A Much Needed Update

So much has happened over the past few days that I've wanted to post, but my inherent sense of laziness mixed with my bad habit of procrastination has kept me from doing so. But I've finally found the time and effort to post! So here goes:

The past few days here in Orlando have bene great. I love this place even more every day. I had Sunday and Monday off, so I was able to explore more and I enjoyed that. On Sunday I went into Disney's Animal Kingdom to ride the new roller coaster Expedition Everest. I had never been to Animal Kingdom before, so it was a good experience all together. But my main reason for going was to ride Expedition Everest! AH! Such a good roller coaster! It doesn't open to the public until April, but they had a special cast member only preview this past weekend, one of the many perks of working for Disney! And let me tell you, it's great! The storyline behind the ride is this: An old abandoned railway through the Himilayas has been reopened for transportation. However, the locals warn of the dangers and urge you not to ride because of the Yetti: the protector of the "snowy regions." But of course, you do ride. And it's great! The special thing about this roller coaster is that you go backwards as well. Very much fun, but I don't want to give too much away. You can see pictures of the ride and my visit to Animal Kingdom on my Webshots page.

So after I got back from Expedition Everest, I just laid around and was lazy for a while, something I haven't gotten to do too much of recently. Later Sunday night I went to Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island with some friends. Always a fun place to go. I got a couple of CD's at the Virgin Mega store and went shopping in the Cirque du Soleil store. When I got back at 2 a.m. I immediately fell asleep. Good times.

Yesterday, Monday, was another sort of lazy day. I cooked, which I like to do when I have the time, and did some house chores. Then later on I went with Yago to a Brazilian strip mall type of thing. There was a grocery, restaurant, nightclub, and electronics store all owned by Brazilians. It was very cool, like a little Brazil. But they all spoke Portugese. Yago bought a bunch of Brazilian food from the grocery and I tried a new soda from Brazil called Guarana. Guarana is a cherry type fruit indigenous to Brazil whilch they have a soda flavoured from. It's wonderful! So I'll probably be going back there in the future to get more Guarana. And that was pretty much all I did yesterday. Nice to relax every now and then. Essential too, especially when you're living in a resort area! But today I have work, from 2:30 until 8:30. Not too bad, so I'm happy with it. Maybe I'll go out tonight, who knows? Some of my friends had mentioned something about a movie...we'll see I guess. But now I've got to get ready so I can catch the bus and get to work. Off to Disney-MGM!

Exploring Orlando

First of all, I would like to start this blog by just saying that I have an awesome roommate, Yago. I like all of my roommates, but Yago is really cool. I've been hanging out and running around with him and his friends recently here in Orlando, and they're all very nice and extremely friendly in welcoming me into the Walt Disney College Program. So I thank them for that and I am glad to have friends like this here in Orlando. We're all in the same boat here, so everyone is friendly and easy to get along with. A true and good community has been formed here. We all work, live and play at Disney. We're all connected as Disney cast members. Interesting how such a simple job can connect people on such a level. At ETSU people weren't connected like this, but were more woven into the school then we are into the work here. Maybe ETSU was just an awful and depressing place? I would think so. I thought so then and my time here is only serving to confirm this. Great things do lie ahead and life gets better, always! As unhappy as I was being at ETSU, I am very happy to be here. This is a good place for me, as good place for anyone at that! I would reccomend the Walt Disney World College Program to anyone in college! Check out their website and attend a meeting if they come to your school and do this! It's completely worth it.

I am an official park greeter now, able to remove my "Earining My Ears" banner and work as a normal cast member. So that's just what I did on Monday: work. My first full day without all of the training stuff stuck in between. The first day I haven't had to sign a million different forms and papers as well. It went by relatively quickly, but the smell of food in the park always makes me hungry. I think it's the mammoth turkey legs they sell...
Anyway, Monday night after work, I was invited by Yago to go to a birthday party of one of his friends (who I had sort of met the night before). Having nothing else to do, and knowing that I had Tuesday and Wednesday off, I went along. After cake and conversation we left to go to Club Paris, a club in downtown Orlando owned or sponsored by Paris Hilton. It was closed on Mondays though, so we went to another club there called BB. We didn't like it much. It was like European MTV, and that stuff is insane. Fun to watch, but not because you like it, but rather like one must watch a burning building. You just stare. So once we realized that we didn't care for the joint, we left en route for Pleasure Island at Disney. Pleasure Island is a part of Downtown Disney that has like four or five different night clubs and is meant for nightlife. So we went there (because, as cast members, we get in free) and had fun until around 2 a.m. Fun times. At two, when the clubs close, the security people come out with whistle and yell to chase all the drunk people away who have now taken the party out into the street. Fun to watch if nothing else! So this was my Monday night. Lot's of fun, lot's of wildness. And hopefully to be repeated soon...

