Blizzard Beach

On October 13th, Christina had off and I didn't start till 4:30pm so we spent the late morning/afternoon at Blizzard Beach! Christina had never been and I only went when I was younger so most of the water slides were new for us. We got to visit Colleen operating the River Rapids which was probably my favorite slide. I also really liked the wave pool. We got to float around on inner tubes while waves sloshed us back and forth. It was a gorgeous day and needless to say I did not want to spend the evening at work. 

Grim Grinning Ghosts Come Out to Socialize

Last Friday, October 12th, Christina, Kacie, and I all had off so we joined Christina's co-worker Amy to watch Pitch Perfect. We've been wanting to see this movie since the previews were out months ago.  The AMC theatre at Downtown Disney has a cast discount and I was able to use my family's movie rewards card. For those of you who don't know, Pitch Perfect centers around a collegiate glee club competition. The movie is much more than just singing and dancing, which by the way was phenomenal. The character development was excellent as well as the acting. This was definitely one of the best films I've seen in a long time! I highly recommend it. My friends and I left the theater with a music high and were singing songs from the film while strolling around Downtown Disney, feeling like a girl glee club group. 

Our friend Ellen joined us after the movie and we planned to go on Characters in Flight, the hot air balloon at Downtown Disney which just reopened. Unfortunately, it was too "windy." Coming from Chicago, it seemed a bit pathetic for them to be calling it a windy day when there was only a small breeze off an on. But, safety first so no hot air balloon for us. I often see the bright red and yellow balloon floating in the air and get jealous of the spectacular view one must have from there. 

Speaking of wind, the weather here in Florida is very weird. It's still incredibly warm. It was in the high 80s today and very sunny. It still feels so much like summer that it's hard to believe it's the end of October already. However, I can tell that Florida's "fall" is coming because the evenings and mornings have a slight chill to them which is refreshing after working outside in the hot sun wearing my costume. I do miss the Midwest fall with beautiful leaves in shades of reds, oranges, and yellows and walking along paths of dried up leaves crinkling under my feet. I miss going to the apple orchard for cider and donuts and taking a hay ride at the pumpkin patch. Although the Magic Kingdom is full of fall decorations, Epcot sadly doesn't have any. From August until about the end of September it would rain every day (seriously, I could count on one hand the number of days it did not rain) for about an hour, usually sometime between 3pm and 5pm. Unlike Chicago when it would be rainy and gloomy all day long, it would be beautiful outside then the rain clouds would roll in, downpour, and then back to sunshine. Being hurricane season, we did have several hours of downpour  one day while the hurricane passed over Florida to the Gulf Coast. Thankfully, the rain has let up considerably in October. 

Back to our day at Downtown Disney. The five of us strolled around going in and out of shops (World of Disney, Ghiradeli, TrenD) and took pictures with the Mickey shaped pumpkin decorations. Of course we took a group picture with the "everyone smile!" dragon. We decided to get some food at Earl of Sandwich, known for their delicious hot sandwiches. I tried their famous fresh lemonade. 

That evening, Christina, Colleen, and I went to the Polynesian resort to watch Hallowishes from the beach. We walked in through the front door and were given leis after we performed a little hula dance. 















Then we got a dole whip to eat while sitting with our feet in the sand. Watching Wishes from the Polynesian was a must do on my bucket list and this was really special because since Mickey's not-so Scary Halloween Party was going on that night, we got to see the Halloween version of the show. The soundtrack is played from speakers around the beach so we were able to watch the fireworks in tune to the villain inspired music. The finale was incredible because many big bright fireworks were set off on both sides of the castle, lighting up the lagoon. 









Spectacular evening to a fun filled day!

Didn't Make Sense Not to Live for Fun!

"Didn't make sense not to live for fun" - one of my favorite lyrics by Smash Mouth and how I try to live my life. This definitely holds true for the College Program. There's so much to do and see at Walt Disney World that my friends and I have adventures every week. I also love my job and have fun at work. Being honest, there are some rough guest situations, tiring positions, and the lovely polyester pants in 90 degrees heat with the sun beating down. However, the smiles and hugs from children when you compliment them on their princess dresses or Disney attire and hand them the cherished Mickey Mouse sticker, the happiness from guests when you trade them a pin they were so excited to have, the genuine thank yous from guests when you help them out, the signs of appreciation from guests - "thank you for working late for us tonight" said a man at 11:30pm during Extra Magic hours, the friends I work with and the laughs we share at work all more than make up for the "bad" if you can even call it that. I am so fortunate to have a totally awesome job. My life outside of work is pretty spectacular too :)

Last Thursday, October 11th, Colleen, Laura, and I went to see Smash Mouth perform at the Eat to the Beat concert series. We stood in line so had excellent seats, but stood during most of the concert. The live music was outstanding and reminded me of listening to them during Junior High. Just before they performed "Walking on the Sun" they called for ladies to come up to the stage. So my friends and I got to dance feet away from the band while Steve Harwell sang in front. "All Star" ended off the set with the whole crowd singing along. 

