Magical Moment! What Whaat!

So, yea. This whole blog thing is really hard because I have a tendency to forget it exists. The last time I updated it, I was in the middle of being deployed from Stands East to TLT (TomorrowLand Terrace). Update on that Brazilian group that came through, it was over 600 people, not 400. Each register set the record for number of transactions within two hours.

Fun fact, back in January, President Obama (blah) came to WDW and did a speech. In it, he ignorantly called Walt Disney WORLD "Disney Land". Eh, bro. You no in California. But I digress. His whole point for the speech was how we need to make it easier for Brazilian Tour Groups to come to WDW.  No. I've been there, I refuse to go back!


After a week in TLT, I went to Casey's Corner on Main Street U.S.A. for two weeks. And as crazy as it was, especially for the 4th of July, I actually really liked it. Everyone there was so nice and I will totally pick up a shift there again. And the costume isn't too bad either...



After a month abroad, I'm back to Stands! Yay! Just in time for everyone to leave. Sadly, many, many people are leaving to go home so I get back just in time to say goodbye. With one final send off at Applebees, everyone is gone.








Out of the few who are staying, I have made many friends. Last week, three of my friends and I went to Animal Kingdom. While we were there, we got fast passes from a guest on their way out that were going to expire in about 45 minutes, made funny faces for the camera, then got surprised with a magical moment at the Festival of the Lion King. We got VIP seating, Jessica and I got to teach the Hand Jive and then got to see the best show at WDW, front and center. Timon fell in love with Soly and stalked her for the second half of the show. Seriously, it was probably the best day ever.

After Animal, we went to Magic Kingdom and watched Wishes. Maybe I was just being stereotypical but when I looked to my right and saw four monks getting off of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, I was a little shocked. When I saw them again at wishes, I had to take a picture like one of those rude, obnoxious tourists. Hey, I'm off the clock, I can do what I want.

Which reminds me. Guess who came to Storybook Treats just moments before I got there? Tom Cruise. Yup. Mission: Impossible. Mr. Top Gun. He and Siri were getting an ice cream while I was walking from Cheshire Cafe to Treats. Just my luck.

My last update is that I'm about 5 weeks into a 10 week Sign Language class. This week, we're doing a "silent field trip" to Epcot! No talking, All signing :)

 <--Last Wishes with Bety :(

 Magical Moment at FOLK!-->

<--It's Tough To Be A Bug...

How Did I Lose A Month?

Due to the increasing number of death threats, I have come to the conclusion that it is time to write a new blog post. So to all of those lovely ladies...this is for you. :)

So I think my last blog was a few weeks ago but not much has happened since then. Work, eat, sleep. Work, eat, sleep. Day in, day out. On my days off, I play in the parks with a few friends, meeting come characters, and exploring both on stage and behind the scenes.

 A couple of weeks ago, I paid for my family to come to the Happiest Place on Earth for the first time. To be honest, I think I was more excited than they were. The came in late Monday and we hit the parks Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We fit in just about everything in Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios and a few things from Epcot. Believe it or not, I actually rode Mission: Space again. This time I didn't shake but I did get super dizzy. Mission: Space, I think we'll call it a even. My dad and sister rode it twice in a row...whatever. We also saw Fantasmic! twice, but we didn't miss anything. Day one-Wishes. Day two-Fantasmic! Day three-IllumiNations and Fantasmic! I call that a success.

 

After they left, it was right back to work, work, work. Oh the things Guests can ask:

"Is your twist ice cream edible?"

"Can I drive to 'Small World'?"

(At Epcot) "It's a shame they bulldozed the Castle and put in that ugly ball thing"

"I'll have a soft-serve" ...Everything is soft-serve. WHAT DO YOU WANT?!

Last week, I got deployed to Tomorrowland Terrace. That was rough. I made a lot of new friends but it was super stressful trying to deal with guests who scream and cuss at you because "I have been waiting here for 5 whole minutes and I don't have my food yet!!" Well, ma'am, you ordered 6 burgers and 2 pastas. It takes more than 5 minutes to make. Just saying. And something to strike fear into any Disney Cast Member...

Brazilian Tour Groups.

At. ONE. TIME. we had 400 non-english speaking Brazilians, all ordering the same thing, waving their tickets in your face because they thing that will make their food come faster.

