Sounds Like Summer: 2U A Tribute to U2

Look another post! ... I guess when it rains it pours. 

So remember that post a while back where I said I wanted to go to some of the Sounds Like Summer concerts? Well I never really did remember to check and see when they were so I could go. But by chance I happened to be at Epcot on Tuesday evening and happened across the last performance of 2U the U2 tribute band. 

It just so happens that this was the same band that I saw last year with my friend Patrick. They were as good as they were last time although the lead singer was a bit more awkward than I remember him being. He does these like karate kick type things which are made very awkward by the fact that he is a slightly pudgy old guy. But he (and the rest of the band) sound great so it is well worth the effort to see them. 

I didn't have my camera with me so the only picture I got is off my phone from when I checked in at the theatre on Gowalla. 

2U A Tribute to U2 at Epcot for the Sounds Like Summer Concert Series

BTW did you know that Gowalla is the social media check-in site that has an official partnership with Disney? So you can actually check in on the rides and stuff and have little badges/passport things that go with the ride. This is the reason for my choice of Gowalla over Foursquare. Sad, but true. 

Anyways that is all for this post. I will get around to posting the random park pictures I have soon enough. Promise. :)

-M

Way to long..

It has been far to long since I updated. July 8th? That was almost a month ago! I absolutely refuse to be a bad blogger and never update. So this is my renewal of dedication to blogging once a week.

Anyways. I got my updated codes back about a week ish after the SECPS. I now have a 3/4 and was able to preference various parades and such. Which is awesome but who knows if it will do anything for me. In other parade news casting for the Halloween parade has gone out. I know of at least like 10 CP performers who were cast in it. In addition to those 10 who were pulled for that there are many others who have been pulled and trained for other parades or are getting to go through parade orientation. I will be honest and say I am jealous and it makes me quite unhappy to have so many people I know getting oriented and trained and I just sit here and get the same shifts over and over and over. I realize that my bitching about such a thing seems ridiculous given the opportunity I have been given. I am a performer at Walt Disney World. Why should I complain? Right? ... Well you would think that and while I logically know that, the fact that I see so many people around me getting these opportunities I can't help but get a bit down when I don't get them too.

I console myself with the fact that if I were to get cast in the Halloween parade I wouldn't be able to go to the parties as a guest since I would be working. That means I wouldn't get to wear my awesome costumes in the parks. And I am really looking forward to that.

In other news I have started going to Entertainment workshops as well as some of the networking programs that the CP puts on. I went to the Alumni Speaker Series featuring Alumni who now work in various areas of Entertainment. There were tech specialists, production assistants, show managers, and some others. 7 people in all although one of them was not an alumni of the program. It was really interesting to hear what they had to say and I'm really glad I went. I talked to a few of the speakers about my interest in applying for the Entertainment Management PI when they come out and received some encouraging responses. On the Entertainment workshop front I registered for and will be attending a workshop on Friday in which I learn bit of the christmas parade choreography. Hopefully by going I will get my face out there and get myself cast in something. I also plan on going to the Beginning Movement workshop that is in mid August. I figure the more people who get to know me and see me the better off I will be. Not only in regards to getting cast in things but in getting my name out there for when I apply for the Entertainment PI. The next step is starting to get some connections for the Communication PIs I will want to apply for.

It is absolutely crazy to think that the "advantage" portion of my program is almost over. I am looking forward to the end of the summer though and the eventually cool down in both crowds and temperature. I know I have only been posting about work stuff but I have been enjoying my time here with friends as well. I will post some pictures from that soon.

-M

Dancing into the Future

The audition results are in!

I didn't get pulled for face. They didn't even glance at me for more than a second this time. A little annoying but seeing as how there is nothing I can do in that department, I have decided to not be bothered by it. The one cool thing about the day is one of the people checking people in and giving them numbers was a lady named Katie. Katie is one of two people who are called Performance Specialists who come around and observe everyone in the entertainment department and basically give them feedback about how to improve. The observe both performers and attendants. Well the cool thing was when I was checking in I had to give them my last name so they could look up my height and when I said my last name Katie said "Your a performer now?" I was confused because while I knew who she was I didn't expect her to remember me. She then said "You were an attendant right?" and I was like "Yes! I'm finally a performer now. 3rd audition was the charm." It made me really happy that she remembered me. She only observed me once (Abrah the other part of the pair observed me the other time) and that was close to like a year and a half ago. She either has a really good memory or I made a good impression. Hopefully both. :)

As for the SECPS movement/animation audition I think it went pretty well. I was really nervous when I got there. Nervous might not be the best word to describe my feelings but I wasn't at ease. It was definitly a fear of the unknown thing but I had my wonderful roomie Kryssy with me to chill me out.