Today I went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure with Yago and Theresa, both from Brazil. It was a lot of fun, Universal Studios always is. We started the day in Islands of Adventure and worked our way over to the Studios. They have a new ride in the Studios: The Curse of the Mummy. It was very awesome. But they replaced King Kong with it! Who does that!? King Kong was a Universal Studios classic, you can't get rid of classics! But they did, and as much as the new ride rocks, I miss the old King Kong ride. I think it was called Konfrontation. Otehr changes included a Shred 4-D ride and a new Nicktoon ride where the Hannah-Barbara ride used to be. OH! And the Jaws ride was closed to! UGH! Ah well, at least we didn't have to wait in the lines very long. That was nice. So after a long day of having fun I've come back to my humble apartment to spend a lazy evening before going into work tomorrow. I have to be there at noon everyday this week, so that's nice. I like working evenings I think. It gives me time to go out at night and sleep in in the mornings. Maybe I'll go to Pleasure Island tomorrow night....who knows? I never know from day to day what I'll be doing, but I like it that way and it's a good place for me right now.

Another Day

On my second day of training, which was today, I learned entrance procedures for Disney-MGM studios. A lot of fun. I had to be there at 8 a.m., which meant that I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to catch the bus and get there in time. Today was an unordinarily cold day in Orlando. The high was in the fifties but wind chill made it at most 35 degrees farenheit. Work isn't bad at all. You just smile and greet guests, answer questions and give directions. A very fun job. Time goes by quickly and it's such a fun place to be. I'm in DISNEYWORLD! AH!

And when I say that I'm in Disneyworld, I mean that I'm in Disneyworld. I truly am living in the park. Sure I sleep in my apartment a mile or so away, but I really do spend a lot of time eating, working, shopping and playing the parks. I have my car here and can go anywhere in Orlando, maybe I'll utiliaze that in the future. But for now I'm content using my free admission into the parks for leisure. After work today at four p.m. I walked over to Epcot for dinner. I went to France in the world showcase and ate at Chefs de France. I loved it because I was able to speak French to the people who all are from there. So much fun! Then I went to Japan and bout candy! I have to say that japan makes the best novelty candies (i.e. hard candies, suckers, etc.) of any country. They're so original. I bought two bags of hard losenge type things, one is soda flavored (the best candy EVER! It always makes my trips to Disney worthwhile!) and the other is a mix bag of drinks (latte, orange drink, and some other stuff I can't read because I don't know Japanese). I also got a sushi tray, little candies made like sushi! HOW CREATIVE AND FUN! I haven't tried that yet though, but I must tomorrow.

Today was the last day of filming for the sydicated t.v. show Who Wants to be A Millionaire at Disney-MGM. They have an attraction for teh show in the park and film a bunch of episodes on it every so often with Merideth Vieriea or w/e - whoever the hell she is. AND NEXT WEEK! I get to be one of the first people to ride Expedition Everest, Disney's newest roller coaster in Animal Kingdon!!! SO EXCITING! Cast memebers are given an opportunity to ride the ride before it's opened to the public! It seems like an awesome roller coaster, so I'll let you know how that is after I've ridden it! But now I must go to bed so that I'll be able to get up again at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow. I can hear Illuminations going off over Epcot in the background! So much fun here!

