Monday, September 30, 2013

Food and Wine

So today we did Food and Wine Festival at Epcot!


In the spring Epcot does the Flower and Garden Festival and in the fall they do Food and Wine. I got to see Flower and Garden at the end of my last program which was really amazing, but let’s be honest, everyone loves Food and Wine way more. Lol. So when I decided to do a fall program that was one of the things I was super excited about doing. We went with a group of Michelle’s co-workers and everyone was really cool so we had a great time. Food and Wine is definitely something to do with a group. That way everyone can get something different and you can share. So the way Food and Wine works is that along with the regular countries that are already in the world showcase there are extra booths set up from other countries that are usually not in the showcase. And out side each both is a sign that list the food and drinks that are available for that country. And it was relatively cheap. I was expecting the prices to be much higher. Everything was between $3 and $6. Now everything is small portions because you’re just sampling because there are so many booths. There’s usually two entrees and a dessert to pick from and about five drinks. So we started in Brazil. And like I said, every time someone bought something we all tried it. So a couple of the girls got a sparkling Moscato and it was one of my favorite drinks of the day. Next I got a Pinot Grigio from Australia that I was not a fan of. Which was disappointing because I usually like Pinots. Then Michelle got a pork slider from Hawaii that was pretty delicious. It had pineapple and spicy mustard on it. Then we went to Mexico and I got my usual nachos (that are not part of food and wine lol) that we all ended up sharing. But we did get a couple of sangrias from the Mexico booth that were extremely strong, but really good. Then I headed inside Mexico (again not apart of food and wine) because I wanted a margarita. So I waaaayy over paid ($16 drinking around the world is not cheap!) for an avocado margarita. Everyone kept saying it was really good and it was the only frozen one so I figured I would try it. Um…no! I thought it would get better as I kept drinking it, but it didn’t. lol. I mean it wasn’t horrible. But you have to have an acquired taste for it that I apparently didn’t have. So that was a bummer. Especially since I started getting a headache after that. I think drinking in the heat is what did it. I thought I was going to have to go home because of course I didn’t have any pain meds with me, but Michelle is an awesome roommate and found a gift shop with some Tylenol. So that kind of put a damper on the day, but at least it didn’t blow up into a migraine. So we moved on. We did skip a lot of the booths. This is something you can’t conquer in one day. Lol. I think the next thing we got was food from Morocco. Sooo good. I was going to get a chicken roll, but the guy said it was really spicy so I got a Kefta Pocket. It was just seasoned beef in a Peta pocket, but it was really good. Then some of the group got sushi and Sake from Japan. The last drink we got was an Apple ice wine from Canada that was sooooo good. Then we skipped some more booths and ended at the dessert and champagne booth. I was really full from Morocco so I didn’t get anything, but they have these things called frozen smores that I have heard are like amazing. So I will definitely be getting one of those before it’s over. It’s not over until November 11th so we have plenty of time to go back and try more. There was a dish from Italy and France I really wanted to try as well. But it was a really fun day and like I said it’s a lot of fun to do it with a group.


I also ran into one of my co-workers. Remember Craig from my assessment day? (The first time I met him one of our older co-workers introduced us as “Craig this is Megan and she’s single”). Lol. Well we’ve become really good friends so it was awesome running into him.


Oh we also harassed Katie while she was working. lol.
 
 
So after our adventure we were all wiped out! We came home and took a much needed nap. Lol.

Oh I also bought a new purse this morning! So Vera Bradley just came out with a new line for Disney. Like a couple weeks ago. Now I’m not much into designer anything so I really wasn’t into the Vera Bradley thing until I saw it. One of my co-workers showed me the wristlet she got and I liked it and then I started seeing people with the side body bags and I really like those. And I’ve been needing to get a bigger purse for when I go to the parks. I have my small black one, but it’s just not big enough for all my stuff. So since Michelle works at World of Disney she took me this morning before we went to Epcot so I could get one. I wasn’t quite expecting the price to be so high. I wanted the bigger side purse (there are two sizes), but I ended up getting the smaller one because of the price (with my cast discount it was $50). But I still love it. There are so many pockets and all my stuff fits just fine J I’m glad Michelle went with me because she knew to look for one with good print on it. They’re all different. Oh and then literally an hour after I bought it I found out that our 40% discount started in two weeks……. =/ I was like seriously??? But that’s ok.
 
 
OMG…so I went to Walmart after work last night so when I got home I was already in a bad mood because I hate going to Walmart as a CP. (I got off at 5:00 and didn’t get home until 8:00). Well when I walked into the apartment I was just pissed that it’s so freaking dirty so I just started cleaning. And cleaned for like three hours. We have inspections coming up too so that’s another reason why I did it, but it just irritates me that no one else cleans. Like I literally do the dishes every night when I get home. And it’s just a mess. So I started with our bathroom because there was mold growing in the sink and in the tub. So I scrubbed until I couldn’t scrub anymore. Then I moved onto the kitchen which was just disgusting. And then I picked up the living room which is like impossible because our dining room table is a catch all for everyone’s crap. But I did pick up the floor that had trash all over it. We don’t have a vacuum so I’m going to borrow one from the front desk soon. I just can’t believe that we’re all adults and no one can clean up after themselves. It’s irritating. I’m not meant to live with other people! Lol.

