April 22 - May 1.

The past week has been really busy for me. Not just with work but with having fun and seeing friends. I've literally been 'going' nonstop with very little sleep, so much that my friend jokes that I need to have a trophy made for that reason. I also looked up the world record for this, it's 11 days... I didn't quite make it that long, but oh well, close enough.

Last Tuesday was Earth Day and it was also my home park's Sweet 16! I had the day off as while as my friend Jennifer. We woke up early that morning to head over to Animal Kingdom to celebrate the two events. We got to meet Jiminy Cricket, which was very exciting because he is rarely out and about. Then we went backstage and had cupcakes with some coworkers. After that, we headed over to Hollywood Studios for just a few minutes so that I could get my picture taken with a very special Green Army Man, which was then followed by a trip to Blizzard Beach, one of Disney's water parks. My friend Reagan and her roommate Stephanie met us there. The water was freezing, but we still had a good time. Later in the evening, Reagan, Zac and I went to Campfire S'mores with Chip & Dale at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort. You get to roast s'mores, hangout with Chip & Dale, and then watch a movie, which was Brother Bear that night. We ended up leaving after we stuffed our bellies with s'mores and went to Magic Kingdom to catch Celebrate The Magic and Wishes.

Wednesday, I woke up to some sad news. Aimee, one of my roommates, had been terminated from the program because of a situation with security. We spent the morning gathering her things and spending some time together until Sam and Kayla arrived home. We headed to the Polynesian resort, to watch Wishes from the beach and open a memory jar the girls had put together since the beginning of the program. I really had no idea what any of it was because I had only been moved in with them for about a month, but it was still nice. Later on I met up with some friends and we headed over to Bdubs. Bdubs here on Wednesday nights gets turned into a 'club'. There's karaoke, a DJ, dancing and a lot of fun.

Thursday morning, I was up bright and early again for breakfast reservations, Zac had made. Courtney, Reagan, him and myself headed over to the Trails End restaurant at Fort Wilderness for a breakfast buffet. There was barely any talking as we all stuffed the many plates of food into our mouths; it was amazing. I hadn't had anything other than cereal for breakfast in so long, so I really went crazy with the buffet. I highly recommend Trails End (especially if your a cast member cause we get to use our discount on it still). After our delicious breakfast, Reagan and Zac came to my apartment and we watched Insidious 2, before I had to go to work. I got to work at a cart in the Africa part of Animal Kingdom which is my favorite part because every hour or so 'Burudika' comes on and preforms. They are a band that plays in Africa and in my opinion, one of the best parts about Animal Kingdom! (Click HERE for a video I found on Youtube of Burudika.) After work, I came home and was told by my friend, Taylor to get out to the pool. I got changed and went to join Zac, Allie, Taylor, Jennifer by the pool. We ended up inviting some of our other friends and fellow peanut butters (We all work together and our uniform is peanut butter colored, so therefore we are peanut butters.) over and made smoothies, danced by the pool, tried to push each other in and ordered pizza. It was a spur of the moment type thing, but it was really, really fun.

Friday I called for an ADO, which stands for an approved day off. Basically, a lot of people are scheduled everyday, but they aren't really needed, if you call the managers at 6 AM and ask for an ADO, sometimes they'll give it to you and you don't have to come in, because someone else can fill your spot. My ADO was approved and I slept for about an hour longer before getting ready for the long day I had planned ahead of me. Zac, Brittany, Taylor, Jenna, Andrea and I were going to do the Four Parks, One Day challenge. We started out at about 9 in the morning and headed to Animal Kingdom. We did an early morning Safari, rode Everest and Dinosaur before we left to Hollywood Studios. We did Tower of Terror and the animation class before searching for somewhere to eat lunch. We seperated   into groups of who wanted to eat on property and who didn't to save some money. I went with Jenna and Andrea to Chick Fil A off property. After our lunch, we met back up with our group at Epcot where we rode Captain EO, walked around the world showcase and did the Maelstom ride in Norway. Along the way, more friends of ours came to Epcot to join us and our group. After Epcot, it was time to head over to Magic Kingdom. We had told the peanut butters who had to work that day, to meet up with us at MK for Wishes, so we waited outside of MK while our original group of six turned into a group of sixteen. We made our way inside, laughing about how we turned into one of the annoying tour groups, us as cast members cannot stand, got Starbucks and made our way to find a spot for Wishes. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that watching Wishes this time as a whole group was really emotional. A lot of the peanut butters departure dates are coming up in just a few weeks and we all had finally become close and it was soon coming to an end. To end the night, we squeezed most of us onto one boat for Splash Mountain. Some of us weren't even sitting properly on the seat, but we made it work. We headed home sometime after midnight. It was a really long day, it was hot and exhausting but it was probably my favorite and most memorable day I have had here so
far.

