I LOVE MY JOB!

:) I have to say I think I have the best job you could have while on the College Program. Now I am sure some people would disagree, perhaps those in attractions who work on rides like Tower of Terror or Jungle Cruise, but can they say they get to hang out with Mickey Mouse all day? I don't think so! But I do! :)

Yesterday I got to hang out with Mickey Mouse. The day before I got to hang out with Minnie, Goofy, Carl, Russell, Doug (from UP!), Mulan, Belle, and Jasmine. What could possibly be cooler than working with Characters all day? And if that isn't awesome enough for you I also get to watch little kids excitedly meet those characters. I have seen a little boy wait in line 3 times so he could spend lots of quality time with Lightening McQueen and Mater (from Cars). On Wednesday when I was working with Russell, Carl, and Doug I met a little boy whose favorite character was Russell. He even had a shirt on that had patches just like Russell does. It was so cute watching them interact.

While I do have lots of fun at my job I think it is also a job where you can have lots of people disappointed in you. I have already had one family get mad at me because Mickey had to go get a bite of cheese. He was going to come right back but they didn't want to wait. It was a Brazilian group of 13 and they kept asking for just one group photo. I had to keep telling them he had to leave but would be right back but then ended up leaving the line anyway. They were probably saying unhappy things but it was in Portuguese so I didn't understand (and didn't care either). :)

Random side note for the post... When I worked with Lightening and Mater on Sunday I was only one day out of Training and working with another attendant who was on his first day. Neither one of us had much of an idea of what we were doing so the Mid-day Manager was showing us the ropes. We had a few mins of down time so we were all in the break room watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding which was on ABC Family. I said something about how I really like that movie and my manager responded he did too. I then said that back in the day I was a big NSYNC fan so I really LOVED the movie because Joey Fatone was in it. My manager kind chuckled and then said that he was actually friends with Joey and he comes to the parks kinda often. Let me just say that on the inside I totally flipped out and was geeking out with glee. On the outside I acted normal but that story seriously made my day. I now have hope that perhaps I will get to see Joey Fatone and if the stars really line up perhaps even take a picture with him. Although that last part is highly unlikely (even more so than meeting him!)

That is all for now!
-M

Fun in the Sun!

Well it has been a little cloudy lately but I have still had a lot of fun! In the last week I have gone to all 4 parks. On Tuesday night I went to Magic Kingdom for Wishes (fireworks show) to celebrate finishing training. On the way back from MK we rode the ferry! It was the first time I had ever done that.. or at least that I remember. :)
Here is a pic from MK! My new friends Luz, Lindsey, and myself with our ice creams! yum!
On Wednesday I went to Animal Kingdom to visit some friends who were finishing up training. I went all by myself which was odd but actually really nice. After meeting some characters and seeing my friends I just kinda walked around. I walked the path under the tree and then rode Everest all by myself. I sat behind a nice couple who were just engaged and next to the bride-to-be's mother. She was just as freaked out as I was so that was nice.

This picture is from a photopass photographer so it is a bit blurry (because I haven't paid for it). I was walking to give Br'er Bear a hug. It is also my favorite picture so far.
On Thursday after I went to Hollywood Studios orientation/tour I went to Epcot with my friends Bianca and Marina. I also met/made some new friends Todd and Rachel (I think that was her name). So this next picture is of Todd and Bianca getting ready to drink Beverly Soda. It an Italian soda that you can drink for free at Club Cool in Epcot (along with other sodas from around the world) Beverly is notoriously nasty and is described as being bitter. People almost always make funny faces when they drink it. :p gross.

Before....

After....

Yesterday (Friday) I went to Hollywood Studios with my roommate Katie and then my friend Brian met us. We rode on Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, Backlot Tour, and on Rockin Roller Coaster twice. I LOVED Rockin Roller Coaster. Seriously the best thing ever. It isn't so much the roller coaster itself, which is actually kinda wimpy, but the fact that it is Aerosmith themed.So that is all for this weeks park update! Well.. maybe. Who knows what I will end up doing in the next couple of days. I have Monday and Tuesday off so I might go visit a park then. I will leave you with another favorite picture of mine. This is from my last day of training. I loved working with these characters and my fellow Character Attendants in training.-M

Traditions and Training!