Oh I talked to one of my managers. I was trying to get Fridays off as one of my regular days off because housing goes to Give Kids the World every Friday and Sunday and I don’t get to go because I’m working. And as one of my co-workers said, “That’s like my thing”. Lol. But she couldn’t do anything for me. Which I thought was kind of stupid because I feel like she could of if she really wanted to….but she did say I could request off a few Fridays during my program and then she would try to give me a fifth day those weeks so I don’t have three days off. So I guess that was nice. Lol. But I’m still kind of bummed.

Mom and Stephen will be here in 31 days!!!
I got to skype Autumn tonight! I freaking miss her so much.

(Just realized I could make the pictures bigger). lol.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Animal Kingdom: Burudika @ the Street Party in Harambe



Here's a taste of what happends in Africa during the Burudika Street Party :)

Halloween Pins and Dancing

So….we went to the Halloween party Tuesday night. It was miserable. Lol. We decided to be ready by 5:30 so we could get there a little early. Well with girls I should have known that wasn’t going to happen. Lol. We ended up leaving around 6:30 so we got there as soon as the party started. It was suppose to be all of the roommates because it was Katie’s birthday (we’ve been planning this for a month), but only four of us ended up going. So that didn’t help the situation. My costume was cute, but itchy and my wings wouldn’t stay up so I didn’t get to wear them. That didn’t help either. THEN it rained…that REALLY didn’t help. But I did get to meet Tink. That was really all I wanted.

 
Oh and Terance :)
 
I did get some candy and got to see the parade. It was pretty stinkin’ awesome. Except the headless horseman wasn’t going because of the rain so that really sucked. That’s like the highlight of the parade. But Christopher Robin is in the parade along with the grave diggers who scrape shovels on the pavement which is awesome. The villains are in it along with the hyenas from the Lions King! And the Boo to You Parade song is the best.


We did watch the fireworks, but we were a little too close to the castle to really see them. But they were still pretty fantastic. I was done with the whole thing around 10:30 and when I’m done with something, I’m done! And I’m gonna be in a pissed off mood until I’m back home. And that’s what happened. Michelle and I got separated from the other two girls and couldn’t get a hold of them and ended up sitting on a bench for 45 min waiting for them to call us back. And it was cold and I was exhausted and it was just not good. So we ended up getting home around 1 and I went straight to bed because I had work in the morning.
So needless to say it will not be one of the highlights of my program. Lol.

Works been good. I did have a kid step on my toe the other day asked if my boots were steel toed. Um…NO. But thanks. And did the parents do anything? Of course not. I have had a lot of fun with the Wilderness Explorers lately. And there have been a lot lately. I have found that if I’m at a position I don’t like if I interact with the Explorers whether I have a badge bag or not it makes it much better. For example, at Rehab (my least favorite position) I make sure the Explorers are finding there trail markers since the person at Entrance usually doesn’t tell them to and by the time they get to valley (at the end) for their Hiking badge they’ve missed all the markers. So that makes some positions a little more fun.

I had parade yesterday. And let me just say it was pretty much the stupidest day ever. First I almost showed up to work 2 hours early. We have a big calendar on the fridge that everyone writes their schedule on so we all know when we’re all working and once I write my schedule on there that’s usually what I go by. Well it said 11:45 to 7:30 and I know that’s what the HUB said because I remember thinking that it was going to be my longest shift yet and it was freaking 15 min short of being an eight hour shift. WELL when I got to the bus stop something told me to check my schedule. Mind you the bus just turned the corner. Sure enough it changed and I didn’t have to be there until 1! I remember the day before at work seeing my schedule for the next day and seeing that it was 1 it just didn’t click. Sooooo thankfully I didn’t get on the bus (I would have been pissed beyond belief if I would have gotten all the way to work and found out) and I walked back home and watched the Office for an hour. So I eventually get to work and I knew the day was going to be kind of weird because I had parade, but instead of going home afterwards I was going back to the trail and had to close the Village that night. And I was only scheduled a 30 min break for the whole shift. Well I got that 30 min break 30 min after I got there! I was like seriously??? I just ate before I got to work and I still have six hours to go! So I was pissed. Then parade came after my break. So this is only the second parade shift I’ve had. I was assigned to be the clipper. Which consist of clipping the ropes before and after parade. Which sucks because we got new ropes with new clippers and they hurt your thumb! So yeah. I really do like parade because after you set up you literally stand and walk around for an hour talking to guest. And the African street band/street party is playing and they’re so much fun to listen to. I caught myself at one point standing there listening to them and looking around and thinking to myself that I love my job and I’m working at the best possible place in Disney J So after parade we don’t have to clock back in until 4:30 and we usually have about 10 – 15 min to spare. So the coordinator who was on parade let us dance to the street party (they play before and after parade). It was so much fun!