This week, I'm deployed to Casey's Corner. Picture this: a hot dog place, on Main Street U.S.A. on the 4th of July. Waa hooo!

I'll be sure to let you know how that goes.

Well, there you go guys, that's my update. Hope you're happy :) 

Miss you guys!

Lord Vader, the Softie

We meet again...

Like I said in my last post, I had this past Saturday off. Also like I said in my last post it was STAR WARS WEEKEND. AHH!!! haha. I worked a late shift Friday so I wasn't up in time for the opening stuff but Jade and I made it there about 1ish. Our first stop? My last item on my bucket list. Yep. Rockin' Roller Coaster. For some reason, I was feeling extra ballsy and thought I would be able to make it, no problem. Two hours of line later, we walked out of the recording studio and into the alley.

For those of you who haven't been, one thing that Disney Parks prides themselves on is that everything has a story. Everything is a movie and you're stepping into it every time you get in line. So the story for Rockin' Roller Coaster is that you step into the recording studio with Aerosmith but they have to run to a party and their manager orders a super stretch limo to get you there with your back stage passes. The "limo" takes off using the same technology as a fighter jet off of an aircraft carrier. 0 to 60 in a half a second. There are 3...count them...3 inversions. Yea.

So anyway, we walk into the alley, where the limo is waiting and I glanced over and saw the one before us take off. Enter panic attack. I started shaking uncontrollably. I actually made it onto the ride that time but as soon as the bars came down, I freaked. I got off the ride before it even started and left Jade to try it alone.

After she got off and I calmed down, we went over to hit Star Tours on the other side of the park. Star Tours is a Star Wars ride, for those who don't know. It takes place between the prequels and the trilogy. It's amazing. When we came out, this is what we saw...

 

Chewie and Ewok meet and greet! Why am I not in this line?! Unfortunately, they went in before I could meet them. Sad face. So, Jade and I continued on. Next was Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader before the suit. The line was three people long, one of which was an idiot. She had never seen any of the movies. Had no idea who anyone was, yet was still taking up room in line that could go to an actual fan...but I digress. When it came to my turn in line, Anakin went in and out comes a not so important Master Jedi...

 

 

After her, we wandered around the different lots, and here is a little of what we saw...

Jawa

Jedi Training Academy for small children *jealous*

Many, many Stormtroopers

and a Gamorrean

A little dejected from not getting to meet "the Chosen One", we kept walking and saw, the one and only...

Darth Vader Himself...

I already had to miss photo opportunities with Chewie and Anakin, I was NOT missing Vader, the scariest asthmatic in the universe! We waited in line for about 20 minutes and...He went in. NOOOOOOO! But it's okay, I got one anyway. Hehe

Before I did though, there was this little boy who looked about three years old who got a picture with Vader. As soon as it was done, he turned around, didn't come any higher than Vader's knees, and hugged his legs. I almost started crying from the cuteness of it. It was seriously my favorite part of the day.

Moving on, we went to see the Beauty and the Beast show which, if you ever get the chance, is a must see! 

Every night of Star Wars weekend, they have this show called Hyperspace Hoopa. Google it. It's the coolest thing ever. All of the characters come out, Good Guys vs Bad Guys and have a dance off to popular music like Flo Rida and LMFAO. It was hilarious!

After the Hyperspace Hoopa, Jade talked me into going back on Rockin' Roller Coaster. And guess what...I DID IT!!! TWICE! After the first time I bought myself what I call my "I survived" pin. I got one for Mission: Space and I got one for Rockin' Roller Coaster. That knocks two more things off of my bucket list!

Here a three more cool guys we got pictures with...

Which Costume Again?

Here due to popular demand...a post about my "costumes". Being that Walt Disney World prides themselves on keeping the magic alive and the entire park being an interactive show, we don't wear uniforms. We wear costumes. My role here is Quick Service Food and Beverage over in Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. Between the two, I like Fantasyland better. Nothing personal, I was just never really a "space cadet" kind of person. Anywho, here are my costumes...

  

The First is my Tomorrowland costumes. Not going to lie, it makes me feel a bit like I'm back in JROTC again. I wear this when I'm working on ONLY Tomorrowland. If I'm in this costume, I am not allowed to go into any other land unless through the employee only ways.

