Arrrghhhh . . . . . . Soooo tired!!!!

So after Christmas is supposedly the busiest time here. They don't lie!!! It's been pretty hectic at work and everyone's been really cranky because of that so it's been pretty stressful overall. I have had some good times with the roomies though and we're planning on having at least a few more so that's pretty good. Basically, I have six more days of work and then I leave the day after that but luckily I have two six hour shifts and then an opening shift which is nice because I'll be done early and then dad will be here. Joni and Scott are here now and I'm about to leave to go meet them for lunch.

I had a mini meltdown last night to one of my managers because I'm so tired and stressed out from working so much and I really would like a day off this coming week. She let me come in two hours late today so I don't have to work until 7. Then I have two more days of 8 hours, two days of 6 hours and my last day of 8. I think I could handle it if I needed to but I'm just tired. :-/ Hopefully it'll be a little better at work today. Happy Friday to all!

I SURVIVED CHRISTMAS EVE . . . And all I get is a tiny paycheck.

So I survived Christmas Eve. It was a bit crazy at times and almost impossible to get through certain places at certain times but overall not to terrible.

I did cause quite a commotion at work. When I got to my locker, my pan and broom is missing. I get pissed off and think that I left it in Fantasmic the other night. But I'm pretty diligent about my pan and broom. I clean it every day and I put it in my locker at the end of my shift (cuz otherwise people steal them). So then I go back to my locker and see that NO, I didn't forget to put my stuff away. Someone RIPPED open the metal locker. It was a little broken before, but seriously someone tore apart the locker. I was so pissed off and felt totally violated. I went to the manager because it didn't matter that my pan and broom were missing but someone ripped my locker open. My manager Kendall brought security over and the detective came (who knew we had a detective!?) and they took down my info and stuff. Luckily, the pan and broom thief did leave my jacket and rain gear and such in the locker so that was nice of them. But now, I don't have a locker to fit my pan and broom in for the next ten days. :-( I did however, find my pan later in the day stuffed into one of the storage rooms and someone had PULLED THE STICKER OFF OF THE BOTTOM!!! I had another sticker on the inside though (and some rude gum that I can't get off) and I KNOW it's mine. It made me very sad at the rudeness of people. I left a note on my locker notifying whoever did it that it was extremely rude and disrespectful. It was a bleak day for humanity. The rest of the day went okay, I extended for 2 hours so my friend Erin could go to midnight mass at church and it was pretty uneventful for the rest of the time.

Then Christmas Day came and everyone was in pretty high spirits at work. People were all happy because it was Christmas but the guests all thought they could be RUDE for some reason. My goodness!! They were just rudey mcrudesters. But then by around 6:30 (my shift started at 3 pm) my friend Erin wanted to stay because she didn't want to go home and be alone on Christmas so I graciously gave her the rest of my shift (yeah right I was giving it to her on a silver platter!). I went home, worked out, made dinner and watched Elf in honor of Christmas and then Kristina got off work early too and came home! We watched Love Actually and drank champagne and just had a dandy good time. We enjoyed ourselves.

Yesterday at work was just scary. Well, I thought it was going to be way worse than it actually was. We had extra magic hours which are normally horrendous anyway but they have been telling us horror stories to scare us into working super hard yesterday about how busy it would be and such. Honestly, it was no busier than it had been on EMH when I first got here so I wasn't really overwhelmed. The only real difference is that they had people on continuous trash runs for 2 hours at a time (ewww that sucks). They did put me in 2 bathrooms for almost 5 hours but then Xavier my manager got someone else to come to help me so that was pretty awesome. And my friend Lisa was in the other bathroom so we helped each other out. It was good. I met some people from Buffalo Grove who literally live six streets away from me (so weird!) an their son goes to Stevenson and such. It was pretty funny. I also met lots of people from the North Shore and it made me really excited to go home!!!! I can't wait. I've had so much fun here and really enjoyed myself but I'm definitely ready to go.

So now I have work at 3 o'clock today. I am going to go get lunch and do some homework before work. Today is supposed to be the second "terrible" day so it should be interesting. If it's like yesterday, we'll be good. :-) Happy Thursday!!!

The Calm Before the Storm

So this week at work wasn't too incredibly terrible. There were a few hellish times but I got to create a few magical moments like getting a gun to this little guy's hotel because the strap broke and they could only find this certain kind in MGM. That was fun. :-)

Thursday morning Kristina and I saw National Secrets: Book of Secrets and LOVED it!! It was awesome. Then Thursday night we went to Pleasure Island with the roomies and that was a really good time as well. Today was my last day off before 11 days of work (and my last days!!) and I took advantage of it!! Kristina decided to stay home from work so we went to Raglan Road for lunch and yummmm. It was great. It was one of the places I have wanted to go to before I left and the food was awesome. Then we saw Alvin and the Chipmunks and it was hillarious!!!! We loved it. I got laundry done, did some cleaning and packing and then we went out for dinner to Giordano's for pizza. Yesss delicious. Now we're watching The Incredibles and going to sleep soon so I can get up in the morning and do some more packing and maybe some homework. It's going to be a crazy 11 days. I can't wait to go home!!!!!!!

Livin large.

Awww Sully and Mike!!!

Remy, my fave rat.

Me and Kris with Frozone.

Me being really excited to sit in the front of the monorail.

After dinner, I know . . . I'm so mature it hurts.

So yesterday was just so action packed that I had to write another post about it by itself. Jess, Kris and I had planned on going to MGM in the morning to play and try to do everything there that we have wanted to do that we haven't done yet (it has actually started to kick in that we're leaving really soon and we're scrambling to have as much fun as possible before we leave). So the day started off great, we got there on time and went straight to the Tower of Terror so Jess could put her stuff away and we could ride it. After that we saw Beauty and the Beast which was great since I haven't seen it since 1998 when I came with Mom and Dad. After that we wanted to get some food but instead of going to a quick service we just figured we would see if they had any openings anywhere sit down so we could use one of our 50% off coupons (the block out dates start the 22nd). So we got a reservation for the Hollywood Brown Derby and ate there. Since we had our 50% off, I got a beer, an awesome appetizer of coconut fried shrimp in some really tasty sauce, a New York strip steak with three sauces and mashed potatoes and we all split this dessert that I don't remember the name but was basically banana heaven. It was absolutely delicious, the rolls were hot and fresh and Kris and Jess got this margarita that's a Christmas special that they used freshly squeezed cranberries in. It was a fantastic lunch, the service was great and the food was excellent. We really enjoyed it. Then we went to the Backlot Tour and did some shopping afterwards. We hit the Magic of Disney Animation where Kris and I watched the show, met Frozone (from the Incredibles), met Remy and drew a picture of Scrooge McDuck (special for the holidays!!). After we did a little more shopping and headed to the apartment where we left one of our cars, picked up our graduation ears and headed back out to the Magic Kingdom. We saw Wishes (probably for the last time :-( ) and got our ears stitched for free because they are our graduation ones. That is absolutely amazing how they do it!! They have an embroidery machine that they actually write with to stitch the names on. It's awesome and ours came out really well. Then we headed back to the Polynesian where I had parked (how naughty) and we decided to just see if we could eat at 'Ohana instead of waiting around for our reservation at Boma. We got a pager and a 45-1 hour wait which was fine since we were still good from lunch and sat at the bar. We had a ball, the food was as always awesome and we enjoyed the atmosphere. After dinner we went and sat on the beach in the resort and waited for the Holiday Wishes. While we sat there the water parade came and entertained us and then we saw the Holiday Wishes fireworks show which is really just awesome. You can hear the music there too because they play it outside at the resorts that you can see the Magic Kingdom from. So up until then it would have been the most fun day ever but then we did more!! We went back to the apartment, hung out with Jess and Autumn for a few minutes, heard about the guy that died on Expedition Everest yesterday (ehhhh still don't know the whole story, evidently it was really sucky, Autumn works in the gift shop there) and got ready to go out. We went to the Orlando Ale House for Ladies Nights (Sean drove) and we got free drinks until 1 am. Not crappy free drinks but decent free drinks. We sat there until 1:30 or so and just drank and the rest of them got food. It was really fantastic. It was just a spectacular day. :-) Enjoy the pictures!!!