Saturday morning, I had to push myself to go to work. I was extremely tired and sore from the day before. I was kitchen duty though so it was a pretty easy shift. We cook the pretzels needed for the park and distribute them out. Afterwork, the peanut butters had planned to meet back by the pool but this time for an ice cream sundae party.

Sunday after work in the evening Taylor came over and we both got ready to go to House of Blues. We met up with Morgan and some other people there. HoB isn't exactly my favorite place to go, but Taylor and I had planned on pulling an all-nighter because we had to be up at 4 AM on Monday, so we decided why not go.

I came home from House of Blues, changed and it was nearly 4 AM and we had to catch a bus to Magic Kingdom. They were doing filming for a promotional video for Fantasy Land and 100 CP's got to sign up, first come first serve to be there that day. The most exciting part was that we were told we were going to get to ride the new and not opened yet, Seven Dwarf Mine Train. Once there, they split us up into three groups, about 20 in one, 30 in another and then the rest, which included me. The first group got to go to the mine train, the second group to the Barnstormer, and then my group to the Dumbo ride. That's when they told us we would not be rotating rides and whatever ride we were sent to is the one we would be riding for three and a half hours. We were all pretty upset, because we had completely wasted our time going there. Anyway, for the next couple hours I was stuck on Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride going round and round in circles. I sat next to a random college programer on the ride and he turned out to be pretty nice, so at least I had someone to talk to. Every once in awhile, a helicopter flew by and we were told to 'look happy'. We were back on the bus by 8:30 and I was headed straight to bed to finally get some sleep.

Tuesday, I went to Universal with my friend, Tiffany and her roommate. It was a great day to go, even though it was super hot! All of the lines for rides were incredibly short. I don't think we waited more than 20 minutes for anything! Even the Harry Potter ride, which is usually over an hour was 15 minutes. Late afternoon thunderstorms are becoming a daily thing here now though, but luckily we were done with all the rides and inside eating while that happened.

Yesterday was another easy day at work. I was a breaker (give people their breaks), and had to assist the kitchen in pretzel making. Today, I am headed to work at 1 to about 7:30 and then I'm off to Hollywood Studios to celebrate their 25th anniversary and see how many peanut butters we can stuff in one elevator on Tower or Terror! Stay Tuned!

Betcha thought you'd never hear from me again...

Let's go all the way back to the beginning of March, shall we? March 2nd to be exact; I posted on my Mom's Facebook wall asking her to fly me home for the weekend, jokingly of course. A few days later on the 7th, I was boarding a plane headed home for the weekend! Luckily, we ended up being able to find a last minute flight that wasn't too much money. It was perfect timing also, because the following day was my little cousin's dance recital and I was so upset I was going to miss her playing Cinderella!

Haly had no clue that I was actually going to make it to her recital and I ended up surprising her at a little photo op they have after the show for children. Her reaction was priceless and made it so worth the trip home. I didn't do a whole lot on my trip home, saw family and a few friends. It was just really nice to be able to be home and relax.

A week or so after I made it back to Orlando, I was packing up my share of the room because I was moving to a new apartment. Living in my first/ old apartment was hard. I was not comfortable because it was a very judgmental environment and there was a ton of drama. I had spent a lot of time talking to different people about moving out at different points in time, I just hadn't done so. I moved into a new apartment, still in the same complex but just a different building. It was weird at first but my new roommates were very good at making the apartment feel like a home and that helped me ease into it. So I am now living with Sam (who is my personal roommate), Kayla, Chantel, Aimee and Kirstyn.