Hello my loves! As the title says this post is going to be about Traditions and Training. YAAAAAAAY! :)

As almost everyone will tell you Traditions is wonderful. It is really a great way to get you energized about working for Disney and helping make the most magical place on earth that much more magical. You get to hear stories that definitely energize you and make you want to start training so you can get out into your work area. There are some surprises built into the day that are well... surprising and fun! Look forward to them because they will be something you talk about afterwards.

My have two big suggestions for traditions. One, DO NOT FORGET YOUR PICTURE ID!! That is very very important. It must be state issued too! I accidentally forgot mine and ended up having to return later in the afternoon to receive my Disney ID. It was quite a pain and could have been totally avoided if I had simply remembered my driver's license. Suggestion number Two!... follow the Disney look. Dress up! It is better to be safe than sorry. As the lead trainer for Entertainment told me you only have a few chances to really dress up... take advantage of them! It will also prevent you from having to run to Costuming or being turned away.

Now on to Training! I started my training two days after I completed Traditions aka Friday. The first two days were meat and potatoes information with the last three days being in the parks on the job training. I have had one trainer that has been with my group since Friday. Her name is Trina and she is super awesome. We have had a rotation of other trainers but yesterday and today we had a trainer named Jamson with us. I think I spelled his name right... Trina and Jamson are wonderful and have done a great job at making me feel really comfortable with my new job. Which by the way is a lot harder and more stressful than I think most people realize. I obviously can't really talk about all the things that we do but please remember that your Character Attendant is working very hard to help make your time with the Disney Characters very special. If you decide to tell them thank you, I am very sure they would appreciate it.

While training has been very fun it has been quite tiring. I literally went to bed last night at 9:30 pm. I would have gone to bed at like 8:30 but I had to take a shower. lol And in case anyone is wondering that was my transition to ending this post. I need to take a shower and get ready for bed. :)

Love you all!! (seriously I do. Promise)
-M

24 followers!?!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who is following this blog. :) It makes me really happy and excited to see that there are 24 people who actually find this thing interesting enough to follow!

I have really been trying very hard to keep this thing updated. I have to be honest though, I have been very very busy and very very tired this week. I can't believe that it has only been a week (almost) since I checked in. This week has been so stuffed with information and things that it seems like it has been years. ahhhh!

On the tired note that is it for this post. It is currently 8:24 pm and my plans are to take a quick (and I mean as fast as I can scrub) shower and then go to sleep. My plan is to be in bed sleeping by 9:30. I don't think I have done that since I was like 8.

I love you all my beautiful (or handsome!) followers!

Check-in Day Insanity!

I am finally able to sit down and blog!! yaaay!

I guess I will start with check in day. My roommates and I went out to dinner the night before check-in. We decided to get there at 7, a hour before check-in. Mom and I got up at the crack of dawn (aka 5:45 am) to get ready for the day. We met up in the parking lot across from Vista Way. We were defiantly the first people there. We sat in our cars till like 7:50 then we walked across the street to stand near the security gate. By this point the parking lot was full and people were lining up in their cars outside of gate.

At like 8:04 someone came to lead us to the welcome center (which is near the back of the complex). Unfortunately they also let the cars in so a few people managed to get in front of us. grrrrrr. But it was really not that big a deal.

So basically at check-in you get a name tag and some paperwork to fill out and you are then talked through the first little bit of paperwork. Then you go to another table to get turn one of the pages in and then you are let into a room. In the room you get to do all the cool stuff like get your housing ID and your housing assignment.... and other stuff.

After checking in I got to go back to our apartment. yaaay! We live in Chatham in building 25. For those who are curious that would be in the back right corner of the complex. I only had like and hour to unpack (not enough time to get everything situated) before I had to go to the Casting Office to finish paperwork. I found out my work location (Hollywood Studios), met one of my trainers and found out my training schedule, and got fingerprinted! (so excited about that last one!)

After Casting I finally got to eat! and I also unpacked some more. At 2:45 I had to go to the Housing meeting. It was pretty much like a res hall meeting but with Disney apartment centered stuff. After the meeting, Mom and I unpacked some more and then went to Target and Walmart. We then went back to the apartment and finshed unpacking/organizing. I stayed with Mom that night because she left the next day. :(

The next day (Tueday) I had to go to a meeting at 12 about the Disney classes. We also got to register early at the end of the meeting. I registered for the Corporate Analysis class. It looks really interesting. The class beasically analyzes Disney as a corporation, which means its all about Disney! :) Not a bad way to get 3 credits for school. The meeting ended up running over by 30 mins so registration ran over by 30 mins. By the time I was finished it was 2 pm and I had to rush back to the hotel to help Mom check out of the hotel.