Then I headed back to the trail and I was still bitter about having to work three more hours without another break, BUT I did end up getting one more 15 so I was little happier after that. Lol.

So I totally didn’t mention (because I haven’t blogged since then) that we had a baby African Pigmy Goose hatch in the Aviary. But I found out yesterday the dad accidentally crushed him L He was sooo cute! So it was nice while it lasted. Lol.

Pin trading…so I ordered pins from ebay before my program because I’m a big pin trader and love to do it when I go to the parks. Well I’ve traded in the parks once. lol. I actually do more personal pin trading at work. Lol. And it’s always with my co-workers. So there are five of us CPs on the trail. And we’re all really close and get along really well which I’m super duper glad about. But we all have work lanyards and every time we see each other we always check out each other pins to see who has the best ones and to see if we’ve gotten anything new. Well I always put extra pins on my lanyard these and days because I always come home with fewer pins than I’m suppose to have. Lol. Because I either trade with a guest and they give me a really good pin and I pocket it or one of the other CPs has an awesome pin and I trade with them and pocket it. Lol. I’m running out of pins to trade so I ordered more online last night. Lol. I’m going to have to get another personal lanyard because I’m running out of room already! But I’m super happy with all my pins so far. I’ve come across some awesome ones!

 
So character auditions!! One of the CPs at work kept saying that there was an audition coming up next Wednesday and I should go, but I didn’t take her seriously because first of all it wasn’t on the Disney Auditions website and second of all every audition that is on there is not for CPs. So I was like whatever. Well come to find out it is for CPs! And that’s why it wasn’t on the website. I guess there was flyer at the front desk of Vista. Ok thanks for letting the rest of know! Ugh…but anyway when I found out we could go I was freaking out because I really want to go, but I was working that day. So I posted my schedule as soon as I found out and thankfully someone picked it up so I’m going!! If I get it, I will for sure have to extend. But that will ok with me. So I’m super excited and super nervous at the same time. I’ve only been to a face audition and all I had to do was stand there and look pretty. Lol. This time I’m going to have to learn a dance. And I don’t dance! Lol. But I’m going into it with a positive attitude and I’m just going to have fun with it.

So I get a three day weekend! Just have to make it through tomorrow. I went in early today because I need to talk to a manager, but of course they all went to lunch at the same freaking time. So I’m going to go in early again tomorrow and try again. After I talk to them I’ll tell you what it’s about. Nothing majorly important. Lol.

OMG Grey’s Anatomy started back up Thursday!!! I worked until 7:30 and of course I closed with Anne Marie who always wants to stay until all the tables have cleared in Tusker whether or not it’s time to leave or not. Well I told her I had to leave at 7:30 because I had to catch the 7:45 bus so I could get home in time to catch Grey’s at 9! Lol. Well I made it and I commandeered the TV for two hours and it was awesome. I love that freaking show! But up until now I’ve watched it on Netflix so the commercials are killer. Lol.
Ok I’ll for sure let you know how auditions go! J
 

Friday, September 27, 2013

Quick Update

I promise to elaborate in the next couple days (hopefully tomorrow night).

So Halloween party…miserable.

Going to character auditions on Wednesday…yay!

Work…eh.

J

Sunday, September 22, 2013

A Couple Things...

First of all...I've gotten in the habbit of not proof reading my entries before I post them so sorry about the misspelled words and sentences that don't make sense. lol.
Second of all...I just noticed all the comments!! I hate that I don't get noticed about comments on here like facebook. LOL.
So Summer and daddy...I love you both so much and miss you like crazy! I really do like the comments :) So I'll be sure to check them now. lol.

Do I Look Like I Speak Spanish?!

Yeah, so the whole blogging every now and then thing is not working for me since I tend to forget about my blog when I do that.

Nothing super exciting has happened lately. My days off last week were ok. Michelle and I went to Animal Kingdom because I’ve been dying to play there since I work there.
 
 
So of course the first thing we did when we got there was Pangani. Lol. So I gave Michelle a private tour. Lol. Then we did the Safari. Oh we did become Wilderness Explorers, but that didn’t last long because we didn’t want to carry the books around with us so we ditched those pretty fast. Lol. Then we caught the Festival of the Lion King show which was absolutely fabulous! I didn’t see it on my last program, but it is one of the only things I remember about Animal Kingdom from my first trip to Disney when I was younger. But it as amazing. Definitely worth seeing again. Multiple times. Lol.
 