It's actually COLD here!

AHHHH BEST PICTURE!!!

Our Christmas card picture.

At the Polynesian.

Me and Kris doing a magical moment.

Wow! It got really cold here!! Well really cold being between 60-70 during the day and chillier at night but hey. So today is my day off and boy did I need it. I am exhausted from working. Last night was EMH and I got to create a magical moment for a mom and daughter. The daughter, a little girl about 5 named Haley had an accident and she needed new pants and I happened to be in the restroom when this all happened. I offered to get them some new clothes, the mom was ECSTATIC and we got her a really cute pair of pants and it just made their day. The rest of the night wasn't too bad either, not anything like last week. (The calm before the storm, right?!)

Today has been pretty awesome too. I went to Magic Kingdom this morning to get Jennie and her beau Justin into the park. It was really great seeing someone from home and good to just see Jennie since I haven't see her in a while now! Then I had a meeting with a very nice manager named Sean who works with entertainment who basically told me that if I audition for entertainment, get a part and can come down for about 3 weeks to train and work that I can stay seasonal as a character and come down whenever I have a chance. :-) I'm stoked.

Then I hung around Magic Kingdom for a bit with some free popcorn and did some more shopping. There was a marching band sort of group playing Christmas carols and they were AWESOME so that was really fun. Then I did some more shopping at lots of places including an awesome Borders outlet store where I got three cahiers by Moleskine my obsession and 4 books all using my gift card from Joni for Chanukah. QUITE a deal. I got some new blank dvd's to, uh, play with and finished my Disney shopping for friends and the fam. Tomorrow I'm going to MGM with the roomies to play and do the rest of the things we wanted to do there and then Wednesday we're going to the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Review!!! Yayyyy. $30 for dinner, entertainment and Bud drafts and sangria. I'm really excited. It's going to ROCK.

I'm scheduled for 47 hours next week so that is going to be crazy. I think I'm also going to try to pick up extra hours during the week so I leave with a massive paycheck. I'm excited. It's going to be intense because I'm trying to pack, be sane, do more of my online class, work 60 hours and do the things in Disney that we still want to do.

Soooo much fun to come. :-) Enjoy the pictures!!!!!

Oh goodness, only 3 weeks left!?!??!

Awwww, our group.

I know Minnie looks pregnant, I can only hope it's Mickey's baby.

Stitch LOVED my ears, his ears, whatever.

Best Christmas card pic I've ever taken.

Making latkes!! They were darn good too. :-)

Me singing the blessings.

Yay Chanukah!!!!

So last week was a pretty good week. I'm pretty exhausted from work but everything went alright. Well, until Sunday night with EMH. I had a good week, it was fun and mostly uneventful but Sunday was just hell. I had two bathrooms for most of the night (and EMH, or Extra Magic Hours) are the busiest every week. My bathroom had two overflows, one of which was really pretty bad and we had to close it for 15 minutes and then another one later that night. Luckily I had awesome people working who helped me out a lot.

After EMH I went home and was SO super happy because I had Monday and Tuesday off. Monday was really fun because Kristina, Shan and I went to breakfast at the Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge resort. That place is AWESOME! The resort looks like a giant log cabin and the inside is really fun. Breakfast was really tasty and after that we went shopping at cast connection. I got some really cute stuff and then I came home and read the entire day/night. It was great. I also did some errands and burned some movies so that was all fun. Tuesday was just ACTION packed. I got up to work out then we went to our College Program Graduation which was really fun. They had ears for us with tassels on them, free food and Mickey and Minnie in graduation gowns/hats so that was really super cute. I got my completion certificate and we just chilled and had a great time. Then the roomies and I went to see The Golden Compass which was stupendous and after that we decided to head to the Polynesian to check out their holiday decorations. We went to the Grand Floridian to see the lifesize gingerbread house (omg so huge and amazing) and then we went back to the Polynesian to eat. After that we went to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and had a BLAST!!! We saw some awesome shows, had hot cocoa and sugar cookies and saw some really spectacular fireworks. It was a great and exhausting day and I got home super tired.

This last week was really cool though because I got an Applauseogram from a family which is when they go to guest relations to say nice things about you, a Great Service Fanatic Card from my friend Fernando because I helped him out a lot when he first started on Sunset AND a certificate for a free meal in our cafeteria because a few of my managers noticed all of my hard work. I felt so good about being recognized and having such nice things happen that I gotta tell you, I was much more enthusiastic and happy at work. It was a great feeling.

I've been having plenty of fun outside of work too besides this past Tuesday. I saw Enchanted again with some custodial buddies, went to Margaritaville for cheeseburgers and margaritas (yummmmm) and just hung out with my friends. It's been really super fun.

Now I'm home early and hanging for the time being. I think I'm going to try to get some stuff done tonight but am going to chill for a bit. I'm getting very excited to be home in 22 days and can't believe how fast these last 4 1/2 months have just FLOWN by. I'm going to live up the next three weeks and have fun with my buds here. I'm definitely going to miss working and playing here but I miss home and all of my friends and fam. :-)

Chanukah cheer!!!!

I think I can, I think I can!!! I took the same picture when Joni and Scott took me to the Magic Kingdom for the first time ever. :-)

AWWWW!!!

Well the last few days have been quite interesting!!! I had Monday and Tuesday off which was much needed. I did some laundry, shopping, the usual day off errands. Then Tuesday I made a little Chanukah party in my apartment complete with latkes and dreidels. I had a few friends from work and we all played and ate. It was really fun. I lit the candles and they all watched and took pictures, it was really cute.

Yesterday was pretty hellish. I worked 4-12:30 for a convention and it was painful. The only good part is that I had awesome people working with me so it was easier on everyone. It was a Pop Warner convention for pee wee football players and cheerleaders and their families. There were 15,000 people in the park and it was INSANE. The only awesome parts were that we got to eat leftover convention food (mmm brats and tacos, not too bad), see the fireworks that were by the hat (that never happens, these people really dished the moolah) and we had a really good team working so there was lots of team work and good things said about us.

I have work at 3:30 today so I'm going to go work out and do some stuff in the apartment. :-) Enjoy the pics!!!

Ohhhhhwooahh down in Mexico!!!

My custodial friends!!!!

So the last week has been pretty awesome. At work last week I received my own magical moment. I helped a mom and her little 6 year old daughter in the restroom because the mom was having a hard time holding down the sensor for the sink and holding up her daughter while she washed her hands. So I helped out and after they gave me a very nice thank you note. It says "Thank you for making a magical moment for us. Your work is appreciated!" and such. It also has a button with the cute little girl on it and says "Thanks!". It was really sweet.

My custodial friends and I decided to go to Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had lots and lots of fun. We went because it was Lisa's birthday and we just had a blast. The food there is AMAZING and we just had a great time together!! That was also the night Ivelese got terminated from the program. It was a pretty intense day.

Joni and Scott came in Friday and we went to MGM to see the Spectacle of Dancing Lights. We also saw The Voyage of the Little Mermaid, The Magic of Disney Animation and the Great Movie Ride. We had super lots of fun. After MGM we went to dinner at Uno's which was pretty delish. Saturday we got up early (well fairly early, we left at 9) and went to drop Scott's car off at Epcot and took the monorail to Magic Kingdom. Since they were taping for the Christmas Day Parade there were TONS of people in the front of the park but we got on all of the rides we wanted to go on within 10 minutes (which frankly is kind of a miracle!). We went on Jungle Cruise, Pirates, the Tiki Room and The Haunted Mansion. Joni and Scott did a little shopping and we walked through the rest of the park. On our way out we saw Regis and Kelly and that was pretty exciting!

