What is the craziest/weirdest thing you saw during your College Program?

So I get this question a lot actually. Especially when I talk to my friends about working at Walt Disney World (so casj). Here are some of the highlights of working at Walt Disney World:

I once sold a family roughly $300 of chocolate milk. The story is funniest if I just leave it at that sentence, but basically these folks came in and loaded up 3 shopping baskets worth of individual bottles of Nesquik chocolate milk, and some iced tea. We told them that we had bulk size chocolate milk, but they didn't listen, and merely responded, "We really like chocolate milk." I'm sure you do.

I didn't personally witness this, but the story traveled fast around the mountain, and it's a pretty common occurrence unfortunately. One of my fellow Cast Members was at the Grouper position putting families onto the train, when they noticed someone's backpack was moving. They asked the family what was in the backpack, and the mom responded, "It's a toy we bought earlier today. It's motion activated." The Cast Member asked them to open up the backpack and show him, but they refused, saying that they shouldn't have to do that. Eventually they did when the Cast Member made it clear that they would not start the ride until this was resolved. It was a baby. They tried to smuggle a baby onto a roller coaster. I'm not sure how successful they thought this would be. What I did witness was on a separate occasion, someone carried their baby all the way up to where I was at Grouper. They weren't trying to hide their baby, but come on, really? Obviously a roller coaster is not a safe environment for someone that young.

I was at Main Unload one day when I hear our coordinator call for us to lock the gates on the Main side. I thought this was odd, because we don't normally do that on Main Side, rather on Spur Side. I see my coordinator then walk through the exit of the ride with a few people in tow. As he passed me, I asked him what was going on. He leaned in and whispered, "You'll see" with a glint in his eye. A train then pulls into the station with only the last two rows occupied. At this point it's fairly obvious that someone really famous is on the ride because by locking the gates, we're effectively stopping crazed fans from mobbing the innocent, and the empty train as well was a giveaway too. They exit the train, when we're given the all clear to open the gates. The party strolls past me, one gentleman nods his head in thanks, as I recognize him. 'It's that guy, from that band', I said to myself. Indeed, it was Liam from One Direction and his posse. We brushed shoulders, so you can say things are getting pretty serious.

Besides my intimate encounter with a member of One Direction, two other celebrities rode my ride while I was operating it. Both football players: Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, and Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Troy was such a tease- he had his hair pulled back in a bun, and went to retie it. He shook it loose and his hair spilled everywhere. He got a reaction from the peasants- I mean regular guests- when they realized who it was, and all he had to do was look in everyone's general direction and smile- they all swooned so hard that day.

I once sold a gentleman a $250 Dooney and Burke purse for his 7 year old daughter, on the condition that she promise to take care of this one. No judgment, because that's an awesome gift, but when I told him his total, he didn't even flinch. Can he adopt me?

One day while working in the Market, a gentleman came up to make a purchase. He saw my name tag and that I went to the University of Alabama and he got very excited. He wanted to show me his tattoo. He repeatedly would ask, "Do you believe that I have a tattoo?" Like I'd have any reason to doubt you sir. So he starts rolling up his pant leg, and keeps rolling, and keeps rolling. All the way up to mid-thigh, dusted with leg hair, was Big Al, our beloved mascot. He shouted Roll Tide! and then bought a fifth of vodka. Bama Alum: Keeping it classy since 1994, or whenever he graduated.

My largest sale was for over $1,100- all in Alex & Ani bracelets. If you've worked in merchandise, this can often be a point of discussion. What was your biggest sale? Especially if you worked during Star Wars Weekends, I've heard of people having over $25,000 transactions, so mine pales in comparison. A couple came into BVG while I was working at the jewelry counter, and they wanted to see our new collection of Alex and Ani bracelets that had literally Just come in that morning. It was the Cinderella line, since the live-action movie was released in the middle of my program. We had three new bracelets, one standard that said, "Whistle While You Work", and two 'wraps', one with a carriage, and one with the word "Dream" in silver. The woman approached the counter and asked how many we had in stock, so I told her I could take a peek below and see. She said she wanted to make two purchases. The first being for her, one of each of the three new bracelets. The second 'order', as she put it, being ten of each of the brand new bracelets that were just released this morning. Now, the Contemporary was one of only a few shops that would get new jewelry fairly soon after its release, the others being World of Disney, Uptown Jewelers, The Emporium (for Alex and Ani), etc. This woman knew what she was doing- buying all the merchandise available, since there was no hard cap on what we can sell per transaction, so it wouldn't be available in the parks anymore, and therefore its resale value would skyrocket and one can make a nice profit. I think this is horrible. Some people who are vacationing from all over the world don't get opportunities to buy the park exclusive bracelets, or any other merchandise for that matter. When someone comes in to do this, just so they can flip it for a profit, it really angers me because it hikes the price for these folks who just want a nice souvenir from their time at Disney World /end rant/ And the kicker in all this? She used her annual pass to get a discount on the merchandise.

I had a shift that was scheduled to end at 4am. Like, on purpose. The night was July 3rd. Yes, the popular Fourth of July Eve. It was a Friday, and we had the special perimeter fireworks both the 3rd and the 4th, due to high crowds. The park closed at 1am, with extra magic hours until 3am. Normally, the latest Magic Kingdom closed to regular guests was midnight, and extra magic hours would be until 2am. The only night of my entire program that I closed the Lost and Found position was this night. That position stays the latest out of everyone, because we close Tower, which means we supervise the track walk, and then we take everything found throughout the day to the Lost and Found office, located at the front of Main Street, or the opposite end of the park from Thunder Mountain.

We actually deal with merchandise sprouting legs quite often at Disney. It's difficult to keep an eye on all the guests when you have a line building up, or when the shape of your store is not conducive to being able to keep everyone visible from the counters. There was one woman in particular who apparently was quite brazen in her attempts to free some t-shirts from their confinement of metal hangers. Another guest let us know that there was a woman with sticky finger syndrome wandering near the clothing section, but since we couldn't actually see her take anything, and we can't ask someone to show us the contents of their bag, we had to let her go, let her go, can't hold her back anymore.

On my last day at the Contemporary, we had an interesting situation. There was a guest who was flushing toilets repeatedly to the point of flooding on the first floor of the resort, but he was slowly making his way up to the fourth floor concourse where the shops and restaurants are. Another guest approached me and my manager alerting us to the situation, saying they were concerned that the guest appeared to be unsupervised or perhaps separated from his group, and that someone should check in on him so I volunteered. He was heading towards Bay Lake Tower on the bridge, but as I approached him to see how he was doing and if I could help him find his group, he kept backing away from me, saying he was fine and didn't need help (I mean I too love to flush toilets repeatedly) until eventually he made it inside the resort and we lost him. My manager and I went downstairs to the lobby to let the cast members there know what was happening in case the Wet Bandit was seen again.

