The Router Brings All the Boys to the Yard

I didn’t blog anything yester day because I just had the welcome session and I’ve already heard all of it so I was super bored the whole time. Oh but we did have some nerdy boys over to try to help us with our router issue, but still no luck. Which sucks more than you know. But anyway….

Today was sooooo much fun! I know these days are going to pass eventually and this will become just another job like my last program so I’m trying to enjoy them as much as possible. I love my roommates more and more every day. They are the greatest group of girls. I couldn’t have asked for better roommates.

Today was Traditions day! Woo Hoo for becoming official Cast Members. So Lynn, Katie, and I all had the morning session from 8 to 12:30. We walked to the bus stop from Patterson to Chatham and I already had awful blisters. So I knew my feet were going to hate me by the end of the day. I wore super cute itty bitty heels from a thrift store, but I guess my feet didn’t like them. So seriously by the end of traditions my feet were bleeding and I walked home from the bus stop bare foot because it hurt so freaking bad. But I do have better shoes for park orientation on Sunday.

So Traditions was alright. Like the welcome session I was pretty bored because I’ve done it before and knew what was going to happen. Traditions is more fun if there is an element of surprise. But I got through it, got my name tag, and can get in the parks for free now. What what!

So the Woody’s Round-up Welcome party was also today. And because there is free food everyone goes. It was actually a lot of fun. We got cowboy hats and got to see Woody and Jessie and won free SafeD Begins with Me lanyards.

But after about an hour or so of that I was pretty much dying to get to Magic Kingdom. And I knew Lynn was too. This is her first time to Disney ever so I was super excited to be with her on her first visit.

 So Katie, Lynn, and I went to Magic Kingdom and met up with Michelle as soon as she was done with Traditions.

The other girls don’t have it until tomorrow so they couldn’t come with us L The weather was acting kinda funny and couldn’t decided if it wanted to rain or not. But thankfully we didn’t get poured on. But the Dumbo ride was down due to weather and that was the one ride Lynn wanted to ride more than anything. And it was so sad that we couldn’t. But I got to finally see the new expansion of Fantasyland and it’s awesome! Disney never disappoints. So we rode the new Little Mermaid ride. Then got food. I got my corn dog nuggets of course and they were amazing. Lol. Then we watched the Electrical Parade, the new projection show, and of course WISHES!

I didn’t cry like I thought I would, but I definitely sang along like always J It’s so good to be back in Disney! So after Wishes we had about 30 minutes before the parked closed so we rushed back over to fantasyland to see if we could get on Dumbo because it was back up. I have never seen a person so excited to ride Dumbo before as Lynn was. It was awesome. So we rode Dumbo and took lots of pictures.

Then we got to meet Ariel because there was no wait and ride the Little Mermaid ride one more time. This time all four of us tried to squeeze in one of the clams and it was hilarious. These girls make me laugh so hard. I know we are going to have an awesome time together in the next 6 months. 

 

I have the next two days of, but I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet. We get into the water parks for free until February so I’m dying to go, but I also want to hit up Animal Kingdom before I start training and scope it out. But I do know that right now I’m going to bed. It’s 2:00 in the morning and my feet are screaming.

Senior Frogs

Here are some pictures from our trip to Senior Frogs last night. We had so much fun!

 

Yeah...That's Not Me

So today was a little less eventful than yesterday. We did get our AC fixed! So we’re not dying any more. I had drug testing at 1:30. That was super fun. Especially since I got all the way to Vista and realized I forgot my Program Guide. So I had to ride the bus all the way back to Chatham and convince one of my roommates to bring me my guide and then hustle back to Vista so I wouldn’t be late. It was stupid. ESPECIALLY since the sticker on the back of my guide isn’t even me! So I get to the place and hand the guy my guide and I was like there were two Megan’s who checked in yesterday and that’s not me. And he was like oh well she’s here too. So I got to meet my twin. Come to find out we even have each other itineraries for the rest of the week, but thankfully we go to the housing meeting and traditions at the same time. So that was kinda chaotic, but then me and some of the roomies ventured to the outlet mall that is literally in our backyard. It’s huge. But we really needed a PayLess so we tried to find one and ended up at the mall! Long story short, it was a crazy crazy adventure. But I love these girls. They are super fun. We’re going out tonight since none of us really have anything to do tomorrow. So I’m sure it’s going to be another epic adventure, but I’m ready J

EPCOT....jk Animal Kingdom....jk EPCOT....jk......

YAY for check in!

So I had to get up at 4:00 yesterday morning :/ But I was so excited I really didn’t mind. We got to Orlando about ten till 7:00 so we were able to stop by chick-fil-a and get some breakfast before I had to head to check in. Check in was definitely different this time around from my last program. First of all they let cars into the complex. Last time we had to line up outside of security. So they dropped me off around 7:15 and there were already a million CPs in line, but I was able to find Rachael and Michelle so that was awesome. I didn’t have to go through check in alone. (Even though I knew exactly what to expect). It was so weird being back at Vista and seeing the building I stayed at last time. But check in was much faster than last time. The DORMS system really helped. All the roommates ended up being together and we’re living in a three bedroom apartment at Patterson Court (our first choice). Yay! My roommates are awesome! We all seem to get along really well.