At Epcot we went on Mission: Space and Test Track. We also took a nap on the Universe of Energy (hehehe) and after all that went to the countries. We had a fantastic dinner in Mexico and then rode the Maelstrom in Norway and staked out awesome seats for Illuminations and saw the fireworks from great seats in the United Kingdom. It was an awesome day and a half and I really enjoyed spending some more time with Scott and Joni before I leave. :-)

I got a Chanukah package from Lakeside this past week so that was pretty awesome. I also got some yummy yummy treats from Joni and found out that Dad got Best Buy to give me a brand spanking new iPod to replace the one that broke and they supposedly sent me a new one (liarrrssss). So this was a pretty sweeeet week indeed.

Today was my day off and I did some shopping, had my last day of class and enjoyed my day. I'm going to City Walk with my roomies to celebrate Kris' friend Caitlin's birthday so that'll be really fun. Tomorrow I'm going to chill and clean (majorly clean) in my room so that'll be good. Next week we have our graduation celebration and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party so that's definitely something to look forward to!!!

It's beginning to look a LOT like Christmas!

For all of my five loyal fans (thanks mom), I apologize for the short hiatus from writing. I have been really busy with work and friends.

The last week and a half has been great. It was absolutely insane at work because of the holiday. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from having Thanksgiving away from everyone but it was pretty good. They had a meal for us on Wednesday night at The Commons (where all of the international students stay) and that was pretty nice. Thursday at work they had turkey, ham, stuffing and other goodies for us as well. It really wasn't the same though being away from Lane and the fam so it was just different.

A funny story during our craziness in the parks. Sometimes I do lots of pin trading and sometimes I do none during an entire shift. Well, Thursday was a huge pin trading day and this family RUNS up to me going "PIN LADY!! PIN LADY!!". I just kind of laugh at first and look at them seriously and say "Actually, I go by Allie." They start laughing hysterically but I just look at them with this blank stare and they're like, haha, that's so funny. Then they attack my pin lanyard (and my personal bubble) and clean me out. Oh well, what're you gonna do?! Some people just think we're walking pin lanyards. Hmm, I have feelings, hopes and dreams too.

It's also amusing because we call the person sitting in the costuming building who gives us new Hidden Mickey pins each day "The Pin Lady" so I couldn't help but laugh.

The park has been Christmatized. There are wreaths, lights and music all over. It is like Christmas puked all over the park. Then there is The Osbourne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights in the Streets of America. It's not Ozzy Osbourne as so many park goers believe, it is actually from Little Rock, Arkansas from this guy named Jennings Osbourne who bought both of the houses on either side of his own to expand his growing Christmas light display so much that the spectacle it caused blocked an ambulance from making it through to a nearby home. The court ordered him to take down the display of over 4 MILLION lights and naturally, Disney heard about this and decided to bring them to Orlando!!!! It's honestly one of the coolest things I've ever seen though. The street is COVERED in lights (so it's amazing to think how it looked over three houses) and the over 4 million lights dance every 15 minutes to Christmas carols. It's really something you just have to see. There is also soap snow billowing around. I warn the kids to not catch the snowflakes on their tongue. It's just not the same.

This past weekend, my friends came in. We had an AWESOME time. It was two past roomies, two present roomies and one friend of a roomie. We went to Property Control, bought 25 cent Mickey ears with random names on the back (except mine, mine were little pink ones that said "My First Ear Hat", hehehehe) and went to Magic Kingdom. We enjoyed many rides and saw Wishes. Then we went to PI at night and had a blast at 8 Trax meeting some random older dudes from Australia. There were some really interesting drunk people dancing which is always amusing and we just had a grand ol' time. We hit MGM the next day which was PACKED but really fun and did Epcot their last full day here. We had lunch in the Biergarten in Germany at Epcot where we drank 1 liter mugs of beer and danced to the German band that was playing. It was so much fun. We went to PI again that night and had a really good time again. Overall, it was a really awesome break from work. I'm really glad they made it down.

So now I had a day off today which was a lazy day hanging out and watching more of The Office. I'm in Barnes and Noble right now because I just wanted to get out for a bit (and well, they have Starbucks here, I was jonesing for a White Chocolate Mocha :-) ). I think I'm going to go back soon, maybe watch Heroes, work out and just chill the rest of the night. This week is going to be fun too. I have six hour shifts tomorrow and Thursday and an 8 hour day shift on Wednesday. Wednesday, Kris and Caitlin are going to come to MGM and we're going to go see the lights after my shift and then on Friday we're going to go see Enchanted. I'm pretty stoked. Friday night, Scott and Joni are coming in to visit (yay!!) so we're going to go see the lights and then Saturday we're probably doing Magic Kingdom and Epcot. It should be a fantastic weekend.

I'll post pics soon!!!

That would be MISS Champion to you.

So last weekend was fantastic. I got sick, that part sucked. Thursday was great, I came in and surprised my mom and got to see her peeps at Schechter. Then I went home and did a little cleaning and caught up on Weeds (so good!). Thursday for dinner I was so lucky and got to go to my FAVE ever Tsukasa with Lane and mom. Then I went out for drinks with Emilie and Rachel S. There were some creepy people at the Ram so that was fun. I was so excited to see Emilie cuz I really miss her and then Jer came by to say hi and we ended up hanging out and talking for a while. It was so good to see both of them because they are really my bff's and three months away has been a LONG time! Friday morning Dad and I went to visit Helga and brought my broken iPod to Best Buy (sad face) and Friday night we had our faux Thanksgiving dinner at home. I had SO much fun. We had some AWESOME food and just an all around awesome time. Saturday was good because I got to hang out with Jer and Rach some more but I was feeling really icky so that sucked. Laney and I watched The Inside Man and then mom and dad brought us Lou's (mmmmmmm cheesy goodness). It was a good day besides the fever. Sunday I felt so much better which was really nice so Lane and I hung out with his parents for a bit in the morning and then we watched Ratatouille (yayy so cute) and then he and I went for Chipotle with Lori. Jeremy came by to say goodbye (tear) and then I hung out, packed and headed back to Orlando. Pros of the weekend, got to see everyone and squish my doggies. Cons: iPod broke, got sick and left my Disney Visa in O'Hare at the self check-in thing. Boooooooo. Besides those three boo's, the rest was great.

Then back to work! Monday I had class and work in the afternoon. Work was fine, SUPER busy. I had my first day in the parade and it was honestly not that bad. I wear a silly costume of silver pants (yes, silver), a white shirt with baggy arms, a cumberbund and a white beret type of hat with a big blue feather in the front. It's awkward and funny looking but not as bad as it could be. Lance, the big, beautiful horse that we were following was super nice and held everything in so no messy work necessary. Walking through the parade was pretty cool, seeing all those people watching you is insane. My favorite part about the whole experience though was being able to see what the parade entertainment people do and go before the parade.

Walking into the parade costuming area is the scariest thing ever. There are heads on the walls in bags and bodies hanging everywhere. It was very frightening and cool at the same time.

The rest of work this week so far hasn't been too bad. Lots of pin trading and the usual. One older gent in a scooter did stop myself and another cast member and the following convo ensued.

Old man: Hey girls, girls.
Us: Yes sir, can we help you?
Old man: I just gotta tell you . . .
(We're shaking out heads, looking all friendly)
Old man: A woman in uniform, it just gets me excited!!!

The cast member and I nod our heads politely and say, thanks and have a great day only to walk away and crack up. I guess being old lets people think they can do and say whatever they want.

