Merry Christmas!

Today is christmas!!! It was a really weird day and defiantly one I will remeber for a long time. I was woken up very early by my other roommates talking to people from home. I didn't say anything onyx because it was Cristina's. Otherwise I would of told them to go to bed. It was three am after all. After that entire situation happened. I still don't fuly understand what happened truthfully. I was like half out of it from sleeping for a few hours before it happened. I woke up just before 8 and called my sister to wake her up. I felt bad because I had to do 2 different Christmas mornings at once. My family in canada and my family in Florida. We walked into the main room and Carrie had filled our stockings and put them all on the couch and put our presents on the table. I opened my stocking and gifts from them while on Skype with my family. Then I opened my other stocking from home. Carrie, Kim and K went out to breakfast at this girl from carries church's house. I stayed back to open my presents from my mom and watch the Christmas Day parade. At about 11 I started to get ready for work. I had a kit Kat (thanks mom) for breakfast and so I had a junk lung too. Cookies mr. Noodle and popcorn was packed. Along with two apples of course. I decided that I was going to eat junk all day and didn't eat the apples. Work was a normal day really. It was really busy for most of the day. It's strange for the attraction to be busy so it was a nice change. Time went by fast for the first few hours. The way the day goes depends on who is working. After they left it went by slower but it was east as usual wich was good. I had had so much junk food that I decided I night as well continue that trend so I went home and made fries for dinner. Overall it was a good Christmas Day. 

Have a magical day! 

Sam

oops!

I did it again I kept putting off this post and honestly right now I don't really want to blog but I made myself do it. I am going to briefly update so I can do something else.


I worked wed- saturday the normal dumb guest, EMH being oh so magical as always.

Now for my days off. Sunday I slept in like usual went to publix and then just watched movies at home. Yesterday I took the bus to Walmart and then walked to whole foods and bought a few things that I needed. I then went to Carrie to her church christmas party and then we came home and then went back out to go to the dollar store and Walmart. We got home around midnight and so I went right to bed. Today I got my package my mom sent me in the mail and did laundry and relaxed watching disney movies and making cookies. I am currently on Skype with my sister for over 3 hours and now I am watching the cartoon grinch movie over Skype. This is basically my day. It was a good last day off before 7 days of work.


Yup 7 days of work….. It sucks but the worst park is that on day 7 is new years eve and I'm at work until 1:15am. I have the next day off but one of the girls that I work with it's her last day and so I want to go say goodbye and such.



well thats all for now!!!

Have a magical day!


Sam

Backstreet boys

Today was the bsb concert! In the morning I went and bought more tape for wrapping presents. I finished getting my gifts together and then around two Carrie took me to the post office to mail my gifts. I realised she was waiting for me and I told her to go to Walmart and not to wait. My told her this because I didn't want to go to Walmart after. She did leave and after a bit of me figuring out what to do I got my things in the mail. It said it would be 6-10 days but I'm guessing it will be longer because of Christmas. After I took the bus home I made dinner and then went off to the house of blues. I got there later then I wanted to because of me getting to the post office later then planed. I thought I was going to be at the end of the line but surprisingly there where a lot more people who lined up after me. They said the doors open at 7 but we didn't actually start moving untill 7:30. I got inside just as the first act was finishing up. After I got there the next two acts went up. They where the plain white t's and colbie callet. After it was in finally time for the bsb to begin! At that point the row of people I was standing with shifted to the left. Of course this made all the short people around me behind the tall people. We managed though and it was still so much fun. I helped two people get kicked out too. It was fantastic this guy and his girlfriend pushed through us and stood infront of us. We all started yelling for security and one guy came and asked me if they where there and I said no they just got there. So they kicked them out if the concert. Some other people got kicked out before the bsb even started! It was the plain white t's... Why anyone would do that I have no idea. Like honestly you payed $90 for that ticket and you are just going to throw it out. Anyway I had fun, I knew all the words to almost all if the songs. There was one or maybe two songs that in knew them just not off by heart. After the concert was over I went to candy cauldron and then D street. This is where they sell all the different vinalmations. It's an amazing but dangerous place to go. I saw this one series and fell in love with two. Now I only by vinalmations if I would be happy getting most if not all of them. That didn't matter this time because I got the one I really wated. It was a finding nemo one. If had dory on the front and a small Merlin on the back. It's fantastic. Anyway, after getting that I walked to the bus stop. I just missed the bus so I sat and waited for the next one. Once I got home I talked to my roommates and we started playing bsb music. It was a fantastic day overall.

