So this is how it ends..

It has been nearly two weeks since my last blog post and even so, that one was more of a blurb, and I will tell you why; I have had to self-terminate from my program. It was a hard decision that took a lot of thought but family comes first. i didn't share this information with a lot of people because their reactions were mostly, "Oh no, you can't do that!" But I can and I have. I have been home one week today, in glorious Massachusetts (-where the temperature has been between 60 and 70 degrees for the week-BEAUTIFUL!!!) and am attempting to address some problems with my family and with myself. I might've stuck it out a bit more if I wasn't so worried about my family, but truth be told, this time around unfortunately did not live up to my preceding program. It was hollow at points without my friends from my first program, and my vampire-like hours kept me from even seeing most of my roommates. I attempted to leave in the best way possible so maybe some day I'll go back. I know that I love working there and being there, I guess now just wasn't the right time. So TTFN, ta-ta for now, Disney World, and maybe I'll be lucky enough to see ya real soon!

Bucket list Update

I'm feeling pretty good about my bucket list right now.  My roommates and I destroyed the Kitchen Sink tonight:

Ohana means family...

     You guessed it, my family finally got down here. They arrived last Tuesday the 6th and left about four hours ago today, the 14th. I think we had a blast and it ended up doing really well even though I was super worried about getting the time off. I got most of the time off and the one night I had to work they were nice enough to give me an ER so I could go home with my family that night.
      The day my family arrived, last Tuesday, I woke up at nine o'clock (I would've woken up at that time anyway thanks to the shrieking new arrivals, we get it-you're excited to be here, but it's seven in the morning-can it!) and quickly smashed together an outfit and my heavy-as-all-heck suitcase. I had to take an A-bus to the Wilderness Lodge and then take a boat to Fort Wilderness Campground (where we stayed this past week) and then another internal bus to check-in. I arrived at the front of Fort Wilderness around ten-thirty. Apparently I was a little over eager because my family did not arrive until twelve-thirty. At that point I had moved from my excited perch on an exterior bench in the 100 degree heat, inside. I was very excited to see my family, but after a few hours it felt like we had never been apart. When a small van dropped us off at our cute little cabin, my mum asked our driver, the lovely Franz, the easiest way to get to Magic Kingdom (at this point I still hadn't gotten off all the days I needed for parks so we made the quick decision to go the first day). Franz quickly volunteered to take us right over to Magic Kingdom personally. So that was how it came be that after having been in Florida for less than an hour that my family arrived at the Magic Kingdom. Thank you again Franz, you are the best!! We went to Be Our Guest restauraunt for a quick service lunch (it has some amazing food there) and managed to do a ton of rides all in their very first day. Makayla adored the new Little Mermaid Under the Sea ride and it was really cool to get to show them where I spend almost every day.
        While they were here we got to do some really cool things and try some things we'd never tried before. We tried different restaurants, (some with more success than others) including the Coral Reef and Boma at The Animal Kingdom Lodge. We also sort of wandered into the Whispering Canyon (here's a hint, their theme is the exact opposite of whispering...) which ended up being pretty great. Jenni and I did the Wild Africa Trek together at Animal Kingdom which was really cool. I'll have to upload some of those photos! We saw a small pack of baby raccoons in the road one night that had our bus halted for at least fifteen minutes. We also managed to run into Peter Pan behind the Contemporary one night whilst he was attending to the Pirate Cruises and we were waiting for the boats to Fort Wilderness, similar experience for $54.99 less than those on the boats...
       On our last day in the parks we went to Magic Kingdom all day long. We managed to finally watch the fireworks and the Electrical Parade (though we saw the Electric parade that takes place on Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake several times this week.) and do almost every ride, the ones that mattered, all over again! We also went to Be Our Guest again for lunch and enjoyed the company of Pooh and friends, as is the tradition, at the Crystal Palace. Mum managed to use her last 11 or so snack points on slices of fudge (jealous) and we got out of there by eleven-thirty.  I'm really glad we had such a great time and that we got to do new things together (oh and that my mum finally got to see me draw a Water Mickey, I mean this is a skill that I have had for over a year and a half now at this point!). I really enjoyed seeing my family, they're always a laugh (sometimes I don't know how we don't get yelled at for all our giggling) and I'll be seeing them real soon for my aunts wedding so no tears and no fears!!