In some other exciting news, last night was Casino Night in Vista and I forced my two roomies to go with me (I'm an admitted Blackjackaholic). We go and play a set of hands with the chips they give us and the really nice dealer explains that the person with the most chips at the end of 7 rounds can go to the tournament at the end. So after the second round of hands, the girls to our left who are playing give us their chips and say it was fun, blah blah good luck if you go into the final tournament. We had enough chips to go into it and since I was the only one out of the three of us who really knew the game, I go into the final tournament. Then we thought I'd get bumped out but I didn't so they call us all over to play 7 more hands to determine the winner. They're all very serious about it and rope off the table and make it all exciting like. I stand there and moderately play the first few hands, win a few, lose a few. Then the last hand, I go all in with the rest of my chips. I see everyone else's piles dwindle and realize that I've won 2nd place!! Haha, my roommates and I were just cracking up. I got a trophy, a travel coffee mug and a bunch of pictures taken for the next issue of the newsletter they give out to us. It was both a hilarious and fun adventure. Then Kristina bought pizza for my "celebration dinner" and we all had a grand ol' time hanging out.

I can't believe we have less than 2 months here. It's going by awfully fast. My home roomies come in on Saturday afternoon. I'm absolutely stoked. We're gonna have a blast!!!!

The North Pole, eh???

So the last two weeks have rocked. Since mom and dad left, I had lots of work and a little time to play. I had a good time on my next day off but basically just did the usual grocery shopping, laundry, cleanup thing. Then I worked another five days and on my next day off had a BLAST!! The roomies and I went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and had such a great time. We started out at Epcot for our last time at the Food and Wine Festival (tear) and had an awesome time there. We all tried lots of food and wine and I got more of my new favorite Cherry Wheat Beer by Sam Adams. We did the free Sam Adams tasting and learned a little about the brewery and beer. It was a super good time. I went on Mission:Space for the first time in the "intense" part and it was pretty sweet. Then we headed to the party and had so much fun!!! There was trick-or-treating, special shows and fireworks and Mickey and Minnie in costume. I even got to see Stitch dressed up as Elvis and if you have seen the movie before you know why that's so cute.

Then work this week has been going pretty well. I applied to be a trainer so I will let you all know when I find out about that. I also worked in Icon the other day and had quite an interesting shift. I had to go and guard restrooms again and tell all the ladies they couldn't use the restroom. I would rather CLEAN the restroom than do this job because it sucks to be told you can't go pee. Just like last time too, this lady just WALKS into the men's restroom with her whole family. I had told her that her young daughter could go in there with her husband but I guess she took that to mean she could to. Whatever, crazy people everywhere. Then I met Santa Claus when I stopped to a nice looking older gentleman with white hair and white beard, I should have known. He kept telling me how he was Santa and I just didn't know what to say so I just smiled and nodded. He ended our conversation with "Don't forget to say your prayers, that's the most important thing!". He was very nice though and a pleasure to talk to.

I talked to lots of fun people this week. My class is going pretty well, it's fun to hear from managers and important people in different lines of business. I am still looking into possibly coming back and being "friends" with the characters. I'm not quite sure what the appeal is to standing around in a hot sweaty costume and taking pictures with people but I just feel the urge. We'll have to see.

In the meantime, I am going home Thursday morning (yayyy so soon!!!) and am very excited to go home and see Laney, the fam, the doggies and incredibly super excited to see Jeremy because I have yet to see him since I left. It's probably the longest we've gone without seeing each other since we became friends when we were 12!! Jeremy and Berkson are both coming to our family's Not So Timely Thanksgiving Dinner on Friday along with Shauna and Tori, the boys and Richard and Ilene. Dad has to leave early but we'll still have a dandy time. Then, next Saturday my roomies from home are coming yayyyy and we're going to have SO much fun I'm sure!!! Joni and Scott are coming just a few weeks after that and then a month later dad will be back to drive home with me.

It's going by SOOO fast I can't believe it. But I'm still having super lots of fun. :-) Pics to come of all the recent festivities!!

Family, friends and a little big o' magic!!!

So this weekend was just fabulous with my parents and the Mandels. We had a spectacular time!! I picked mom and dad up on Friday at the airport and we headed to Universal (eeeek, traitorous!) and had lots of fun there. We ate in Margaritaville which had good food, good music and a volcano that erupted every hour or so. Mom and I split one of the best burgers I've had in a while and after that we went on Spiderman which is an awesome ride. I convinced dad to go on the Hulk coaster with me (his first one in 8 years) and after that we decided to head to the other park. We saw Shrek 4D and then the Terminator show because we missed those last time. We had oodles of fun and decided to head out towards the hotel. I showed them my apartment and we decided on dinner at Kobe, mmmm sushi. After checking in, we ate with Scott and Joni and it was delicious as always there. We just hung out after dinner. It was nice and relaxing.

Saturday entailed shopping at Cast Connection, the outlet mall and chillin' all day. We had dinner at Ohana, my fave, but we were a little bit disappointed in their trying to split up our group and we were kind of on the outskirts so didn't have quite as much ambiance as the middle of the room has. But the food was amazing and we had a good time. We rode the monorail to the Grand Floridian which is absolutely gorgeous and then headed back to the Polynesian so Scott's friends who were also with us could help back home.

Sunday we got up super duper early and headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge just so my parents and Scott and Joni could see it. They loved it and after that we headed to Epcot for some food, wine and fun. We rode Finding Nemo and Journey into the Imagination, did a little shopping and ate some awesome food. I also tried the Octoberfest beer in Germany and the Cherry Wheat beer at the Hops and Barley Market. The Cherry was amazing, a new fave. We all took a little nap in the American Adventure and then decided to head to MGM.

It sadly rained for a big period of time when we were at the Studios but we got back doored at Tower (thank you Jess!!) and then hid in a store while it was raining and I got us VIP seats at Fantasmic!. We had dinner, strange that I haven't had lots of food in the park since I don't eat there that often! After that we headed up to the show and got drizzled on for another half hour but it went on anyway. Yayyy!! The seats were awesome and we had lots of fun. We chilled at the hotel for a little when we got back and it was just an all around fun and relaxing weekend. I dropped mom and dad off at the airport on Monday and had class right after followed by a shopping spree at Target. Then Kristina and I went to the County Fair they had for college programmers at Chatham and we got free dinners and really cute pics with Mickey and Minnie. We had a ball. We went to see Across the Universe after and I looooved it and then hung out until Heroes. It was an all around awesome 4 days off. I have work this week from 3-9 T-Th and then 11:30-8 on Friday and Saturday so I get home a bit early on those days which is pretty sweet. It's gonna be a good two weeks till I go home which I'm super excited about also!!! Yayyy!!!

Yayyyy for visitors!!!!

So these last three days of work weren't too bad, a little (okay, a LOT) hot. It was almost unbearably humid today hitting almost NINETY percent humidity. YOWZA!! But some really fun things did happen this week.

Tuesday I was working late for an under 2000 person convention. It was open bar so we expected some craziness but it was actually very tame. The best part of all was when the duty manager called my manager and asked if he wanted to send a bunch of us on coaster and tower with the lights on. It was super cool and it was even cooler because I was working and going on rides. :-)

The last two days weren't that bad either but I'm kind of lagging at work just because it's been so hot and humid. Tonight I was working Fantasmic! streets and it was all fine until an older lady fell and hit her head on the pavement and I had to do a BBP (blood borne pathogen) spill. I had to clean up the blood that was on the pavement but there wasn't too much. I have to say that my stomach has definitely gotten stronger since I've been here!!

Tonight I am just hanging out and doing some cleaning before my parents and the Mandels come in tomorrow. I'm super excited to see all of them and I know it's going to be a really fun weekend. :-)

What a week!!!!

So this past week was really SOOO much fun. I worked Monday-Friday (wow, a regular work week!!) and then I ended up flying home last minute on Saturday for Richard and Ilene's 25th anniversary party that Lane, Martee and I have been planning. We went to the parks on Friday though and that was LOTS of fun!!! Then the Torf family came and I had a great time seeing them while I was working Friday night. It was a really fantastic week. Mom, Dad, and the Mandels are coming on Friday so I have three days of work and then another exciting weekend ahead!!! Enjoy the pics. :-)

At Animal Kingdom - right before the creepy photopass dude had us do some weird pose, I think he may have thought I was pregnant. Jerk.

