SOMEONE IS BEING A SLACKER....

...and the slacker would be me... :)

wow these past 40 days have flown by! Everything is going amazingly well.

I work in Tomorrowland Attractions, at the Stitch complex, which is Stitch's Great Escape, Astro Orbiter, and Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I honestly LOVE working here. Everyone in Tomorrowland is amazingly awesome and nice!

Where do I start??

Well check-in went very smoothly, I got the 2 bedroom in Chatham Square just like I wanted. The apartment is really nice. Worth the 80 or 90 something I pay a week, maybe not, but still really nice. Everyone with Price Management has been really nice so far with everything, so I guess no complaints. One tip I have for future CP's. BRING A SLEEP MASK. My bedroom windows are right next to a light that shines into my bedroom everynight so sometimes because of that it is kinda hard to fall asleep. But the mask does wonders. :)

Traditions was amazing, honestly made me proud to work for Disney. 90% of it is amazing and then they ruin it with the sexual harassment video. haha But they really make you happy about joining the company. I even won a little plastic Pluto figurine for being the group leader on an activity where you name the most Disney Characters. My group was in second place. With like 30 something I think. The day of Traditions is pretty awesome for one reason - YOU FINALLY GET YOUR FREE PARK ADMISSION!! :) I have taken full advantage of this benefit! (hence why there has not been an update in so long)

Then the next day or so, I being a Magic Kingdom Cast Member, got to go to "Once Upon a Time... is now" Which is basically when you go and learn about the Magic Kingdom and a lot of the services they provide, and about the park, and so on. I'm not sure what the other parks or areas do for theirs but I think @ least the other parks have a similar day. We got to ride Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (the most popular ride in the resort, BTW) and The Haunted Mansion. I found the hidden Mickey in the graveyard scene that I have not been able to find (I took the Keys to the Kingdom tour back in 2006 and our guide mentioned it, but I had never been able to find it) Then after a short tour of the underground tunnels we got to meet the people who gave us a tour around Tomorrowland. We got to ride Buzz again, and then watch Stitch's Great Escape. The one person who gave us the tour, Jason told us about some of the big point targets, so now when I ride, I actually get a halfway decent score!

Training went pretty flawlessly. The only thing is that there is A LOT of stuff to remember, at least in Attractions. Evac procedures, just basic operations of the attractions, and everything else, OH MAN! By assessment day your head will be spinning! Luckily I passed my assessments on Stitch and Astro Orbiter. The Tomorrowland Transit Authority didn't reopen until a few weeks ago so I just recently got trained on it. It is my favorite ride to work on (except that the other day they implemented new audio on the ride, and it is terrible :( I do not like it at all!) I liked the fact I didn't get trained on that til a bit later though, at least I didn't have to remember 3 attractions for my original assessment! But now everything is going pretty great.

One bit of advice, you are going to run into bad guest experiences. Don't let them get you down. Because then someone later that day will help turn it around. Honestly. I had a guest tell me that they were going to guest relations to complain about what I did (which was, MY JOB) and then later that night, I had the best time ever, and it made me practically forget the whole encounter. I've had guests hug me because of something I have done for them. I've had guests tell me to enjoy the rest of my life! Try to remember positive experiences, they may not happen EVERY SINGLE DAY but they are definitely what you want to walk away from the program with.

My best guest encounter was this one time on Astro Orbiter. Wishes (the fireworks @ the Magic Kingdom) started at 10PM that night. These four men, I honestly think I made their night. It was like 9:58 and they kept telling me to go slow loading, so they could see the start of the fireworks. I told them I couldn't promise anything but then people were actually having trouble with the seat belts. It held me up a bit more than it normally would have. So I got back to my console at like 9:59:30 and the music started. Which meant Wishes was starting EARLY! Like 30 seconds but whatever. All the sudden I heard screaming and "THANK YOU KELLY!!!!". Then their flight was done but there was only a few people waiting (the last group for the night) so we sent them up again after the other people had loaded. Their flights were done, and so we decided to let them all stand up there after because at that point Wishes was just ending and then after Wishes ended they all started hugging me and some other dude shook my hand thanking me. but the 4 guys as the elevator was closing were like "WE'RE GONNA COME BACK AND SEE YOU!!!" and I yelled out that I had to leave in January and they were all like "OH NOOOOO!!!" It was amazing and funny and great. I will remember it for a VERY LONG TIME. You just feel so good about yourself that you could do something that nice for someone, and have it not be a problem. We really do have the freedom here to make people happy. Which is great.

What I am trying to tell you is to try to make the glass half full. If you keep looking at it as half empty, I swear you are going to have a hard time enjoying your time here.

I am seriously at this point considering extending my program, and then going seasonal thereafter. I am that in love with working here.

Til next time!! (hopefully sooner rather than later!)

I'M HERE!