TOUR GROUPS. Hundreds of chanting tweens wearing matching shirts and making you question your life choices. Sometimes, you even get to witness multiple tour groups merging together into one super mega ultra tour group and you go numb inside.

If you've ever wondered what a cast member means when they say "Thunder Mountain is currently experiencing technical difficulties", it can mean a variety of things. Sometimes, the ride just stops on its own- A false intrusion, an issue with the track switch, etc. Sometimes, it can be because there was a problem with trains leaving the station, and everything got backed up too long which leads to an automatic emergency stop. Sometimes, it can be because an idiot stands up on the ride and doesn't sit back down despite being spieled at over the speakers. Don't be that guy. Resetting the ride involves evacuating every train, walking the guests down the tracks back into the station, doing a track walk, and resetting each section of the track. Depending on the crew available, this could take well over an hour to do, all because you wanted some sweet air time on the hill.

There's always one person who leaves a lasting impact on your program. It can be a roommate, coworker, leader, or a guest. This person can have such an impact on you that they will never be forgotten. For me, it was the kind-hearted guest who cussed me out while I worked at Thunder. Since the trains on our ride are separated into cars, I can see how sometimes it might be confusing if a party is split between two cars. As I was grouping guests, I put one party in two rows, one in the first row of a car, and the other half in the last row of the next car (they were the next two consecutive rows, just split by the gap). This guest stopped me and looked dumbfounded, and said "We want to be on the same train". I told her that they were, they'll be riding together, they'll just be a few feet apart instead of immediately next to each other. She did not like this, and repeated that they wanted to ride together. I told her I can't move her party, since I've had to do this to other groups in the past (actually all the time, this is super common) and I can't make an exception for her, since that wouldn't be fair to everyone else. Eventually, she got so fed up, she screamed, "F*** you, what's your name?" I kindly pointed to my nametag, and said, "Taylor. Have a magical day!"





And finally, some sage advice from a CP alum:

No matter how delicious the Kitchen Sink looks, just know- someone in your group will get the unlucky combinations of toppings that will make you regret this decision (as if some didn't regret it already). Pineapple and peanut butter, I'm looking at you.

When you get your ears embroidered, make sure the cast member either writes down your name themselves, or knows what your name is. Don't just let your handwriting speak for itself. Because sometimes, you accidentally link the 't' and the 'i' in your name. You expect Kristina, but you get Krishna, and a new nickname.

If you want your jokes read at the Laugh Floor, don't make them politically themed, or about politics at all, actually. Just make them about Disney, or animals, or something cute that kids actually understand.

Don't test the birds on Main Street or in Frontierland. They will swoop down and steal your churros. And if they decide to feast, don't try to salvage your delicious deep-fried cinnamon-sugar stick. Just SCATTER.

If you go to a Mardi Gras parade at Universal Studios, be prepared to get your hands dirty. Children on vacation there are vicious. But what they say at the Horror Make-up Show is true: You don't have to be nice to kids at Universal, it's not Disney World. Throw some elbows if you have to- those $0.25 beads will be worth it forever.

If you work in merchandise, good luck saving money. Because there are things you didn't even know you wanted until you worked among all the plushes, mugs, ears, and other useless but oh-so-cute merchandise.

If your waitress at 50s Primetime Cafe says "I don't think I've ever seen anyone finish that by themselves" after you order the 7-layer cake, don't say "Challenge Accepted". Even with my roommates helping, that peanut butter and chocolaty goodness was toooooo much.

Guess Who's Back?

I have a real problem: I just can't shake the Disney bug. I'm graduating in just a few months, so I'm going through the typical existential crisis of a burgeoning college graduate, and wondering what to do with my future.

I still do want to work in sports, but I also want to work at Disney. What do? This past semester, I applied en masse to baseball teams around my home town, and I got an offer for a summer internship in Madison, WI. I will be a marketing intern for the Madison Mallards, doing crazy promotions and community relations work for the team, and I am so excited. Since this is not a full time job offer, and I have nothing in the fall or beyond, I will be applying for another college program so I can hopefully be a child one more time and live and work at the most magical place on earth.

I'm really thankful for my past experience, as I think I know now what roles I'd really be comfortable with. Better yet, I know some locations I can request in the phone interview, so hopefully in just a few short months, I will receive the glorious acceptance e-mail one. more. time.

I have a post I've been working on for a while now, about some of the crazy/memorable experiences I had while working at Disney World. That should be coming up in a few days. Other than that, you'll hear from me when applications drop in about a month!

'Til next time!

Looking Back at My Disney College Program

10 Costumes.

9 Mickey Premium Bars. (Yep, only 9...)

8 Visits to the Animation Academy.

7 Months.

6 Roommates (x2).

5 Character Meals.

4 Parks.

3 Selfies with Walt.

2 Roles.

1 Life Forever Changed.

I laughed. I cried. I cried tears of frustration, sadness, separation anxiety, joy, and everything in between.

The College Program is special. We get to live where others vacation. We get to make the magic that others dream about experiencing. I simply cannot think of another job where you get so much freedom to make people happy. And that's what it's all about. It's about escaping your real life and leaving it at the edge of property. It's about being a kid again. It's about spending time with the people you love and making memories to last forever. And getting to be a part of all that? Absolutely priceless. And worth all the ups and downs. It's worth the 14 hour shifts. It's worth getting sunburned doing PAC and getting soaked because you forgot your rain gear. It's worth the sore feet, difficult guests, no sleep because you just had to see Wishes the night before, no money in my bank account because I spent it all on Mickey-shaped items, and crazy questions. It's worth everything and more.

The College Program is also cruel. It's becoming so SO close with your roommates, and your co-workers all while in the back of your mind, you know you'll be going your separate ways in a few short months. It's knowing that all the fun and excitement in the parks will soon be gone. It's bringing people together temporarily, then splitting them apart.

The College Program. It's magical. It's making a child smile with a simple sticker or a High-4. It's tearing up as the music swells and Wishes begins. It's selling guests their perfect souvenir to end their vacation. It's making a guest the best Dole Whip they've ever tasted. It's taking the most adorable picture of a family on vacation. It's sneaking a group of girls some fastpasses because they were so nice and excited to go on your ride. It's life-changing.

After living anywhere for 7 months, you feel a connection- one you don't want to lose. Especially if that place is Walt Disney World. I was lucky enough to be a part of an amazing opportunity and I'd like to believe I took advantage of almost all the things I had offered. It's hard when you realize you can't just go watch Wishes tonight, or go to Hollywood Studios and ride your favorite ride on a whim anymore.