Probably one of my favorite pictures of Lane ever. He's just so cute!!!

Me and Shan in our second home. :-)

Me and Laney Pooh, what a cute couple!!!

Mom, Dad and me at the Fischman's

What a great weekend!!!

So I had to drop Lane off at the airport today. Super sad. But we had an AMAZING weekend together. He finally got here around 11 ish on Saturday and I picked him up at the airport. I was just really excited to see him so that was great. We did a little shopping, I showed him my apartment and then I took him to Cast Connection and Property Control. We went to the India Palace near Kobe for lunch and it was awesome. They had a special lunch thingy and it was so good. Then for dinner we went to Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

The AKL is BEAUTIFUL!! It's like walking into Africa. It's decorated so awesomely. Boma was absolutely fantastic. There was over 60 selections of food on the buffet and the desserts were so amazing. My favorite things were the fou fou (mashed sweet and regular potatoes with lots of spices and such) and the chocolate mousse for dessert. It was great and the waiter knew I was college program and gave us a really nice discount because he felt bad for my small paychecks. :-)

Sunday we went to Animal Kingdom in the morning which was really fun especially since Lane has never been there. We went on Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Kilimanjaro Safaris and saw my fave, It's Tough to be a Bug. Then we headed to Epcot where we had our most enjoyable time at the Food and Wine Festival. Lane, being the ambitious person he is decided we would go to every booth in the fest and get something at each. There are 28 booths. Mind you, we weren't drinking at every one (we would have collapsed) but we were sharing one small portion of food from each of the countries. Near the end I started to hand it off to him to finish but we tried some amazing food!!! The empanadas in Mexico were so good, the kilbasa and pierogies in Poland were amazing and Lane favored the Honey Wine from Ireland. It was so much fun going around to the countries. We finally crashed and went into a bit of a food coma so we decided to stop off at the pub in the UK. I had a favorite beer (Harp and Strongbow, mmmm) and we hung out while it rained for about half an hour. Then Lane had decided that we were going to go to China for dinner and the Nine Dragons restaurant was fantastic. They had spectacular jasmine tea and the food was outstanding. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Lane crashed since he's really not used to the heat or being out in it for long periods of time but we had such a blast.

I had my first exploration of guest service class and loved it. I think I'm really going to like hearing from all of the higher up managers about how they run the park in their various locations. I worked yesterday for Extra Magic Hours and was pretty exhausted by the end of my 4-12:30 shift. I was in Fantasmic! againnnn but it was pretty okay. It went by fast at least. Today I am going to do some grocery shopping, work out at some point and then go to work at 3:30. It's pretty nice, I have all 3:30-9:30 shifts the rest of this week so now more 8 hours. :-)

Wanna ride bikes???

So I finally have a few days off! Yayyyy. Lane is coming in as we speak so I am super excited to see him.

The last week at work has been pretty good. I was so exhausted from working so many days in a row that I was just getting burnt out. A few really awesome things happened though. First, it was National Custodial Day on October 2nd, you can laugh, I did too. But it was really nice because I got to work and I got to go straight to a little party they were holding for us. They had a whole big lunch spread for us including cake and cookies. It was just very nice since our job really is incredibly important to the park but definitely not the most glamorous or thankful. So that was pretty cool.

Another really fun thing was that they brought bikes back to the Studios backstage. They used to have bikes in the backstage areas for cast members to use to get to and from backstage places but then I guess people were naughty and they took them away. Well now they're back. I've forgotten how much fun it is to just ride a bike and my friends at work and I have had a fantastic time riding around to get to our various work locations. They're really nice bikes, they ride well and they have a little basket up front. They're also just regular bikes, not mountain bikes so they have old school handlebars and backpeddle brakes. They're sweet. :-)

It's icky and raining out right now but I'm hoping it will clear up a bit tomorrow so Lane and I can go to the parks. I'm hoping to do MGM so he can meet a few coworkers and then Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival and Illuminations. We're going to Boma tonight at the Animal Kingdom Lodge so that should be really awesome as well. Lane's flight has just been delayed so in the meantime I think I'm going to go work out before he gets here!! Hopefully I'll have some super pictures to put up after this weekend. Mom and dad come in two weeks, I can't wait!!!

9 days down, 2 to go!!!!!!

So I'm officially EXHAUSTED. Today was my 9th day of work in a row and I was scheduled for streets but the girl who was supposed to be in Fantasmic! restrooms called in so I moved up there. It was actually kind of good to have something to do because the park was really quiet today. I had a good time, I had good coworkers today so it made it go by faster. I talked to one couple from London for about 30 minutes so that was really fun. I did a lot of pin trading and just did my usual thang. :-)

I have two more days of 6 hour closing shifts and then Lane will be here!!!! I'm very excited to see him because it's been 2 months now and that's the longest we've gone without seeing each other. After Lane leaves I start my exploration class so that will be fun too. I'm also very excited to hopefully reconnect with someone I worked with who is bringing her family down. Hopefully I will be able to bring some extra magic to their trip. ;-) Then it's only two weeks until mom and dad come down and a little more than a month until the roomies are here!!!

It's gonna be a great month!!!!!!

Some imagination, huh?!?

I was working Fantasmic! again last night but it wasn't nearly as bad as a few nights ago. I had help from two other guys who are really nice so that bagging took about thirty minutes instead of the usual hour and thirty minutes when you do it alone. It rained a little on and off but it didn't rain for the show so that was good.

When I was wandering around Sunset before I had to be back I met a family from Israel and talked to them for a few minutes. I'm always really excited when I meet Israelis, or Jews (and I haven't met that many on the program) so I talked with them. Then later when they were leaving Fantasmic! they saw me and said, "Great show!! Thanks for the recommendation" so they were cute.

When I was doing my thing up in Fantasmic! this lady who worked up there as an usher basically came up to me and said, "You are SO on it tonight!". When I stared at her blankly she told me that the custodial who was up there last night had overflowing trash cans and it was all messy but that I was doing a great job. She had been watching me run around before the show started. The cans overflow really quickly up there because they use these stupid cardboard trays for everyone, not to mention how much waste they create because they don't get recycled. But that was nice to be recognized but someone other than a manager or custodial person. :-)

I got two free movie tickets because our area is cast member injury free for over 130 days. YAYYY. Even though I've only been there for about 60 of them, I still got tickets. Woohooo!! And they're good anytime so that's almost a $20 value. Movies are $8 or $9 dollars here. Yowzaaa.

So today I don't have work until 5 pm because it's extra magic hours. I'm just gonna chill, work out, do some homework and maybe laundry. Day 6 or 10, then only 4 more and Lane's going to be here!!! I'm really excited for him to come. We're going to Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner on Saturday and then I think we're going to go to Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival on Sunday. It's gonna be a blast. :-)

I would LOVE to stay late.

So I finished day 4 of 10. I'm doing pretty okay too. Right now I'm exhausted but I was at work from 10-8 so that's pretty much why I'm so sleepy!!!

Yesterday was SO much fun. We went to Animal Kingdom and had a friggin blast. We danced with the African music troupe peeps and they were so much fun. My friend Shan took really funny videos of us doing it. We rode Expedition Everest 3 times and Dinosaur once, then saw The Festival of the Lion King. I went to work after that. I had this incredibly boring class called "Safety In Motion" and it was about moving in safe ways (duh). It was fun though I was just "working the streets" yesterday on Sunset. Haha.

Today I was in Icon alllll day. It was actually really good. The new High School Musical show has started so that was fun. I know a lot more of the words than I used to in the songs. :-)

I had to do powervac again for the parade and that was really hot but besides that it was a good day. Then my manager, C one of my faves (an Illinois alum, woot!) asked me to stay an hour late which I gladly did since I would be working overtime then. So I stayed and now I am home and have crashed on our big squishy chair!!