MickeyMinnie House!!! There is!!

Jenni did not appreciate our African fare..

Two Worlds, One Family

     I have recently been attempting to be a bucket list destroyer. I realized that on my last program i left with a lot of things that I wanted to do but didn't get a chance to do or just never got around to. I went to Design a Tee last week with Paige at Downtown Disney, I also bought myself an Eeyore Pillow Pet and we got ice cream at Ghiradelli. This Monday I went to the Boardwalk and to Epcot with some friends from work. Unfortunately heat and stress got to me again and I ended up tucking in early. I think that is the third time that that has happened with that group of people, I need to drink more water and to not stress out so much. Why am I stressed you ask? I work at Disney World, there should be no such thing as stress here!
    Well to start off, I really don't like Custodial at Magic Kingdom as much as I did at WSC. I miss World Showcase and my friends from my last program like I'm missing a liver.. or a spleen... or you know some type of organ that's found in my mid-section.  Also, though I've met some nice guests, I've actually been interacting more with the very angry ones. No one was ever really angry at WSC, drunk-yes, angry-no. And it's tough because half the time I just don't know what to say to them. But I'm trying not to let it get to me, I'm trying to breathe and look at the sky, enjoy the 99 degree heat, and just remember that I work in Disney World.
      My family is coming down next Tuesday and I am freaking out about getting the time off. Right now I have to give away three shifts their first week to get to spend time with them. I'll figure it out. If people don't take them buy tomorrow night, the bribery is coming out. My wonderful roommate Keri was lovely enough to drive me (and get lost with me in Kissimmee) to get my MainGate Pass so I will be able to get my family into the parks! I'm super excited to have a Disney family vacation, Disney family vacations are amazing, they always bring my family together and let us have a lot of fun and laughs together.

So,
In conclusion: My family is coming= excitement, Guests being mean= not excitement but rising above it!

Be...Our... Guest...

       Today I tried to bang out some bucket list items. My original idea was to do the Keys to the Kingdom tour in the morning, then go to Be Our Guest Restauraunt at Magic Kingdom, buy myself a balloon (because I'm a child), then make my own tee- shirt at Design a Tee at Downtown Disney. While I did get a few bucket list items done I will admit that plan shriveled. Nobody really wanted to cough up the cash to get a tour of the place we get paid to be everyday, so Keys to the Kingdom was unfortunately put on hold. Be Our Guest however was not.
       My friend Enaliz (who works MK Custodial with me) went to Be Our Guest at 12.30, waited about 15 minutes to get in for Quick Service Lunch, and were able to eat a lot quicker then we thought. We ate in the ballroom, I really wanted to eat in the West Wing but it was unfortunately packed. It's gorgeous in there. I came home and watched Beauty and the Beast twice in a row (that was actually an accident caused by laziness on my part) just to relive the beauty captured in this restauraunt. I definitely want to take my family for lunch when they come here, its amazing.
       Afterward we walked around Tomorrowland, intent upon riding Space Mountain, but we were unfortunately halted by its two hour wait. We instead rode the PeopleMover, playing spot the custodian, before indulging in some hardcore tenth degree shopping. I ended up buying myself a Dooney and Bourke Disney Sketch backpack, as I just love to spend so much money on myself.  I also bought myself a gorgeous scarf featuring The Little Mermaid. So the void in my life that can only be filled by belongings is stuffed for now.
        I headed home from Magic Kingdom with my friend Anthony around 4.30 because today was Makayla's eleventh birthday!! I got to Facetime my family who are actually on their vacation at the moment in New Hampshire and wish Makayla a happy birthday and watch her unwrap some of the presents I bought her (which my mum was kind enough to wrap and bring to New Hampshire with them). I feel bad because this is the second year in a row that I have been in Florida on her birthday. Hopefully I'll get to make that up to her when she comes down in a few short weeks!
         So bucket list items down:
                 -Went to Be Our Guest
                 -Bought myself a Dooney and Bourke bag
                 -And I actually got to grab a pork shank from Gaston's Tavern the other day while I         was on  my break.
        Also I may need to cross out the silly idea of buying myself a balloon. While it seems fun, they're actually about ten dollars each, and though the happiness it might bring me is great, I'd rather not throw ten dollars away on a puff of air. But Design a Tee is still on the list as is the Keys to the Kingdom tour. I'll see about doing something tomorrow. I have tomorrow off and as of yet haven't made any plans. I figure I'll just stumble into something fun. Or sleep. Sleep is fun.