After she checked out we went to the outlet mall to get me the black shoes I need for my costume. We went to a few different stores but ended up finding a pair at the Naturalizer store. They are all black, no logos, and most importantly comfy!

After we got my shoes I drove Mom to the airport. I navigated with the help of Bossy (the GPS). I am not going to lie, I was a bit sad when she left. I am always like that when I have to take someone to the airport and they are leaving not for a trip but because they live some place else. It is easier when they just drive away because it seems like they could just drive back. For some reason flying seems more final.

Tips for Check-in:
Check in really starts at 8. --- the website LIES!
Have your name on your insurance for your car! ---very important

I am going to do a separate post about Traditions because this one seems to be quite long. Random but... I am about to go to the Magic Kingdom for the first time since being here. YAAAAY!

That is all....
-M

I made it to Flordia!

Chipley, Florida to be exact. Mom and I left Houston at 8:45 this morning. A bit later than we had planned because we had to go get my car inspected. I realized at 1 am (when I was checking my registration sticker) that my inspection sticker was going to expire this month. AHHHH! (that was me freaking out) So Mom got up at 6ish to get to the local Firestone at 7 so we could get my car inspected. 45 mins later my car was good to go.

Moral of this story... REMEMBER TO CHECK YOUR INSPECTION STICKER BEFORE YOU LEAVE! preferably earlier than 1 am the night before.

So we were able to get on the road and run for the hills (or Disney... whichever). We stopped in Covington (north of NOLA on I-12 for those who don't know) to drop some stuff off to my aunt. We finally made it to Chipley at around 6:3o, 10 hrs after we started.

Random but on the way we saw a ridiculous amount of police cars. I wasn't really counting but I would have to say it was in the 20s somewhere. Probably in the high 20s. At one point I thought I was going to get pulled over. I had passed a cop (I was going exactly the speed limit) and he pulled out behind me. He then passed me and a few other cars before getting back in the right lane and then finally pulling back over to the shoulder. When I passed him the second time he wooped his siren and turned his lights on so I pulled over but he passed me again and got another car that was behind me. Scared the pe-diddles out of me! Especially since I was going under the speed limit by 2mph at that point. eeeeeek!

The journey continues tomorrow. Till then keep warm! (Its 29 with a wind chill of 18 in Chipley)

-M

On the Road Again...

...Well almost. :)
Tomorrow morning I will start my journey down to Orlando. To be honest I am a bundle of emotions right now. I am both nervous and anxious to check in and get my appartment assignment. I have heard from people who have already checked in that just because you are standing next to people does not mean you will be able to have them as your apartment mates.

I am sad to be leaving my friends and family. I am upset about having to leave my Dad. It is always hard to leave him even when I am just going back to Austin and I know I will be able to visit. I am now going to go 17 hours away and I know that unless he can come to visit I wont see him till May. I feel bad for leaving my cat Jinx too. I feel like I am always leaving her. :(

I am also really excited about finally being in Orlando. I can't even remember at what point I decided that this is really something I was going to do. It was a thought for years but I am finally going. In just a few days I will be working at Disney. It will finally be real even though it still doesn't feel like it. I think when I am finally down there doing things it will become real. Right now it still just feels like I am on vacation.

This next part I am tossing in here more for myself. It is my reminder why I am doing this program. I am taking this semester off not just to make connections, get great expierence, and work towards getting a job at Disney later on in life. This is my one chance to do something really fun and exciting. I chose to take on a time consuming responsibility when I became an RA.
I gave up a most of my free time and my chance to do a lot of college things. I dont regret it at all because I got so many other things out of it. However it just means that I can't be all work and classes while on the program. I have to remember to have fun. Play in the parks, go to the beach, hang out with friends doing ridiculous stuff. I have to let this be my fun college experience because this is all I am going to get. I gave up going abroad for this so I have to make the best out of it. :D

I am really looking forward to the next 5 months. I know I am going to make some memories and hopefully make some great friends. The real world is right outside the door waiting to kick it open and drag me out kicking and screaming. For now I am going to stay safely enclosed in my castle dreaming of mice and princesses. :)

-M