 
 
Then we ate lunch at Restaurantasoraus. Totally did not know that Animal Kingdom had corn dog nuggets! (My favorite Disney food for those of you who don’t know). It was on the kids menu which kind of awesome because it was cheaper than getting them in MK and they came in a sand pail with a shovel! Lol.
 
 
The daily rain shower came while we were eating so we waited it out and then headed over to ride Dinosaur. So this ride freaks me out and I always end up closing my eyes through over half of it. Lol.

            Speaking of Dinosaur the other day at work I was at Savannah when I heard that Dinosaur did a full scale evacuation because there was a Signal 25 alert. Which means it was on fire. Lol. It amazes me how often the AK attractions go 101 (down). It’s Tough to Be a Bug went 101 the other day because Hopper was spuing hydraulic fluid all over the audience. I can’t imagine how pissed people were after that. Lol.

So after Dino we rode Everest of course. Twice in a row because there was no wait. And I never noticed the Yeti until Michelle pointed it out. And it’s freaking scary!! Lol.
                                             (Everest is on top. Dino is the bottom. LOL)
 
We went up to Rafiki’s and met Rafiki. That was by far the weirdest character meet and greet. He snorted and stared at us and it was just weird. Lol. But this is one of my favorite pictures!

 
Then we ended our day with Finding Nemo the Musical. Ok let me just say this is a one time, been there done that thing. I was apprehensive of it to begin with because there are not songs in Finding Nemo so how are you going to make it a musical? Well Disney did it anyway. It was 40 minutes (yes, 40 minutes!!) of puppeteers singing ridiculous made up songs to EVERY scene of Nemo. Like I said…been there done that.

 
 
Then on Wednesday we hung out and went to Bdubs which was nothing worth writing about. I was really tired the next day so worked sucked so I will not be doing that again. Lol.

Work has been ok. I’m getting less closing shifts which is totally awesome. It’s kind of hit the point where it has become just another job. Like all the newness and funness has worn off. lol. A little. I mean I still like it and have a lot of fun and love talking to guest. But waking up has become much harder. Lol. I did get an ER the other day which was great. I can only request an ER (early release) if I’m not closing. So I was suppose to get off at 5, but I put in an ER for 2 and got it. Three hour shifts are the best. Lol. I try not to do that a lot since I’m only getting 30 a week to begin with. But it was a nice treat.

Yeah, I’m not really digging my paychecks. Last week I made a whopping $36 after rent was taken out. =/ It was that low because that was week I missed two shifts. But even full paychecks are not the greatest especially when I’m use to making sooooo much more back home. I’m hoping (kind of) that I’ll get more hours as we start to get busier.

So I’ve got to watch Stationing with the gorillas twice now! I had only seen it once in training. And I seem to always get pulled from Valley RIGHT before they do it. So getting to see it twice in one week was pretty awesome. What does suck about it is the stupid foreign people who think they own the world and can do whatever they want and don’t have to listen to you! I’m sorry if I offend anyone, but the foreigners are really irking me lately. And yes, it’s usually the ones who speak Spanish that are the worse. Do not start fluently speaking Spanish to me and then get pissed when I tell you I don’t speak Spanish! You should automatically assume I don’t speak Spanish. I’m obviously white! Ugh…sorry. It’s just irritating. I mean usually they’ll ask if I speak Spanish before they start asking questions, but I literally had a lady in Savannah start fluently speaking Spanish to me like I knew what she was saying and then rolled her eyes and stomped off after I said I’m sorry I don’t speak Spanish. Like for real??? Get a clue….

Anyway…back to my gorillas. So the keeper comes out and I tell people to please step back and give him room and these foreigners are like all up in his business yelling. I just want to slap them. They are also the ones I usually have to tell to stop whistling or yelling at the gorillas. They’re just annoying. And they always talk so loud! Like they have to yell at one another to be heard. I was in Outpost and had this family literally screaming (Spanish) at each other. I just don’t get some people.

But (lol) seeing Stationing is always awesome. And I really like explaining it to people when it’s over. They’re always really interested. I love the gorillas! Lol.

Costuming still doesn’t have pouches to hold my rain gear so I’m still getting soaked when it rains. Not closing has been fantastic! Lol. I have two closing shifts next week, but that’s it.

Our Halloween party is Tuesday! Oh and I’m really upset because I’ve always had Tuesdays and Wednesdays off, but now I’m getting Mondays and Tuesdays off which is really starting to annoy me….So I have tomorrow off. I really want to go to water park, but I don’t know if I will because I need to finish getting stuff for my costume. All the roomies have Tuesday night off so it’ll be the first time we’ve all got to hang out together and we’re super excited!