Time Management: Not So Much

      So I have been slacking on almost everything lately. I am always so tired from work that I usually wake up at twelve in the afternoon. Twelve o'clock. I hate it, I want to go back to where sleeping in was ten o'clock and I still had some daylight to burn. But right now they still have me on vampire hours at Magic Kingdom, I don't get home until three o'clock in the morning with these buses. And you know a girls gotta eat so I don't go to sleep until four or so. I really need to change something, it's effecting my ability to get things done and enjoy being able to work at Disney World.
     But I've finally been trying to do some fun things in my days off. I got to go to Hollywood Studios with a few friends from Magic Kingdom Custodial on Monday. It was grand. We managed to go on almost every ride, even Toy Story Mania (twice!)!! We also got VIP seats at the Beauty and the Beast stage show.  It was glorious. I could see Belle's lip liner, that's how close we were. I tried green cotton candy (which was interesting) and I also bought my first Vinylmation. It was a surprise box of the Beauty and the Beast set and I lucked out with Belle:)

 It did unfortunately pour on and off, and I should be lucky that I didn't catch another cold from it. It was nice to be at Hollywood Studios, this was my first time there since my last program. It was also fun to just have people my own age to laugh with and hang out with.
     While I do like hanging out by myself, reading a book all day cozy in the corner, I really came back here to reconnect with people my own age. I have a very limited friend group back home, and those who are in it I love very much, but for a girl who commutes to school its hard to meet new people. Doing this program last time was great because of how many amazing people I got to meet that I never would have otherwise. It stinks that all of those people are so far away from me now, but getting to meet them in the first place was amazing. I'm hoping to meet some more amazing people when the Fall CP group gets down here. I don't feel like I've totally connected with anyone yet. I'm trying to remember that this is a new experience, though it may mirror he old one, and to not compare it with the first time around.
      I've been trying to have more fun at work. I really like just talking to guests, most of the people I get to interact with are pretty cool. They've also saved up and worked their butts off to get here and here I am, not happy at living here.
     SO: Moral of the day, I need to learn how to better manage time (aka write this blog at least once a week, I mean come on girlfriend...) so I can get more fun things done, I need to meet some new people and make more friends. And then, the dreaded F-word... I need to have... fun.
Suggestions for fun things to do in Florida are welcome, since my idea of fun (surfing the internet while wearing the ugliest clothes I own) can be done pretty much anywhere. So thanks for checking in and giving this a read, I really appreciate it. Hopefully I'll have some fun new adventures to write about soon!

Here it is: The Great Disney Adventure Bucket List 2.0

 I've done some of these before (most actually) but why not again??

-Actually go on rides/ go to parks rather than sit on the couch watching subbed Japanese dramas and stuffing your face full of pasta.
-Go on Tours (Wild Africa Trek/ Keys to the Kingdom)
-Eat at Be Our Guest Restauraunt
-VoluntEAR again
-Pin trade (get pins to trade..)
-Go pool hopping in the resorts
-Celebrate my birthday
-See a celebrity
-Go to Universal Studios/The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
-Halloween at Universal
-Go to Cocoa beach (and don't get lost)
-Eat the Kitchen Sink
-Collect as many GSF's as possible
-Meet some random characters
-Get some Ray Bans at Downtown Disney
-Buy myself another Disney Dooney and Bourke
-Watch the fireworks from the Polynesian
-See Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
-Do all four parks in one day
-Eat at the Sci-Fi Diner
-Talk to Push, the talking trash can
-Design my own t-shirt at Disney's Design a Tee at Downtown Disney
-Visit the Boardwalk
-See DiVine
-Fill my autograph book
-Go to Miami again
-Get a tour of the Haunted Mansion
-Collect Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards
-Buy a Mickey balloon
-Try a pork shank from Gaston's Tavern

Also check out my bucket list from my first program:
http://jilliansdisneyadventure.blogspot.com/2011/11/list-1-disney-bucketlist.html
It was relatively successful, although I may re-add 4, 6, 9, and 14 to this times list!!