I dined with Chef Mickey and the Mad Hatter, I checked into the Hollywood Tower Hotel, I saw all 3 Fireworks shows in one night (I never said I wasn't crazy), I saved dinosaurs, I traveled the galaxy, I encountered 999 happy haunts, I met all the princesses and even a few crazy critters. I cheated on Disney and went to Universal Studios more times than I can count. I became a Senior Wilderness Explorer, I drank around the world in one day, I got to ride the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness an unbelievable amount of times, I made friendships to last a lifetime, and I got to work at the Most Magical Place on Earth.

Looking back on my experiences, I would 1000% do the Disney College Program again. I might not have stayed as long as I did, though that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy working at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Even though I promised myself I'd be happy to be done with the horrible hours and working out in the hot sun everyday, I really do miss everything I had in Florida.

I graduate next year, and while I'd love to pursue a career in sports, I do have a couple months where I can maybe get to be a kid again. Who knows? You might see me in yet another one of those lovely polyester costumes soon.

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them

Opening A Shop!

Hey guys! I'm trying something new, and making an Etsy shop to deal with my future Disney withdrawals. Below should be a link to my shop! It's mainly hair bows and paintings for now, hopefully I'll be able to add to it in the future!

Day 193: Moving On and Moving Out

Today I turned in my house keys and apartment ID and moved out of Chatham. I got up around 8:45 so I could finish loading up the car. I had packed a few boxes up last night, but I still had my bedding and a few smaller things.

Once I got almost everything in the car, I took a shower so I could pack up my toiletry items. Kaitlyn and Chelsea had left at this point, and two of my other roommates had left before today. So it was just me and Tess left. I was taking her to the airport, so we left the apartment at 11am, donated our mattress pads and headed out.

We stopped for lunch on the way because she didn't have to be at the airport until 1:30 anyways. We sat in the restaurant for a while, just talking and making flipagram videos to document our program. After I dropped her off at the airport, I plugged my grandparent's address into my GPS and headed to South Carolina. I'm picking my mom up there and we're finishing the drive to Illinois.

I'm sure I will end up doing a recap post soon enough considering I have 2 weeks at home before I head off to school. It was definitely a crazy experience from beginning to end. I met so many amazing people, and my outlook on life has changed for the better.

'Til next time!

Day 192: 4 Parks in 1 Day, or The Day We Cried Our Eyes Out

Today was my last day in Orlando. We were determined to make the most of it by visiting all four parks in one day so we could properly say goodbye. We had been planning this day for about a week to make sure that we could make the most of it. Because Tess worked at Epcot, we were able to get on a few rides through her. Because I worked at Magic Kingdom, we were able to get on a few rides through me. We decided to make our fast passes at Hollywood Studios, so we would go to Animal Kingdom first to beat the lines. We woke up bright and early to get to Animal Kingdom. Our goal was to go on three of the most popular attractions in every park, meet one character, and take a picture with the park icon.

We got to Animal Kingdom before the park opened, so we waited at the gates and headed right to Expedition: Everest when the park opened. The line was kind of long so we did the single rider line and got on right away. After that we headed to Dinosaur to go save the iguanadons. We then headed to Festival of the Lion King and we got really good seats. We even sat in the lion section! On our way back towards the exit, we went on the Discovery Island Trail to go meet Tarzan. Instead of Tarzan though, it was Turk! That was awesome because I've never met her.

After that we went to Creature Comforts to get some Starbucks and energy and then took a picture with the Tree of Life.

Park One Done.

We drove right to Epcot and got a good parking spot. The park was pretty empty when we got there! Since we were going to have to wait for the characters, we decided to head there first and get it out of the way. We went to the Character Spot so we could go meet Minnie, Mickey, and Goofy. It was super fun- probably the best character interaction I've had in a while, outside of Gaston. Mickey was super cute and so was Goofy. Minnie handed us a piece of paper to simulate us graduating from the College Program.

After that, we headed to Soarin' which I hadn't done since probably the third week of my program. It took a while to get through the line but it wasn't anything too bad. After that, we went on Figment- my favorite. Tess really wanted to go on it and we had fast passes, so we went. On our way to Test Track, we stopped at Club Cool so Chelsea could get some of her favorite soda from around the world. We then went on Test Track- it was super exciting and really fun. I'm definitely going to miss this ride. After that, we headed to Spaceship Earth so Tess could say goodbye to some coworkers and ride her ride one last time. We took our picture with the big round ball and said goodbye to Epcot.

Park Two Done.

Then we headed to Hollywood Studios where we had made fast passes. First, Chelsea had to get her ears embroidered so we went to a shop to do that. Up first was Tower of Terror. We had a really good drop sequence so it was a fun way to end. After that, we headed to Rock n' Roller Coaster where we did the single rider line because the regular line was over two hours. After that we went on Toy Story- my actual favorite ride. I won of course. Since we hadn't really eaten at all, we went too the Commissary to get food, and I went to the 50s Primetime Cafe to get a milkshake. Once we were recharged, we still had to meet one more character. We wanted to meet Buzz and Woody but the line was super long and we were running low on time, so instead we met Mater and Lightning McQueen from Cars.

After that we took our picture with the Hollywood Tower Hotel and headed out to Magic Kingdom.

Park Three Done.

Our last park of the day- Magic Kingdom. It couldn't end any other way. We took our park picture first thing after getting there, since we wanted one in the daylight.

Since we only had about two hours before the fireworks, we went right for Space Mountain. Unfortunately, the fast pass line still took half an hour. One of my coworkers from Thunder was in line behind us which was a strange coincidence. After Space Mountain, we cut through Fantasyland and headed towards Frontierland. Chelsea took a picture with Columbia Harbor House and I took a picture with the Indian in Frontierland.

We then headed to Thunder Mountain for my last ride. I had to say goodbye to a few more people while we were going through the line. After that, we headed to Splash Mountain to finish the mountains. We were very close on time- the parade was already going through Frontierland so we had to do a crossing. We were practically running through Adventureland to make sure that we got good viewing for the fireworks. We ended up right next to the Partner's Statue in the Hub and we were surrounded by fellow CPs. There were a lot of tears around us since all the summer extenders were done today. Good thing Chelsea brought tissues. After Wishes, I found Ashley from Thunder and we hugged and said goodbye. Even though our eyes were super puffy, Tess, Chelsea and I still had to meet one more character- Mickey Mouse, the boss man himself. 

Park Four Done.

Since we had to be out of our apartment by 11am the next morning, we decided to head out after that to go to sleep. I practically finished up packing, but my plan is to be up early-ish tomorrow to get everything in my car.

Y'all I can't believe it's over. It doesn't feel like it's over, yet when I left Magic Kingdom tonight, I knew it would be a long time before I got to see it again. I tried to take in all the sights and smells one last time- all the kids with their glow wands, all the happy people taking pictures, the smell of cookies on Main Street. I don't know when it will hit me that I don't get to live here anymore, but when it does, it'll be ugly.

