I am so ridiculously glad to not be leaving this magical place in eleven days. I can’t even imagine how I would have coped with that. Like, seriously, I do miss home a bit, but I honestly can’t see myself leaving here anytime soon. Or ever. I just need a few certain people to visit (and maybe stay forever), and I’ll be set for a while longer.
I’ve now had two days at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, and from what I’ve ascertained so far, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be the most difficult job I’ve ever had. I’m merely doing the sales end of the job, ringing up the packages once all the little princesses have been transformed. So even though I’m not involved in that process at all, I’m happy to see them all as they come in and then as they leave. And I joined them in the Princess Parade the other day, which is endlessly adorable. They all get to ride the tiny carousel at the end of the parade, and we went along with them and I stood next to the most precious little Rapunzel; I swear, she was a professional, waving and blowing kisses the entire ride- I could hardly stand it, it was so cute. Meanwhile, tomorrow I have to go in at 6 AM for stock training, which is bound to be tons of fun.
I won’t lie, though- I’ve been away from Icon for a week and I actually really miss everyone. Pixie dust and adorable children are wonderful, but I currently know like zero people at my new location, and I don’t think my position is going to lend itself well to making many new friends. I don’t doubt that I’ll enjoy this new place, but it’s just not the same.
I got to see the new Art of Animation Resort as part of a cast preview today, and oh my goodness, it was beyond fantastic. I’m about 99% sure that I’ll have to stay there for at least one night sometime in the next few months, but just seeing it today was amazing. The amount of work they put into theming everything- ugh, perfection. And then Kim and I went to Beaches n’ Cream for lunch on a whim, so it was a really great afternoon. Now it’s three hours later, and so far I’m looking at another boring night. Which might be just as well considering that 6 AM shift tomorrow. But it’s my last day off for seven days! I had really hoped there’d be something more to do :(
Downtown Disney orientation today- essentially pointless, but apparently necessary. Luckily didn’t have to take Safety in Motion again with most of the people, so I went and got my new costume (which is ten thousand times better than what I had to wear at Muppets). After that, a few of us still had almost half an hour to wait before we actually got started with the class. We spent an hour talking, an hour taking a tour of DTD, and then another 45 minutes talking some more/reviewing. Not really very exciting- but the real training starts on Thursday!
On a semi-unrelated note, I went to Studios this afternoon with my roommate. We rode Tower three times in a row with no wait and later drew Carl Fredrickson and Rapunzel in the Animation Academy, all of which made our day pretty much fantastic. And then it began to storm as soon as we left around 6:15, so by the time we returned home, the rain had become a torrential downpour and our umbrellas did nothing to keep us from getting soaked on our walk/run back to the apartment. So that was fun.
And now I’ve seen my last day at Muppet*Vision 3D. It was a short day, only six hours, and I managed to work at every position at least once- not like yesterday when I sat in the theater four separate times (which means watching the show about 12 times). I’m glad I got to leave when I did though, because it was starting to actually get busy. In the end, I won’t so much miss the attraction itself, but I will sorely miss the people. At least I know not everyone is leaving within the next week.
Now, two days off (one of which- tomorrow- includes a tour of the Haunted Mansion!), and then I start training on Tuesday!
Last day at the Jedi Training Academy? Check.
I swear, at least a third of today’s participants dropped out or never showed up. Like half the shows were less-than-full; one only had eight kids. Eight! Out of fifteen! I even tried to entice a family with a bunch of kids to join the show because we had so much space and they turned it down! I don’t know what was happening today, but it was weird and not busy at all. I’m glad my last day was slightly less stressful than it usually is, though it was still just as hot outside. And that also means I’ve done my last Countdown to Fun parade. Hallelujah.
I’ll admit, it’s going to be really, really strange when I don’t go to work at Studios next week. I’ve got two more days with the Muppets, and then I’m off to Downtown Disney. I think the worst part is that I’ve gotten so comfortable in my current place and now I’ve essentially got to start all over again. Granted, it’s for something potentially really great, but still. I got my new training schedule for next week, so now it’s official. I’m still not entirely sure what all I’ll be doing, but I’ll certainly find out in the next few days. I’ve got all of four hours of “training” on Tuesday, which is really just my DTD Orientation. So I’ve got like three actual days off this coming week, and two days where I’m out before 3:00. I don’t know what I’m going to do with all this free time.
1. I don’t actually hate Muppets anymore. I think I’m actually going to miss it a little when I leave it next week. Which brings me to…
2. That extension I got? It’s at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, which is only what I’ve wanted since I applied for this program last September! I realize there are probably going to be times when I’ll have to deal with some not-so-happy parents, but I think the Jedi Training Academy has prepared me well for that. Regardless, I’m beyond excited. I’ll be in Downtown Disney, so I might get to see my roommate at World of Disney for two weeks before her program officially ends. Training starts next week, so we’ll see how it goes.
3. Secured a new apartment with my other roommate for the two months of our extension. It’s a one-bedroom, and though we’re now quite worried about the amount of space we’ll have, at least we won’t have to deal with any other crazy roommates. We move out of this apartment and into our new one on June 2nd, so less than a month!
