First Full Day of Play

 Saturday, January 26th


Traditions was the day before this and I didn't start training until the next day, so Sammie Jo, Jess and I decided to take full advantage of our first free day, and have some adventures in the parks. :) It was a super nice day out, so we decided to head over to Animal Kingdom.
The first, and only time I had been to WDW was when I came with my family in the summer of 2010. For the most part it was a great trip, but the day we went to Animal Kingdom, it was sooooo ridiculously hot and not all that enjoyable. So it was time for DAK to redeem itself. :)

So much fun to go to the parks with this girl! 

Animal Kingdom is my least favorite park (it's still great though). But Dinosaur might just be my favorite ride :) 

Scary stuff!

The whole atmosphere of this place is just amazing!

It was such a good day, even the sky was smiling! :)

Everest!

Me: "Do the Disney Point!"
well I didn't know where the camera was at.. But I'm getting pretty pro at the pictures now :) 

After we rode a few rides and had a delicious kids meal from Restaurantosaurus, (cheap and yummy, best of both worlds!) we then headed on over to Hollywood studios!

I had never had a mickey bar before, and Jess insisted they were amazing. So I tried it. That was a very good decision :) 

The Great Movie Ride! if I worked on Attractions, this would be the ride of my choice! 

a huge billboard for my favorite show in the world!!

Star Tours! rockin the 3D glasses!

We rode Tower of Terror like 3 times! Which is my favorite ride at Hollywood. And it was extra fun cause this was the ride that Sammie Jo was going to be working!

First ride on Tower!

"K everyone, Do a straight face!" -says the guy sitting behind Sammie Jo..

And last but certainly not least, Presenting the best ride photo of all time!!!!

We got stuck with Cheerleaders..

Now rides are great and all, but being the Disney/musical nerd I am, the shows will always have a place in my heart :) My favorite being of course The Voyage of the Little Mermaid. So Sammie Jo and I went and watched that, and yes I teared up a little bit. haha!  

The voyage of the Little Mermaid. I will never not love this show! 

Sammie Jo also convinced me to go see the Indiana Jones stunt show, and since that was in an episode of Full House, I agreed. And it was awesome!!! Definitely not what I was expecting at all. And it is now on my Disney Bucket list to participate in that :)

Alright, Jess is like the Dining Reservation queen, and has been to pretty much every restaurant in WDW. So as a little roommate bonding experience she reserved a table for us at 50's Prime Time Cafe in Hollywood Studios. This place was so awesome! it was themed to be like an old 50s dining room with black and white TVs everywhere playing old tv shows like Leave it to Beaver and Dick Van Dick. Our waitress was sooo funny and would do things like make us set the table, have us say please and thank you, keep our elbows off the table, eat our vegetables before we could get dessert. It was hilarious!
The food was really good to! it was all classic home cooked meals like Pot Roast, Chicken Pot Pie, Fried Chicken, and my favorite, Meat Loaf. It didn't taste quite like my moms but it was still really good. We had such a fun time there and it was nice to get to know everyone a little better, even though we already act like we've known each other forever! It was a great way to end an awesome day :)

Oh Yeah, I Work Here!

Okay. I love my job! There isn't a day I go into work that I don't enjoy what I do.

Training
I started training the 27th of January, just 5 days after I arrived. Disney is huge on training their cast members, and thank goodness for that, because I would be extremely lost without it.
Training consisted of me getting my lovely costume (actually it really is one of the better ones!), touring all the shops i'd be working in, and learning registers, closing procedures, stocking and stuff like that. I was trained with one other girl, who's name is also Lindsay, and get this, her middle name is also Ann!! So the entire time we were training we were known as either the Lindsay's, or the Twins. It was pretty apparent that nobody was going to know who we were once we were split up..(which totally happened. haha!) There was a lot to learn over the 5 days we trained, and it got a little overwhelming and tiring, but once we actually got to work with guests it really was the funnest thing ever. :) Best Part about training? Getting to watch "Celebrate a Dream Come True". The 3 o'clock parade. My favorite thing. EVER.

Yep this is the snazzy little outfit I get to wear every day!.. haha :) 

Me, my stock trainer Chris, and Hailey. Learning how to clean the cotton candy machine. (I know. I rock the hair net.) 

My Life in Fro Land

 So, there are 5 main shops that us Frontierland Merchandise castmembers work in.