So I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do after the program and stuff and it seems to change like every week. lol. But this week I am for sure extending. I was at the bus stop today and contemplating life (lol) and realized that I’m for sure not going to go full time with Disney. So this will be the last time I’m here so I’m going to make the most of it. Because when I go home I’m going to find a job and get my own place and settle down into the “adult world” so I need to do as much as I can now. And I’m only going to have this opportunity once. I want to get the most out of being here before I don’t have the opportunity anymore. So as of now I’m extending. But we’ll see how I feel next week. lol.

I got to talk to Autumn tonight. Which is always one of my favorite things to do. I miss her sooo incredibly much. I got off at 6:30 tonight and the next CP bus came at 6:33. Well the same thing happened last night and by some miracle I made the bus. I clocked out as soon as I could (which is two minutes early), the Cast bus was as Pride Rock, and I powered walked across the parking lot and made it. So I was expecting the same thing to happen tonight….yeah, no. I clocked out, but the bus was not at Pride Rock so Katie (a co-worker) and I were gonna run. Well if you no me you know I don’t run. I got about three feet and thought I was going to die. So Katie kept running and eventually stopped and looked back at me and threw her arms up. lol. But I guess she flagged down the bus and it stopped for her. Well needless to say I missed it. And the next one didn’t come until 7:15 (stupid freaking buses) so I called Autumn. She always makes me laugh. I seriously cannot wait to see her again.

Let’s see…not much else is going on. Mom and Stephen will be here in a little over a month so I’m super excited about that!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Ear Infection

So I was suppose to work Thursday, but I woke up Wednesday night with excruciating pain in my left ear. Like hurt so bad I was crying…so I called in Thursday and went straight to the doctor. And an hour and half and $165 later (so much for having insurance!) he told me I had a middle inner ear infection and prescribed me amoxicillin. So I ended up not going to work Thursday and I gave away my shift for Friday to go to what ended up being the most ridiculous Disney even I’ve ever been to. But let me back up. I was really upset that I had to call in Thursday because I was scheduled to do a barn tour of the bats and tigers of Asia at work. But Thursday night the roommates and I went to the housing event Octoberfest (yes, in September). Everything was echoing, but at least my ear didn’t hurt anymore. We ended up meeting Snow White and Prince Charming. It was going to be Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder, but the rotated as soon as we got to the front of the line :/ Then we ate dinner which was really horrible German food because it was free Disney housing food. And what kind of Octoberfest doesn’t have some type of alcohol?? So we decided to go to Downtown Disney and get a drink. We had so much fun. I’m so thankful that we all get along so well. Other than the whole dishes thing…that we obviously can’t figure out.

 
Ok so Friday…Karie and I were planning on going to Hollywood because we were the only two off. I wanted to go early in the day, but I really like my sleep. Lol. So around 5:00 we decided to head that way. Well…the bus was packed after picking up Chatham. No one was able to get on at Vista. So we’re headed to Hollywood and traffic is backed up like you would not believe. So we ended up getting off at the Boardwalk resort even though we had no idea what to do from there. We ended up following a crowd to the boat dock that goes to Hollywood. While we’re waiting in line we over heard a lady say that half an hour ago Hollywood was an hour away from being at capacity. So we’re like freaking out and it’s taking us forever to get there. Well the boat ride was packed and the slowest boat I have ever been on. But after an hour we finally got there! And we got in. Woo Hoo. So the event didn’t start until 8 so we had some time to get some food. We ended up going to Pizza Planet because my corn dog stand was closed…I have never seen a queue line for a quick service, but what do you know, there’s a first time for everything. Soooooooooooooo many people!!! Shortly after the even started they stopped letting people in because the park was at capacity. I mean seriously?! The parks don’t reach capacity until Christmas time! When we were done eating it was almost 8 so we decided to go find a spot in front of the hat to watch everything. Yeah, that didn’t happen. We got stuck on a path that was supposed to be moving. Everything was tapped off and you’re supposed to be behind the tape, but there were so many people that nobody cared and the poor people working the event had no control. So we eventually watched the show from the side and we couldn’t even see the stage so we had to watch it from one of the screens. It was pretty awesome though. Hades hosted it with Meggera as his co-hostess. They introduced the 13 Villains one at a time. There was Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Cruelle-de-ville, Oggie-boogie, Captain Hook, Jafar, Bowler Hat guy, Shay Yu, the Big Bad Wolf, Follo, Governor Radcliffe, and Dr. Facilier. There was absolutely no way we could meet any of them because the line was longer than you could even imagine. Like hours of waiting. So we watched the awesome fireworks show and ended up leaving. But the wait for the bus was so long we ended up sharing a taxi with a couple other girls. Omg…the most unorganized, chaotic thing ever. AND I found out today at work that I missed ANOTHER barn tour because I gave away my shift…and it was the gorillas! And they were in there…training! Ugh…I was so upset when I heard that.
 