So we get our apartment keys and have our pictures taken for our housing IDs (which turned out horrible!!). Our faces are so fat and squished. Lol. Then we got to wait in line to get our work locations! YAY! I have been anticipating this moment from the time I accepted my offer to be in the program. I felt like my whole program was riding on this moment. So we give them our name and they put a sticker on the back of our program guides that say where will be working. Well I look on mine and my perner number is different than what it should be. I should still have the same one I had on my last program, but I didn’t really pay attention to that too much because my work assignment is also on this little piece of paper and that’s way more important at this moment! Lol. So mine said EPCOT FW East which means EPCOT Future World East side, but I still didn’t know exactly what ride yet. You usually don’t find that out until you start training. So I was a little disappointed because I was really wanting Animal Kingdom. One because of the hours (the latest they’re open is like 9 unlike Magic Kingdom where I got home at like 3 in the morning) and second I just wanted a completely different experience from my last program. But I was still excited because EPCOT is a great park and two of my roomies were working there. So I accepted it. But on top of that my sticker was colored yellow which apparently meant I had to get drug tested. Yippy-freaking-skippy. So then we got our schedules for the next couple of days. I had casting at 9:30 (right after check in). Then on Tuesday (the next day) I have my drug testing at 1:30 and then Wednesday I have the housing meeting at freaking 4:00 and then Thursday is Traditions. And I’m super happy because I have the morning class so I’ll get to play in the parks the rest of the day! YAY! And Lynn has it with me and this is her first time to Disney so I’ll get to be with her when she goes to Magic Kingdom for the first time J

So we got our schedules then we had to make sure our direct deposits were set up correctly. Well of course mine wasn’t and of course I freaking forgot to bring a blank check with me and my check book was with my luggage with Aunt Christie so I got super pissed because first of all I checked and double checked my numbers when I set this all up online and second because the lady was super rude and I had to be put on a freaking pay card. So even though I can switch over to direct deposit my first two paychecks will go on a pay card >:/

But anyway I finally let that go because it’s too early to be getting upset. Lol. So I loaded the bus for casting and was with Michelle. Rachael had casting the next day so she was able to go scope out the apartment for us. Casting was so much shorter than last time thank goodness. So the first room we go to they give us folders with stickers on them just like the ones on the back of our guides. Well the lady showed it to me and asked if that was me, but I hesitated because the work location was different! It said AK – Trails Operations. So my first thought is “OMG I’m actually in Animal Kingdom”. But when I asked the next person I came to they said to go by the one on my program guide and that it was a mistake. So my dreams got shattered and I was still at EPCOT….lol. So we move on…wait in more lines…sign our names…get fingerprinted…wait in more lines…sign our names…and then we get to the very last part. I hand the lady my stuff and she hesitates because there are two Megan Johnson’s on her paper. Remember my perner number situation earlier? Well one Megan Johnson has the one that’s on my sticker and one has my old number. So I tell her that I think they are both me and they have just messed up given me a new number for some reason. So she asked someone and they said just go by the new one and maybe they can figure it out at traditions. So I go along my way.

Yay for being done with casting! So Michelle and I got back to Vista and drive her car to Patterson. So we get there and of course we’re on the third floor. So lugging our stuff was a nightmare and freaking hot! All of us kind of arrived at different times during the day. I got all my stuff unpacked and where it’s suppose to be. I was so proud. Lol. Last time I lived out of my suitcases for like three weeks.

So I’m chillin’ at apartment trying to get the freaking internet to work, but for some reason the router won’t connect to the internet and that’s frustrating me to no end! When all the sudden I get an email from Disney. So I open it up on my phone and it says that there was another Megan Johnson who checked in today and she received my welcome paper and I hers. Well I’m thinking, “no, it wasn’t another Megan, it was me just with the wrong number”. But that didn’t matter because further on down it said I was actually working at Animal Kingdom!!!!!! HECK YES! Well it also said there was a letter attached with the right information and there wasn’t…..so I had to call someone at Disney University. And he told there actually was another Megan Johnson from Virginia and our numbers actually did get switched up. So I printed my new papers and sure enough…Animal Kingdom – Trails Operations!

I figured out what happened and when I went to get my sticker at check in the lady didn’t look at my perner number on my boarding paper work, she just looked up my name. (Way to go Disney). But everything is all sorted out and I’m exactly where I’m supposed and want to be and she’s at EPCOT. But I still start training on Sunday.

Then Michelle was nice enough to take us all grocery shopping. I was really stressing out about this because I don’t have a car and I really didn’t want to take the CP bus to walmart for my first grocery run. One because taking the bus sucks to begin with and second because when you live in Patterson you have to catch the bus at Chatham which also means it lets you off at Chatham. There’s no bus stop at Patterson. So I would have had to carry a million and one groceries from one apartment complex to another. So I was very thankful she offered to take us.