BRIAR PATCH

The one I work in most often is Briar Patch which is right under Splash Mountain. Its the cutest store ever cause it's supposed to look like Brer Rabbits house. It's got mostly children's merchandise which is fun. But since Splash Mountain is currently closed it's never really busy, so it gets a little lonely. But not being busy isn't always a bad thing, there is more guest interaction that way, and I get to watch Wishes (the firework show) every night!!

TRADING POST

 This is Trading Post the biggest pin store in Magic Kingdom. Disney people are crazy about their pins! and it's actually really fun! Personally i have like 50, which is nothing to a real collector but I've got some pretty awesome ones! Also, each castmember gets a lanyard with 12 pins on it and we can trade with guests. Disney set it up as a way for us to get more guest interaction. It's tons of fun :)

PRAIRIE OUTPOST & SUPPLY

This is Prairie Outpost, the place in Frontierland to get all your treats and snacks and such. This isn't my favorite place to work.. it's very tedious. And your around delicious looking desserts all day and you cant eat any of it.. that should be classified as torture. ;)
Right outside Prairie is a Leather Treaty station that we sometimes get assigned to work at, where we do name engravings on leather bracelets. This is probably my favorite place to be assigned to, just because it's always busy and it's something to do that's somewhat creative :)

BIG ALS

Big Als is the little outdoor shop, known for selling the wooden guns and the coonskin hats :) The best part of this place is that it's the perfect spot to watch the Fireworks and the Parades :)





One of our awesome Managers made this video of all the new CP's in Frontierland, just doing what we do and creating magical moments with guests. May I say these are some of the coolest people ever! so much fun to work with :) Okay, Just one more time..I LOVE MY JOB!!!

(You can see me at about 0:44, pin trading with a guest)

The First Week - Traditions!

January 25th, 2013-Traditions

    This was a very big day! 

No it wasn't the first day I was a Disney cast member, because I worked at the Disney Store the year before. (March 4th is my 1 year with Disney!!!) But this was a day where my Disney Dream of working at the Parks was actually coming true! 

    We began the day at Disney University. Why haven't I always gone to school here?!? Amazing artwork everywhere, statues of Walt and characters in the hallways, and inspiring Disney quotes on all the walls. Magical :) Once we got there they split us up into different rooms, and gave us our official Disney ID's. This was the little piece of plastic that was going to get me into the parks for FREEEE!!! It was exciting :) 

    So I sat down at a table (close to a Little Mermaid mural of course, haha) and the class began. We went over Disney's four keys (Safety, Courtesy, Show, Efficiency) which is basically the way Disney does things, and how as cast members create memorable experiences and an all around great time for our guests. 

    Next they asked us to think of times when we've been in the parks that we have seen examples of the four keys. Then of course out of the blue one of our teachers says "don't you think it would be cool if we could take them to Magic Kingdom, and find examples right now?" "yeah let's do that!". Um, pretty sure I died of excitement. 

    Since we were right behind MK already we just took a short bus ride to the backstage area. Being the crazy Disney fan I am, I was probably geeking out just as much for being able to go into the Utilidors (the tunnels under the park) as I was to go into the actual park. Not going to lie though, they were a little less magical than I was expecting.. kinda killed the magic for me, but once I got into the actual park everything was good again. :) We came out of back stage, on to Main Street. Amazing! I'll never get sick of being on main street and looking up at the castle.  I WORK HERE!!! 

   We walked up main street and into Tomorrowland looking for examples of the four keys (more like freaking out that I was in Magic Kingdom, haha!) Then after only about 20 minutes we headed back to the class room.

   We talked a little more about the four keys (they kinda like to drill those into our head any chance they get), then played a little Disney History game where we put Disney events in chronological order (killed it! haha). Right after this we hear a knock on the door, and the teachers tell us that we have a visitor. The door opens and in comes MICKEY MOUSE!!!  Again, totally freaked out, haha! The teachers said that Mickey wanted to see how well we know him, so they asked us questions all about Mickey. One they asked was what was Mickey's name originally supposed to be. I answered (Mortimer) and got a little figurine of goofy and a high five (well high four..) from Mickey! it was magical :) Mickey was also holding a little red present, and inside were our official WDW name tags!

 

My second Disney Nametag!!! 