Tomorrow and the day after I have short shifts in the evening so that's nice to know that I have time in the mornings to do whatever I want to!!! For now I'm going to try to watch Grey's Anatomy online (I'm having a hard time rarrr) and then go to sleep early. Night!!!

Can I take your picture!??!

Yesterday I worked in Icon again. It was actually pretty good. I had a short 6 hour shift so it went by really fast. Now the new High School Musical 2 started so that's something that brings more people to the area so that was more fun too. I took lots of pictures again and traded pins all day. There was this one couple who we were talking to who were so nice. It was their 25th wedding anniversary and their first visit ever to Disney World. They had just gotten into pin trading and were very excited that I had a pin they were looking for. I offered to take a picture for them and then gave them an anniversary present (pixie dust pins of course). They were really excited and when I told them that there were two other kinds they were like "Ohhhh maybe we'll have to find those!!!". They went on their merry way and I helped some other guests out after talking to them.

Later, the same couple comes back up to me and says, "Allie!! We remembered your name!! Look what we found!!" and pulled out another pixie dust pin. They were all excited that they found one of the other ones to trade and wanted to know which one they were still looking for. It was really cute.

I had the closing trash run and was dreading it because last time I did the same trash run it took me almost an hour and a half but last night it took about an hour to do so that was good!!! I get to work back on Sunset today but it looks like it's going to pour so maybe another rainy day pushing water. (It's okay, I love playing with the big squeegee!!)

They came to replace our carpet today which is kind of nice because now we have nice new carpet in our rooms and in the living room. The living room carpet was disgusting and all stained so it's cool that they changed it. And it made me clean a little. :-)

Sun showers are fun.

So Saturday was pretty uneventful. I worked a closing 6 hour shift on Sunset which was fine, the usual. There were fun people working so that was good! It rained at night (oh goodness, I know, soooo surprising!!) but it was a good night. I had yesterday and today off so I have been running errands, cleaning, working out and doing my thing.

Yesterday was the end of my first ever 12 Week Body-for-Life Challenge. I exercised and changed my eating habits for 12 weeks straight working out 6 days a week (alright, since I've been here either 5 or 6 days a week). I'm super proud of myself but more exciting I have lost 9 pounds in the last three months. I've gained muscle and stamina and I couldn't be more proud of myself for finishing (even though some people thought I may not go the whole time). I haven't used my inhaler in who knows how long too so the health benefits are showing too already.

Today my roomie and I got up and did cardio. She decided that she wants to work out with me so she and I both started a new 12 Week program. My goal is to lose another 10 pounds before I leave Florida.

So besides running errands and such I am just going to do some work today and hang out. :-) Have a great week everyone!!

It's getting BREEZY!!!!

Well today was really interesting! I was working an 8 hour shift in Icon which is the area around the big sorcerer Mickey's hat (the icon of our park, icon area . . .). I have worked there once before in the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! but today I was just sweeping around the big hat. For about 45 minutes, I had to stand in front of a ladies' restroom that was down for maintenance and tell people that. I was SO not popular. Almost half of the ladies I told that to looked like they were going to strangle me. My favorite though was the lady who had her 3 year old daughter with her who said she had to go so badly that the lady ran into the men's bathroom with her daughter!! And there were men in there!!! I couldn't really do much and the guys didn't seem to care that much. I just kind of laughed. After that, I took about 80 pictures for people and traded pins for a while which was really fun. Then, I had to do powervac for the parade which is like a gigantic loud vacuum we take around after the parade to get all of the popcorn and messy debris left by the audience. Right after that I had to do a trash run and empty all the cans around the hat and OH GOODNESS I missed Sunset!!! There were so many cans and everything was much more spread out than Sunset. I felt like a foreigner.

All of these responsibilities made the day go by really fast though because I kept having to be somewhere else. It was good. I traded lots and lots of pins today which is always fun. Then, I met a really cute family near the end of my shift and there were two daughters about 7 and 10 who were trading with me. The family was telling me about how it was their last day and they were hoping Fantasmic! wouldn't be canceled due to rain and the girls were just so darn cute that I gave them pixie dust pins. They were really super excited as most people are to get free souvenirs from Disney. :-)

Tonight I came home and got Panera for dinner with the gift card my incredibly generous parents gave me (thanks guys) and then worked out. At Panera, I was getting an iced green tea thing for my roommate and I was telling the nice boy behind the counter how I've never had one and he went and gave me a smaller one for free!!! Just like the pixie dust recipients, I was pretty excited. Tomorrow I work a short shift, 3:30-9:30 and then it's my weekend!!! Yayyy!!!! I plan on being lazy and getting my homework done for my class. It's turning out to be a great week!!!

Is is monsoon season?!?!?!

Work was really good today. First Jess and I went to property control and Cast Connection before work and it was AMAZING!!! They have everything so cheap like the 3 dollar Stitch hat I bought. I was pretty super excited.

At work I was on zone 2 which is Tower of Terror (normally the coaster but it's not up right now). So I was just kind of chillin' around that area and talking to lots of different guests. I did lots of pin trading today which is always fun. My favorite was this old couple who I went to trade with. They had so many full series of the hidden Mickey pins (the ones you can only get from cast members) and then this really awkward family comes up and asks if they can trade to them. The old man is so sweet and trades them what they wanted and then the awkward fam walks away. I reach into my pouch and pull out a pixie dust pack even though he had all three kinds on his lanyard and say that since he was so sweet to that family I wanted him to have these pins that he could use to trade. They were so excited they even shook my hand before walking away. It's stuff like that that just makes my entire week!!!

Another awesome story was how when I was in Fantasmic! a few nights ago, this boy runs through the big rush of people leaving to come over and say in an awesome British accent "That was the GREATEST show I've ever seen!!! Thank you so much!!!" and then runs back to his mom. It was soooo cute!!

Two days ago, I got my first "Guest Service Fanatic" card. These are recognition cards that managers can give out when they see you doing things that are above and beyond and I got one for my guest/cast interaction with this lady who was waiting to meet up with the rest of her party. My manager came over and the lady said that I was so polite and had such a good time talking with me. It was pretty exciting.

I have one more day of work and then 2 days off so that's pretty sweet. :-)

Yes, it IS that hot in Orlando.

Today at work was just sweltering. It was 91 degrees and hotter at some points and guests felt the need to keep asking me "Is it AWAYS this hot in Orlando?!". Yes, it is. Check weather.com, it's a great resource. It's been that hot and it will continue to be that hot for at least another week or two. And the Rock 'n Roller Coaster (commonly called the Rock 'n Roll Roller Coaster . . . come on people, understand the play on words) is down for refurbishment until early October and all these people come over and ask, "What?!?! It's down?!?!?!". Uh, yes. It was in the times guide, the tip board, and all over the front of the park. And online. It's down. I'm sorry we're not exciting enough with out the cool roller coaster.

As angry as that paragraph sounded, I really had a good time today at work. It was incredibly hot but it was fun. I talked to lots of guests today which makes time go by SO much faster. Then we had this welcome thingy with all the new custodial college programmers and that was fun too (we got candy and played trivia games). Then I gave out another pixie dust pin to this lady who was on her 50th visit to the parks and it was her birthday too so I just had to give it to her. She was super excited about it.

Tonight I went to dinner with some of the roomies to Bahama Breeze. The food was AWESOME and we had fun making fun of our slow waiter. Really I just think that any food that isn't made by me or my microwave is good.

So now I'm going to just hang out a bit and go to sleep kind of early. I don't have to be at work until 1:30 but I want to work out early and clean up for a while so yeah. Bye all!!!

Oh yeah!!!! :-) And a happy new year!!!!