This second costume is my breaker. It comes with a sun hat for outdoor vendors but it's not required for me. This costume is able to go between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. At first we didn't know how but one of the managers explained that this looks like a soldiers uniform....okay,,,"what ever you say...you da boss".

This last costume is my favorite out of my three. It's my Fantasyland costume. Like the first one, when I wear this, I can only go to Fantasyland. Nowhere else.

Anyway, there they are. I have today off and I'm planning on heading to Typhoon Lagoon, one of Disney's waterparks today. Star Wars Weekend is still a go for Saturday. My training Assessment is on Sunday. Wish me luck!

Oh! For those of you who have been to at least Magic Kingdom before, Snow White's Scary Adventure officially closed down last night. My roommate, our amazing trainer Barb and I were the last people to ever ride it. Yup.

Well, I think that's about it for now. Byeee :)

"When does the 3 o'clock parade start again?"

Hello Lovelies! So I've been here at ol WDW for almost a week now. I think the last time I wrote on here, I had just moved apartments. Since then, it's been go, go, GO! I'm going to try to remember everything that's been going on and keep it in some kind of order...

So, we've been going through class after class around here. We cover how to handle certain guests, where the bathrooms are, how to handle the food, etc. Countless powerpoints and videos, lots of tours of the park. While there were many really cool things that I learned about the parks, it didn't make the walking any easier.

There are many interesting things going on here at WDW between the Garden Festival at Epcot, which wrapped up yesterday to the first weekend of Star Wars Weekend at Hollywood Studios (enter fan girl squeal here).

In between all of the classes and tours, my roommates and I have been hitting every ride we can. I finally got to ride Star Tours. It. Was. Amazing. Seriously nerding out hard-core. Because I was in all of the training, I haven't really had a chance to experience Star Wars Weekend but I am scheduled to have this coming Saturday off so I plan on being there ALL DAY. Start knocking out this bucket list of mine. We also managed to get lost and find this back lot which looked a bit like the set of a downtown 1930's movie set in New York. Speaking of movie sets...I got to ride the Great Movie Experience which was tons of fun. My favorite part was, of course, the Wizard of Oz. I also rode the Tower of Terror again so...yea. I'm building a tolerance to that one.

Jumping to Epcot, I went to the first time and got to see all of the characters in plant form. What Disney's landscaping team can do is truly amazing. We did a loop around the World Showcase and it was tons of fun finding all of the characters. At Epcot, I was forced, against my will, to ride the rough version of Mission: Space. Just a fair warning...that ride is no joke. I wasn't initially worried until there were three posts saying "if you suffer from motion sickness, have trouble with tight spaces and have issues with spinning, do not ride this ride. If you feel sick, don't close your eyes, it'll only make it worse" I started second guessing it. Basically, I stopped breathing for most of that ride and by the time I got off I was shaking so bad I almost couldn't stand. Needless to say, my dad will probably be obsessed with it...

I did manage to knock off two somethings from my bucket list. I saw IllumiNations, the fireworks show from Epcot as well as Fantasmic! While both were great, Fantasmic was definitely my favorite! It's totally worth it!

"Once Upon A Time...Is Now"

So, this blog might not be my best, I'm fighting falling asleep. While I've only been here two days, I've done more in those two days than I've done in a LOOONNNGGG time. So I guess I'll start at the beginning...

This first day was check in. This involves standing outside Vista Wayyy, one of the apartment complexes on the property at 6 A.M. Normally, I would have had an issue with being awake that early but I had already had a bit of excitement. One of the forms of I.D. that you have to show is either a birth certificate or your social security card. Without it, it's basically "well, hope you enjoy your ride home!" I realized at about 5 A.M. that I didn't have either...Begin heart attack. Luckily, there was a miracle and I found a copy of my social in an old wallet. YAY!

After we started getting ushered into the building, we signed 5,000 forms, took our I.D. pictures (Mine is above) and started roommate assignments. Three of my friends and I were planning on getting a two
bedroom apartment. We got one, went to get out keys and it was unavailable. Great. So back to the computer. No more two bedrooms available. So we split up and took one bedroom rooms. I had seen layouts of rooms and videos of CP's rooms on youtube but what I saw when I walked in was awful. The living room, kitchen and bedroom, put together, was the same size of my dorm room. Seriously. The bathroom was only a toilet that ran for ten minutes after it was used and a shower that didn't drain. I was so claustrophobic I couldn't think.