 
So today at work I had my first parade shift. Pros and cons about parade. Pros: it makes your shift go by super fast and you pretty much stand there for two hours doing nothing. And you get off at 4:30 which is awesome. Cons: it’s freaking hot! Like my clothes were super wet from sweating so freaking much. Oh and people get really pissed off at you when you tell them that everything (including their feet) have to be behind the line. So I’m still not sure how I totally feel about parade shifts.

So summer and mom have sent me packages J I have enough homemade chocolate chip cookies to feed a hippo and my board is looking awesome! With pictures and cards. I’m missing home so much, but I really am loving my program.
Oh and my Halloween costume came in. yay! We’re so excited about our Halloween party in a couple weeks.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Free Pizza…at a Nightclub…No…

So I’ve had the most exciting/productive/Disney filled weekend yet. Lol. Monday night Michelle and I went to MagicKingdom with Michelle’s friend and some of his friends. Well his friends were two girls in entertainment…oh geez. Ok so people in entertainment our totally in their own world and think they are all that and more. So it was an interesting night. We watched the parade and of course they knew everyone so they were hollering and screaming. It was just a little much. But then we hung out at someone’s apartment when we got back and it was still entertainment people, but guys. Now guys are way better than girl entertainers mainly because they don’t act like they think they are real princesses. Lol. And they are usually gay and gay guys are just fun to hang out with. Lol. So we drank wine and watched youtube videos until 2 in the morning.

Then on Tuesday Michelle and I got up early (well 10am) and headed to MagicKingdom. Our goal was to meet as many characters as possible. We eventually met 16! It was awesome. (oh and all the fall/Halloween decorations are up which are amazing)!
 
So as soon as we enter the park we see Marie from the Aristocats so we got in line for her. She is one of my favorite fur characters. Sooo cute!

Then we got fastpasses to meet the princesses and went to the castle to watch Move It Shake It Celebrate It! Still one of my favorite things to do in the parks ever! So we met the princesses. Cinderella was so quiet we couldn’t understand a single word she said to us so that was awkward. Aurorawas not the prettiest Aurora I’ve seen. And Rapunzel was our favorite.
 


 
Then we hopped over to see Mickey because the wait was only 5 minutes. The parks are so dead right now it’s ridiculous.
Then we hoped over to Storybook Circus and met Donald, Goofy, Daisy, and Minnie. I love Minnie’s costume.



Then we ate lunch at Be Our Guest. So amazing! They started building it on my last program so it was pretty awesome to get to finally see the final product.
Then we watched the 3:00parade. Met Tiana. And we were very disappointed because Prince Naveen wasn’t out LHe’s my favorite.
Then we met Aladdin and Jasmine. They were my favorite to interact with.

Then we went to Tomorrowland and met Buzz Lightyear. Who signs your autograph book with a stamp. I was like, really Disney? Lol.
Then we met Tigger and Pooh who are just adorable.
We stood in line to meet the faries, but we were so exhausted that we ditched the line and headed home. Michelle made us Alfredo for dinner that was so good. Then we got ready for our weekly outing. So everyone knows we usually go to Senior Frogs. Well a lot of Michelle’s co-workers were going to take the “other” party bus to Lux. So I got over ruled and we ended up going with them. I’ve never been on this bus and there’s a reason. I’ve heard nothing but negative things about this bus and the guy who runs it. But I tried to keep a positive attitude for Michelle. Well I was totally right. The night was a disaster. We waited in line forever when we got there. There were free drinks until 1, but we were literally drinking out of Dixiecups so we were constantly at the bar instead of dancing. (um...we get free drinks at Senior Frogs out of a yard cup…) And there was free pizza…what??? Who provides free pizza at a nightclub? Who goes to a nightclub to eat pizza? It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. The music was way too loud. And the bus didn’t leave until 2:45!!! Ok when we go to Senior Frogs 2:00 is late enough. By the end of the night people were just sitting on the couches because we were just done. It was so bad. So at the end of the night I looked at Michelle and said “I told you so”! lol. So needless to say, we will be sticking with Senior Frogs on Tuesdays. Lol.

So today I’ve done nothing. I like having at least one day to just sleep and by lazy. I work tomorrow and then have Friday off so I can go to Hollywood for the Villain Party!
Oh I also got a package from Summer! I've been missing home lately so it was perfect :)
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, September 8, 2013

I know, I'm a Horrible Person...


Ok sooo…I’ve been a horrible blogger lately, I know. Partly because I’ve been pretty busy and also because I’m lazy. Lol.

I decided that since every day at work is pretty much the same (clock in, position, rotation, break, position, rotation, clock out) I would just blog at the end of my week with highlights from work and then at the end of my “weekend” with events from my days off. We’ll see how that goes. It obviously did not work this last week. lol. And my week isn’t technically over until tomorrow, but I’m really behind and people have been bugging me to post something. Lol. And since none of the roommates are home and I’m just sitting on the couch watching Harry Potter, I though I could multi-task.