'Til next time!

Day 191: Last Day As A Disney Cast Member

So guys, today was the day. It was my last shift as a Disney Cast Member. It's definitely a bittersweet feeling, because while I am super excited to go home and see my family and go back to school, I will miss being down in Orlando, and getting to go to the parks on my off days.

I worked 10am-5pm today which was a weird shift since I never got afternoons before. I packed up all my costumes to get ready to turn them in after my shift, then I was on my way. Right out of the gate, I got spur grouper. People today were really rough. Just not listening, the regular stuff. I moved outside for a while after that then got my first break. About an hour into my shift, I got a 'special task', which was to go to the manager's trailer for a meeting. It was my final day evaluation, so I sat down with two of my leaders and we talked about my performance. I got pretty good comments from them, especially for my attendance because I didn't call out at all.

I tried putting in for an ER just so I wouldn't have to take my unpaid lunch, but they were tight on labor apparently, since I didn't get it. My lunch came kind of late, I ended up getting back from lunch with roughly an hour and a half left in my shift. When I got back, I pulled two tasks. I was sitting in the office when a coordinator walked in and asked if I was comfortable going to the mini-lift to pull a train back on. Apparently while I was at lunch we had gone down to 4 trains because of some brake issues.

I headed back to the mini-lift with another cast member. While I had taken trains off of the mini lift, I hadn't pulled one back on since my training. Luckily, the maintenance guy who was out there with us was super helpful. Once we signaled to the Train cast member that we wanted to pull a train on, we opened up the swing bridge and started moving the train. Good thing nothing went wrong, because we could have backed up the operation a lot. We pulled it on part of the way, then went back into the station to let the other cast members finish pulling it in.

I ended up getting my bumpout early, around 4:40, so I sat in the office for about 10 minutes with some people before I could clock out.

No, thank you Mickey.

I said my goodbyes, then headed to the tunnels. I hopped into the shower in the Utilidors to freshen up because I wouldn't be going back to my apartment until way later in the night. I turned in all my costumes, then went to Vista Way to pick up Sydnee! We went on a few errands, like me getting my nose pierced (no more Disney Look), and going to the Disney Character Warehouse at the outlet mall. We had dinner then went to our former co-worker Lynn's apartment where some of the Contemporary CP's would be getting together for one last night.

After I got to say goodbye to those coworkers, I went to pick up some of my fellow Thundercats to go to Steak n' Shake with a bunch of other CP's. It was nice to be able to say goodbye to so many of my coworkers.

I ended up getting home around 3 in the morning, just enough time to get a few hours of sleep before our big day tomorrow. We're going to hit all 4 parks in 1 day to celebrate our last day in the parks.

'Til next time!

Day 190: My Last Night Shift at Thunder

So today was a pretty short shift, 5pm-11pm. It was also my last night at Thunder. It was pretty stormy outside, so of course I ended up being outside around when the rain started, and without my rain gear! Just very typical of my luck.

I had my last break around 9, and when I came back, I got main unload. I ended up making it around to main dispatch by the time Wishes started, so I didn't get to see it tonight. That's ok, I'll see it on Wednesday during our last day in the parks.

Since I was out at 11, all the PAC people were out and about, getting ready to clear the street while I was walking to the tunnels. I had to say some goodbyes today because I might not see these people tomorrow.  I can't believe that tomorrow will be my last day here.

'Til next time!

Day 189: Last Stretch of Work

Today was my third to last day. I worked 2pm-11:15pm. The first thing I pulled was grouper assist. I was rotated pretty quickly to main dispatch, but it took a long time for the next rotation to come around for me to get to grouper. And again, it took a while for the rotation to come around.

While I was on main grouper, I had my first guest cuss at me. It was super exciting. Basically, the way I grouped her family, they would be on the same train, but just in different cars. That's the way it goes, and a lot of families have this happen to them. It is literally unavoidable, so I can't make exceptions for people.  Let me put a handy diagram below for you.

They were sitting in the two rows circled in red.

The mother was asking if they could be in the same car. I told them that they would be on the same train, but that's all I could do. They asked repeatedly, but I told them the same thing every time. When I went back to group the next train, they tried moving themselves so they'd be in the same car. I asked them to move back to their original rows, but she was getting more snippy and less cooperative. Eventually, she yelled "F*** you! What's your name?"

I got my first break about 2 hours in. After that, I pulled main unload, which meant I was going to the same positions: grouper assist, main dispatch, main grouper. Rotation was moving a bit faster this time though. After I came back from lunch, we went down for weather. I pulled a task, then got Fastpass entry. That meant I got to go outside and tell people we were closed. We kept asking people to not stand in line because they're really not supposed to do it, but they all refused to move.

Just as we re-opened, rotation came around and I ended back at main unload, grouper assist, and main dispatch. After my last break, I was fully expecting to get that same cluster of positions, but I ended up getting spur unload. Since my last break came early, I made it all the way up to Tower where I stayed until my bumpout.

'Til next time!

Day 188: Hanging Out With Shamu

Today I tried something different. I went to SeaWorld! My former roommate Kriss had some connections so I was able to get in for free, so I said why not? I took the trolley since it was only 25 cents, and it dropped me off right at the entrance. I also had to pack up some stuff, so I couldn't be at the park for too long, but I wanted to do the big stuff while I was there. I went on Manta, which was a cool roller coaster, kind of like the Superman ride we had back at the Six Flags back home. It looks like you're flying in the air!

After that, I went on the Kraken ride. It was super intense, lots of loops and corkscrews, but it wasn't really rough or anything. The only thing I didn't like about SeaWorld was that they charged for lockers. After I got the thrill rides done, I went to see the Shamu show, One Ocean. It was super cool- even though I sat in the Splash Zone, I didn't get one single drop of water on me.

After I got home, I packed up most of the rest of my stuff. I still have a few outfits to wear the next couple days, my toiletries and my bedding, but that's it! I work the next three days, then we're doing 4 Parks in 1 Day, then I leave.

'Til next time!

Day 187: Magic Kingdom (Again)

Today, I tried to do a little bit of everything. I went to get my oil changed in the morning, and I also put air in my tires and cleaned out my car to get ready for the move back home. This was when it started to hit me that I'll be leaving in less than a week! My, how time has really flown by. But I think I'm ready to be heading back home.

After that, I went to the Contemporary to get a signature from one of my leaders for my internship credit back at school. Sydnee was just getting off work, so we went to Magic Kingdom to meet the rest of the characters I still hadn't met. We started with Merida because she meets outside. She was so cute! After that, we headed to Sleepy Hollow and got a waffle and waited in line for Tiana and Naveen. The little girl in front of us was dressed as Tiana, she was absolutely adorable.