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Around the world in three hours

I know impressive right? I went all around the world today. I really wanted to go on the Mexico and Norway boat rides and get a few more christmas gifts. I didn't really do a big look around like I did with Carrie but I was happy with what I did. I went on both of those rides and then went to china. I was surprised by how much stuff I liked in their store. I guess so much of it was like home thats why. Anyway I was going to get this what I think was glow in the dark elephants and then I saw something better. It is a see no evil, hear no evil speak no evil elephants. I continued and watched the American adventure show. It was good but not something I would want to see all the time. It basically said all the good things that happened in the us and then only twice mentions briefly the bad like slavery and killing all the natives. God bless america right? After that I went to Germany, kidding I went there before China. I bought a marzipan chocolate bar. It is amazing and luckily lasted forever. I walked around the rest of the pavilions briefly looking in a few stores and then went and bought a few things from the Canadian pavilion. I told them some of the small stuff was also for my sister, I lied it was for myself. So I walked around epcot with my maple lollypop it was amazing. I went back to mouse gears and got a few small things and my secret Santa gift. Oh and the best vinalmation ever! It is a dory one and on the back there is Merlin. They are in the jelly fish field. After that I went to the bus stop and then when I came home I made a weird dinner and watched more documentaries. I was getting sucked into this depression vortex so I decided I needed to go outside in the cold. I went to check the mail and when I came back I felt so much better. I moved to the main room and thats where I am now listening to newsies and now christmas music finally taking the time to update this blog! I know I may leave it for a few days but now I know I will never abandon it. I can't remember what I did a few days ago I know if I didn't blog I wouldn't really remember the small things this year at all. This is a good way for my to reflect on what has happened wile telling people back home and who ever else is reading this what is going on.



I am still loving it down here. I know more and more each day this is what I needed to do. At home I felt trapped and I needed to escape. I remember on one of my last days in Toronto I looked around and thought about how I needed to get away. I have done the same things for so long. I feel like over the past year I am finally growing up a lot and becoming a new confident woman. I am going to think of this as the beginning of my new chapter. I thought about this before I came down here that from now on my life will have two parts. Before Disney, and after Disney is the way my life will be from now on. I have been here for almost two months and know I know for sure that three months would have been to short of a time as my new roommate is going home in just over a month and it feels like she just got here.





Have a magical day!


Sam

If only I remembered…

So the next two days off I honestly don't really remember what happened…. I have no idea what I did on the Wednesday. I know I did something but I can't remember what it was. Okay so I just looked at my bank statement and now I remember. Haha always a good way to remember… see what I bought. So now that I remember I can fully explain. 

So on Wednesday I slept in and then went to the magic kingdom… yet again. I realized I have been going to much. I have started dreading going because of the long bus ride. As much as I love that place. With going as much as I had the bus ride is becoming a hassle. I am so thankful I don't work there. I would go insane! Anyway, I went because I wanted to go on the Jingle Cruise. It is the jungle cruise but they changed some of it for the holidays. It is only like that until well, the holidays are over. I wanted to go on it and didn't want to wait even later for larger crowds then already where. I went to Starbucks first though because obviously I wanted an iced tea. I looked at the board to see the prices because I knew they where going to be more at the parks. It turns out that there is a size bigger then Venti. They call it trenta, very fitting actually. Let me give you a comparison, I goggled it to make sure I got all the facts correct too. The venti is 24 oz and the trenta is 31 oz, it is huge. It took my over an hour to finish. Granted this is also while talking on the phone and going on jingle cruise and it wasn't hot out at all. Anyway that was not the point of my trip the jingle cruise was. It was really cool. I am glad that I did it before it changed back to the normal one. After it was over I asked Ali if she wanted to go on a Skype ride with me. Before we did that I got the kids peanut butter and jelly, I have been hesitant to get it because I don't like grape jelly but surprisingly I liked it anyway. By the time I got on the ride it was basically dark so Ali couldn't see anything really. I chose big thunder mountain railroad it is becoming a new favourite of mine. I liked it so much more this time over the first time I did it probably because I am playing with my phone and trying to Skype Ali while sliding around because I was the only one in that cart. It was fun though. I continued to Skype her until I got to the bus stop. Turns out I missed the bus by a few min because I waited over 30 min for a bus. My phone dead from skyping Ali made the wait really boring. 

