With the End, Comes the Stress

Lets not talk about the fact that it has almost been a month since I updated.

Its been a busy month. The first part of the month steamed past, but somewhere around the middle of the month time decided to slllooow down. That slow down period coincided with the week that I got the official notice that I was no longer in consideration for my top two (and really best chance) PIs. I also realized about that time that I was going to be very hard pressed to afford to live in any of the apartments that I had looked at up until that point. To say it was a depressing time was a bit of an understatement. Coming to the realization I have no idea what I am going to do with my life come January is scary.

Honestly I am pretty much still at that point. Not so much the depressed point but the I have no idea what to do with my life. I have been applying for jobs both within Disney and outside. Unfortunately there isn't much out there for a college grad with little practical experience. My mom keeps telling me I'm far to harsh on myself and I will find something, but its hard to see that. I know from past experience that I am very hard on myself, but that doesn't change the fact that I think I am at a huge disadvantage for not having actual PR/Marketing experience. Moral of this story, do actual internships in school, not just Disney internships. Gain experience while you can still afford to not get paid for it.

I am still in consideration for 2 alumni only internships, project support for DTD and MK. I am still in interview stage for both, although I have only ever had the initial screening interview. That isn't a bad thing and I haven't heard of anyone else having more than that for those two. I am just not very confident that I will get them. I had a point where I had no hope and basically already believed I was out of running for everything. I now have a little bit of hope but I am not sure that is a good thing. Final deadline for PIs is the first week of December but I know of people who have heard back after that, especially for alumni only.

Within the Entertainment department I have been getting myself ready to switch from a CP to something else. I did accept an CP extension in my current role. That is my super back up and I hope I don't have to take it. I went to casting today and got myself on the lists for part time and full time. In the attempt to try and make myself the most versatile (and hopefully attractive for casting) performer I can be, I have been trying to make as many new character friends as possible. I have also been trying to talk to various people about what I need to do to get utilized more. That hasn't been going very well but I can only keep trying.

Life isn't so bad, its just very uncertain. I need to find a place to live and ideally another roommate to make a perfect trifecta of Kat, Me, and Someone else. I think if I could just find some place to live I would feel a lot better. Or really have just one thing fall into place for me. As if I didn't already know it, this has taught me that I am not very good with uncertainty. I am a planner and an organizer and uncertainty in my personal life makes for a stressed and frazzeled Marion.

To end this on a positive note I want to add that on the 3rd and 5th I will be playing with some of my character friends in the Main Street Electrical Parade. I can't really say how excited I am. Its good to know that I haven't been forgotten and even more exciting to think that I will finally get to roll down Main Street. So if you happen to be in the Magic Kingdom on the 3rd keep an eye out for a wooden boy and the big cheese on the 5th. :)

-M

Disney Event #2: Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

Event # 2 was the MNSSHP on 9/23. I had purchased the ticket to go early in the month and had planned to go with my roommates Kryssy and Kat. However by the week of the party I found out that they were no longer going and I was left with no one to go with. OH NO! It turned out all right though because I found another friend who had the same thing happen to her and we ended up going together.

I elected to wear my Pirate costume which my grandmother made me about 5 years ago. It is an epic costume if I do say so myself and I have worn it many many times on International Talk Like A Pirate Day, to Renaissance Festivals, and of course during the Halloween season. My friend Morgan dressed up like Alice. 

Since we are both performers, we love characters and decided to make the priority of our night to meet characters. We started of with Mickey and Minnie. There was a long line of people waiting to meet them in their Halloween outfits and hardly anyone in the regular queue. Since I am all knowledgable and knew when Mickey would be out in his fancy costumes and how much time the line takes, we jumped in the regular queue and were some of the first people to see them in their Halloween outfits. Basically we were sneaky sneaky and jumped all those people. BAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

We of course made a stop to see Alice and Mad Hatter for Morgan. At this point we were joined by one of Morgan's friends whose name I of course can't remember. 

I make wonderful faces yes?

Soon after our visit with those Wonderland folk we went to watch the Villans Mix and Mingle. May I just say that the Villans show is THE BEST THING EVER! It needs to be a priority in anyones MNSSHP evening. After the show the Villans that are in the show do a short meet and greet. Short as in 15 mins. So be smart and get there early and stand in the general area of your fav villain. We watched the show and then jumped in line for Maleficent. 

We made stops to see various other characters not often seen in the parks such as Terk and Jane as well as Timon. 

We hit up the second parade since that one tends to be a little less crowded and got a good seat right at the beginning of Main Street (which is actually the end of the parade route). I took a good number of pictures but also made it a priority to enjoy myself. Many of the wonderful pirates came to visit me including the great Barbossa. Peter Pan came and asked me to a sword fight, but I couldn't get my sword out and then he had to run. :) It really is an amazing parade. 