The weekend following that, my family came to visit! I stayed at the Polynesian Resort with my Aunt Wende and cousins, Mackenzie, Emilie and Malaya! On the first day they were here we went to Downtown Disney so that Malaya could have a princess makeover at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. After that we had dinner at TREX which is owned by and basically the same thing as Rainforest Cafe. The next morning we got up really early and headed over to Epcot for breakfast with the princesses at Akershus, which I was super, super excited for. The rest of the time they were here we went to all the other parks, of course, and spent time out by the pool.

My Disney Heritage class also came to an end a few weeks ago. I received my 'Mouseters Degree' for completing the course. The week before the end, we did a scavenger hunt around Hollywood Studios and my group won so we also got a Disney College Program pin for coming in first place!

It's been extremely busy around the parks here for the past couple weeks, since it's Spring Break season, so I've put in some long hours. This past week I've worked a few 12 hour shifts back to back. It was pretty painful.

There has also been some fun Easter themed activities at the park! My friend from work and I did an egg hunt around Epcot on Tuesday and even got a small prize.

Finally, some big news! As you all know my program end date is set to end May 30th. I applied for an extension and I told myself if I get photo pass as role, I'll stay. If I don't, then I will go home. I didn't get photo pass, but after some long thinking (seriously, I waited up until the last hour), I accepted my extension and will be staying in Florida until August 1st in a merchandise role! I'm excited for my new role and location (which I already know, but feel like keeping a secret just to make sure) and I can't wait to see what the summer brings me here!

Family Visits, Days Off & Demi Lovato!

Over the weekend, my family was in Orlando for the Disney Princess Half Marathons. I hadn't seen them in a year or two, so I was really excited. It was also really nice to be around family for a few hours. Saturday, I was given an ADO (approved day off) from work, so we met up at Hollywood Studios for breakfast. I had never driven to the Studios on my own before, so I typed it into my GPS and not realizing that it redirected me to Universal Studios, I drove 20 minutes in the opposite direction. Just my luck! I was super late and felt horrible! We ate at Hollywood & Vine, and it was delicious. It was a character breakfast with characters from Disney Jr. Afterward, we spent the day at the park.

Sunday and Monday were just regular days at work. I worked ice cream one day and popcorn the other. The day that I worked popcorn was really weird, because the guy that I was talking to didn't really say anything to me for the whole seven and a half hour shift. 

Tuesday and Wednesday are always my days off. Tuesday morning, Paige & I went over to our friend's apartment and watched Zoolander, before I had to go to class at 4. After class, there was an Alice in Wonderland themed Welcome Party. Paige & I headed over there, but there wasn't much to do so we left with our friend, Daniel and went to the Magic Kingdom. 

Wednesday, I have been counting down to for a very long time. I went with my friend Lauren to see Demi Lovato in Tampa! We were in the 16th row right in front of the stage and it was amazing! I had so much fun! Little Mix & Fifth Harmony were the opening act and they are two acts (I think...) from The X Factor show that Demi is a judge on. I had never really listened to them before so I was mostly excited about Demi. 

Today, I had work 11:15 AM to 18:30 PM. When I got to base, they told me they didn't need me for the day and I would be helping out the production bakery. I had no idea what I was in for but I ended up in a small bakery that is completely backstage and provides desserts and other treats for the entire park. I started off putting crushed up graham crackers in a dish for cheesecakes; which wasn't obviously really simple. Afterward though, I got to make cookies, danishes, key lime pies, croissants and a bunch of other stuff! It was really fun and work went by really fast. 

Now I'm at home with Lindsay and Paige! Tonight we are having a movie night with some friends. 

Catching Up.

It's been awhile, hasn't it? I've been really busy and when I'm not busy, it's hard to force myself to sit down and post something. I'd rather be running around a park and to be honest, if I do sit down, I'm passed out in 5 minutes. So let's get filled in on everything that's happened since February 5th...