After that, we went on Jungle Cruise! I will surely miss those punny jokes. Then we headed towards my home, Thunder Mountain. We tried a new way of riding it, and instead of facing forwards while we rode, we faced in towards each other. It was super intense, I may have regretted eating that waffle. But I will never ride Thunder normally again. We went on Haunted Mansion and Mine Train, before heading towards Storybook Circus. I had never been to Pete's Silly Sideshow, so we went inside to meet Goofy and Donald. They were so much fun, and I loved their outfits!

After that, we went on Buzz Lightyear, and I let Sydnee in on some insider tips to get a higher score. Then we headed towards Main Street. It was around 9:30, but we had a fastpass to meet Tinkerbell, so we shrunk down to the size of a pixie, and flew with her! We waited on Main Street at my favorite spot and watched Celebrate the Magic and Wishes. It was wonderful.

'Til next time!

Day 186: A Very Classy Breakfast

Today we had breakfast at 1900 Park Fare! The last time I was here was Galetine's Day with my previous roommates, so I was dying to come back! We heard that 1900 Park Fare is the only restaurant on Disney property that you can get gummy bears, so of course we had to get an entire bowl full to share with the table. Alice and the Mad Hatter loved that, since they're so spirited. Everyone was so cute! Tigger was really funny too, but a little scatter-brained of course.

After breakfast, Tess and I went to Hollywood Studios. We went to see bae aka Indiana Jones one last time, then we went on the Great Movie Ride. It was super hot, and since we are planning on doing 4 Parks in 1 Day next week, we decided to cut our day short again and go back to the air conditioning in our apartment.

'Til next time!

Day 185: Favorite Character Meet Ever

Today was the first day of my weekend! I went to Magic Kingdom to meet the last couple characters I hadn't met before. But it was suuuuper hot. I planned on meeting Gaston, Peter Pan, Tiana, and Merida.

I made a fastpass for Space Mountain, my favorite ride, so I headed there first. The fastpass line was extending way WAY out. By the time I got to the first touchpoint (still outside the building), I had already been waiting 10 minutes. Then I walked inside and was stopped by the line again. In total, I waited over 25 minutes to get on the ride through the fastpass line. Normally I don't complain about things like this because I know what it's like to work at a busy attraction, but 25 minutes is WAY too long. The guarantee is 15 minutes or less to get on the ride, and even that is pushing it.

Anyways, I headed towards Fantasyland to meet Peter Pan. I hopped in line, asked the people in front of me if they were waiting to meet Peter, and they said yes. Success, I was in the right place! About 5 minutes of waiting later, and the character attendant comes by to cut the line, except he cuts it maybe 10 people in front of us?? Turns out the people in front of us were just waiting in the shade, and not waiting in line, but no one said anything to us. We went to the attendant, but they said to just come back for the next set. I headed to Gaston's meet and greet area, but the line was already cut. I was just about ready to go back home, when my roommate Alexa said she was also at Magic Kingdom, and wanted to meet up! So we met at Gaston's Tavern, and waited for him in a pretty short line.

Gaston was soooo funny! I could probably stand next to his character spot all day and listen to him interact with people. I was wearing a Gaston hair bow that I made, and he saw it and made me take it out so he could 'see himself'. He then proceeded to clip it to his chest hair. It fell off pretty quickly, but it was still so funny.

There's the bow, just sitting on his chest

After that, we headed to meet Peter Pan. He said I was dressed like Mr. Smee because my shirt had blue and white stripes on it. He told us to watch out for pirates, so of course we said we would. Then we headed toward the Courtyard and took the classic picture in front of the castle with my graduation ears, then I headed home because the heat was getting to me. I started making a cross-stitch for my co-worker Haley because she wanted one that had a rap lyric on it, and I thought it was super funny and right up my alley.

Gonna miss this place :(

Tomorrow I'm going to 1900 Park Fare with my roommates and then Hollywood Studios!

'Til next time!

Day 184: Got To Make A Magical Moment

Today was my Friday! I worked 5pm-11pm, so a really short shift. I started by pulling the main side rotation, so I was at merge for about an hour and a half, alternating between being 'the traffic cop' and assisting with the fastpass part of the line. We had a few tour groups go through, but we didn't get backed up too badly. I went outside to the Fastpass entry position for about 10 minutes, then I got my break.

After my break, I went to Greeter 2 outside, and was there for about an hour and a half. By the time I rotated inside to main unload, my second break came around. I pulled Stand-by greeter and headed outside around 9:15pm, which meant I would be at wheelchair assist for the fireworks! Around 9:30, several guests came up to me and asked when would be the best time to get in line so that they would be on the ride during Wishes. Girls after my own heart! I told them that since it was about a 30 minute wait, if they got on soon, they should be good to go.

They hung around outside the entrance for a minute while I was scanning FLIK cards and checking heights, but as they were about to enter the line, I 'dropped' some fastpasses into their hands so that they could guarantee they'd be on during the fireworks. They were so happy! They told me that they were doing the '4 Parks 1 Day Challenge', and they were Disney-bounding as characters from Inside Out. There were only 4 of them, so they found 1 cast member in each park who they thought was awesome, and posed in a picture with them as the characters from Inside Out. They asked me if I would be 'Fear' in their Magic Kingdom picture, and I told them of course, I would be honored!

I ended the night at wheelchair, but I never did see the girls after they got on the ride. I sure hope they got a wonderful view of the fireworks! Tomorrow starts my four day weekend!

'Til next time!

Day 183: So Hot Outside

Today I worked from 4:15pm-12:30am. For those of you keeping track, this was my last closing shift at Thunder! I have a few more night shifts but I'm not closing. Since I was out at :30, that meant I was closing at our mini-lift and moving trains back into the storage facility.

I started at fastpass greeter, and it was so freaking hot outside! Normally there's some kind of breeze or the sun is behind the clouds for a little while, but today, nothing. The guests were probably feeling it too, as it was difficult to engage with them.

Later in the night, I was at stand-by greeter right when the fireworks started. During the fireworks, rotation went around, so I got to see the finale from our wheelchair assist position, which is the best view. After my last break, I was back out at fastpass.

I had a guest come up to me at fastpass who wanted to use his paper re-add because Space Mountain was down (which it was), so I let him through. He stopped and said that wait, he wanted to use the ticket here, but keep them so that he could go to Guest Relations in the morning and get a free day of park admission so that he could come back to go on Space Mountain. I told him that probably wouldn't work for multiple reasons and that he would have to give the ticket to the cast member at the top. He said he would, but that he would still try to go to guest relations in the morning. I told him good luck, then I rotated to main unload.

We closed the main side of the station while I was at main unload, so after that I went to the mini-lift. I stayed back there for probably the last 45 minutes waiting for the park to close so we could pull off the last of the trains, then I came back in and clocked out.

'Til next time!