After the parade we scurried up the street to hit up the Hub were the Villans roam. While we were waiting in line for Gaston I got a text from one of my amazing CP #1 training group family, Ryan. Turns out he was sitting across from us during the parade and recognized my voice. :) He and his wife have moved back to Orlando which is an awesome surprise. I hope to be able to hang out with both them and the other guy from my training group Patrick (and his fiance Toni). Yes that means I will be like a 5th wheel but who cares! I love them all. :)

We finished out the night dancing with some of our favorite toys at the Diamond Horseshoe. We saw Woody, Bullseye, and my favorite Cowgirl Jessie. It was quite fun and a great way to end the night. 

 All in all Event #2 was super fun. I haven't bought tickets for another party yet and I'm not sure if I will. I do have one more costume to sport but maybe I won't wear it this year. I don't know of anyone else going to another party but maybe I can convince someone to go again.

-M

Professional Internships and Other News...

Updates Updates...

As I have mentioned before I am in the process of applying for Professional Internships. I have many that I am applying for but the one I have been focusing on recently is the Entertainment Management Internship. I met with an entertainment manager at Magic Kingdom that I work with somewhat frequently and she agreed to help me out. She look at my resume and made some suggestions on how I could improve it. She has also looked into setting me up some meet and greets although I am not sure how that will pan out. I am very very grateful for her help but I do wish I had meet with her earlier. The deadline to apply for the MI (management internship) is Sept 30th aka a week away. So I am going to apply and do all that without as much of the benefit of her help as I could have had if maybe I had met with her earlier.

So that is a big suggestion I have. If you are graduating or just planning on doing a PI immediately after your CP, be there for as long as possible before those PIs would start. Start talking and being visible to leadership asap. And then talk to them about your interests in PIs as soon as you can and long before the apps go up. For people who are interested in the Entertainment department, just realize that you are going to have a much harder time making contacts with managers, especially if you are a performer. Your hardly ever in the same location multiple days in a row and if you are that doesn't mean you will have the same manger every time. You probably will often not even see a manager while you are at work. They can be hard to find and even harder to get a chance to talk to. Although I can say its not impossible to get their help, because they are willing, it just isn't as a performer as it is if you are in say attractions.

Anyways I guess that is all for this post. There are lots of cool event coming up at Disney including the 40th anniversary of the Magic Kingdom and the Food and Wine Festival. I am going to make an effort to go to both and so hopefully you will get some pictures from those events.

-M

Hallloooweeeeeen!

Have I mentioned that Halloween is my all time favorite holiday? I think I did in my last post. But thats ok , its the truth so it can be repeated.

I LOVE HALLOWEEEEENN! It is really the best holiday ever. To me, it is the perfect fall holiday.

Anyways. I have pictures of the Boo To You parade to post! It was absolutely amazing. Lots and lots of fun. Unfortunately it was a bit crazy trying to get situated for the parade. If you ever doubt that Cast Members can be just as stupid as guests, please do not. The waiting, crowding, and pushing that happened before the Cast Preview is a great example that Cast Members are not above guests. They act just as idiotic given the opportunity.

I ended up going with my roommate Kryssy and friend Amanda. They had bought Woody and Jessie shirts earlier in the day so we all kinda dressed up. Them in Toy Story and me in my Daisy shirt. We ended up standing with some of the D-Fam (read almost all of the D-Fam) which was totally random, unplanned, and awesome.

Look at how cute we are!

Now for pictures of the parade! I took a good amount but I am just going to post some of the best.

I will be going to an acutal MNSSHP on the September 30th and October 6th. I also plan on going one more time in October. I have 3 costumes (Daisy Duck, Pirate, and Tinkerbell) to wear so I have to go to at least 3 parties. :) I will post pictures of the parties and me in my costume when I attend.

Thats all for now my loves!

-M

This is Halloween, This is Halloween...

GUUYYSSSSSS!

Tonight is the cast preview of the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party parade Boo To You. Basically what that means is this is the first real fall program marker. This is one of those things that you hear people talk about when the fall cp is mentioned so I am so freaking excited to go.

It also helps that I am in love with Halloween. It is truthfully my favorite holiday. Christmas? Nope. Don't really care about it. But Halloween I celebrate all month long. ... Well because of Disney I will be celebrating for two months. Beautiful. :D

I will post pictures of the parade when I upload them.

Get excited guys! Get Excited!!

-M

My Life is Crazy!

Its true. My life is crazy. I don't mean that as an excuse but as a statement of truth.

Its getting to be that time when Professional Internship listings go up. So I have been trying to get myself in the best position for those. I often feel like I am doing to little to late or really just that I suck at the whole self promotion networking getting my name out there thing.

Word to the wise, if you are in an Entertainment role, specifically performer, and are looking to network for future roles in maybe a different area.... Good Luck. I guess I didn't realize this but the global nature of a performers role is not an asset when it comes to getting to know management. I am literally never in the same place two days in a row. Managers are hardly ever around it seems and because I am never some place often the times when they are around, they are only going to see me once. So know one knows who I am and its difficult trying to ask for help when you feel like they don't know you. Maybe its just me but if I am going to ask someone to help me I at least what them to know who I am.

