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!!

Fourth of July Fireworks in the Sky, (also forgetting all my funny stories...)

        I need to remember more funny stories. I don't really have a ton right now. I had a little girl tell me she loved me the other day, pretty much the highlight of my day. I have been called "Sir" more times than I can count. I got to see the inside of the Be Our Guest restaraunt the other day when I closed out their restrooms. I just kind of pretended I was lost (Oh are the restrooms over here... Nope... what about over here..nope.. try again!) I've gotten to see a lot of really cool bits of New Fantasyland that I never saw before. I love the new Little Mermaid section and the Beauty and The Beast section (Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie).
       I'm still getting used to working at Magic Kingdom over Epcot. The buses there are horrible and packed to the brim with people going to work, the buses back are horrible and packed to the brim with people who spent their day having fun in the park. it stinks but I'm getting used to it. I'm also getting used to my vampire-esque hours. The 3rd of July I worked from 8 at night until 4 in the morning. That's an exception for the holiday but I still usually work until 2:30 in the morning. Eh: What are you going to do?
        Actually I did put in a request to possibly work the Food and Wine Festival on the fall to shake it up. The Food and Wine Festival is held at Epcot every year and you can probably tell what its main exports are. If I get selected to work it (I'm really not sure what the chance are for that because I'm a CP) I would be moved to Epcot and work in either Merchandise or Quick Service Food and Beverage. I would love to be Merchandise, imagine how round my resume would be then!!! Librarian/Restaraunt Hostess/ Custodian/ Salesperson. I'd basically have qualifications for anything (unless it involves technology, I am so horrible with technology...). But no, it would be really great to get to go back to Epcot at least. We'll see, I wont find out until the first week in September.
        I'm settling in a lot better, I'm getting to know more people at my work now which is nice. There are some really great people that I work with, I'm just afraid of getting attached to most of them since they're leaving within a month. We'll see, I'm trying to plan more adventures. I definitely have to make that bucket list that I keep talking about.  I'd love to do some of the tours like the Wild Africa Trek and the Keys to the Kingdom tour. Just some things I didn't have a chance to do on my last program. I still really haven't done a whole lot at the parks yet. I've been to three out of four (I haven't been to Hollywood Studios yet), but even at those I haven't gotten a chance to do some of my favorite rides. I still haven't done Expedition Everest or Space Mountain this time around.  I'll have to get on that.
         So the fourth of July was this past week, Happy birthday America, I love you flaws and all (although we'll have to work on some of them..). Magic Kingdom was packed with guests because of its spectacular fireworks. Which I got to watch nearly every night for free. They were amazing, I'll have to find some pictures online. They definitely made me feel American, especially the finale.  'Murica!!!
         My family will be coming down in the beginning of August, I'm hoping to get enough time of to spend with them. It would be grand since I haven't seen them since May.
         Wahoo!! Alright, a lot of excitement on my end, catch up with y'all soon!! (I'll hopefully get better with writing these, especially considering I spend most of my days off watching Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Buffy the Vampire Slayer etc. on Amazon Prime and reading 2+ books per day, I could also do some blogging..)

Water Mickeys, Sore Throats, and Various Other Adventures

        I love Custodial. Let me start of by saying how much I enjoy the freedom of it, and that I really don't mid the gross stuff. It doesn't bother me. I like getting to talk to guests everyday and find out where they're from and what they're doing. I like being able to suggest to them that their daughter will love the new Little Mermaid ride and telling them to grab a FastPass. I spent almost twenty minutes the other day explaining to a family how to use the FastPass system. I even went with them to get their first one (for the Winnie the Pooh ride!). It was their first time at Disney World and they had never even heard of the FastPass before. It was great watching them realize that this meant they could get in almost twice the fun!
        I've mostly been working in Fantasyland. I've been able to see almost all of New Fantasyland, which I hadn't even seen before coming down for this program. Its definitely fantastic. I can't wait for my sister Makayla to come see it! She loves Ariel, and she'll actually be able to meet Ariel back in her Grotto this time around, fins and all. My family is planning to come down in the beginning of August.  And I actually need to head home the beginning of September for my aunt's wedding!!! I'm going to need a little time off... But hopefully since I work at Magic Kingdom people will want to pick those shifts up. I would actually love to pick up a shift back at WSC at Epcot before this program. Maybe I'll even grab some shifts from other parks while I'm down here. I'm going to have to make another bucket list for this program.
        I have been doing a ton of Water Mickeys and Minnies (you can see me doing a Mickey in some of my older pictures) lately.  There's not a ton of downtime at Magic Kingdom, but when my areas clean and the trash is clear, I love to break out the water. It's fun, it's a perfect way to get people talking to you, and people always seem to find it really impressive. It's also a good way to make people who are sitting out smile. I know I see a lot of people who have to sit outside waiting for the other half of their group to come off of a ride. I used a Water Mickey to begin a conversation with a lovely gentleman and his grandson from West Virginia. Its so cool how people will talk to you and ask you about your life. I love telling kids about the Disney College Program because if that girl in line for the Tower of Terror hadn't taken the time to tell 14 year old me about it, I doubt I would be doing it right now.
          But so I've had yesterday and today off and unfortunately they haven't been going so well. I'm fighting a hardcore cold, one that wouldn't dare to touch me back home in the sanctity of Massachusetts.  I'm also not faring so well with the insanely hot weather, I have been feeling icky and faint outside (which you know, stinks since my job is 98% outside). I'll deal, but for now it stinks because I've had to go home early from my off day festivities. I was supposed to head to Blizzard Beach with Keri and Diane today but when we got there I was so overwhelmed by the heat and my cold that I was considering just laying down on the pavement to die. Instead, my melodramatic self grabbed the bus back to my air conditioned apartment where I've been attempting at home cold remedies and typing away on creative writing prompts and this blog. I always get sick when I'm down here though, Florida really doesn't seem to like me as much as I like it.
        Oh, one more thing!! I got my first Fanatic card for this program the other night for my extensive Water Art and guest interaction as well as my assistance on a large Code-V.  Don't judge me..