    Disney never ceases to make magical memories, even for the castmembers. I really can't begin to say how grateful I am for this opportunity to be here and to help in making the magic for guests. This is definitely the adventure of a lifetime!

...Later that Evening

I can now get into the parks for free. I sure wasn't going to waste any time! Sammie Jo and I drove like the wind over to Magic Kingdom. There was only an hour till park close but I wanted more than anything to see New Fantasyland. Quickly we took in the magic, and booked it over to the back of the park. There was only one thing I really wanted to do that night; ride "Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid", so that's exactly what we did. :) 

Ariel and Eric's Castle 

Being the crazy Ariel fan I am you would have thought I would have met her before, but I never had!!! Until this night. Most exciting thing ever! I'm five. :) She complimented my red hair and welcomed me in her exclusive ginger club with Merida and Peter Pan. haha! She was so great!

It's decided, I'm gonna be a Mermaid when I grow up :)

GOODNIGHT WDW! I'll see ya very soon :)

The First Week - Play Time!!

January 23, 2013 - Resort Adventures

I am in WDW!! and even though at this point in time I was not yet able to get into the parks.. that didn't stop me from exploring some of Disney! So me and my new roomie, Sammie Jo, headed out to explore a few of the Resorts! 

 First stop, Art of Animation!! This resort had fully opened up only about 4 months before my arrival, and ever since they had released the first concept art for the resort I have wanted to go here, like really badly! Plus the whole theme is (obviously) Animation, the thing I just so happen to be majoring in! Even before you enter the resort there are four giant pictures of Disney Characters (Simba, Nemo, Lightning Mcqueen, and Ariel!) These are the four movies that are represented in the resort and there are different themed rooms and courtyards for each.

Finding Nemo Pool Area!

"Grab shell Dude!"

 Lion King Courtyard

Rafiki and I :)

Mufasa, Mufasa, Mufasa!!!

Hakuna Matata!

 THE LITTLE MERMAID!!!!

(i was kind of excited for this part.)

I found ARIEL!!!

Look at this stuff! Isn't it neat?!

MY PRINCE!!

Under the sea!

CARS!

This picture is dedicated to my two best friends back home, Kenna and Amy. All the cool people like Mater :) 

Flo

Doc Hudson and Me

Ramone

Sarge

Lightning!! Ka-Chow!

Fillmore. Peace Out

Sammi Jo and I flirting with the Sherrif :)

Guido! "Pit Stop!"

Next stop was the Pop Century Resort, another Value Resort, but it was still really cool! Disney are the masters of theming and this one was really fun. Each Different building was themed like a different Century. My favorite was the 60's it had peace signs everywhere, a giant Yo-yo, and a huge Mowgli and Baloo! (Jungle Book is very under rated, but it used to be my favorite!)

Look for the Bear Necessities!

Last stop for the day was the beautiful Grand Floridian. This is the day I decided it is a life goal of mine to stay here. Partly because its so fancy and amazing, and partly because they totally stayed here in Fullhouse. :)

I can see the Contemporary from here!

Why don't I live here?!?

Such a gorgeous day at such a beautiful place :)

January 24, 2013 - Splitzville

All us roomies wanted to get to know each other a little better so we headed on over to Downtown Disney! This place is too cool! Jess had the great idea for all of us to go bowling over at Splitsville which I was super excited about since it had just opened and I heard all about it even before I got to Florida. When Jana, Liz and I finally got there (Michigan drivers are pretty crazy! haha) we met up with Jess and Maria (Sammie Jo wasn't able to come). We also met Jess's friend Mark and all of his roommates who happen to be our next door neighbors. It was like this great little block party haha!

 We got two lanes up on the second floor, it was so cool! and I would say it was a step up from the bowling places back home.. and by the prices on the menu, they thought so too. haha! So I ended up sharing a Delicious sandwich with Maria.
 The whole night I talked to Mark's roommate Russell, who's from San Francisco, doing Main Street Merchandise and will be here till May. He shared his fries with me, so I could tell we'd be good friends :)
 I don't mean to brag or anything but I think the first game I bowled a 48. Pretty sure it takes great skill to be able to lose that bad. :) (we didn't finish the second game, but I was ahead of two people,  so I'm improving! Who knows.. maybe I would have won? yeah we'll go with that :)

Jana, Liz, and Maria :)