At this point I am relying on the two managers I knew from my time as an Attendant to help me. I have contacted one manager that I know from being a performer. I hope that she will help, but honestly I'm not sure she will even remember who I am. I hope I am underestimating my notoriety for lack of a better term. Maybe managers do know who I am.

In other news I got my first Great Service Fanatic as a performer the other day. Another performer got lost  and wasn't going to make it for their set time so one of the other performers and I split her set time to cover it. So instead of us both doing 20 min sets we did 30. It really wasn't a big deal to me and I didn't expect any sort of recognition so it was very nice to receive a GSF. I just didn't want those poor guests to have to sit there for 20 mins waiting for a character that should have come right back out just because I wasn't willing to go out there for a little longer.  I guess that is the definition of going above and beyond. Go figure.

Hummm other work tidbits... I am going to a face type out for Tokyo Disneyland. I would legit crap a brick if I got to work there. If you happen to go look at my Disney Dreams tab one of those is that I would love to work in one of the parks abroad. Working at Tokyo would be my top choice and if I could do that in an Entertainment role I might just die. They are going to be opening a new night time parade over there as well as their version of Fantastic which basically means if I were to work there, I would probably get to be in those. Insanity right? wahhhh I have never wanted to be pulled so bad. That audition is on Monday and I assume I would know relatively soon if I was offered a contract or not. I think that if I got offered that I would choose that over a PI. I probably would hardly even have begun the process for a PI at the time of an offer. I have always wanted to travel and this would be my opportunity. You have to do something like this while you are young and its not really something I will get multiple shots at. That just basically means I would have to take some community college classes in order to apply for another PI but I would do that if I needed to. But all this talk is basically just that, talk. I can't count my chickens before they hatch.

All I seem to talk about is work. Thats boring right? Maybe not. Unfortunately work seems to consume my life. I am really a boring person. I went out last night to see some of the D-fam at DTD and many of them remarked that they hadn't seen me in forever. One of them I hadn't met at all and she has been here longer than I have. I know I should go out more. I really enjoyed just hanging around with them last night. But I am so often tired and lazy. OR lets be honest here, consumed by my twin. He lives far away (aka an hour) so I often spend my two days off with him. And while I enjoy that and don't regret it, I also know that I am neglecting a lot of other people by doing that. Le sigh. Le kick myself.

Well I really must go. Literally. My computer charger is broken and so I can not charge it. And seeing as how the battery is at 19%... I really have no choice in writing any more. Its about to die on me.

Love you all. Sorry I don't write more often. If I did maybe my posts wouldn't be such massive books.

:/

-M

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

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

A Special Little Girl Named Ingrid.

I feel like the last couple of posts have shown the ups and downs I have been going through. Obviously my posts about Training show some of the downs. To say I was in serious self-doubt mode is an understatement. I have since come to realize that pretty much everyone goes through that during training. I think I mentioned in that post that I remember being hard on myself and having similar doubts when I went through attendant training. It really makes you wonder if the self doubt breakdowns during training is like built in. I especially feel like during character training they are really hard on you. If its on purpose I think that is BS. But its just as likely that its me. lol

I also have been having some costuming issues which have resulted in serious upper back/shoulder/neck pain. To the point where on Saturday and Sunday night I just came home and laid down because I was in so much pain. Those few days were really hard. But the point of this post is to say that even with these hardships I have begun to experience the pure magic that can be had with my role.

In fact the first truly magical moment I had was on Sunday, one of the days where I was in intense pain. I was working with Mickey that day and I literally told him that I did not want to put on my outfit and go out there. It was pretty much one of the last things I wanted to do since I knew it would be 45 solid mins of discomfort. But I of course put on my outfit and went out there with him. About 3 families in Mickey met a little girl who honestly changed everything.

Mickey told me that the first thing she said was "Guess what Mickey? I have a boyfriend!", to which Mickey responded with a head nod. She then said "Your my boyfriend Mickey!" He of course gave her a hug. It just got better from there. She explained that she couldn't come visit him all the time anymore because she had moved to Equador. She said "its ok though you know why?" and as she patted her heart she said "because you are right here." Mickey gave her copius hugs and kisses and when she said to not forget her he said that he loved her and that he would never forget her and that she would stay in his heart. This little girls name was Ingrid and she gave Mickey a letter and 2 drawings. Mickey let me take pictures of the drawings so I can share them with yall.

Watching Ingrid with Mickey was magical and for the rest of the set, I forgot the pain I was in and pushed myself to really interact. I am very grateful to Ingrid. She was the first guest to really show me the Magic that I can create when helping my furry friends. My days can be long, tiring, and sometimes painful but my job is one that has incredible potential to make magic and memories. This is something that I knew but didn't really KNOW. I hadn't experienced it until Ingrid and I can't help but be very grateful to her. She will never know how much she touched me. But she is my inspiration to push myself everyday and touch as many people as I can. Just like Mickey told her, she is going to stay in my heart forever. 

"I should blog, but I don't know what to blog about."