Today was our housing meeting. I woke up a couple minutes early to call the housing service and see if we could get moved. It was questionable. While they have the apartments, some of them are getting renovated and some are already reserved for the next arrival group, which numbers around 500 new CP's coming. Yea. Because my claustrophobia was getting so bad they made it a priority to get us a new room. Somehow, a two bedroom magically appeared all of the sudden so my roommate, Gracie, and I went to ask our friends Jade and Heather if they wanted to move with us. Welcome longest day ever. We moved the four of us down three flights of stairs and across the compound in 90 degree Florida sunshine.

Our new apartment is AMAZING! It's one of the largest two bedrooms at Chatham! We all couldn't be happier. Pictures below :)

My side of the HUGE bedroom

Gracie and my bathroom and walk-in closet

Tomorrow is Traditions, the intro to the parks and workplace. We get our infamous name tags, access to staff only places and the parks. Hello Disney World!!!

Goodbye North Cakalaki, Hello Florida...

Time to end one chapter and start a new one. It's May 11th and I leave for Florida in 4 days. Gulp. Between my final exams and my great expedition to WDW I have done countless hours of organizing and packing, saying goodbye to friends and family, had my car worked on anddddd....got my braces off! Whoo! Two and a half years of waiting and it's finally over :) 

I had business near-by so I got to spend one last night at old St. Andies and my friends and I made sure it didn't go to waste. We started off by celebrating my departure, then went to one of my schools "stress busters" - Grocery Store Bingo. While, usually, you are unable to get a prize more than twice, I managed to walk away with four bags of candy that I didn't need.

While I am super excited to make new friends of all walks of life in Orlando, I am definitely going to miss my SAPC friends.

Next Stop: Walt Disney World :)

Hi, My name is Angie. I'm 5'6" and I'm a giant...

 So this weekend was two auditions for Disney. All I can say is "whew". Over the weekend, I drove/rode a total of 32 hours. This is kind of a big deal for normal people but for someone who gets car sick going to walmart, it was ridiculous.

On Friday afternoon, I drove from Laurinburg to Winston-Salem. That's 2 hours. The first audition was in Nashville, Tennessee. That's 7 1/2 hours from Winston. 15 hour round trip.

After driving since midnight the night before, I was running kind of low. My dad and I pulled into the parking lot at about 8 a.m. and I was bouncing off the walls. I don't even get that nervous when I show! I was one of the first there and got to meet some really cool people, including one of my future suite mates! After getting sorted, tagged and grouped, we played musical rooms a couple of times. They took us in groups of about 50 to learn a dance routine from one of the parades. At that point, my brain was gone. I might as well have been a piece of spaghetti for all of the good it was doing. The routine was not that hard and my brain knew what to do but my arms and legs were not having it. After we went across the room, we had our first cut. Surprise surprise, noodles are not wanted. oh well.

On the way home, we went past Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (30 minutes off the road we were on. 1 hour round trip). For those of you who know me, you know that I am a die hard Titanic historian/fan/person. Well, guess what was opened a year or so in Pigeon Forge? That's right! The TITANIC Museum! They built the first half of the ship at about 1/4 of it's original scale. Inside was exact replicas of the grand staircase, 1st and 3rd living quarters, hall ways, etc. They had real artifacts pulled from the wreckage, as well as a place where you could put your hand in 28 degree water, which is what the Titanic victims were forced to spend their final moments. In all honesty, I've never felt anything so painful in my life. I tried to keep my hand in as long as I could. I lasted about a minute. As a few of you might know, this year is the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking so they were collecting rose petals to be spread at the sight of the sinking on the night of April 14th. All in all, it was the saddest, most amazing thing I've ever seen and I'm so glad I got the chance to experience that.

So, for those of you keeping track, we're at 18 hours of driving in one day.

I wasn't happy with my audition in Tennessee and wanted another chance so on Monday, I headed to Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta is 5 1/2 hours from Winston, 11 hours round trip. I slept some of the way and we didn't have to leave until 3 a.m. Monday morning so I was a whole lot more awake by the time we pulled into the dance studio. Once again, we were sorted, numbered, grouped and played another round of musical rooms. My group was the third to go and the routine was the same as Nashville so I already knew it! Yay! This time, I knocked it out of the park. Unfortunately, I was cut again, but this time it wasn't because I didn't do well, it was because I was too tall. Yea.