Day 182: 6 Months in Disney

Today marks half a year ('ear') that I've spent working for the Mouse. Wow, has time flown by. I had a 7 hour shift, 8:45-3:45. I started the day at main unload, and it was super chill because we weren't filling the train completely full until I moved to another position. There were a lot of tour groups this morning though, which was horrible.

I asked them to pull up on their lap bar, making the motion with my hands as well, and they would all ignore me. I didn't really have time to explain to them what I needed them to do, so I just had to walk down the train and manually check all the lap bars when they wouldn't do it themselves. I feel bad because I've kind of lost my patience with them, but I'm keeping in mind I only have a few more shifts until I'm done.

After my first break, I went outside to stand-by greeter and stood outside for a few hours. I went to wheelchair assist and was literally running back and forth for the entire 45 minutes. By then my break should have come around. But it hadn't. I moved to spur unload and was there for about 45 minutes as well. Still no break. At this point, I only had 2 hours left in my shift, and I still hadn't taken my lunch. Finally it came around.

When I got back from lunch, I pulled the main rotation, which meant I went up to merge, which would be where I'd end my day. We went down for weather while I was up there, but came back up pretty quickly.

When I got home, I just ate a little bit and laid in my bed for the rest of the night.

'Til next time!

Day 179-181: Down to the Wire

These last few days have been pretty easy. Some pretty short shifts overall. On Thursday, we had another famous guest ride Thunder. I was at spur dispatch when I saw a group come into the station. I recognized one of the family members as Troy Polamalu, NFL safety, famous for his voluminous and beautiful hair. Because I was at the dispatch console, I sent his train and waved to them as they left the station.

The next day, I had a 6 hour shift at night, so I took advantage of this and went to Wal-Mart to get some groceries to last me for another 2 weeks and got some toiletries. On Saturday, I worked a normal 9 hour shift. I was at Wheelchair Assist during the fireworks again. It was still cool. After the fireworks, a guest came in because they lost their reading glasses on the ride. I found them for them, and they gave me a card as they left and thanked me for helping them. It was a thank you card that read "Thanks for making our day magical!" It was super cute, and I will keep it forever.

Around 11:30pm, right before the park closed to non-resort guests, the ride broke down. About 10 minutes before that, Splash Mountain had gone down for technical reasons as well, so all our coordinators/leaders were over there. It took a few minutes to get us started, but eventually I was sent out to evacuate a train, then do a track walk afterwards. My shift ended at 12:30, so I got my bumpout just a few minutes after that and I went home to sleep, because I had a very short turnaround to the next morning.

'Til next time!

Day 178: Breakfast with the Boss

Today me and my roommates had breakfast at Chef Mickeys! I like the breakfast here better than dinner, but we were there really early, like 7:45am. Toooo early for me! We got group shots with all the characters, so it was really cute.

After breakfast, Chelsea and I headed to Animal Kingdom so I could check off the last couple rides I had to do. We started off meeting Pocahontas and Tarzan, then we went on Expedition: Everest to wake ourselves up! After that, we headed for Festival of the Lion King, and saw Flights of Wonder for the first time. We got there early, so we got pretty good seats. We went to meet Dug and Russell, some of my favorites, after that.

The weather was taking a bad turn, so we wanted to head inside. We still had one more ride left (Kali River Rapids), so we wanted to see if the storm would hold off but we had time to kill until our next fastpass, so we went to meet Minnie and Mickey indoors, with air conditioning.

Once we did Kali River Rapids, I had officially done every ride at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios parks!

'Til next time!

Day 177: My Last Time at Universal, For Real

I know last time I said that was my last time at Universal, but my roommate Chelsea wanted to go at least once, and hadn't been, so I agreed to go with her (how could I turn it down?). We started really early because this was the only day she could go, so she wanted to get the most out of her one day pass. We started on the Universal side of the park, and went right for the Despicable Me ride because the line would only get worse as the day went on.

We decided to do the Minions scavenger hunt because why not? It looked super easy and fun so we grabbed some scratchcards and headed off! But not before getting a picture with Woody Woodpecker who was just hanging out in the street.

We went on the Mummy ride and took a picture with one of the stiltwalkers outside. We went to see the Horror Make-up Show and as we left, we saw the Scooby Doo Gang (minus Scooby) so we took a very serious picture with them.

After that, we did Transformers, Men in Black and E.T. We headed to Diagon Alley and strolled around for a while because the Gringotts ride was down. Once it reopened, it was a really short wait,so we jumped right on. We took the Hogwarts Express to Islands of Adventure and walked around for a while. We went to Marvel Superhero Island and went on Spiderman, and met the man himself. We waited around so we could meet the most patriotic man out there, Captain America. It was so cool!

We went to Seuss Landing and went on the Cat in the Hat ride, then headed back to Universal to meet Bumblebee from Transformers, and finish our scavenger hunt. We redeemed our prizes, and they were magnets of the characters from the Minions movie!

'Til next time!

Day 176: I Am So Tired

Today was a rough day. As I mentioned, I didn't get home until late last night. By late, I mean 3:45am. When I said I had to be at work early the next morning, by early I meant 7:30. I got roughly 1.5 hours of sleep as I prepared to go into an 11 hour shift. I know I did this to myself, but I tried to put in for an ER, along with another CP who was in the same boat as me. I did not get the Early Release from my shift, but I was tasking multiple times throughout the day.

That was the frustrating part. There were clearly enough people at work, but I couldn't go home early. It was my Friday, so I have a few days to recover. Anyways, just a few more weeks until I won't be working crazy hours. I went home and took a brief nap, then went to the Ale House with Tess and got some food.

'Til next time!

Day 173-175: Work Work Work Movie Night!

The last three days have been pretty bland. Work goes quickly, but nothing really sticks out anymore. I get asked the same weird questions on a pretty regular basis, but beyond that nothing bizarre. I got my last full schedule at Disney on Saturday though, which was pretty crazy! I was scheduled 6 days a week again, but I've been posting to try and give a few away. Some people are interested, so hopefully they go through!

Sunday night, we did something cool. I can't talk about it too much, because our manager had to talk to a lot of people for us to be able to do this, but it involved watching a movie with the other Frontierland CPs in a very cool place after we all were done with work. I got done very late, and had to be back very early the next morning. It was a super fun experience, but I was sooo tired.

'Til next time!

Day 172: Back to Hollywood Studios to Draw!

Today I had a short shift, 6:15pm-12:15pm. Tess and I decided we wanted to go to the animation class one more time because it would be closing that weekend. We got there and rode Toy Story with our fastpasses, then headed for the animation class. The line was so long, apparently a few people had the same idea as we did.