Hey everybody! I arrived in Orlando at about 9:40 this morning, and I can’t believe I am actually here. The flight was awesome, and the weather here today (except for a few small rain showers) was GORGEOUS. I had a really busy day.
First after arriving, we (my mom, dad, brother and I) had to go get my car from the car transport person. Well we started off right from MCO (Orlando’s airport), and it took over an hour and a half to find him. Someone needs to be a SMIDGE more specific when one says the “7-11 on International Drive.” So after going to 2 other 7-11’s trying to find ol’ Blanca, the third time was the charm, and we found Blanca. When we picked the car up I realized not only did I need to fill the tank up (it was ½ full) but, my one rear blinker was dying so we had to go find a store that sold new bulbs. Anyways, I was happy to realize that gas was actually about 20 cents cheaper than at home (Buffalo’s gas prices are ridiculous) so to fill up ½ of my tank for $14 was AWESOME! I could get used to this! We were all starving, so we decided to go find something to eat. We ended up going to McDonald’s.
After that, we went off to look for stores that sold car light bulbs. We 1st checked out Super Target, and they had the automotive section, but no light bulbs. So we headed to Super Wal-Mart. We found the bulb, and then we headed off to find our vacation home my family was renting. It took us FOREVER to find it (they said it was close to Celebration, and it is definitely NOT!) Anyways, we went in the pool for a bit after we actually found the place, and then went grocery shopping, and then out to dinner. After that my dad drove over towards Vista, and we figured out where exactly it was, and then we drove over by Chatham, Patterson, and the Commons, and then around Orlando for a bit. I took some nice pictures. I am going to upload them to a photobucket account and I will attach the link on here so people can view all my photos.
So that’s about it for today. I am exhausted. I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night, with having to say goodbye to my friends, my doggies, and my house.
Tomorrow I have another busy day ahead of me! We are going to one of the Disney parks in the morning, and then meeting up with the girls I hope to live with for some dinner. And then check-in at Vista is Monday!

Bye Bye Blanca!

So after two weeks of on and off packing, today is the big day! Well, not for me, but for my car (Blanca). Today is the big day where I put the car on the Car Transport... Kinda sad, because I have had to pack everything up a bit early but hey, at least I had a reason to get motivated to do it. I think I would not have packed at all until the last minute had this not been the situation. I'm nervous because right on the contract the guy who took her (is this sad/pathetic I refer to my car like it is a person??) put "PACKED WITH PERSONAL BELONGINGS - NOT LIABLE). I hope people don't break into the car or anything. I really don't have a strong faith in other people since the one time at work someone broke into my car but I really hope nothing happens. I will lose like almost all of my clothes, and like all the personal belongings I had packed for Disney.

It's really weird not having a car though. I keep thinking, "Oh, I have to put ________ in the ca-OH CRAP!" I do not like not having a car, I don't know how I could do 5 months without one!!

My Tinkerbell air freshener! Got it a few years ago in Disney World.

Trunk Shot.
More boxes, my body pillow, memory foam, make-up mirror, my printer...
Lotsa boxes!

All my clothes!
The plate frame says I make the Magic happen! :) My mom got it for me on EBay.
Bye Bye Blanca! (Riding in style with the BRAND NEW Camero!)

Started Packing...

Today I started packing for Disney... It's really hitting me now that I am leaving. Actually it is 2 weeks today that I will be leaving Buffalo for Orlando. So I only have one more week @ work. I've been there for 2 1/2 years and as much as I am going to miss the people I have worked with for a long time, I am just READY to get out of there...



Saying goodbye to friends is something I am NOT ready for though. I am really beginning to realize how much time I DON'T have left with them. I don't have a big group of friends, I really only hang out with a few people, so I think it is even harder to say goodbye to them. Especially my best friend. I just feel like I am abandoning her for 5 months. And I feel terrible about it.



And I am very close with my family too, so realizing I don't have much time with them either is really eating at me. I do EVERYTHING with my parents. And while my brother lives in an apartment up at his school, I have been seeing him a lot this summer and I am going to really miss all of them.



And my dogs. Oh man I am really going to miss them. They are like my little furry brother and sister and to not have them right by me all the time is going to be really strange.



And Buffalo food. People who have never been to Buffalo JUST DON'T GET IT. You don't Don't act like you do. Ted's, Duff's, Anderson's, Mineo's.... Not having any of them for like 5 months. Oh man. I can't even think about it.

Getting Closer!!

Disney is getting close. Scary close. I KNOW this is going to be the experience of a lifetime, and that I will have loads of fun, but I am getting really nervous. I am starting to realize all the people and things I am going to miss, even if it is for only 5 months. Or almost a year. Who knows if I will extend...

ANYWAYS... I had a going away party so I could see all my family before I left. I didn't think my family was going to do that, but I am really glad they did. It was a lot of fun. Made me sad though. It really is getting so close, and trying to get everything ready is stressing me out a bit. Trying to get some of the credit card bills down (buying a new camera didn't help- BUT I LOVE IT!), getting boxes to pack up all my stuff, and getting my car checked out are some of the things I am trying to do in my last few weeks. If ANYBODY has done the CP before that reads this has any advice I would really appreciate it. Something you wish you had done before you left, something you wish you had bought, ANYTHING like that. :)

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