusing. Photocell is tough as you have to coordinate the opening of the show rooms with passing people through to wait for the doors to open (fill all availible space guys, do not form a line as this will prove ineffective). Pit crew is where you send the cars off from the station and close the gates and dispatch is the safety check (pull on the yellow strap for me guys!).

Each day this week we also powered up the cars in the morning, applied a brake and audio test and walked the track, enabling both the cars and the track. On Tuesday we also opened for the day with the epcot countdown followed by the stampede of guests to the ride.

Monday night was good as I got my American phone and we boggied to downtown disney ($2.50 for ONE!!!! Strawberry and the chocolate fell off :(!) and consequently on Tuesday morning I nearly had a nervous brakedown as my alarm failed and I woke up at 6am (supposed to be starting at 6.15!). Luckily everyone was fine about it but it was mega frustrating to say the least.

On Tuesday night Nick and I headed up Animal Kingdom where we went on Everest (scary!) and Dinosaur (more scary!). The only thing now about working test track is that after doing ride throughs with non working lights I was like a woman possessed - 'this light isnt on, poor lighting here' hehe. We scurried to Epcot to face soarin' and wandered around the world. Illuminations was good although we had a most annoying tree blocking our view.

Yesterday was a good day at work although I'm slightly worried about my assessment on friday :( and we had two one-o-ones and performed a ride evak. After speaking to my wonderful family we headed out to Downtown Disney and saw UP again hehe. I have today off so I'm gonna revise for my assessment (which door correspond to which zone/ stairwell) and hit up Magic Kingdom in the afternoon.

Take care everyone, wish me luck for my assessment

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Update on the first week

Ok so I haven't posted in a while but there is a very good reason for that ~I have been absolutely swamped with work! The last time I posted was on Monday so here's a little update on my adventures since then.

Tuesday was a strange day as I felt really homesick. We went to get our documents sorted and having gone through the maze at the Commons we were assigned our roles. I was assigned Test Track at Epcot which is basically a large scalelectric, outlined to guests as a simulated excursion through the rigorous testing procedures General Motors use to evaluate its cars. Initially I was disappointed as Epcot wasn't one of my top choices but Test Track is an amazing ride so I was excited to learn the ins and outs of the ride. Straight after we went to Wallmart and I got my work shoes which of course were very unattractive. Later we went and saw UP which was fabulous and I'm not ashamed to admit a tear came to my eye.

Wednesday brought a new challenge of Traditions which was a class at the accredited Disney University. It involved going through the history of the company and that of Walt Disney himself. It was really nice to see some familiar faces and interesting to hear some behind the scene stories. We worked through the workbook and watching some 'inspirational' videos including those on sexual harassment - probably one of the best videos ever lol! Also we got our badges. Mine of course was 'Kristy' and Kylie's said she spoke Chinese so luckily I wasn't the only one with a problem!

After class we went to Magic Kingdom in a big group which was amazing, although we only went on a few rides including Pirates of the Carribean, Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion and Philarmagic. We also danced in the parade which was epic (Shake your tailfeather - hehe!) and stayed to watch Spectromagic and Wishes!

On Thursday it was my first day of work and it was rather overwhelming. I got my costume which makes me look like a very unfeminine orange cop and headed over to test track to meet my trainer. Luckily I was training with another guy from England so it was nice to have someone to talk to. After meeting other cast members E learning came around which was time consuming and extremely boring. Yet, we were also taken through the ride and different positions on it both on and offstage which was interesting. Additionally we were given a little tour of Futureworld and answers to FAQs by guests.

Friday proved to be more fun as we were given the opportunity to work the ride - joining pit crew (to start the ride and close the gate doors), dispatch (safety check), wheelchair assist and assigning people to the ride (much harder than it looks!) As we were there for 6.15am we had to check the cars and power up which I enjoyed. We were given the different doors and stairwells to learn as well as the show scenes - eek! My assessment is on Thursday so I should really get some studying done.

After a long day me and Amy went to Hollywood Studios which was fun (HSM3, Beauty and the beast show, Tower of Terror, GMR and the Magic of Animation) and I even drew Donald duck so it was pretty amazing. Yet by the end of the night I was dead on my feet.

Today was the turn of Discovery Day at Epcot, many of my friends were there so it was nice to catch up. A history of Epcot lesson was given and it was funny to find out that the Epcot envisaged by Walt was completely different to how it appears now. After the secret initiation we were given a tour of the park which was good and boarded spaceship earth, unsurprisingly it was difficult to understand, considering it was in German (thanks Andy!). We toured the nations and soon it was time to go. Me and Leom decided to have a wander and went on Soarin' which was brilliant. I did laundry for the first time (success!) and Amy and I went to the pool which was called off on the account of rain - boo!

Tomorrow its the Studios again with Skipper Lou and Fantasmic at night. Work again on Monday to start a 6 day working week = fun times so I may not update for a bit. Sorry for the ramble! '

See ya real soon'
xXx

Guess where I am..... :p

The story so far.....

So far things are going pretty well down this way. After a brilliant going away party on Saturday which was accompanied by a majestic Hannah Montana cake it was soon time to go. Following a breakfast burger at Frankie and Bennys it was time to say my goodbyes and head through to security. Luckily a group of ICPers were on hand to bring some sparkle to the wait for the jet and it was nice to see some familiar faces :D. The flight went well and I even managed to watch Slumdog Millionaire! I was sitting next to a fellow ICPer who was doing QS F+B so it was good to have a little chat with him and because we were at the back quite a few people came to have a chat there so it was rather nice to have a back of the plane crew for a time.

Once we arrived at the airport we waited for immigration which went smoothly and went to get the coach. An hour later we were on our way and by the time we reached Vista it was 7pm (our flight landed at 3.25pm!). I shall never understand how it took 20 minutes for one person to get off but somethings I guess we just arent supposed to understand ;). After registering we received some information from Disney including maps and itineraries. Unfortunately (I thought at the time!) I was assigned to Chatham Square and the majority of my friends were in Vista. However, CS is lovely and new :D and have since found out is housing quite a few ICPers :D.

So I arrived at my apartment at 8.30pm (having been up since 3.30am UK time!) to meet my new housemates. At this point three were in - Joyce (my roommate), Jayne and Ashley all of which are absolute sweethearts. They are all American and are on the college program so they will be here until January. After watching a bit of Moulin Rouge we went to Wallmart for the bits and bob shop :D.

By the time we got back I met my other American housemates and another girl arrived (Caroline from france) and Amy from England but by this time it was midnight and I just had to get to bed.

My first proper day in Florida has been great. I had a nice breakfast and managed to get in touch with the most important of people (oh the powers of lovely skype - nice seeing you M+D!) After having a wander around the Chatham complex (during which I found the pool) it was time to head to the induction where we had our housing welcome session, generally a list of dos and don'ts whilst at Disney. It was nice to meet a few new people and chat to others who had also arrived yesterday. Once at Vista it was time for the inspection both of documents and the disney look. Luckily I passed both although am still unsure whether I look a. extremely cheesy in my ID or b. super cheesy in my ID :D.

Although we planned to go to the Studios in the afternoon we found out that we weren't allowed to gain access even with CPCM so instead headed for Downtown Disney. After getting our pics taken by DisneyPhotoPress we were pretty pleased with the results :p and continued to casually window shop before heading to the capital of America - MaccyDs hehe.

Later we spent sometime poolside and managed the Alphabet Ball Pass (with a little help from random ICPers) and after obligatory blogging are now rather tired, time for bed methinks - although perhalps a little watch of ENews before hand....................?

xXx