I totally just said that to my roommate Kryssy. I feel the need to blog but I'm just not so sure what to write about. 

I guess I can start with work. It has been going really well. I have worked at Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom. The only day I didn't see someone I knew was my first day out of training at Epcot. I know I had mentioned I was nervous but it turned out really well. I made some friends which was nice and I also had my fellow training group shortie Ariel come visit me and Mickey. Oh! and my other friend Trevor did too. It was really nice to have visitors.

 Ariel and Mickey

Trevor and Mickey

My aunt, uncle, and two cousins are in Orlando this week to visit and play in the parks. It has been really nice to see some family and hang out with them. I haven't seen this particular part of my family since like  Christmas so it was nice to catch up. While at Animal Kingdom on Sunday they visited Mickey and got some fun pictures with him. 

Mickey and I have been having a lot of fun hanging out together. At first I was a bit intimidated with the thought of helping him out but I have discovered that he is a very nice guy and very easy to hang out with, although sometimes (read frequently) I end my days helping him with bruises. 

That is one thing that while they never really mention in any of the things you hear about being a performer. It is absolutely exhausting. I come home tired, completely sticky and gross, and so far always sore and often bruised. Obviously people come into the job knowing it is physically demanding but I'm not sure people realize how demanding it is.  I literally have come home every day with some sort of bruise. Be it from shoes or kneeling, they are not fun. And it is hard to force yourself to get up every morning when you are still tired and sore and know that you have to go back out and do it again. You hear a lot of people say children's hugs make it all worth while, but honestly a lot of the time (at least for me) it doesn't. Children's hugs don't make me want to get out of bed. The obligation to do my job is what gets me out of bed but don't get me wrong, I do love hugs. Its a wonderful role and I still feel truly blessed to be able to call it my job, but don't ever let anyone fool you into thinking it is easy. Performers earn their 40 minute breaks for 20 mins of work. 

I feel like this is a bit of an odd update but I suppose thats ok. Its an update. To end this little post I have a picture that I took of a computer screen (so excuse the funky-ness) of my friend and boss Mickey and a guest. It makes me smile. :)

-M

First Real Day!

So today is my first real day of work. I am honestly a bit nervous. I am working in an inside location but it is one where I have a whole group of people dependent on my ability to keep the line moving. Writing that makes me realize thats really not anything new. As an attendant I was in charge of keeping the line moving but I also realize that this time around its completely different.

In other news I am not as frustrated as I was yesterday about my face type out experience. I know of a girl who is friends with Kryssy who has had the same experience I had (being looked at and talked about) multiple times but has never gotten pulled. However I just have to hope that I will get pulled. I am feeling confident and very go get em tiger. I have to know that they saw something they liked and will hopefully pull me at the July 5th type out. Kryssy talked to a girl who went 5 times before getting pulled for anything. While I don't have that amount of time, I do know that nothing with Disney has ever come on the first try for me. I really can't expect that this will either.

One of my trainers used an analogy of cake to describe the entertainment experience. Everyone who makes it into the department starts out with cake. Some people get icing on their cake and some people get icing and sprinkles. It can take a while to get those extra layers and some people may never get them. But hard work and time can get you to those extra layers. I know how hard I worked to even get that piece of cake that I have. I am just going to give it my all and hope that my icing will come and maybe I will get some sprinkles too.

-M

Not my day...

A quick update about the face type out I went to this morning...

Today was not my day. 

WOMP WOMP. It kinda sucked. Basically all you do at these things is stand in a line with a number on you and they stare at you and talk about you. They have music on and they tell you you can chat to others. But the whole time they are looking at everyone.

I got stared at a good long while. It was very awkward and so I just continued to chat with the girls beside me rather than stare at the casting directors and smile. I now can't help but be frustrated with myself about that. Would things be different if I had stared and smiled? I have no way of knowing. Suffice to say I didn't get pulled for anything. But there is another audition July 5th and I will attend that one. Who knows maybe I will have better luck next time. 

-M

Training Tidbits Part 2!

So on to the more positive side of training.

The first and most awesome aspect of training is that I got to train with my roommate and friend, Kryssy. I am so so so glad I had her with me. Having someone to share it all with was the biggest gift. I also developed a close bond with my other shortie Ariel. We got to be partnered up on our last day of training for our last set which was really awesome. I think we played off each other quite well.

I had a large variety of trainers this time around. First day started off with Auriel and Joel. Auriel stayed with us up to day 3 but yesterday was our day off, so she was not with us on our last day. Christine and Jenny stepped in on day 2 and Christine then stayed with us till the end of our training. On day 3, our first day of in park training, we had Brandon and Christine as well as Lori, and attendant trainier to help with out lines. In a very amusing twist I actually met Brandon the night before while at my friend Cory's birthday party. Day 4 consisted of Christine, Perry, and as previously mentioned, Ashley.

Ya. Thats my trainier. lol. 