I was being trained all the way up until the 13th of February, which was my assessment day. For training, they sent us out to a kiosk with a trainer and we just learned about that kiosk and worked there that day. It was weird being at the bottom of the food chain, since I haven't been at my previous job for a long time. The training days were really long and horribly boring, but whatever, I had to do it. All my trainers gave me compliments about how good I was with guests, catching onto procedures and stuff like that. February 13th was my assessment day, so it was just a quick verbal test about everything. The leader that did the assessment had a meeting to get to, so my assessment was a lot easier and faster than it was supposed to be. After that, I got to take off my 'Earning My Ears' ribbon, which I actually tried to keep on longer, but they wouldn't let me. It's nice to have that ribbon as an excuse for not knowing directions and stuff like that.

During the time, I was training I spent a lot of time wishing I was home and even tried to leave but no one would really let me. I was hating my job. I was homesick and didn't feel a sense of "home" here. I was starving because I couldn't get to the grocery store and a bunch of other stuff that added up and made me think that this program really wasn't what I thought it would be.

Another big thing that was really bugging me was the College Programer buses. They are horrible. When getting ready to come down for the program, everyone said to bring your car and I wanted to, but paying for all my bills with the little money we make from Disney would have been hard. I instantly started wishing I had my car, less than a week into the program. Some buses are fine, like the A or B bus that runs to the Magic Kingdom, but other buses to places that are not so 'popular' aren't very reliable. An example, the J bus to Animal Kingdom, which I had to use everyday to get to work. To each route, there is supposed to be 2 buses. You're supposed to get a bus schedule at check in. They didn't give me one, but I found one and stole it on the bus, oops.  The bus schedule is like any other schedule and you are told to arrive 15 minutes early. Say a bus was supposed to arrive at 10:30 PM and it gets there at 10:11 PM, it's not waiting. It's leaving without you even though it's way ahead of it's schedule. I called the bus company one morning and asked if both the buses were working. The lady told me, no, they weren't because the weather was bad and when it's sunny both buses are working. What does that have to do with anything, I'm not sure because even if it's storming outside, I'm still expected to get to work on time. So I was spending a lovely 4 hours plus a day, standing around waiting for the bus which at times never came when it was said it would. The worst was getting off work around 5:30 and not getting home till close to 9, which gave me very little time to go out and do anything.

On Valentine's day though, I got a delivery... MY CAR. Honestly, as soon as I got it, I felt like I could breathe. I can go to work and get home from work easily, I can buy food whenever I need it, I can go to the parks. It's just really, really nice to have here.

I'm also taking a Disney University class while I am here called Disney Heritage. That started on the 11th. It's 2 hours every Tuesday and it's only for 8 weeks. It's pretty interesting, we talk about Walt and Roy Disney and how the company came to be. We also get to learn about things that the company planned on doing that never happened or that failed, so that's pretty cool.

Other than working, I've just been going to parks. I can't believe I've almost been here for a month. Honestly the days all blend together here. I try not to look at how many days until I come home, but my roommates and I realized it's 98 days away and that's really sad.

Celebrating Erica's 21st Birthday at The Crystal Palace.

First Day of Training.

I touched on this earlier, but I figured I would explain it more. My original job was a restaurant called Pizzafari. I knew nothing of the restaurant, but I would be inside and out of the heat. When my job got changed, I moved to outdoor foods which is still at Animal Kingdom, but obviously outside. Being in the heat freaks me out, because I've fainted in the heat before. There were other factors that played into that, but it still really makes me nervous. When my job was changed, I was really upset and cranky about it. I think I was overly tired so that played into it, but I was not having it at first. So my job is outdoor foods, at Animal Kingdom. I will be working in different lands and stations everyday. I will either be by myself or with a few other people. I will be selling typical theme park foods; pretzels, ice cream, popcorn, etc. I'll have a lot of guest interaction, which I am really looking forward to. I think it'll be okay and I think I'm going to like it.