Once we got inside, we were wondering who we would draw. If we were given an opportunity to request, we wanted to draw Flynn Rider, but the artist had someone in mind already. It was Baymax from Big Hero 6! It was a lot of fun, as usual. After that, we went on Tower of Terror, and headed home so I could get ready for work. Since it was a six hour shift, I just got 2 short breaks, but it went by quickly.

'Til next time!

Day 171: We Did It. We Drank Around the World!

Today my roommates Chelsea, Tess, and I departed on a mission. To try one drink from each country in World Showcase and document it in picture form, also known as Drinking Around the World. We started pretty early in Canada, and planned to work our way around to end in Mexico. I bought a passport to have it stamped in every country, so I wanted to do that in every country. I also hadn't met a few princesses that met in Epcot, so we wanted to meet with them as well.

We tried to limit the amount of beers we had, because a few of us don't really enjoy beer all that much. A lot of countries only offered beer though! It was super weird. Throughout the course of the day, we had a few duds, but also a few amazing drinks! The Welsh Dragon at Rose & Crown in the UK was soooo good. The Tokyo Sunrise in Japan was right up there too!

Beer in Canada to kick off the day!

We met Mary Poppins in the UK, Aurora in France, Belle in France, Snow White in Germany, and Mulan in China. Once we hit Mexico, we got a mango margarita to finalize our trip around the world. We headed to Spaceship Earth where Tess works, and she got us in the VIP entrance. We had fastpasses for Test Track, so we did that ride too. We rode the Seas with Nemo and Friends and saw Turtle Talk with Crush. That was one of the two rides I needed to do everything in Epcot. The other was Reflections of China, which we did too.

After we got back from Epcot, there was a housing event going on at the field right next to our apartment. They had a few characters out so we decided to go meet them. It was Chip and Dale and Mushu! It was so cool seeing these characters in their costumes!

We did so much today, I definitely feel accomplished.

'Til next time!

Day 170: Day off!

I traded away my shift today, so I decided to take it easy and do some cleaning/packing up because I'm leaving in just a few weeks. I also decided to take a course about Sabermetrics which is the analysis of baseball using statistics, through edX, a website that offers online classes taught by professors from universities around the country. It opened up today, so I started that today, and it's super interesting so far!

I packed about two boxes worth of stuff up, so now I just have some clothes here and there, my bathroom stuff, and my food. That's it! Pretty crazy to think that my months-long trip in Orlando will be coming to an end soon.

'Til next time!

Day 169: My First PAC Shift

Today was my first time doing PAC outside of training. It was kind of intimidating, because while they used to have little index cards that described what every position does, they lost them so I felt very confused about my job responsibilities. I was given Splash 3, who really doesn't do a whole lot, thank goodness. We actually stood by the carts backstage that held the stanchions, and brought them out following the parade so that we could take down the ropes/stanchions as quickly as possible behind the parade route.

Because we were backstage, we got to still see the parade, but we weren't responsible for watching the guests or anything like that, so we got to enjoy the Festival of Fantasy parade. Considering I probably won't get any more PAC shifts, this was super cool! As we followed the parade, I pulled the cart next to the ropes so that we could unclip everything while the parade was still going. It was kind of stressful, because a lot of the people were training for PAC or it was their first shift too, so there was a bit of miscommunication but no one died/was hurt, so it was a success!

After that, I went into rotation at Thunder for a few hours. I pulled my break right away, so I was talking to someone else doing PAC. I was supposed to go back to the night parade, but she had an earlier end time while staying in rotation for the rest of the night. Because I was really tired from the parade earlier, I traded with her so I stayed at Thunder the rest of the night.

I was at wheelchair assist during the fireworks for the first time, and wow, that is really the best place to watch the fireworks. I sat talking with a family who had a guest with a wheelchair, and they wanted to wait until the fireworks were over to go on the ride. They had never seen Wishes, so I was kind of explaining the cues because you can't really hear the music over the Frontierland music we play.

Right after the fireworks ended, our ride went down for technical issues. This was also right when my bumpout came so I didn't have to evacuate any trains or reset, but this poor family was so close to going on Thunder, I tried to give them some re-adds but they said they were good and thanked me for sharing the fireworks with them. All in all a cool night!

'Til next time!

Day 168: Rainy Day Means Going Home Early

Today I was scheduled to work from 10:30am-11:15pm. I'm not a fan of these shifts at all, for multiple obvious reasons, among them being they're over 12 hours, and they take up the entire day so I can't do anything other than work. I spent the day in spur rotation in the same 3 positions, wheelchair assist, spur unload, and spur exit. Those positions can make time go by quickly, but overall, those are some of my least favorite positions. I would much rather be outside.

I finally pulled a different rotation, the main side rotation, which starts up in merge. Within a couple minutes, we went down for weather. The rain was coming down pretty hard, so that drove a lot of people out. The park was actually really empty, my theory is that they all came to the park last night to see the fireworks, so they were at different parks today.

I had put in for an ER for around 10, but my coordinator called up to merge and asked if I wanted to go home at 7 (right now) instead, so of course I said yes. Myself and one other person got to go home very early which was super nice, so I could relax!

'Til next time!

Day 167: Happy Birthday America! (Or As I Call It, Happy Phase Closure Day)

Today I worked at Magic Kingdom to celebrate the birthday of the greatest country in the world, Murica. I worked from 3:45-12:30, so I pretty much slept right until I needed to get ready for work, considering I got out of work at 4am yesterday. I started off my day by tasking, so I headed up to merge because a coordinator told me it was really busy.

As I was walking up the steps to enter our covered queue, I saw a bunch of bottles and drink cups getting lined up on a railing. People were leaving their trash there instead of taking it to a trash can. So I picked it up to take it to the trash, when someone walked past me and left their trash right there where I was cleaning up! I had my arms full walking towards merge and dumped all the trash off, when a coordinator came by and thanked me. He wrote me a Four Keys card for keeping everything clean!

Later in the day, I got off my break around 8:45pm and pulled stand-by greeter! That meant I would get to see the fireworks, finally! I had heard they were so absolutely cool so I was pumped to see them in person. Someone was telling me they were perimeter fireworks, meaning they would go off 360 degrees all around Magic Kingdom at certain points in the show.

No one was really walking on to the ride, instead opting in to see the fireworks, so we got to watch the fireworks almost the entire time. The finale was without a doubt, one of the coolest things I have seen probably ever. It felt like you were surrounded by the fireworks, and I could not stop staring with my mouth open and eyes wide. It was an awesome experience.

Since the park closed at 1am and I was out at 12:30, I didn't have to close. So I got to go home and sleep because I have to be back in at 10:30 tomorrow.

'Til next time!

Day 166: The 3rd of July Extravaganza

Today was the latest I have ever been at Magic Kingdom. I worked from 7:15pm-4:00am. That's right, 4 in the morning was when I left the park. It was really odd. The park closed at 3am for extra magic hours, and I was the lost and found closer, so I had to close tower, and run our lost and found to the front of the park at the end of the night.