In other fun news I spent Sunday (day 3) hanging out with the big cheese. It was actually quite fun. Mickey did tell me he had one young girl hit his nose and then stood on his shoe but other than that he said the day was quite good. I had several friends go visit Mickey and that was very exciting. My friend Cory and her mother visited Mickey and she sent me a picture. :) She said she had a very good time. 

Yesterday I got to hang out with my all time favorite character, Donald Duck. I was very excited about that but it turned out the be quite stressful for me. When I was having to redo my autographs Perry mentioned that I might be so hard on myself about things concerning Donald because he is my favorite. I am willing to conceded that this is probably true. Donald is number one after all and I don't want my helping him out for the day to bring down his amazingness. I think we were a pretty good pair though even though his autographs ended up looking like crap through my assistance. Unfortunately no one came to visit Donald while I was helping him so I don't have any pictures to share.

In other news, my twin left me to go vacation in the mountains for 2 months. I will miss him quite horribly but he needs the vacation and I probably need the time away from him.

Also in other news I will be attending a face type-out (read audition for current entertainment cms) tomorrow. I am hoping the casting directors think I look like a certain fairy. I have gotten a surprising amount of comments about our resemblance since being down there. I can only hope that the casting people see it too. I would love to get to hang out with her. :) So send me pixie dust tomorrow!!

Love you all!!

-M

Training Tidbits

Hello everyone!

I am back and here and alive! I know its only been like 6 days since my last post but it feels like a millennia. Yesterday I finished training and I can't even begin to say how happy I am about that. Training has been a huge emotional roller coaster for me. I had moments where I was like Ya! I can do this!, moments of I got this! and then moments of feeling that I totally sucked and just wanted to crawl into a little hole and cry. Unfortunately I ended training on one of those moments.

I hate to write a debby downer blog post but it will probably be therapeutic so I'm going to write it anyway.  I was in a group of 8 trainees which was really small compared to the group that started on Saturday (we started on Friday). I like most of my fellow trainees but one somewhat annoys me. No big deal though. All of them either have dance, cheer, or theatre experience or really just performance experience. As has been documented in this blog I on the other hand have pretty much no performance experience. While that really doesn't matter I think it fed into my feelings of inadequacy. There were times when we were doing inprov and things like that and I just felt like I had no idea what to do and that I sucked at it while everyone else was good at it. I also kept remembering that I had failed to pass my audition 2 other times while everyone else passed on their first attempt. I kind of felt like I just wasn't very good at this role.

The final down note I ended my training on was my assessment. Everyone who trains for a role at Disney must complete an assessment at the end of their training program so that they can be approved in their role and begin working. For performers it is no different. Part of our assessment is signing the names of some of our furry friends. We had to do 4 and we are allowed to know which ones before hand. So when the time comes for the assessment I complete that part before going on the the multiple choice section. Halfway through the multiple choice section I glance up when I hear one trainer ask something of the other in a rather loudish whisper. I notice that they are talking about some signatures and that one of them picks up a paper which has the name of a certain bear who loves hunny. I was the only one who had to sign that certain bears name so I knew they were talking about mine. I don't remember what was said but I do remember them saying something about making me redo them. So before I ever finished my multiple choice section I knew I was going to have to redo my signature section. So when I turned in my multiple choice section I waited a few minutes and then one of the trainers, Perry, came and brought me my signatures back. They had glorious (read all sarcastic like) blue marker corrections all over it. After explaining all the things wrong with them, he gave me another sheet on which to redo them.

At this point I am just trying not to cry in front of everyone when all I want to do is just curl up in a ball and cry. I have no idea why this set me off but I guess with feeling a bit inadequate and then being the only one asked to redo all 4 of my signatures was just the icing on the cake. My redos were honestly worse then the originals. The harder I tried to make them better the worse they got and when I had no more squares to attempt to fill I just turned it in. Those then got more blue corrections and returned to me with more comments from Perry. The rest of the time we spent wrapping up training I spent trying not to cry. What was supposed to be this uplifting ending turned into a torturous waiting period for me.

I know I took that little incident far more personally then I should have but on the other hand I don't think it necessarily went the way it should have. Other people had comments and things wrong with their signatures but I was the only one that had to redo all of them. And for the most nit picky things too!! It just very very frustrating and it still makes me upset to think about it and write it now.

While I had a variety of trainers through the last 5 days I can say that the person I am most grateful to isn't even a character trainer, but instead an attendant trainer. Ashley, who actually spent one day training me while I was in attendant training, was there yesterday to help out with our lines since we didn't have an attendant group training with us. She commented at some point in the day that I was really hard on myself and was even when I went through attendant training. I do remember being hard on myself and thinking I would never learn and become good at all the things I needed to do, but I eventually did become good at them and honestly I was a damn good attendant. I don't know if her pervious experience with me gave her insight into what I was thinking but she seemed to know that I was getting down on myself. At the end of the day after we were finished she told me that I had to stop beating myself up because I was just going to psych myself out and gave me a hug. I am going to have to force myself to remember what she told me. I know I am amazing and it seems I am my own most harsh critic.