So…work has been great. I still love it. Some days are better than others. It usually depends on which positions I end up getting. And of course I close almost every night. Today and yesterday I actually got off at 5:30 and that was awesome. I actually got off at 4:30 yesterday because I put in for an ER (early release). I realized I should have put in one for 3:30 after about the fourth person asked me if I needed a 103 (restroom break) within one hour. We were way over staffed yesterday. You also know we’re over staffed when you get the position “Research Door”. I got this for the first hour of my shift yesterday. With this position you literally stand there and hold the door for people. And yes, I did it for an hour! Lol.

So I see and talk to hundreds of people everyday and get asked the stupidest, most ridiculous things ever. I’ve been asked if the Naked Mole Rats are dead (“yes, we display dead animals at Disney”….really people?!). While in Gorilla Valley I got asked if we carry stun guns or tasers (um…no!). She just couldn’t believe that we didn’t carry some kind of protection no matter how much I tried to reassure her that the animals can’t escape. (Even though I did have a very vivid dream last night that the bachelor group did get out of their habitat). Lol. Oh and I had a guest tell me that there is no way there could be a male gorilla in the family group because the males eat the babies…um no they don’t. It’s really hard not to laugh in people’s faces sometimes. Lol.

So I was in Savannah the other day with the Meerkats and I had this older couple come up and talk to me. I don’t know how we got on the subject, but the gentleman asked me if I had seen the Life of Pi yet. Well I haven’t. He kept going on about how amazing it was and how there was so much more to the movie than meets the eye. He wanted so desperately to tell me some secret meaning the movie had in it, but he didn’t want to ruin the movie for me. So he asked me if I had a piece of paper (and I did, I carry a notebook in my pocket so I can write things down that I need to remember) and he wrote down this secret meaning and made me promise I wouldn’t open it until I saw the movie. Lol. So it’s folded up in my drawer and no I haven’t opened it. I can’t! lol. So I need to obviously rent the movie and watch it.

So on top of Entrance and Birds, I really like the Gorilla positions. They’re just so amazing! Today I was in Outpost (where you can view the Family behind the glass) and Lilly our three year old was sooo active! Watching her play is so much fun. I HATE Rehab position…people just ignore you and it’s annoying.

Oh I did finally get my pin lanyard for work! So last program when I got my work lanyard I had to meet with this certain person and sign this paper and promise I would give it back. Well this time I literally walked in the office said I needed a lanyard and they threw it to me across the room. Lol. No certain person or signing anything. I was like ok that was easy. lol. But you know me, I love pin trading! But I feel like there aren’t many pin traders at Animal Kingdom compared to Magic Kingdom. Which I guess makes the kids I do trade with that much more special J

So it’s still raining…EVERY day. And I still don’t have a pouch for my rain gear. So I still get drench all the time. It’s ridiculous. And I have NEVER heard thunder like I do hear. The storms are always right over the park. We go 101 at least every other day. We went down at 3:30 the other day and never went back up. Which was kind of nice. A group of us just chilled in the research center until it was time to go. Lol. And again…people are stupid! I had to close that night so I ended up at entrance with Anne Marie until we could go down to the Village. We stood there and told people who came off of Safari that we we’re down due to weather and that everything is going to be over the bridge (stroller, restaurants, shelter). No matter how we said it people still came up to us asking if we we’re open or where the strollers were…lol.

I did make a magical moment for a family the other day. I was in Valley and it was almost 5:00 (the time they put the bachelors up). So I’m talking to this family and they’re fixing to walk off, but I told them if they could wait about five minutes they’d be able to see one of our males up close when the keeper throws food to him. They we’re so thrilled. It was a lot of fun to see them get excited about that.

I was at Viewing Blind the other day with the Okapi and saw one the females get shocked because she got too close to the front. That was interesting. I was just glad there were no guests around. I really didn’t want to explain that. There was also an owl loose for two days from the Flights of Wonder show. I don’t really know how she got away, but I felt bad for the Flights of Wonder staff because they had to just stand there and watch her until she decided to come down. They followed her every time she flew to a different tree, they had to stay from sun up to sun down, and just stand there. Lol. I guess she finally came down because they weren’t out today.

Omg I witnessed one of the rudest guest I’ve ever seen yesterday. I was at Outpost and thia lady came up and she was in a motor chair and after looking at her I realized she was only in it because she was overweight and obviously lazy. That just irked me. So I’m standing there fairly close to this lady when another lady came up to ask me a question. Well the fat lady (sorry for my bluntness, but she made me mad) had her camera out and the other lady stepped in front of her to talk to me. Well instead of ROLLING herself around this lady (where she would get a better picture anyway) she GRABBED the lady and said “you’re in my way”. While the lady was still talking to me! I was so shocked I didn’t know what to do. And she did this to like two other people. I was so angry! People amaze me sometimes.