So I totally forgot to write about the most exciting thing that has happened in the last week. My sister got engaged!! Yayy!!! She's going to get married and I'm super excited. I also got a BRAND NEW computer today so I am currently playing on it and putting all of my stuff onto it. It's pretty and white and new. I'm in love.

This past week at work was actually very hot but fun. My favorite day was when I got to make this little boy's day. As I walked past him with my pan and broom, I saw him drop his Mickey Premium ice cream bar. The chocolate was alllll over his face, pants, shirt, just everywhere. Another custodian and I picked up the dropped ice cream and I went and got him a new one. He seemed extremely excited but very shy. After talking to his mom and grandma for a few minutes, I thought that he was the perfect little boy to give my second pixie dust pin to. I asked if he liked pin trading and his mom and grandma said he was OBSESSED. It was also his first trip to Disney so I told him that I had a special present for him for his first trip. I pulled out the pin to give to him and he was soooo excited!! His eyes just lit up and even though the only thing he said to me the entire time I talked to his mom and grandma was "thank you" twice I still think he was super excited about the pixie dust pin.

I got back last night from visiting Joni and family. It was very fun and relaxing. I definitely enjoyed seeing some familiar faces (not to mention getting good food and laundry done!)!!! All in all, I had a good "weekend".

I just got home from working an early shift. I think we're going to hang out for a little bit and then head to Magic Kingdom to try out the new and improved Haunted Mansion (yayyy!!). I'm pretty stoked. After that I'm sure we'll just come home and chill for a while. I have another early shift tomorrow so I will probably head to bed kind of early!! :-)

SO much work!

I'm getting ready to go visit some family friends but I haven't updated in a while so I thought i would do that before I leave. Work has been going pretty well. It's very hot out still and it keeps raining so then we got hot and sticky. I've done Fantasmic twice in the last week so I'm getting a little bit tired of it but I think they're going to keep putting me on it for some reason. BOOO. The streets are hard to do up there. But both times I've done it it's been canceled so whatever. I'm just having fun hanging with the roomies when we don't have work.

Haunted Mansion reopens today (the 13th, mwuahaha). It's opening in time for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party which my roommates and I will be attending right after Halloween. You get to trick or treat in Magic Kingdom and the characters are there all dressed up in their "favorite costumes". I'm excited!!!

Besides that, there are lots of new College Program kids on Sunset at MGM. So far, they're pretty cool, some of them are going to be a little bit of a problem but it's not MY problem so it's okay. :-) Bye for now!!!!

Great Birthday!!!!!!!

I had such a great birthday!!!! I shopped in the morning of my birthday and then headed to work. After twenty minutes, they let me leave!! Yayy!!!! When I came back to the apartment there were decorations in the apartment like balloons and a Happy Birthday banner, it was so cute!!! So I came back and chilled and then went back to MGM with one of my roomies. We rode some stuff and did the drawing studio in Magic of Disney Animation (my fave) and then met up with Jessica when she was done with work. We went on Tower of Terror (twice, she got us back on a second time without waiting!) and then we went to Fantasmic. It was great as usual and then we came back to the apartment and drank here.

Thursday we all went to breakfast at IHOP which was really fun. They sang to me and gave me a little sundae. I was very embarrassed and surprised, it was great. Then we went to pick up paychecks and fix our accounts at Vista Credit Union. After that we went to the BEST thing about being a cast member, Cast Connection. It's like a Disney outlet store on steroids that you can only go to if you are a cast member or with a cast member. It's huge and great!!! We spent some money and then Autumn and I went to Magic Kingdom. This was also fantastic. We traded pins, rode a bunch of my favorite rides like Buzz Lightyear, the Laugh Floor and Peter Pan and then we headed back to the apartment. We decided to hang out for a while and then after Kristina got home we went to Buffalo Wild Wings again to chill and eat wings. We had so much fun, it was a great ending to a great birthday celebration.

Today I have just chilled, done laundry and gone grocery shopping. I got an awesome package from my parents (thanks!) and we are all just chilling now!!! I have to work tomorrow at 10 am but at least I get the night off. Thanks to everyone who made my birthday awesome!!!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!

So yesterday at work was very strange. There was NO ONE in the park!!! It was really empty, especially compared to Labor Day. Since there was no one there really, it was a cinch to work because nothing got too dirty. I'm learning fast that to enjoy my job I really need to take pride in what I do, even if to you all it just sounds like I am cleaning toilets all the time . . . to me, I am keeping MGM clean and making magic for our guests. (Not in the bathroom mostly.) There is a new dude who is a "Debbie Downer" and I've realized that even though custodial work isn't the most glamorous or sometimes fun job in the park, I get to talk to people for the majority of my day and I make people happy by trading pins and creating memorable experiences for them.

Last night I got home from work and found a WHOLE stack of presents waiting for me. YAY!! I got some very nice gifts from friends and family (including a Publix gift card, what a fantastic idea, groceries for two weeks, seriously!) as well as other gift cards and a birthday cake mix that you bake in a flower pot. Hehehehe, I love it.

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings because it's close to our apartment and Kristina had friends from work who were going there. We had an awesome time, talked to some interesting random people and decided to go to Pleasure Island for a while after that. Kristina was nice enough to drive so we didn't have to worry about getting places and we just had a blast. At PI they told the people at the door that it was my birthday and they gave me a button and took our picture for us. The guy at the door spoke in an Irish accent for like half the time and we were wondering what was up with that. :-) The club was EMPTY also so we had the revolving dance floor all to ourselves. We just had a blast.

Then when I got back to the apartment lots of people had written on my Facebook wall and Jer had sent me an awesome birthday present. He compiled the answers to a survey that a bunch of my good friends and family answered and it really just made my night. The questions were about me and the answers were really funny. It was supposed to be a "taste of home" and it just made me smile.

So now I am up early and can't fall back asleep but that's okay. I am hanging out all morning and then going to work for about 2.5 hours and then coming to the apartment, then going BACK to MGM to play with two of my roomies who will be off work later. Everyone else is working kind of late tonight so we're gonna party in the apartment.

I'm just feeling really lucky now to have made such great friends here already and to have such amazing ones at home. :-)

Almost 22!!!

This crazy work week has actually FLOWN by. I'm really surprised because I thought it would go super slow but it has gone by really quickly. I'm on my last full day of work (number 8, holy cow!) and then tomorrow I have a 2.5 hour shift and then I get to celebrate!!! My roomies are being awesome about my birthday and we're gonna party it up in the next few days. Most of us have Thursday or Friday off so we are going to go to Pleasure Island possibly tonight and then hang out in the apartment tomorrow night. Then Thursday they're taking me out to breakfast (yay!) and then Pleasure Island again at night. Quite a fiasco. I was late to work yesterday for the first time and they were incredibly nice about it and actually switched my shift so I had a full shift of work. What nice managers!!! Now I am off to hang out before work, I can't decide what I'm going to do yet but I'm going to hang out. I'll post more later tonight or tomorrow.

6 Days Down, 3 to go!!!!!!!

I'm on my long stretch of work now and I'm almost done. Only two more days and then a 2 1/2 hour shift on my birthday!!! Tonight I worked in the Fantasmic restrooms which was pretty good. It was actually a lot slower than I thought it would be. I got to chill a lot and just sweep the streets and such. Tomorrow I'm working at 5 which is kind of nice because I get to sleep in and hang out all day until work. Two more days, two more days!!!!