The Bird Story

       I basically promised this on Facebook after publishing the status "I made a bird fall in love with me today, Snow White-style. Your argument is invalid." so here it is:
         My third day of work by myself I was working in Pinocchio's Village Haus bathrooms. It was nice, a little bit busy, but it kept me busy and I liked it. I was talking to a guest over by the baby change (she was really nice, we were talking about her cool Mad-Hatter (Tim Burton style) hat and her Cirque Du Soleil obsession0 ehen I noticed movement over her right shoulder. It was something small and brown hopping around on the floor. I didn't want to alarm her, as I was pretty sure it was a toad, so after a moment I excused myself and went over to it.
         It ended up being a very small, brown, possibly baby, bird. I tried to shoo it out and the girl I'd been talking to helped, but it came back in after a moment. It had flown out originally but it really seemed to just like hopping on the floor. The guest suggested that I just leave it be and that it would take care of itself. I figured she was right and my bathroom really needed all of my attention that I could spare. So after turning back to the baby change and wiping it down I tried to forget about the bird hopping around mere feet from my shoes. I changed my gloves and set of into the bathroom.
         I had barely gotten a few steps when my bird suddenly decided that it didn't like the floor anymore. It flew itself over to land on a woman's back. The woman was wearing a dress so I assumed the birds claws were ready to dig into her back. I immediately scooped up the bird and pried it gently from her back (I hope I apologized to her but I really don't remember exactly). The way I'd grabbed the bird I had had a towel in my gloved hands so it was cocooned in my hands. I rushed out of the bathroom with the bird asking any Cast Member if they knew of a tree nearby (not a whole lot of trees at the Magic Kingdom). A Custodial man pointed me towards some bushes, to which I hustled. These were not discreet bushes. Everyone saw some strange Custodial girl wearing bright blue gloves and carrying a BIRD scramble into the middle of Fantasyland.
         Satisfied that I had done my duty I opened my hands (which hadn't been very tightly clasped earlier anyway, I promise) and commanded that the birdy fly free. She wanted none of that. Instead she just sat on my hand staring at me for what must have been a good ten minutes. People came up several times, curious of course. It's definitely not something I do everyday. One girl took several pictures, if you see any of them online or anything I would love a copy, because after the first few initial moments of weird it was pretty cool. I asked several nearby children if they'd seen Snow White around because I could have sorely used her help. I mean I can clean but unfrtunately I can't communicate with animals.
        After a while I got kind of antsy (my legs were breaking kneeling into this bush) and I sort of scooted her gently onto the bush. She sat there, bored looking for a while. I got kind of worried after she hadn't moved but once she heard another bird (presumably male (or female, whatever floats your boat)) she perked right up and flew over. I guess she was just lazy. Or liked me, which is what I prefer to think.

      So there it is, the bird story. I've got plenty more tales to come, some not quite as magical and some not even happy, but hopefully I'll be better at recording them this time around.

So Far...

Since my last entry a lot has happened. I've been getting settled back into the rhythm of working here and living at Vista Way. I had my second round of Traditions (I won a critter this time!) and I struggled to get a new Disney ID. Word of advice, do NOT bring your ID home at the end of your program unless you remember to bring it back again. Bad things...

   But so I've gotten settled into my apartment (with about three more Dollar Tree trips) and I've been being trained at Magic Kingdom. It's nice to be working back in the parks again. I miss Epcot, but I know Magic Kingdom is like the hub of Walt Disney World, there are so many guests there and theres always stuff to do.  I like being busy and constantly having things to do and people to talk to. We'll see how it goes. I finished my training on Wednesday so I'm going to start my first shift by myself on Saturday. I'll be more excited when I know more about the areas I'm working in.
     I've had today and yesterday off. It's been sheeting rain though, Hurricane Andrea is hovering over us pouring buckets down which makes for not so much fun. I spent yesterday mostly lying around in the couch in a sweater. But I did manage to go to Epcot for about an hour and see Jay (while getting soaked with rain). It was weird walking around Epcot, where I worked for five months, and feel like a stranger. All my managers have moved around (and if they hadn't I doubt they would remember me) and none of my friends are there. It's probably best then that I'm working at a whole new place; a clean slate with whole new possibilities.
     Hopefully today I'm going to do something fun. With the mixup with my ID I really haven't been able to do much yet. I'm glad I got  to go to Epcot and its been really cool working at Magic Kingdom and getting to see the New Fantasyland expansion (which I formerly hadn't seen until I was doing a trash run around it). I have a pretty cool job and I'm excited to get more settled into it and to make some new friends hopefully (because right now I miss my friends from my first program like crazy).
     Oh! And last night I booked my family's trip to come see me! They'll be coming down in August. I'm ecstatic to finally have a date to count down to. I'm hoping to be able to spend as much time as possible with them. Having them come down is kind of a bright spot on the horizon. It's so dumb to say that its hard being down here (it's hard to live and work in DISNEY WORLD???!!(yes, sometimes)) but it sometimes is. Especially being away from my family and the friends from my first program. Once I get more into my job it'll be easier. Until then ttfn!