I have two exciting things that I would like to share. One is an ad spot for "I Am a Princess" and the other is a link to a rather interesting website.

"Disney presents the 'I Am A Princess' video. This is a celebration of what it truly means to be a Princess, today. To be brave. To be kind. To be generous and compassionate. Join Disney as we celebrate the Princess inside every young girl. Long may they reign!"

The website is a new authentic-looking college website launched in anticipation of Disney/Pixar’s release, “Monsters University.” This film is set as a prequel to “Monsters, Inc.,” and is said to come to theaters on June 21, 2013.

Hope you have enjoyed these two items in Disney related news.

Happy Travels!
-B

Happy Birthday Winnie the Pooh!!

Winnie the Pooh celebrates his 86th birthday today!  A. A. Milne created the storyline about Christopher Robin and his stuffed bear in 1926.

 Happy Travels!
-B

Lights On?

There is one question that I get asked a lot at work. No it is not "when is the parade?" Nor is it "what is this ride?" (believe me both of these questions do get asked) The question is "how do I get to ride with the lights on?" The simple answer is you don't. There are very VERY few opportunities for guests to get on the ride knowing that they are going through the mountain with the lights on. I was giving the opportunity to ride it with the lights on one early day during training (we're talking 6am early) because there was an educational group coming through to ride with the lights on and then again with the lights off. Let me tell you it is not as exciting as you may think. It doesn't feel as fast, all of the effects are off, and there is no music. All in all it is very boring with the lights on and not exciting at all. Though looking at the track system as a whole is pretty cool it is also a pain to walk (and rather dusty). Also people loose the funniest things on the ride. That is all.

Last Night?

Here is a quick recap last night.

We started off the night at The Earl of Sandwich where I got the Holiday Sandwich. It's a Thanksgiving dinner on a sandwich that then explodes with goodness in your mouth. I will be going back soon to enjoy another one (hopefully when my mom gets here).

Holiday Sandwich

After that we went to Magic Kingdom to see the Electrical Parade because one of our friends was going to be in the parade that night. Before the parade I had to go to the Main St. Bakery in order to get a Candy Corn Cupcake which my friend and I split. We also got a fruit tart. They were delicious.

Fruit Tart

Candy Corn Cupcake

We saw our friend and then ran to Tomorrowland where we rode Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear. Also, I got to see a little bit of Wishes. After that my friend and I decided we were going to call it a night... after going to see the new Storybook Circus Big Top Souvenir store. Well we went there and ended up going to see the new character spot to meet the Great Goofini and Donald.

We then bought a cookie and it was absolutely delicious!!

We then ended the night by going on Dumbo and Winne the Pooh, which I hadn't gotten the opportunity to ride since I have been here since they always have really long lines.

After that we went home. It was a marvelous evening filled with friends and lots of food. Fun was had by all.


Happy Travels!
-B

Space Mountain vs. Cinderella Castle

In serious news I just had my interview for the College Program Alumni Professional Internships. It was about 20 minutes long with a lovely cast member named Sally. She asked me different situational questions such as: What would you do if you were presented with an upset guest? Describe a project and the skills you used to achieve it. What interests you most about the positions you applied for and why? It was very straightforward and I feel it went pretty well. I talked a lot about my job at Enchanted Forest  and how it has allowed me to grow over the years and different situations I've experienced throughout my time there. Now starts the waiting game. The latest they will get back to you is December 7 for an internship that starts at some point in January. This should be a fun wait.

In other news as I was closing Fastpass Greeter last night a couple were wondering towards me looking very lost and confused. I asked them if they had a Fastpass for Space Mountain. They responded that they didn't. That they were just trying to get inside the Castle. (long drawn out pause) I then replied that this wasn't Cinderella Castle that this was in fact Space Mountain (a roller coaster type ride  in the dark) and that if they looked behind them they could see the Castle. At this point I was expecting them to laugh at themselves for thinking Space Mountain was the Castle but they did not. Instead they asked if they had to walk all that way to the Castle. I told them yes. They walked away with an even more confused expression. It was a very magical moment.

Do these look anything alike to you? I mean the Castle is in ALL of the Disney World advertisements and Space Mountain.. not so much. The Castle is large and ... well.. castle like. Space Mountain is a large white dome type building straddling the back edge of the park in Tomorrowland with little white sticks coming out of the top. (thank you Google for these pictures)

Cinderella Castle

Space Mountain

 
How do you get these two items confused? I guess we will never know.

As always have a marvelous day.
Happy Travels!
-B

I work at SPACE MOUNTAIN!!!

As all of you know I work at Space Mountain but some days it just feels like I'm going to work and dealing with people who seem to have left their brains at home or need to get a little bit more sleep. It just feels like any other job. Then I start thinking.... I WORK AT SPACE MOUNTAIN!!! How many other people can say that they work at Space Mountain or can put that on their resume. Not many people that's for certain. I can't believe I work at Space Mountain in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World! It's an unbelievable honor to be given this opportunity and as difficult as it is some days to deal with guests and different situations I wouldn't change it for the world!