The best part of my day two days ago was giving out a Pixie Dust Pin. Disney Pin Trading is all the rage out here. Kids and adults, they all trade these Disney pins and cast members get good ones, so they like to trade with us. But Pixie Dust Pins are special pins that only cast members are allowed to give out. You can’t buy them in the stores. There are two pins in each pack, one for the recipient to keep and one for them to give to someone else or trade with another person. Last night as Fantasmic was letting out (or Fantasmagoric as one guy called it yesterday) I saw this boy being led to Tower of Terror. We were telling the rest of his party that the park was already closed but his mom assured me his uncle was just playing a trick on him because he cried through the whole ride. As he comes closer, I see him wearing a birthday button. So I ask him how old he’s turning and such. I pull out the pin to give to him and when I tell him about it, it looks like his eyes may pop out of his head. He’s so super excited and his family seems to be so excited for him that it just made my entire day. I hope his pin helps him remember his birthday at Disney. :-)

Well for now I am off to watch Cocktail with the roommates and then go to sleep!!! Good night all!!!

They're all DRUNK in MGM!!!!

I worked 4-10 tonight on the streets. As always, I loved it. We had a good amount of people in the park although not a whole lot but then starting at 6:30 we had a corporate party (be jealous, it's friggin awesome). They had the whole park to themselves. There were 3500 people, all the food was free and the bars were all open. There were lots of ice cream and popcorn spills everywhere too. Lots of people took advantage of those open bars and I've gotta say, I have NEVER seen that many drunk people in a Disney park. The unfortunate part was that they all drank and ate till their hearts' content and then rode the Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster. Ewww. Luckily, I didn't get called on any "protein spills" but there WERE a few. Sick.

Anyway, I have six more days of work (unless I can't find someone to take my birthday shift and then 7 more days) but hopefully that won't happen. :-)

I'm on bathrooms tomorrow (boooo) so I should really rest up!!! Night!!

We are so darn tootin' cute!!

Me and four of the roomies at Magic Kingdom on our day off!!!

My days off have been great!!!! I've lounged, played in the parks, gotten sushi, done laundry and cleaned my room. I can't believe they have scheduled me now for 9 days in a row of work. I may give a shift away because that's too many days in a row to work. Everything else is good, I'm going to enjoy my last day off and get ready for work tomorrow. I'm happy that I'll be going back to my nice pretty pan and broom. :-) Mwuahahahaha.

Don't Be Jealous.

My costume. One version at least, the pants are just too warm for right now. This is just missing the beautiful black gym shoes, side pouch and gum scraper.

Oh NO You DIDN'T Steal My Pan and Broom

I had my first full shift of work. Well, 2 really! It was good. Everything worked out okay. I enjoy being on the streets (even when it pours, oy) but bathrooms are not exactly my favorite. It's not even because of the cleaning and such, because it's really not as dirty as you think it would be but because you don't get to interact with guests as much. Adults don't want to get in your way but kids will stand there and talk to you for hours if they could!

So as I'm doing my bathroom duty, sweeping and garbage removal and such, I accidentally left my nice, new pan and broom in the storage closet where all the supplies are. Everyone has told me to NOT do that because other cast members will take your pan and broom, ESPECIALLY if it's nice (I know, ridiculous). So, being myself and believing in the innate goodness of humans I leave my pan and broom in the closet for about 5 minutes. When I get back, it's GONE. I'm so mad, fuming really. I wanted to cry a bit because it had sentimental value being my first equipment given to me (and duh, it was nicer than the icky one someone left in there) so I am just sad. I try to get over it really quickly and suck it up.

Then it starts POURING while I'm on my dinner break. Luckily, there are awesome other young people working in my area who also had a break then. They're fun to be around and just nice in general. They all laugh sympathetically of course at my pan and broom getting stolen but whatever. We're having a nice break until it's really coming down hard outside and there is terrible lightning. During severe weather, we are supposed to take cover in guest areas but since that would mean leaving the area and walking outside in the rain so that was a bad idea.

So later that night, right before I was about to head back to my locker, I see another custodial lady walking about with GOSH DARN IT MY PAN AND BROOM!!! Of course I know it is mine because mine was the only nice, new and clean one. So I ask her if she took it from the closet, she says no, she found it in a locker in the back without a lock and I tell her it's mine and she gives it back. Yay for being ballsy!!! That's my pan and broom!!! I really stuck it to her. (She pretty much volunteered it back when I told her it was mine, but whatever. I don't really care if she doesn't like me, someone stole it.)

And as you can tell, that was the excitement at my job this week!

Today I had a day off (and tomorrow and Monday, yayyy!!). My roomies (except Kelly, she had to work :-( ) went to Magic Kingdom. We also had Autumn's boyfriend and his roommate/my coworker Shan with us. We had SOOO much fun. It was Shan and Ivaleese's first time in a park (well, as a guest) so it was great to see them experience it. Magic Kingdom was magical, as always. Then we headed over to my mother ship, aka MGM to eat at Prime Time Cafe. Prime Time is the 50's diner where "Mom" comes over to serve you, no elbows on the table and you get harassed a bit. Ever since I have seen it on Unwrapped I have wanted to go and I finally got my chance!!! The food was AWESOME, just like home cooking, which was a nice change since we all realized that we have been eating pretty crappily since we've been here. It was so much fun, our "Mom" was really great. Then we rode the Tower of Terror (twice!) and Rockin' Roller Coaster. (Well, we waited a little because we didn't want to uh, get stomach aches.) It was awesome, we had a great time. Shan and Ivaleese's responses were so funny and the only bad thing was that it started to rain so we didn't stay for Fantasmic. When I got home I went with Jess to Wal Mart to get more socks for work (mine were too short) and then we watched Kill Bill. After that I talked to Jer (my hubs, I miss him!) and Laney (who I obviously also miss).

I am excited to have the next two days off to do laundry (which I have LOTS of) and to just chill. It's been a long first week but I survived!!!!!!!!!! :-) Good night to all!!!

Sure I'll sift through trash for you!!!!!

Today I had a great time at work!! It was incredibly hot outside but I had plenty of water all day. I started out by getting my first paycheck (a whopping 65 dollars, I know, you're jealous) and then I went to my Basics class about guest service and such. Then I had my first REAL shift of work. It was great. It went by kind
of slow because I was just sweeping up and down Sunset but it was great because I got to really help a lot of people.

This one guest comes up to me and asks if I can get into the trash can. (I wanted to tell her "Yes, but it's a little uncomfortable" but I thought that was not so Disney.) So I put on my trusty gloves that I keep in my stylish side pouch and start sifting through the trash to try and find her son's admission ticket that is still good for another 4 days. Unfortunately, we do trash runs a lot and the trash had probably already been emptied. So I directed them towards guest relations and hopefully they got help there. She seemed really grateful that I looked through peoples' nasty trash for her so that was at least good!!!

I met some really nice people who also work on Sunset tonight so that was good. I'm excited that I have three days off after tomorrow. My roomies and I are going to go to the parks on Saturday, especially since one of our roomies has NEVER ever been to a Disney park. So that'll be great. For now, I think I'm going to sleep so I can get up early to work out!!! :-) Night all!!!!

Just Walk Towards the Big Hat . . .

Today was my assessment training and then my first official shift of work. The assessment training was in the morning and it was kind of weird but I passed everything! Then, I was set loose in the park to do my thang. I was set for sweeping with my pan and broom and had a great time. I talked to lots of families and guests and I absolutely LOVED this part of the job. It's so nice to have the chance to interact with guests and help them. Evidently there aren't as many "protein spills" (the Disney way of saying vomit) in my area like everything thinks there are so that's always good to hear!!! I did get lots of questions on how to get places and such so that was good because even though I know the park pretty well, I am not quite a pro like I will be when I'm done with the program. Tomorrow I had a two hour class and then an 8 hour shift (restrooms . . . blahhhh, we'll see how that goes) so I'm super tired already. I have two more days of work this week (for a total of almost 48 this week) and I'm pretty exhausted so it's time for bed!!!!!

Night all!!!

Pictures for you all!!!

Here's some pics!!!!

All the roomies at Pleasure Island.
Left to right: Kristina, Me, Kelly, Autumn and Jessica

My actual roommate Kristina.

My fave!

My official nametag. :-)

This is my Traditions pins for completing the class!!