Earning My Ears

Today was my first day of on-the-job training as a park greeter for Disney-MGM Studios. I am being trained under Chuck, a little old man who has worked there for years and is knowledgable about everyting in the park. If I don't know it, Chuck will. So I went in this afternoon at 12ish (which was very nice considering that I have been having to wake at around 5 a.m., and will have to do so tomorrow as well) and met my trainer. I had a sticker banner put on my nametag that says "Earning My Ears," then took another walking tour around the park. After a lunch break I started being trained on the gates doing "exits." I pretty much just stood at the gates and wished people a good afternoon and made sure that nobody took out park strollers, park wheelchairs, park EVC's, or alcohol-we wouldn't want Disney to lose their liqour lisence! Then after a while at this I took my last break of the day. To finish up the night I wished a few more people goodbye, coverd the turnstiles, and waited to be cleard for leave at 9 p.m. And I get paid for this! Tomorrow I will be learning entrance procedures and early entrance. Park guests staying in resorts can get into parks an hour early and stay an hour late on certain mornings and nights - Extra Magic Hours. Tomorrow is the early day for Disney-MGM, so that's why I have to be up so early. I learned that I will probably be working nights for a while after my training ends, so I'm pleased with that. Although I wouldn't mind mornings as long as it stays consistent and I'm able to get ample sleep. But I obviously won't be tonight! But that's ok, it's just tonight and I got to sleep late this morning.

So that's what I've been up to recently. I don't know how much news you watch, but if you've been watching Headlines you're sure to have seen Orlando in it quite a bit recently. JUST TODAY a school shooting happened in an area school where an eigth grader brought a gun to school and was holding a kid hostage while in the pan handle of the state TORNANDOES have been seen. And earlier a bank robbery and hostage situation happened nearby! So in my first week in Orlando a bank robbery, school shooting, and numerous tornadoes have happened. CRAZY! I rarely saw this area on CNN before, but recently it's been quite prevailent. Very interesteing. But even so, I still love it down here. We're supposed to get a cold front tomorrow with some really cool weather. I'm not sure what that will entail. I haven't been homesick yet, and I'm wondering if I will be? Maybe, maybe not, since I became used to living on my own in college who knows? So far though I've been having a great time and meeting some really nice people. I hope it stays this way! So, as Tigger would say TTFN, tata for now!

In Orlando!

WOW! So many things have happened. So many good things! So much to tell, so I'll start at the begining:

On Saturday January 7th, I started my adventure by leaving Bluff City, Tennessee in my Oldsmobile (loaded to the brim with luggage) en route for Orlando, Florida and my internshipi with the Walt Disney World Company. So I started about 10 a.m. or so and drove and drove and drove. I stopped maybe twice and decided to quit around 6 p.m. because it had been eight hours and thought that I was a little over halfway there. So I stopped over in a little beach resort town called Palm Coast. One word describes this place: GORGEOUS! AH! Palm trees and town banners line the streets in the quaint little beach destination. It was gorgeous. In fact all of Florida is beautiful and Palm Coast was my first stop in the state to take it in. I ate at a Bob Evans and checked into a Sleep Inn, because Microtel wouldn't take me because I wasn't twenty-one. But everything was good when I realized that my room was bigger and nicer at the Sleep Inn than it would have been at the Microtel.

The next morning I woke up around 8 a.m. and was back on the road by 10. I had been told that it takes twelve hours to get into Orlando, so I was expecting a four hour drive on this morning. However, I was grossly mistaken. It only takes nine hours to get from Bluff City to Orlando! So after about an hour or less drive through Daytona I arrive in Orlando and am exiting the interstate on my exit in Buena Vista, FL. So this was around 11 a.m. and I had nothing to do. I called around and got a hotel room in the area - the cheapest, nice one I could find (which wasn't cheap, and I have AAA!) But even then hotel check-in time isn't until 3 p.m., so I had a long lunch at the Olive Garden and found where I would be checking in the next day. Then I decided to go see if I could check in, and to my releif, I could. So that night I pretty much just watched T.V. and slept at the Comfort Inn Resort to prepare for the next day.