That is all.
-B

Happy Tuesday!!

I always love working restraint during the last hour or so of work. For those of you who don't know restraint is the part of the ride after you get in your rocket where a lovely cast member makes sure that it is tightly secure and that you will not be falling out in Space somewhere. I love working this last hour because generally it is late at night (last night was between 12-1am), it's the same people that ride over and over again, and you start making jokes about the silliest things just to pass the time till close. Last night I got to meet 2 lovely ladies who were from Monmouth and Indepdence, Oregon, which is where I went to school. That was pretty exciting. I got to joke around with a group of kids who came through about 4 or 5 times. However, my personal favoirte has to be when I was joking around with a couple in their mid-40s about coming through my side because I'm special. As the rocket was leaving the station the guy siting in seat 6 of the rocket looks at me and says "You are special." As silly as it sounds that made my night (well part of it).

As a bonus yesterday was Magic Kingdom's 41st Anniversary therefore we got free swag in the tunnels!! This "event," or pit stop on the way to work, was Circus themed in promotion for the New Fantasyland expansion. We got yummy cupcakes and were able to spin a wheel to win a prize. The prize options were DVD, sunscreen, bag, hat, etc. I had the wonderful fortune of spinning the wheel and getting....... SUNSCREEN! Yay sunscreen! It was a solid stick of sunscreen with a white wrapper that says "New Fantasyland."

Here's some pictures from the last few weeks.

This doesn't need an explanation!

Captain America!

Butterbeer!

P.S. I did my first Disney run this last Saturday night. It was the Tower of Terror 10 Miler. It was fantastic! I finished in 2 hours 21 min. I'm considering on signing up for another one very soon!

Happy Travels!!
-B

Week 3 Update

This last week went by pretty quickly. I work a lot and got rained on a lot. Wednesday and Thursday were my days off and on both of them I got rained on. I went to Epcot and Hollywood Studios on Wednesday and on the walk between the 2 the sky opened up and my friend and I got soaked. It was a pretty fun day. I got to go on some rides for the first time such as Living with The Land and the Figment ride. They were both really interesting. I also got to ride Mission: Space (the weak version).

Work has been good. I had a treat shift Tuesday night which I handed out candy for a couple hours and then waved a sign and directed people to the candy for a couple hours. It was a pretty fun night. Sadly I have no pictures from the event but I have 2 more treat shifts this next week. Hopefully I'll get some pictures then. I was really terrible about taking pictures this week anyways.

Sorry this was short but I hope everyone had a great week.

Happy Travels! And as always comments are much appreciated, especially if you think there's something at the parks I absolutely must try!

-B

Week 2 Update

So it has been a long week and a half of training. I have learned all about Tommorrowland, the different positions at Space Mountain, how to walk track, how to handle guests, and a lot more. I have also now experienced all 4 parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom) and the first Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.

Today was my assessment for my proficiencies at Space Mountain. It wasn't as difficult as I was expecting. I had to take a 130 question test which had some basic and some complicated questions on it asking what I would do in certain situations, how many trains we operate with, and how we handle a breakdown. After that I had to get assessed by one of the Tomorrowland managers. It was not nearly as bad as I was expecting. He just asked what the 4 Basic Keys were and to give examples of them. He also explained the attendance policy and a couple other little things. Next up on my assessment was actually working the locations. This included: Fastpass Distribution, Fastpass Return, Greeter, Merge, Load 1, Restraint 1, Grouper, Unload 1, and Unload 2.  It all went rather well and... I passed!!!

Here are some pictures from the last week.

(Left) This is from the Finding Nemo: The Musical at Animal Kingdom. It was a very good show for only being about 30 min. I loved it and the use of puppets.

 (Right) This is from Festival of the Lion King at Animal Kingdom. It was also a spectacular show in a square theater with the majority of the action taking place in the center of the building with the rows of seating around the edges.

 (Left) France at Epcot at night. I think it looks fabulous.

I got to see Enchanted Tales with Belle! at the New Fantasyland. It was a fantastic experience which I would love to do again.

Enchanted Tales with Belle!!!!!!!!

 

Enchanted Tales with Belle!!! (aka. New Fantasyland!!!)

The castle at night from the Frointerland

 bridge

At the Halloween party meeting Rapunzel and Flynn Rider!

As always I love comments and have a fantastic day!!

-B

Finally!!!

Yay! The apartment finally has internet! As you probably noticed I hadn't been updating my blog the last week and that is for 1 reason. The power cord to the apartment's modem was missing. We just got the cord (actually the whole modem) replaced today while I was at work. So here's a quick run down of what I've been up to since last Tuesday.