So that is all the bad stuff that happened during training. I guess I will just make another post with all the other stuff. I can already tell this is a massive post and I know if I add the other stuff in here it will just make it that much longer. So! on to Training Tidbits part 2!

-M

The Insanity Continues: Check In Day #2

Well Hello there!

Yesterday was the day I officially began my second CP. The night before check-in I met my roommates at DTD where we ate at Earl of Sandwich and then walked around a bit. We decided that we were going to get to Vista at 5:30 so we could make sure we got in the front of the line and got the apartment size and location that we wanted.

Monday morning I got up bright and early at 5:00 am. I had my bestie/twin there to help me with move in so he sat in the car while I stood in line. We were probably 5th in line when we got there at 5:30 and the line just got progressively longer as we waited. While I hate that I had to get up so early, I am glad I got there when I did. What time you get there greatly depends on the people in your season and so changes every semester but I also think that as more people do the program they hear that you should get there earlier so people just continually get there early. Kind of like a catch 22.

Roooomies!! (L-R Kryssy, Jenn, Kat, Me!)

They started walking us back at 8 am. We ended up being first in line because the people in front of us all had suitcases and had to walk their bags to the suitcase tent while we just went to the first table. First thing you do is get your program guide book which eventually gets a ton of stickers stuck on to it with all sorts of info and a name tag. Next station is when you fill out some paper work for housing including your contact info and agreeing to all the housing rules. Next stop is where you select your apt roommates/apt size/apt location. I was selected as the person to head up to get our apt. We got a 2 bedroom in Chatham and had a choice of the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd floor. We had talked about what we wanted before so I chose a 1st floor and it just so happened that we live in building 26 which is right next to my old building of 25. This time I am on the back of the building so we have a little patio without a fence. We are literally in the back right corner so we face a drainage canal which means greeeeeen and a fence in the way. Its actually quite nice.

After getting your apt number the next stop is picking up your apartment key. You then go to a station to sign your rent paper (telling you how much you will pay), then you move on to a table to pick up a bus route map, then on to getting your picture taken for your housing ID. Kat and I had problems with out IDs. They just wouldn't print out. I had to wait like 10 mins and she had to wait like 15 while our other roomies Jenn and Kryssy got theirs quite quickly. We ended up getting a bit separated at this point. Next stop is the car decal area (if you have a car with you) and then the last stop at Housing is where you get your Casting bus time and info about the rest of the day. I was given the 9:00 bus time but ended up being placed on the 8:45 bus with Kryssy and Jenn. We didn't actually end up leaving Vista till like 9:06.  Kat unfortunately got stuck on the 9:00 bus that didn't leave till well after 9:00.

After Housing we went to Casting. I'm not going to go into as much detail because.. well, I am lazy. lol. We got the location for our roles. Since I already knew mine and performers are park universal I didn't learn anything new. We turned in our I-9s and saw that there is a open audition for females 5'1 -5'7 and that CPs can attend. Usually CPs can't attend auditions till the end of their program and I assume the 6 month between audition rule is in place here too, but it was an interesting little side note learned at casting. When I got my fingerprints taken the man (which I am almost positive is the same guy that took them last time) told me I had really good fingers. Go Me! :) I then went through various other rooms before finally ending up in the room with all the trainers. Let me just say that the trainer for Entertainment sucked! I literally didn't learn anything. I know I have Welcome to Entertainment on Thursday morning and that I will get the rest of my schedule then. While I already knew that (and the rest of my schedule up till Sat the 18th) I was frustrated because she mumbled the whole time! I couldn't hear her over all the other trainers. I wanted to tell her to SPEAK UP! ugh.

I ended up getting out of casting first since I was able to skip a table which put me a bit in front of Kryssy and Jenn. I waited for everyone else to get out of Casting and we all took the bus home together. While I was at Casting my twin had brought all the stuff to my apt since he had plans later in the afternoon. I expected to have a bit of time in between housing and casting like I did last time, but I didn't. I did run my key to him before I got on the bus so he was able to get into the apt and put everything in there for me. I ended up having to get a late check out so that I could have time to get to the apartment, get my car, and then get back to the hotel. After I did that I spent a bit of time unpacking before my roommates returned and they then went to the housing meeting. I decided to be bad and not go because 1) I was an RA and its basically a hall meeting (which I conducted several times) and 2) I had already gone to one once. I also figured since all three of my roommates would be going, if there was anything I needed to know, they would tell me.

To end the night we all went to Port Orleans Riverside to have a check-in night dinner meet up. A few other people showed up which was nice. We had a good time. :) That is pretty much it for check-in day. . Kat, Kryssy, and Jenn went to Traditions today but I didn't have to since I am a current cast member. I did have to go get my CP ID and I got the new blue ID. It used to be that blue IDs were reserved for Managers only (white for cps, red for seasonal, and yellow for pt/ft). Now everyone will have blue ones and vendors/contractors will have green. They just started issuing the blue ones today so I literally got one of the first ones. :) My picture is horrible though because i didn't expect to have to take a picture today. Traditionally CPs don't have pictures on their IDs. I will try to continue to update with training and such. It was a bit hard to find the motivation to get this one done but I have promised to be dedicated to this, so I am going to be.