I'll leave you with this: "so what's wrong with taking the back streets - You'll never know if you don't go"

The Kitchen Sink

Last Saturday was Faith's last day of work at the Seas before moving to merchandise so we celebrated by getting a group of us "cool kids" together and digging into a kitchen sink at Beaches and Cream, a themed ice cream parlor and diner at Disney's Beach Club. 

We were all starving by the time we got a table so we started off by ordering some food. Their sandwiches are delicious and definitely ask for a pickle because it has sort of a spicy zest to it. 

Instead of writing about the amazing monstrosity called the Kitchen Sink, here's a video. Enjoy!

We ended the evening by hanging out at Vista with more Seas friends who were stuck closing at work. Fun night!  

Happy 30th Birthday EPCOT!

"To all who come to this place of joy, hope and friendship - welcome. EPCOT is inspired by Walt Disney's creative vision. Here, human achievements are celebrated through imagination, wonders of enterprise and concepts of a future that promises new and exciting benefits for all. May EPCOT Center entertain, inform and inspire and above all, may it instill a new sense of belief and pride in man's ability to shape a world that offers hope to people everywhere in the world" - E. Cardon Walker, March 1, 1982

October 1, 2012 marked the 30th anniversary of the opening of EPCOT! 

Since I arrived here, the cast at Epcot has been preparing for this momentous day. As I previously mentioned, we had a 30 day countdown cast party. In The Seas break room we had a mini 14 day countdown with logos of past and present Epcot attractions and basic facts on them. 

A few days beforehand, Mouse Gears (the main shop at the park) set up 30 anniversary displays with a few products for sale. I woke up the morning of October 1st to find images and clips of the outrageous lines to get exclusive limited edition merchandise. 

Thankfully, I didn't start work till 2pm so I was able to enjoy part of the festivities. Christina and I arrived at Epcot Cast Services around 11:30. In the main hallway was balloons, signs that said "hip hip hooray" for Epcot's birthday, and of course a table full of festive cupcakes. 

On our way out we ran into Matt who was on lunch break and heading to the cast cafeteria. So we joined him. If I was hungry I would have gotten the 82 cent lunch special: Walt's chili recipe with salad and apple pie. Why 82 cents? Well, EPCOT Center (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) was inspired by Walt's vision of a utopian city, which was his goal of the Florida Project. 


I met up with two of my co-workers and we headed off to the front of the park to receive a EPCOT 3o button to proudly wear. We also were given a commemorative guide map which opened up to show past park map drawings reflecting the changes of Epcot throughout the years. 








At 1 pm we attended a presentation in Millennium Village (now called World Showplace) which was originally built to host several countries for Epcot's Millennium Celebration. A panel of imagineers who've been with Epcot since the beginning came out and introduced themselves and their role in bringing the park to life. It was really interesting to hear their stories. Unfortunately I had to leave halfway through because I had a training meeting at 2. 

I headed backstage to Cast Services and changed into my costume. Then I went to the Future World East attractions team trailer for my meeting. This was basically a review of the 4 keys and expectations for us CPs. While we were waiting to start, we had a delicious birthday cake. What happened was a group of cast members who were part of Epcot's opening team and still with Disney get together from time to time. They asked if a small gathering could be arranged for them the morning of October 1st. A beautiful cake was ordered and unfortunately it got delayed arriving due to a traffic accident. :(

After the meeting I was given the cast gift of two commemorative coins, the first one the same that Epcot's opening team was given, and the second one to the current cast for continuing on the magic. 

I was very lucky to get off work at 8. I went over to Mouse Gears where I stood in line for about 10 minutes to buy the limited edition "I was there" 30th anniversary pin and t-shirt. Then Christina, Colleen, and Brian joined me and we said "hi" to Tyler while he was working. He told us that tonight's IllumiNations was going to be new for the special occasion. (If you happen to read this - You're the best! haha)

So thanks to Tyler just before 9 we made our way to Mexico to watch the show. There was a huge crowd so we had a pole in our line of vision, but we still had a pretty good view of the globe. The firework show started and ended as usual with the crackle of the last fireworks and all lights going out. But then came twinkling lights around the World Showcase and mini fireworks as a voice over the loud speaker said  "and now we invite you to join us in a special pyrotechnic salute honoring the 30th anniversary of Epcot." This was accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack. The water fountains were light up in rainbow colors and danced along. After almost 5 minutes came the most PHENOMINAL finale I have ever seen. Hundreds of huge, loud,multi-colored  fireworks shot up at once, lighting up the night sky like you could never imagine. And they kept on coming too! It really was spectacularly outstanding and no video can do it justice. 

Here's to the imagineers for making the impossible possible each and every day!