Yesterday, February 3rd, was my first day of training at my actual location. The first half was SO boring. It was just more interactive computer slides, this time about how to work a register, how to serve alcohol and how to use The Hub, Disney's website for cast members. We had four hours to do all of that. Then it was lunch time. The cafeteria for Cast Members at DAK (Disney's Animal Kingdom) has a Jamba Juice despenser, which is funny to me because they don't have Jamba stores down South but there's one here and I used to work there. Anyway, after lunch it was time for a tour of all the different outdoor food kiosks at Animal Kingdom. It was 84 degrees and the tour was almost 3 hours long, so it was super hot and tiring, but my trainer made it a lot of fun. There's a ton of different stands and kiosks, so everyday will be something new for me. There's also a lot of backstage stuff that I will be doing, such as stocking, and running product to different kiosks. I also received a ribbon to wear on my name tag while training that says 'earning my ears.'

After I got home from work, I showered really quick and then Estefania and I took the bus to Magic Kingdom to meet up with Lindsay and Paige. We got there right before Wishes started and watched that, and then went on a few rides before the park closed.

Wishes!

Disney University, Epcot & Hollywood Studios.

Sunday, February 2nd, I had a class at Disney University all about quick service food & beverage which is my main role at Disney's Animal Kingdom. We watched presentations about all the different dining options Disney offers it's guests, including quick service restaurants, outdoor vending, character dining, and full service dining.

Once those were over, we went to a computer lab where we each watched interactive game type things, teaching us about how to take care of guests with disabilities and the different ways we can make sure we are creating a magical experience for them as well.

When we completed three of those interactive games, we were sent to pick up our non slip shoes. Being QSFB, we get a pair of non slips free, while every other role has to buy there own. That's really awesome, because a good pair of non slips that will be comfortable to wear all day can be really expensive, so I'm thankful for that.

I was off at 2, made my way home and got ready to go to Epcot with a friend I had met at DAKlimation. We went to Club Cool and on the Finding Nemo ride, before we decided to be done with that park and head on over to Hollywood Studios which was a ton of fun. First we made our way over to Tower of Terror. I hate that ride, but I love it too at the same time, if that makes any sense. Honestly, I think I always have my eyes closed 90% of the time. After that it was off to Rockin' Roller Coaster, which is my favorite. Then we did Star Tours and watched The Voyage of the Little Mermaid. The lines were all really short (maybe because it was Super Bowl Sunday?), so that was really awesome to not have to wait forever for anything.

After that, we went and met some characters; Mickey Mouse (dressed as Sorcerer Mickey, which I was extremely excited about), Minnie Mouse, Mr. Incredible and Frozone. Photopass ended up losing some of our pictures, so were missing most of them.

DAKlimation.

February 1st, I had my DAKlimation class. DAKlimation is Disney Animal Kingdom's park orientation, where you learn about the mission and themes of the park, as well as it's individual lands. DAKlimation started at 8 AM, so I had to wake up around 5:15 again. I was out of the house by 6:15 to catch the bus. The bus dropped us off at the cast parking lot and then a group of us just wandered around until we found the Cast Services Building.

Once it was 8, we gathered into a classroom and went over the park map, themes, and greetings for the particular area. Then we divided into groups and got to go on a tour of all of Animal Kingdom. This started out with a ride on the Kilimanjaro Safari, before the park had even opened. Since it was early in the morning, it was really cool because most of the animals were awake and active. Once that was over, we continued on our walk around the park as it started to rain. Not just a light sprinkle, big heavy rain drops, drenching all of us dressed up in our business clothes... so much for getting up early to look presentable.

Finally once we were finished, we came back to the classroom and reviewed some stuff and then we were handed our training schedules, when I found out my job was changed. I was furious. I now will be working outdoor foods.

It was then time to break for lunch and then we went to costuming, which was the most stressful process ever. Every time we had to tried something on, we had to show a person who worked at costuming and they approved it or not. Disney's sizes run really weird and it took try after try to find a pair or pants that both fit my waist and were long enough for my legs. I was more than irritated so I gave up and found some shorts, so I went with that instead.

Not pictured: hat and fanny pack. It's real cute though, trust me.
(That's sarcasm.)