Side note: Have I ever mentioned how much I love my roommates? They are all beyond amazing. They are all so supportive and loving and I really couldn't ask for better girls to live with. The best part... I still have like 5.5 months with them. :)

Back to the audition. I keep calling it an audition but it really isn't one. Its incredibly similar to a regular entertainment audition but like the choreographer Marissa (same as my last cp audition) said we already have jobs! No need to stress because we do this stuff every day. Very true and somewhat relaxing statement. It really is more of a coding update thing. Anyways. I was all uneasy and stomach in knots but it turned out well. Katie checked me in again which was nice. I was number 77 and Kryssy was 79 so we were in the same group. They took our pictures with our numbers like at the other auditions although at this point I'm not sure why. I guess they do it at every audition/coding for casting purposes. I have heard that this SECPS is where they start to look at people to cast for Halloween and Christmas. Eh. Anyways.

They called out random numbers 2 separate times to pull people for an advanced dance thing but interestingly it was before anyone was ever taken back for the first dance/animation portion. From what I understand from a girl who was pulled for this they did a combination to Festival of the Lion King music, a 2nd combination to music from Disney Channel Rocks, and a 3rd combination to "Magic Kingdom" music. I was in the 2nd group to get called and was taken back to a big wide room where we were taught the movement combination. It wasn't really hard. It seems that the movement combinations always seem to include a box step, grape vine, march in place, and some sort of turn. So for anyone curious as to how to do well at disney movement exercises... learn how to do those things and you will be one step ahead. lol.

As for the animation, we were only given one and it wasn't a set senario. They simply said to act out something that one of your furry friends might do. So very vague, which made things slightly more difficult. I took a page out of my training and helped Donald find some hidden treasure. Since there was only 1 scenario we were given we did the animation, dance, different or continued animation, dance. Our group of 10 was asked to do the dance one extra time as well. I was really grateful for that because I felt like I may have did the best the last time. Who knows if the casting people were looking at me that time but whatever.

I have no idea when my new scores will show up. I didn't think to ask someone that night but I am going to try to ask a manager next time I work. I think I did better in the movement portion than I did last audition. Hopefully enough to at least get me a 3. I also hope that I didn't manage to drop my animation score because I have found out from telling other people my score that it was a really great one. I guess I knew that seeing as how it is a 4 out of 5 but I didn't know that it was as hard to get as it sounds like it is. I feel like I did just as good as my initial audition and if they gave me a 4 then I can't see why they wouldn't now.

Hopefully good things come of this coding as well as going to as many auditions as possible. I really do want to get my face out there. I'm not sure where I want to go in this company and while I know I don't want to stay as a front line performer (or really any other role) for very long, I do know that people knowing who I am and my dedication to doing a good job can only result in good things.

Thats all for now my lovely readers. Because I don't say it often enough I love you all too and I read every comment that yall write. <3!!

-M

Face and Codes

So instead of stories and thoughts on my character friends, this update is about the practical/business aspects of being in entertainment (aka auditions and such).

I mentioned in my last post about another face audition that I could go to on the 5th. Well the time has come and tomorrow is the day. I'm still rather hopefully about my chances of getting pulled but I'm not going to place any bets. And I'm pretty sure that no matter what happens I will be perfectly fine. Why you might ask? Because I now have other goals that are more within my control. 

About a week ago (give or take... Disney screws with my days), my animation and movement scores finally showed up. When I wrote a post about auditions I mentioned that is consists of two parts, animation and movement (dance). Based on your audition you get scores for those two things. They used to be called color codes and your color represented your level of skill. Since January entertainment has switched to a number coding system where 1 is the lowest and 5 is the highest. My scores are a 2 in movement and a 4 in animation. I am really happy and proud of my animation score. When I auditioned I put a lot of effort into those animations and its nice to know that paid off. On the other hand I know I didn't really showcase my dancing ability during my audition because I was so focused on my animations. While I'm not a dancer, I also know I'm not a 2. So I will be going to the audition on Wednesday that is for current entertainment cms. Its specifically to update your coding (and get your face out there). I am going to be shooting for a 4 and hopefully will be able to raise my movement score to at least a 3. I'm hopeful that I can manage to do that. 

From what I have learned you need at least a 3 to be able to do parades. While I was able to express an intertest (there is a formal way to do it based on your coding) in both Halloween and Holiday/Christmas parades, if I ever want a chance at being able to express interest in any of the other parades I need to get my movement score up. Unlike some people I don't have my heart set on being in parades, I'm not a professional performer so its not something I NEED to do. But it is definitely a dream that would be awesome to fulfill.

So while neither of these things (face and a higher movement score) are things that I will be devastated (aka cry, feel horribly depressed about, feel like a failure if not achieved) if I don't get, I really do want them both. Its nice to have goals for yourself and I'm happy that at least one of these goals are things that I have the ability to control. 

I will be sure to post the results of both of these auditions. I know I would be curious about what happened if I was reading this. But then again, this is my blog. tehehe. :)

-M