The fireworks were scheduled to go off at 9pm, which meant I would get to see them if I went on break. It was a very rainy day, so the fireworks were getting delayed. They ended up going off around 10:30pm, which was about 5 minutes after I got back from my lunch. I was at main dispatch, so I missed the fireworks barely.

During extra magic hours, I was in tower for the whole time. I gave someone their break at 1am, and since I was closing tower, I took my break and came right back to pull trains off. Lost and found was really easy because we had a bunch of staff earlier in the day, so someone took stuff to City Hall before I did.

I was done pretty fast in tower, so I dropped the stuff off at City Hall and headed to the shuttle and went home to sleeeeep.

'Til next time!

Day 165: He Walked Right Next to Me!

Today I worked from 3:30-12:15. I started at main grouper, and was kind of cycling back there through the rest of the night. Grouper/grouper assist have slowly become some of my favorite positions to work (relatively, because I'm struggling to find a position that I really really like), because it keeps you really busy and time flies. Also, it's not as repetitive as some of the other positions can be.

In the same rotation as main grouper is main unload. You're kind of on an island by yourself for that whole time, unloading guests, checking lap bars, and sending trains. It can get kind of boring, and very hot because the only spot of air conditioning is halfway up the train, whereas I spend most of my time near the back of the train which is where our console is.

While I was at main unload, a coordinator comes over and tells our dispatch person to lock their gates. Normally, when this happens, we would check for lost and found then re-open them right away. I asked if that was what we were doing, but the coordinator just smiled and said, "You'll see". Very cryptic, if you ask me.

The next train pulls in to the station and it is almost completely empty save for the last two rows. There's a guest relations cast member with the party, so it must be someone important. Once the guests get off the train, they unlock the gates so the next group of people can get on. I look at the group as they're exiting, and it is one of the singers from One Direction. I'm not a huge fan of theirs, but I knew enough about them to know who it was, so that was pretty cool. I guess we locked the gates so if he got recognized, he wouldn't get mobbed.

The rest of the night went very smoothly, and I was out at 12:15, which meant I closed spur exit (wheelchair assistance) and filled out closing paperwork.

'Til next time!

Day 164: My Last Day at Universal?

Today I went to Universal Studios with CJ! It was so much fun. Because it might be my last day here, I wanted to do everything I hadn't done yet, which included a few rides, and taking some pictures. We started the day by going on the Mummy, of course. We stopped by Kings Cross station to say hi to CJ's boyfriend Chris, who would be joining us later in the day.

We decided to go on Men in Black, then head to Islands of Adventure, because we could use the VIP entrance with Chris's help. Once we got to Islands of Adventure, we went straight for the stuff I hadn't done since I've been in Florida. We saw the Sinbad show, it was kind of like Indiana Jones, except it's not really "behind the scenes action" kind of stuff, it's more just a show that involves action. After that, we waited in line for Poseidon's Fury, which is like a walk-through attraction with a tour guide, whose name was also Taylor. That was pretty fun. After that, we took the train back to Universal to meet up with Chris.

We had lunch at the Monsters Cafe, then we saw the Horror Make-up Show (my favorite), and did the Mummy one more time. After that, we took a picture with the porter of the Knight Bus, and went back to King's Cross.

We ended up taking the Hogwarts Express one more time (that's 3 for you keeping track at home), and went back to Islands of Adventure to ride the last ride I needed to completely do everything, which was Dudley Do-Right Rip Saw Falls, a super water ride. Holy moley I was absolutely soaked! But it was still fun. We rode Spiderman single rider, and went home. Pretty successful day!

'Til next time!

Day 162: Fun Day Shopping with Sydnee!

Today I got to hang out with my old coworker Sydnee. I was awesome catching up with her and hearing about how the Contemporary is doing. We went to lunch at the Ale House, which was delicious. We then tried to plan the rest of our day. It was kind of rainy, so we didn't want to go to a park. Instead we decided to go thrift shopping.

There was a thrift shop kind of near our apartments, so we headed there first. It felt more like a pawn shop than a thrift shop, considering how much the prices were, but we still found some cool stuff. We each found a Pocahontas cup that Burger King used to sell, so that was awesome. We also looked around in the book section, and I found a book of Auburn jokes, so of course I had to get it. When we went to check out, the guy gave me the book for free! It's like it was meant to be mine.

After that, we went to Goodwill. I found a faded Vera Bradley backpack for $7 so of course I snatched that right up. I also found a Hercules coloring book and a VHS of Zero to Hero which is a Hercules prequel kind of thing. Jackpot! Then we went to Cast Connections to look around. I ended up getting some discounted Disney make-up which came with a super cute Haunted Mansion makeup bag. We headed to Target to look for luggage for Sydnee, but we ended up buying minion goggles and agreeing that we would go see the Minions movie when it comes out in a few weeks. So excited!

We both left with a pretty good haul. Definitely a day well spent!

'Til next time!

Days 158-161: More Work

The next couple of days were pretty standard work. Even though there's always something kind of exciting that happens at work, it's all pretty much the same. I had my first celebrity sighting at Thunder though during this stretch. It was Drew Brees, quarterback for the New Orleans Saints. Jessica Alba was in the park on the same day, so we thought it was her group, so everyone was looking at the women in the party, but once we spotted him, we figured it out.

I also had a day where I got stuck in the same loop of positions the entire night. I would pull wheelchair assist which involves running between stations to bring wheelchairs around, then get rotated to spur unload to send trains and check lapbars, then get rotated to spur exit where I take the wheelchair parties, save them rows, and get them on the trains. That was pretty annoying, but it was still better than working in one shop all night like I would do at the Contemporary. Thank god for rotations.

Tomorrow, I get to see Sydnee again! I'm not sure what we're doing, but it'll be fun!

'Til next time!

Day 157: My Last Day at Hollywood Studios?

Since I only have a few weeks left on my program, I made a list of everything I still want to do- take pictures with certain things, meet certain characters, ride certain rides, etc. Then I made lists by park of those things, so that the last time I went to that park, I could do everything I wanted to do!

Since I had today off, I went to Hollywood Studios with Tess. We went to the Animation Class, and we got to draw my spirit animal, Russell from Up. It was so much fun! After that, we met Hiro and Baymax finally! We scouted out the umbrella from Singing in the Rain to take a picture with it, and after that, another one of our roommates Chelsea met up with us! We went to see the Frozen sing-along because that was the only ride/show left in Hollywood Studios that I had never done. It wasn't half bad! I just wish the characters would have been on stage more instead of them using the videos as much as they did.

My last selfie with Walt :(

We went on Toy Story Midway Mania before heading home to relax for the rest of the night.

'Til next time!