Tuesday 8/28 - This was the day I flew to Orlando. Long uneventful flight. Met my roommates.

Wednesday 8/29 - Check-in day! The roommates and I got there a little after 6am and the line about 100ish people. They started actually checking people in about 8ish. We went through the line and got the apartment that we wanted. Then got on the 9:30 bus to casting. Once at casting we found out what our specific location was going to be. My sticker said "Tomorrowland Attractions."  This subset of rides is located in the Magic Kingdom and includes:

• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Space Mountain
• Astro Orbiter
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover
• Carousel of Progress
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Stich’s Great Escape
• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor

I was completely alright with any of those attractions. After casting we took the bus back to Vista and then took another bus to Chatham Square (where we would be living). I had left my luggage with one of my roommates parents and she was nice enough to bring it over to the housing complex for me. Unpacking my suitcases took very little time and so later one of my roommates and I went to Walmart to buy some bedding stuff and some food.

Thursday 8/30 - This day was a free day (and my birthday). The roommates and I went to Downtown Disney for dinner and some shopping. I got a "Happy Birthday" button and a "1st Visit" button. We also ate at the Earl of Sandwich and it was delicious.

Cannonball at Earl of Sandwich

Friday 8/31 - Today was a free day in which I did nothing of significance other than go to a housing pool party and get caught up on some sleep.


Saturday 9/1 - TRADITIONS!!! Today was Traditions, which is Disney's overall orientation to their company and the manner in which they present themselves. We got to go backstage in the Magic Kingdom (I was overjoyed) and have a short demonstration of some of the key aspects of how MK is presented to the public. At the end of this training we got our name tags! (Somehow I missed taking a picture of my name tag but here's me with my name tag on)

After all of that one of my roommates and I went to the MAGIC KINGDOM!!! I was so excited since it was my first real time there and I got to experience so much! That evening we got to watch Wishes! and see one of the last showings of "The Magic, The Memories, and You!" It was magical.

Sunday 9/2 - I had today off whereas my other 3 roommates had training. Therefore, I hung around my apartment for the beginning of the day and slept. In the evening we went and saw Fantasmic! at Hollywood Studios which is my favorite show.

Monday 9/3 - My roommate and I went to EPCOT and walked the World Showcase. It was fun but made for a long day.

Tuesday 9/4 - TODAY!!! I had Magic Kingdom orientation today. It started by getting up about 4:40am and catching the bus at 6am in order to get there by 7am. The first part of the day was an overview of the park and an extensive walking tour that included riding Buzz Lightyear and Haunted Mansion, as well as sitting in Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe without any customers in it. (Trivia: Cosmic Ray's is the second busiest quick service food place in the world!) After the tour I got to meet with my area facilitators and learn where I would be working. Drum roll please...... SPACE MOUNTAIN!!!! The rest of the day was spent walking around Tommorowland learning where things are located, how to answer guests questions, and how to make the magic happen. That leads to the here and now in which I am sitting on my couch in my sweats and trying not to fall asleep. I hope everyone has a fantastic evening!

Party Time

It's party time at my house! The old Disney photos are out (such as the one on the left), Disney yard decorations have been pulled out of the closet (Mickey Flamingo), and old Disney party decorations are gracing the tables (bottom right hand corner). I just hope I bought enough food.

T- 6 Days!

I am at 6 days until the start of my Disney College Program. I have finished working at the local theme park that I have worked at all summer and am now enjoying a couple days off between my summer job and working for Disney.

I started packing today and it was a little overwhelming. There is so many things that I need to remember to bring with me. Even though I have a rather extensive list I'm still afraid I will forget something or that everything won't be able to fit into my suitcases. I know that I'll have plenty of space since I'm taking 2 suitcases and a carry-on but still I'm slightly worried it won't all fit. Oh well I'll deal with that when I must.

Tomorrow I plan on doing a lot of packing and making a list of items that I might still need to purchase. This of course will all be done while listening to Disney music and/or watching Disney movies. I am currently adding to my Disney music collection with the new Winnie the Pooh soundtrack and the Lilo and Stitch soundtrack.

DCP Update

I haven't been posting very much because there is not a lot to say and I've been really busy with graduation coming up.  I am going to try and post more throughout the summer leading up to the starting of my DCP though, I might even try my hand at vlogging (we'll see how that goes).

Here is information that I do have. I have two roommates at the moment. One is from California and the other is from New York. We're still looking for one more roommate to fill the two bedroom apartment we're looking to get. They are both new to the program as well so we will be learning everything together. 

I'm pretty excited about graduating in a little over two weeks and then I'll be free to focus on Disney all I want this summer! If anyone has any suggestions of Disney reading literature I would appreciate them.  I hope everyone is having a fantastic day and enjoying their week.

I just love these!

"Daddy .. please give me your autograph"

 

This made me smile today.