Anyways, LOVE YOU ALL!
-M

So Much to Share

Today was an awesome day. I mentioned before that I had picked up a Spare 6 attendant shift today at Studios. My bestie/twin picked up a shift at Studios too so he drove us there. We got there way early (like 2 hours) because it was a Star Wars weekend (hellish parking) and also because I had to get a costume. I have lost a good deal of weight since my CP so I wasn't sure what size shorts I would wear (or even what size shorts I used to wear).

Well after I got my shorts I went and checked in and sat down. I then basically sat there for an hour and a half till I could clock in. I had to take some silly update computer-y thing but then I had nothing to do. All of the other Attendants showed up so I literally just sat at base for my whole shift. At one point I thought I might have to go to Epcot because the were down an attendant, but I guess by the time my lunch had ended they had filled that hole because I didn't end up having to go. So instead of helping out Phineas and Ferb I decided to Early Release (ER) instead.

Two ish hours after I got my ER I finally got to meet one of the people I have been talking to online for months, Emily. It was really awesome to finally get to meet her. :) We watched the Countdown to Fun Parade, then went on Rockin Roller Coaster, GMR, and Muppets. We then headed over to the Animation building where Fantasmic characters were greeting and saw a few characters. We met Pinocchio, Pocahontas and Meeko, and Pooh Bear. To end our play time we took the animation class and drew Buzz Lightyear.

I love them, but especially my Fro-Yo. 

What a cuddly little bear. 

 <3 him (and her!)

We had a great discussion about how to say goodbye in Poca's language and if Emily and my hair flowers were the type Meeko liked to eat. 

While this day was quite fun the best part for me was getting access to EISS again. EISS is the entertainment specific scheduling system. Because I hadn't logged in since last July, my password had expired. I called IT today while at work and got it all reset and was finally able to see what height I am. Suffice to say I am SO EXCITED! Since it is saturday and schedules drop on Saturday I was able to look up where I am scheduled to work after training. :) Seeing that finally made it real. I am really going to get to hang out with characters. Its truly insane to me. I can't help but smile when I think about it. I will of course post pictures of my friends once I start making them but for now, I'm not really going to go into any detail.

It all starts getting really real on Monday when I check in to my second CP. Baaahhh!! I am so excited. :)  Life is good.

-M

Finally Made It!

Well guess what?

....I FINALLY MADE IT TO ORLANDO!!!! YAAAAYYYY!!!!!
Honestly the best part about that statement is it means I have no more long distance driving to do. I can't even begin to explain how happy I am about that. I am SO tired of driving. I have basically spent the last 2 weeks in a state of transition and travel and I am so glad to say that period is done. I have made it to Orlando and can chill and not worry about long distance driving for a very long time. 
I decided to make a map of my road trip. I figured it would be fun to look at my trip and remember it in years to come. Each leg of the tour has its own color and how long the drive took. 


View DCP Road Trip 11' in a larger map
Well thats really it for this post. I'm really tired from driving all day and I am pretty much just being a vegetable and watching my twin play video games. My friend Cory and I are going to go watch him (my twin Josh) in MISICI tomorrow and probably play around. It shall be lots of fun. :)
Love-M

Chillin in Florida

Well hello there!

I am currently chilling at my beach house in Destin, Florida. I arrived here on Saturday afternoon at around 4:30ish. I got a late start on the second leg of the road trip because I stayed up till 3 am with my sister watching the filming of 21 Jumpstreet.

They were filming some scenes for the movie at a house on the end of my Grandma's street so after going to see Pirates 4 we stood around and watched them film a few scenes. We were about 8 ish feet behind the director and all the monitors where they review what is being filmed. Which means when they reviewed the scenes we were about 8 feet away from the stars of the film Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. I didn't get really any good pictures of them (didn't want to be a creep and was more interested in getting a picture of the director chairs) but I did get some general pictures I will share. :)

Hard to see but Channing Tatum is indeed in this picture. 

The thing I was attempting to take a picture of the whole time.

The general layout of the scene. It was a house party being busted by the parents. 

So after my late start I drove and drove and drove some more till I made it to Destin. Suffice to say I am very over driving. But I still have a 2 hour drive this evening (to reach my mom is Port St. Joe) and then a longer drive to Orlando. I'm not sure how long the drive is from Port St. Joe but from Destin I think it is about 6 hrs.

.... Please hold while I google the drive time from Port St. Joe.......

Depending on the route I take its about 6-6.5 hours. Womp Womp. I really am very very tired of driving. But on the plus side I will be in Orlando on Wednesday. Probably late afternoon/early evening.

