1/17/2019-1/23/2019
You’ve never been to Disney World?
I’ll just pick this up where I left off last week! It’s a day late, but yesterday was a long day so I just went to bed.
SO. Thursday. Another slower day. All of the roommates were free, so we took a group trip to downtown Orlando, where we wandered around Lake Eola Park. We walked around the lake, looked at the trees and wildlife (there were swans and turtles among other things!), and eventually decided that we wanted ice cream. Honestly, that’s not surprising at all if you know me. There was a Menchie’s right down the street, so we walked over there and I got to use the $5 reward they’ve been telling us we have for at least a month, and then we sat outside and ate our froyo and talked! We may work at Disney, but a lot of the conversation was about Harry Potter World, what houses people were in, etc. Also not surprising. It was a beautiful day out, so we sat and talked and ended up staying in the area for a couple of hours. We went to dinner at a grilled cheese place called Tom and Chee, and then we went to watch the Happily Ever After fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian resort! It wasn’t a particularly exciting day (except for that free frozen yogurt), but it was a good day and we got to talk about our favorite parks and rides (or lack there of on my part).
The 18th was even slower than the day before. We checked out the gym in our complex around 1pm, and then I spent the rest of the day watching Netflix (Georgia DuBose I’m nearly finished Strong Girl Bong-soon). Sarah had traditions, so when she got back I went with her to Disney Springs so she could buy some stuff with her shiny new Blue ID! The rest of the day was Netflix again, because I had Traditions (orientation) the next day at 8:30 in the morning, which meant being up and on the bus by 7:15am. I don’t like getting up early, and I really don’t know how I managed zero hour in high school. I don’t think I ever had an 8am in college. Even my internship started at 8:30, and it was a 10 minute walk from the apartment if you moved slow. It’s safe to say I’m a little out of practice when it comes to waking up in the morning.
Then there was Traditions, AKA my first day as a paid Disney Cast Member!! It was also my first time in Magic Kingdom, as we took a small tour to the Big Top Circus (?). It was really cool, and our facilitator was really awesome! He was a lot of fun to have as our orientation leader, which is good because it was kinda long. After we finished, we got our Cast IDs and our name tags! The thing with the Cast IDs or Blue IDs is that they mean you can finally get into the parks! BUT, I was kinda tired so I opted for Disney Springs with Shannon, Darian, Vivian, and Ashley instead. We went to the House of Blues and got drinks (their house margarita is okay), and then wandered around looking/shopping until we decided to stop to eat! We ate at the Raglan Road Irish Pub, and it was really good. They have great fish and chips, and they even bring you a bottle of malt vinegar, which is one of my favorite things. I’m not always a tartar sauce person but honestly whatever they did to it, it was the best tartar sauce I’ve ever tried. After that we came home, Sarah and I went grocery shopping, and we settled into the apartment for the night.
On Sunday I was off, so it was off to Epcot for me! It’s my park home, and I’m really excited to be working there. I didn’t go on any rides, I mostly just wandered around the World Showcase, which is SUPER COOL!!! I happened to wander into Mary Poppins in the UK Pavilion, saw Jasmine in Morocco, and met Elsa and Anna in Norway. I got funnel cake in the American Adventure section, and then wandered back through to leave. After I got back, I hopped on another bus and went to Cast Connections, where I found the Canada pin I’d been looking for in Epcot! Overall, it was a good day. I even got to walk by Electric Umbrella and see where I would be working!
Monday I had training from 12:30-8, so I honestly didn’t do much. I went to training, went with Sarah to pick up a guitar she bought from another CP, and then we went to Panera. After dinner, I worked on the puzzle on our coffee table a little bit and listened to some of Tangled, and then it was time to go to sleep.
Tuesday was my on-boarding day! I went to the Epcot Casting Center and met one of the trainers and some of my new co-workers, and then we went on a tour of Electric Umbrella, did some D Learn stuff (guess who is certified to sell alcohol), and then we went to costuming. I already had my shoes from the day before, so it was just getting literally everything else. After costuming we were free to go, so I went home and then Sarah, Vivian and I met Shannon at Magic Kingdom! We went to the Laugh Floor, rode the Haunted Mansion ride, and watched the Happily Ever After firework show from the grass in front of the castle! It was amazing. We were riding back with Shannon, so we took the ferry and a tram to the parking lots and were on our way home.
And then there’s Wednesday. The last day of this update, and by far the best day so far. We had decided that we wanted to visit Animal Kingdom, so we went around 1ish and got there around 2:15 (busses). The first place we went was Pandora, because it’s super cool. We went on the Na’vi River Journey, and it was really neat! They have one of the most advanced animatronics on that ride, and it was definitely worth seeing. After that we wanted to go to the Festival of the Lion King, but we ended up going to ride Expedition Everest instead, because the wait was only 30 minutes. Shannon and I went on it, and honestly I loved it. I love big rollercoasters, and this was definitely one of those. There was a part where it was really fast and completely dark, and that was probably my favorite. After that we wandered over to Africa to catch the 6pm show of the Festival of the Lion King, WHICH IS AMAZING! There were acrobats and animatronics and people on stilts. It was wild. After that we ran over to the Nepali village to watch River of Lights (started at 6:45), and we somehow ended up in fast pass seats? I guess they were trying to fill them since they were still empty. THEN we ran over to Pandora (again) and hopped in the line for Flight of Passage because the wait was down to 95 minutes (it had been in the 200s). It was the most amazing ride. It felt like we were actually flying, if we were near water there was mist, if we were in the forest it smelled like moss and trees, and you can literally feel the banshee (animal you’re riding in the ride simulation) moving under you. It was awesome. After that we caught the bus home, and that was the end of the day for me, because Thursday was going to be early. I planned on writing my update when we got back, but it was definitely worth it to put it off for a day to ride Flight of Passage.
SO! So far so good. Some of you may be wondering when I stop vacationing and start working, and the answer is very soon. There’s different things you have to go through, kind of like classes, before you actually start working, and as of Thursday I should be done. Then starts on the job training at my location, and then I can earn my ears (my assessment is at the end of next week) and be a real life cast member! Updates on how that goes will be in the next week or two, but I promise I do actually have a job.
The First Draft 
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