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 :)