Well when we get back to the apartment the AC isn’t working anymore. It was working just fine when we were moving our stuff in, but now there is no display and it’s hotter than you-know-what in this apartment! We tried to call the front desk, but of course they’re closed so I set my alarm for 9 in the morning so I can call them first thing. Because this is ridiculous! I’m literally sweating in my apartment…..

Well we decided to go down to Downtown Disney for bit. Which was so much fun. Then it was back to our miserable apartment.

So now I’m laying on top of my bed wanting to go to sleep because I’m so exhausted, but there’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep because I’m so uncomfortable! Yeah….awesome.

Almost Time...Again

I'm not sure when I'll have access to the internet again so I thought I'd post something while I can.
This time tomorrow Grandma and I will be on a plane on our way to Orlando! I'm so excited and so glad I'm not nervous. I know exactly what to expect and I'm ready to just have fun!
I can't wait to meet the roomates! We all registered on DORMS the other day so we're locked in. Here's hoping everything goes as planned. We're hoping to get a 3 bedroom in Patterson. There's six of us and we seem to be a pretty good fit so far :)
I've got everything packed and ready to go. 2 large suitcases and an empty carry on. I know...I know, it's amazing. lol. The only thing I don't have is my camera :( I still can't find it...I'm really upset that I won't be able to take my pictures, but everything happens for a reason I guess.
So we'll fly out tomorrow night and stay with my aunt Christie and uncle Larry and then I check in on Monday!

On another note...my baby sister is all moved into her dorm in Stillwater. I can't believe she's an official college student. I'm so excited for her and this new chapter in her life! Love you Chicken :)

Well until I have internet again...........

Obviously I'm Not Over the Mouse...

Well...I'm going back to the land of Mouse. I just accepted my offer as an Attractions cast member for Fall 2013. And I WILL keep up with my blog this time!! Every time I go back and re-read my blog from my last program I kick myself for not keeping up with it. It's so much fun to go back and reminence.
I've decided to go back becuwse I need the closer. I didn't finish my last program and I regret it. This will also give me time to decided what I want to do with my life now that I'm finally graduating in May. I think it will give me the space I need.
So here's what went down from interview to acceptance letter. So I had my interview on Saturday February 23 (yes my lil' chicken's birthday) with Brandon who I tried extremely hard not laugh at becuase he was EXTREMELY peppy and way too entergetic for me. Just sayin. Anyway he went through the typical questions: why Disney? why again? top roles? why those? roomates? give an example of this and that...blah...blah...blah. Just incase you were wondering my top roles were Photopass (DUH), BBB, and I really can't remember what my third was. I think it was actually attractions or character attendant. But I did try to put A LOT of emphasis on all my photography experience, but apparently working at a portrait studio, doing photogrpahy on the side, and taking photography classes isn't enough for these people. I also did put a lot of emphasis on the fact that I DID NOT want to work at Magic Kingdom again. For crying out loud...if I get put back there it's going to be hard to stick with it. So I told Brandon that I wanted to work at Animal Kingdon. The COMPLETE opposite. (I want decsent hours!) So we'll see.
I'm so nervously excited about this. Excited that I'm going back to Disney. Nervous becuase attractions was not my first pick, having roomates I can't stand (wink wink), and of course being away from my family and boyfriend for 6 months. Plus since this is the fall program I won't be home for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years. Not sure how I feel about all that quite yet.
What's life without adventure. I'm ready for this one.
Bring it on Disney :)

Yes, I'm Still Alive

I HATE not blogging. But there’s seriously no time. I sleep, get up and go directly to work, come home and go straight to bed and repeat. I barely have enough time to feed myself. And it’s just going to get worse as summer is quickly approaching. Easter is going to be crazy busy and Grad night is coming up which mean I’ll be working until 5 or 6 in the morning. Again…why I thought I wanted to work in the Magic Kingdom is beyond me. I’ve come to hate Sundays. Those are our Extra Magic Hours, and let me tell ya, they are NOT extra magical! I don’t get home until 4AM. Except this Sunday I’m only scheduled until 2:30am so that’s a little better. I guess. I do have this one part time lady who likes to trade with me for her mid shifts, which is such a relief. It’s usually only one day a week, but it’s so nice. 11 to 5 is the perfect shift!

Other than the crazy scheduling work has been ok. I was in restrooms all last week which was awesome. It’s starting to get crazy hot here and the restrooms are air conditioned. It’s also starting to rain more frequently. Last week I worked a 10 hour street shift in the pouring rain! I literally stood in the rain for 10 straight hours. It was a bit ridiculous. When it rains that hard the park is dead and there’s absolutely nothing to do. It was one of the longest shifts ever. One a good note, I finally had my water Mickey training. I’m an official Water Mickey Artist! For those of you who don’t know, drawing water Mickey’s is something only custodians get to do and it’s so much fun. We use our pans and brooms and water to draw Mickey’s on the ground.

Nothing else too exciting to report, but here's a couple pictures:

Maria and I at Magic Kingdom in our matching hoodies!

I love this picture! This is Chip and I at Tomorrow Land's dace party...great times.

Luis and I