In other news... Since it is Sunday the schedule for June 5-11th came out today. That is the week that I check-in and also begin training. So from earlier snooping I was able to figure out that I was scheduled for Welcome to Entertainment on the 9th. That is still true. I am also scheduled for training on the 10th and 11th. I thought that with the scheduled drop my role might finally be changed from attendant to performer, but that was not the case. I am still listed as an Attendant and even more frustrating my training is listed as Attendant Core. I'm not going to even lie I am sad/annoyed/frustrated/ugghed by the lack of change in my role and now the slightly incorrect info about my training. I know that the attendant and character training is similar and its the same departement and all that will change when they switch my role is "performer core" rather than "attendant core" but I still want to see it change. I'm am highly annoyed with Disney that they haven't gotten around to changing it yet. If I didn't have to 2nd purple folder with printed acceptance letter in it I might be worried that something has gone wrong. I know it hasn't but still. Get on this Disney.

To end this random update I shall post a picture of my legs and the sand here in Destin. It is gorgeous sugar white sands and I love it. My grandma is going to give me one of the spare keys to the house so if I ever get a long weekend I can drive up here and chill. :) yay!

-M

Moving Right Along...

Well today I began the road trip down to Orlando. I completed the first leg of the trip with a stop in New Orleans. YAAAAYYY!!!

I have to be honest I am glad I am breaking this trip up over a series of days because there is just no way I could have driven it all at once, even if I only went to Chipley, Fl like I did last time. Unlike last time I am driving by myself this time around. I will admit that I am my favorite driving partner. I can turn my music up as loud as I want and not have to worry about turning down to hear someone else. I can also listen to whatever my little heart desires. :) But the downside of road tripping by yourself is there is no one to take over driving once you get tired. And I was really getting tired by the end of my 6 hour drive to New Orleans from Houston.

Yes. 6 hours. Usually it takes me about 5-5.5 hrs but I hit sevearl areas of pointless traffic and saw many cops which made me slow down. Why is it that every time I drive to Orlando I see a ton of cops? I guess the difference between this time and last time was that I actually did get pulled over (instead of the scare I had last time). I think I was going about 3-4 miles over the speed limit so I assumed he pulled me over for speeding. I was of course freaking out. But then he walked up and told me I hadn't signaled when I changed lanes. Honestly I am suspicious of that statement becuase I ALWAYS use my blinker. I am religious about it. But I think he may have pulled me over to slow me down. Anyways I chattered on about how I was going to Orlando to do an internship program with Disney at Disney World and yatta yatta yatta. He asked me some questions and then just gave me a warning. ** INSERT SIGH OF RELIEF**..... I then proceeded to drive 65 for the next hour before I got really tired of that and moved it up to my usual 5 mph above the speed limit. Don't judge. I learned to drive in Houston where the minimum accepted speed limit is 70, almost everyone drives 75, and there is frequently bumper to bumper traffic at 80. I really think it is impossible to learn to drive in Houston and not be super aggressive.

Anyways. Out of my run in with the law it was an uneventful trip. I dragged out my old well worn and loved ipod and played the playlist I made for my last CP road trip.  It is an awesome playlist if I do say so myself. I will definitely have to add more to it though because I played the whole thing yesterday and I am going to need more music for the next two segments of the trip.

In other news I found out that CP entertainment training has changed. There is Welcome to Entertainment, which I didn't have to take last time b/c they hadn't started it yet. I am scheduled to take it on the 9th but I also looked at it and it says that it was completed on 12/31/10 (waived). I assume that is from my time as an attendant and so they just waived it so I didn't have to take it but I wonder if that means it is waived for now so I wont be taking it on the 9th. I basically don't know what that means. I hope that I get to take it again b/c even though I wont have to do a lot of the computer stuff there is still a bunch of performer specific things I don't know how to do and more importantly its the first day you are with your training group. I don't want to miss out on that bonding. After WTE there is now only 4 days of training and only 2 of those are in park days. When I went through Attendant training it was 5 days total (still the same) and 3 days in park. I am kind of upset that they took out that additional day of in park training. I want everyday of training (especially in park) that I can get!

I got a call from Disney Workforce Management this morning. For a second I was all "AHHH!!!! Whats going on? Maybe they will tell me something awesome!" but then it was just a courtesy call to let me know I was on the schedule for next week. That was nice. I picked up an Attendant shift for Saturday the 4th. Its the first day I will work in a little under a year so I guess they wanted to remind me because of that. Its a Spare 6 shift at Studios. Usually there are only 2 spares so I have no idea what I will be doing but its also a Star Wars Weekend so who knows. You have to be specially trained to actually work with Star Wars characters so its not like they would put me with one of them. I basically have no idea wtf I will be doing. Hopefully something awesome and something that doesn't really require timing a line. I haven't done that in a little under a year so I am rusty. With my luck they will give me a pop up character and I will have to relearn reaaalll quick.

I guess thats all for this rambling post. I will continue the road trip tomorrow by traveling 4 (or so) hours to Destin, FL. :) I will then hang there for a few days before driving the 6 hours down to Orlando to arrive on the 1st for 5 days of play before I check in to my DCP #2! :)

To end this post I will share the song that I took the title from. Hit it Kermit and Fozzy!



-M