And then you have the guests that make the rude ones worth it. I love when people see my name tag and actually use my name. It just makes the interactions more personal. They other day I was in Research and we have a Sand Boa that you can never see because she’s constantly buried and this one guest asked if I could take it out and of course I said no, even if I was allowed. Lol. So when he was leaving I heard him talking to his family and he said “There’s a snake in there, but Megan won’t take it out for us”. We both just laughed. And then there are the guests who say hi to you using your name or thank you using your name. It’s just a neat thing that I enjoy. Lol.

So like I said, I see hundreds of people every day from every walk of life and every corner of the country. I was talking to a co-worker today about how I’m sure I talk to more people who don’t speak English than guests that do on a daily basis. It’s kind of ridiculous. But anyway…anyone who knows me knows I have a huge heart and passion for children with special needs. And I love this job because I get to see them all the time. I’ve seen multiple Down syndrome kids who just melt my heart and I got see a little girl (who couldn’t be older than three) at Outpost the other day who had I’m guessing a trachea or the like around her neck so she couldn’t talk. But when her dad said “what does a Gorilla say” she beat her chest like a Gorilla. It was the most precious thing I have ever seen! With seeing these kids and talking to Ann Marie (the lady I close with most of the time and has been with the company for years) I’ve really been thinking about what I want to do after the program. And I’ve thought A LOT about going back to school for Special Ed. Like I’ve been researching schools. But I still don’t know. I freaking hate school and don’t want to go back, but I know if I want to work with these kids that’s what I’m going to have to do…..

Anyway…back to work. Lol. I did receive a Great Service Fanatic card the other day! Woo Hoo. These are cards other cast members can write for you when they see you going above and beyond. And then it’s put in drawing for different prizes. I was at Forest Entrance the other day and the stroller person form Safari came up to me and said that a guest had pulled her aside and told her how welcoming and kind I was. So that was super awesome. I have it pinned on my bulletin board in my room. Which is slowly but surely filing up. I got a picture drawn by Cayden and a picture from grandma of Aunt Christie, Uncle Larry, and me from when we went to the gulf when we stayed with them. I love it. I also got to skype mom the other night and she was keeping Cayden and Jacob for the night. I miss my nephews so much so I was super happy to see their sweet faces. The first thing Cayden asked me was “where’s Mickey Mouse”? It was super cute.

I was finally added to the Pangani group on facebook! We have our own group where people can find shifts or pick up shifts or trade shifts. I REALLY wanted to find someone to take my Friday the 13th shift because Hollywood Studios is having a Villians party and I really wanted to go. I mean I could still go if I was working because I get off at 6:30, but it would just be better if I wasn’t working at all. Well once I was added to the group it was super easy to find someone to take it! There are people who are willing to take shifts all the time. So I’m off Friday!!! Woo hoo! I think there are two other roommates off that day as well so I won’t have to go alone. I’m sooo excited!

So my “weekend” this past week was pretty uneventful. I went to Downtown Disney to see a movie, but once I got there I really didn’t want to go by myself so I just got dinner and went back home. Lol. Then I went to Walmart on Tuesday and spent freaking $60 on junk food. Lol. So I’ve banned myself from grocery shopping for at least two weeks. And then of course we went to Senior Frogs Tuesday night. (Ok so I went to Senior Frogs with a co-worker on Friday night and it was ridiculous. We were the youngest ones there and it was just weird. So I’m just going to stick to Tuesday nights. Lol.) Then we picked up our Maingates on Wednesday. Yay! So we can get into the parks again. Oh we also had inspections on Wednesday.

So we knew inspections were coming up, but they didn’t give us a specific date. So we had been cleaning and trying to keep the apartment some what tidy. Which is hard with six girls. So Wednesday Karie and I were dead asleep (yes, at noon) when Lynn comes charging into our room yelling “they’re down stairs”! So we jump up and I start scrubbing the toilet and Michelle is in the kitchen scrambling to put everything up and we just looked like a bunch of chickens with our heads cut off. So we’re all sitting on the couch when they bang on our door. And they came in and looked through every room and made a bunch of noise by drilling our fire extinguisher to the wall. And all the sudden the guy asked “who’s Michelle”? And she raised her hand and he was like “you lost your bra”? And we all just look at each other like what? And Apparently Lynn (the jokester of the house) had written on the white board “I lost my bra –Michelle”. Omg…it was the most hilarious thing ever. Michelle was so embarrassed. Lol. But we passed! And instead of giving up cookies like my last program we got peanut butter crackers :/ really?? We clean our butts off and get crackers? Whatever….

Tomorrow is my Friday! I’m closing so I’m off at 6:30. I’m determined to go to a park soon.

Ok so I’m going to try to not wait so long to blog because it’s overwhelming when I do! Lol.