4. Just an hour or so was able to sign up for a backstage tour of the Haunted Mansion. Emma and I literally sat on the computer staring at the clock, waiting for it to hit 10:00 and the registration to open. There were only 18 spots available, but we both got in! So we’ll have to go to Magic Kingdom at like 6 AM next Monday, but it’ll be so worth it.
5. I am content. Being here has made me happy. I’m really sorry that the program has to end and people start leaving in like ten days. I’ll miss my friends who are leaving, but I am glad I’ll still have some of them for a few more months.
And on that note, I confess I may not want to leave. There is honestly nothing for me to go back home to (besides my family), and most of what I’ve got in Jersey I can get here. (The beach, the sun- even Wawa, since there’s one being built two miles down the road.) I’m probably going to try to extend again, this time through to next January, and then figure out options after that. But in the meantime, I wouldn’t mind staying here, if not only because there’s a Not-So-Scary Halloween Party ON MY BIRTHDAY, and that would pretty much be the best day ever.
So, from now on, I’m going to try this new thing where I actually update this blog once in a while. Especially now that exciting things will happening. Tonight, for example, is the college program “formal”- or else, their attempt at some cool new event to replace the formal. They’ve bought out Typhoon Lagoon from 7-11 for our party, and honestly, we’re not too sure how it’s going to go. Especially considering it’s supposed to thunderstorm all night. I’d like to see what’ll happen when we’re all stranded in the middle of a water park during a nighttime thunderstorm- it’ll be great, I’m sure.
I’ve pretty much neglected it entirely, but considering only three people might see it, I’m not sure it’s such a horrible thing. Disney is still, well, Disney. I go to work five out of every seven days, and lately I’ve been wrangling future padawans most of the time. I haven’t been at Muppets quite as much, but “Mahna Mahna” still haunts me during my every waking hour. Work in general has been okay lately- nothing too crazy recently, but of course, this coming week is Easter week, and I know that it can really only go downhill from this point. I’ll just enjoy the fact that I still have two days off next week, even with my increase in hours.
Overall, life is pretty good here. I applied for an extension a few weeks back and just yesterday found out it was accepted, so I will officially be staying in Disney until August 3rd! However, unlike most people I’ve heard from so far, I’ll actually be switching roles and going to Merchandise- and I feel like that could go either really well or really badly. I’m hoping for the former, as I also hope my six or so years of retail experience will somehow factor into where I get placed. Regardless, I’ll be moving somewhere else on May 13th. I’ll also have to move apartments, but Kim got an extension as well, so we’ll do our best to stick together. Emma was offered an extension also, but we still don’t know her whole plan. So essentially, I’ve got a month and a half left in Icon, and then who knows what’ll happen?
Which is actually somewhat depressing. A month of my college program is gone as of today, and that means that there’s slightly less than four months left. To be honest, I’d rather not leave. Of course, I’ll probably never enjoy the early start times, but I’ve gotten used to it (mostly). And the going back to work after two nice days off is never fun. Especially when tomorrow’s shift is 845-645 at the Jedi Training Academy. That’s just a reallllly long day. Hopefully the children (and their parents) will be cooperative.
Fun times today. I like having new friends :) Emma and I decided to sleep in (until noon), unlike Kim, who got up super early and headed out to Animal Kingdom with a group of people. But we did get there eventually, saw the Festival of the Lion King, went on Everest FIVE TIMES IN A ROW, and rode Dinosaur. Fast forward an hour later and we had made it to Magic Kingdom, as dictated by our plan for the day. Crazy ride on Space Mountain, followed by food and staking out a prime spot from which to watch The Magic, the Memories, and You (with the new Valentine’s Day addition) and Wishes. We practically bolted out the exit after the fireworks so as to avoid the rush of people leaving and came back home to prepare ourselves for a super fun excursion to Buffalo Wild Wings. That was an exciting time o_O After less than two hours there, at least half of us were ready to go- it’s safe to say we probably won’t be going back there. Although Kim had fun, so I can’t speak for her :P
Meanwhile, one more day off for me, and then it’s back to the lovely Jedi Training Academy for me on Friday. One shift at Muppets on Saturday, and then Jedi all next week. Not sure how I feel about that. I mean, neither is as bad as I originally expected, but still. A week of constant Jedi is a lot. Hopefully they’ll let me go back to Muppets some more soon.
Life is not as awful as I made it out to be last week. Muppets is, again, not ideal, but it is not the worst thing ever. A group of pretty awesome people work there, and there are like six other CPs there, so no one is alone. Studios is never open past seven unless it’s Extra Magic Hours, so I can’t really complain about having to close. On Saturday I’ll be trained for Jedi Training Academy, which may or may not be just crowd control, but it’ll be something different. Meanwhile, getting a fourth roommate today at some point, since it’s only been three of us since day 1. We expect she’ll probably be here when we get back from Blizzard Beach later, so that should be especially interesting, if not entirely awkward.