Disney does most of their casting based on height. There are two main kinds of characters, Fur or Face. Fur are, of course, the ones in the suites. Face are Wendy, Alice, Peter Pan, the Princesses and Princes. Most of the fur characters like Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pooh, Eeyore, etc are around 5'4" and down. Face characters like the Fairies, Tinkerbell, Wendy, Alice, etc are the same. The princesses are about 5'4" to around 5'8". I'm 5'6". Being that I am right in the middle of that range, I was grouped in the most competitive height group because everyone wants to be a princess. They cut over half of us, most of it based on height.

I felt better, even though I got cut, because I felt I did my best and I was happy with my audition. On the way back, we lost an hour because my mom wanted to meet up with my Uncle, who ended up being at work, and running into construction.

So...2 hours home + 15 for Nashville + 1 for Pigeon Forge + 11 for Atlanta + 1 for construction = 30 hours so far...

The last two hours come from heading back to school. Hello 32!

Even though I don't get to do entertainment, I still get to go to Disney. Hello Quick Service Food and Beverage!

Disney Bucket List

Yep, it was a bit inevitable. I've been thinking about all of the things that I wanted to do while I'm working for the Mouse but I figured it was about time I actually put it in a  list. I'm not completely satisfied with it yet so there will probably be additions later but here goes...My Disney Bucket List (in no particular order)

1. Experience Star Wars Weekend
2. Eat a Pizza Planet
3. Eat at Cinderella's Table (not sure that's going to be possible, I hear the waiting list is rather long)
4. Scuba dive at EPCOT
5. See IlluniNations
6. See Fantasmic!
7. See all of the shows
8. See Cirque du Soleil
9. Go to both of the water parks
10. Get a picture with every character
11. Go to the Annual Food and Wine Festival
12. Go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
13. See the Christmas Parade
14. See the Candlelight Processional
15. See the New Years Eve Fireworks
16. Celebrate my Birthday in the Parks
17. Drink around the world at EPCOT (Will go hand in hand with number 14, I'll be turning 21 in October ;) )
18. Make a Scrapbook
19. Go to a beach with BLUE water (not the green/brown of NC)
20. Go to Harry Potter World
21. Go to SeaWorld

And last but not least...

22.  Ride every ride...Including Rockin' Roller Coaster

The hardest one will probably be riding Rockin' Roller Coaster. I'm terrified of going upside-down so I'll have to work up to that one.

Well, that's all I've got so far...

Auditions in one week!

Watch Out!

So I'm starting this blog for my family and friends so they can keep up with my many adventures working for the Mouse.

Just a little background for those who don't know, I am, and always have been, a die-hard Disney girl. I grew up with the movies...The Lion King was my first 'in-theater' movie and Beauty and the Beast was my first VHS. My mom still has video of me singing my heart out with the soundtrack with my little Belle and Beast figurines. :)

Like probably all Disney fans, I remember watching videos of them building the Tree of Life in the Animal Kingdom, seeing all of the previews and advertisements for Walt Disney World (WDW) before most of my VHS'. Unfortunately, I was never able to make the trip there myself until this past January with a friend of mine. I was 20 years old when I got on the monorail, 7 years old when I got off. Seeing the Mickey face in flowers at the entrance for the Magic Kingdom was surreal. I pretty much went into shock when I saw Cinderella's Castle. No matter where I went, there was always something to do and SO MUCH to look at. I just couldn't get enough.

I found out the details of the Disney College Program while I was down there but it wasn't up for applications the night that we came back. I checked it the next day and BAM! The rest is history. I got accepted for the Fall Advantage 2012 program which means I will be moving to the happiest place on Earth on May 16th and not coming back until January 2nd...possibly. I may just never come back ;)

My current position is Quick Service Food and Beverage which means I'll either be selling those yummy ice cream Mickeys or working in Disney's version of a fast food restaurant. I'm okay with that but to be honest, I'd rather be a little more hands-on with the guests so I'm heading to character auditions on March 17th in Nashville, Tennessee. Fingers crossed!  

I'll post something for auditions, then probably just pick it up when I get there...

SO EXCITED!!