MONDAY! Check in day! On this day I finally began my Disney experience! So I got up around 7 a.m. and arrived at my check in and registration area - Vista Way Apartments - at around 8. From this experience I can truly say that Disney is a well oiled, extremely efficient machine. There were maybe 200-300 of us (college program students) checking in on this day, but I got through all of the registration rather quickly. First you fill out all sorts of forms and recieve your very important resource guide. Then you follow a blue line through a maze of registration tables and booths (very Disney) where you're assigned housing, take care of payroll stuff, are check for the "Disney Look," and much, much more. All in all it took me about two and a half hours or so to get through it all. But trust me - that's not bad at all. Whenever the majority of people start arriving later this month it could take up to 4 or 5 hours! CRAZY! So after I finished with this I was able to go and unpack before my housing meeting later that day. I was assigned to Chatham Square, room 16308. I have 3 roommates: two brazillians, Yago and Fernando, and an American that I don't know much about except that he's kind of strange.... I get along well with him, it's just that I try not to have contact if I odn't have to. But my other two roommates are really cool. I met Yago first on this day, he was the only one awake, having just returned from work himself. So I unpacked my stuff until 3 p.m. when my housing meeting was scheduled. I walked over to The Commons (another housing complex where the meeting was held) and couldn't help but just be taken in by my situation! I WAS IN ORLANDO! I'm walking on palm tree lined streets with warm winds blowing around! Such a wonderful atmosphere! Plus DISNEY! And they spare no expense - even for their employees. I sat through the meeting that lasted about two and a half hours where they went over all of the property guidlines and stuff like that. Kind of boring, but the presenters tried to make it as entertaining as possible in the Disney fashion. MAGIC! After this was over, I walked back to my apartment where I continued to unpack and then went to Wal-Mart when I realized that I had no food. But now I do, so that's all good. After this I just unpacked more and slept.
Tuesday was day two of registration where we just filled out some more forms and found out where we would be working. I'm officially a park greeter for Disney-MGM Studios! And with my Old Hollywood phase recently, I'm very happy to be there! On this day I was also given a Traditions time and more information on my work times, etc. After finishing my second day of registration I headed back to my room where I met another of my roommates: Fernando. He had been asleep when I first arrived and then had work when I was back that night, so this was the first time I'd met him. He said that he and some of his friends were going out and asked if I wanted to go to which I replied YES! I had been too caught up in work and unpacking that I needed to get out and explore Orlando. So I went with Fernando and a bunch of other interns (mainly from Brasil) to the Florida Mall where we spent the afternoon. Very fun, and all of those kida are really awesome. We're all in the same boat here, so it's easy to get along - a community feeling that was so seriously lacking at ETSU. And what I've been craving. Later on I was invited to go to Downtown Disney with them but said no because I had to sleep to get up early for my Traditions class.

And that brings me to today! Wednesday! This morning I woke up at 5 a.m.! AH! To get ready for my Traditions class which began at 7, but the bus left at 6, and you do not want to miss the bus (a charter buck by-the-way). So, for those who don't know, Traditions is the Disney welcome class where you FILL OUT MORE FORMS and learn all about Disney History, Sexual Harrassment, How to Treat Guests, and much, much more fun stuff. In fact, the class was FIVE HOURS of fun stuff! But the upside of today was that I recieved my official Disney Pin and Employee Card. Now I have the ability to get into ANY PARK, ANYTIME FOR FREE! WOOOHOOO! So at 12 p.m. after the class, I came back to my apartment, changed out of my "Disney Look" clothes and hopped onto the bus for the Magic Kindom (or rather the TTC to catch the monorail and ride it in). So I spent a few hours of the afternoon in the Magic Kingdom! And a few hours was all it took today. I litterally stepped onto every ride! Including Space Mountain - which ROCKS! The population here at Disney is low right now and it's the best time to visit the parks. I plan on going out again tomorrow evening as well after my employee tour of the Disney-MGM studios. No lines, I plan on taking advantage of this. After my Magic Kindom excursion I came back to the apartment where I made spaghetti and watched a bit of television before getting online to post this. Tomorrow I have a tour of the Studios and I should be starting work on Friday. Exciting stuff! And much more fun to come!

Orlando or Bust

This Saturday morning I will be leaving for my internship at Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida! I will be unhooking my computer tomorrow to pack it up, so tonight will be my last post until I get down there. I cannot wait! I'll be driving for about 6-7 hours on Saturday, then stopping over somewhere to sleep, driving the rest of the way on Sunday, staying in a hotel again that night, and finally checking into my apartment on Monday morning. I haven't really started packing yet, I'm the worst procrastinator I know. But tomorrow I have all day to do just that. I'm not going to take as much with me as I took to college - just the basics this time. Clothes, TV, computer, and other stuff.
I'll post again as soon as I get there and have my internet working, but now I'm going to go and watch Will & Grace. I can't wait!