Thursday I wrote my last blog post and then I went grocery shopping at Publix. It is a really quick walk from chattam so I walked and then did my best to get only enough food I needed for the week and actually stuff I needed. I am trying to save up money so that when I want to actually do something I have the money to do it. After I got home and unpacked the groceries I sat and watched TV for a bit while eating lunch. Then T one of the african boys said he wanted to go with me to MK, yes I know again. I went on the next bus and I told him to go on the one after and gave him detailed instructions on how to get to MK. He missed the next bus and I didn't care I was doing my own thing anyway. I did a few small things and then I went over and got on the train and I was planing on just going from frontier land to main st. but I ended going all the way around. While I was on the train T finally got to MK, he came a way that if he got caught he could of got termed. That would have been okay with me honestly. I was cold and hungry so I continued on with my plan to go home. I told him to do what he wanted but he came with me anyway. The monorail was acting up and so it took us a while to get to the TTC, once we did we only waited about 10 min before the bus to come. After that we went home and then I think I just went to bed I can't really remember. 

That was followed by two normal days of work and then Sunday I washed my bed bought a few things from the dollar store and then spent from 5pm- 2 am watching documentaries on Netflix. Yeah so that was the last few days. I am going to post about today right now and then I will be all updated!!! 

Have a magical day!

Sam 

Back to work I go!

After an amazing three days off I had two days back at work! They where both normal day at work nothing really exciting happened that I remember. I don't like illuminations as I have probably mentioned before. Lucky me I had to do it both days.... Saturday I had a few rude people. I told one girl I was going to call someone and then she listened thankfully because I don't know how to call anyone. Sundays was good though, everyone listened and was out as fast as I could be. The holiday fireworks are so cool. They are my favourite part of the show, I don't know why they just are. The end of those fireworks are crazy! They are so loud you can feel the ground shake and you can't hear afterwords, but it's so cool! On Sunday I decided to wait for Carrie and Carolyn because they where done shortly after me. I called my sister and talked for her for a bit. When they came in turns out Carrie drove so it worked out better for me in the end!

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Mixed post

I can't really remember what I did the last few days to be honest. This post will be my best to remember all of the things that I have done.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday: These where just normal days of work I can't remember exciting or not normal to happen. We had a few problems on sunday with another cast member. I tried to stay out of it and hopefully when I return to work it will be resolved.


Tuesday: Today Kim, Carrie and I had the day off. We where going to the Christmas party at MK. In the morning Carrie went to go let some friend into MK and so she was there all day. Kim got ready and left to go to Walmart around 1Pm. Of course without getting her ticket for the event. I got the 2 bus to walmart was there really quickly and then got on the 3 bus home. Kim was on that bus coming home. Once we got home Kim called the Disney booking place and got her ticket. We just relaxed at home until we caught the bus to the poli and then walked to the TTC. Once we got there we picked up our tickets at will call and then went to try and find Carrie. She was watching the 7:45 castle show and she told us to meet her by walt after the show. Once the show was over we saw carrie and then started our journey. We went and got Carrie food and talked about what we where going to do that night. Carrie obviously wanted to see as many characters as possible. Only ones that where normally not out on a regular day. We walked to the back of the castle and saw the 7 dwarfs but we didn't get a picture with them. We walked to the front of the castle to watch celebrate the magic, its basically the fireworks pre show. Then after that we went to the back of the castle because Carolyn watched the fireworks back there with Peter and Wendy. Carrie felt bad because she didn't realize there where projections on the castle that we couldn't see. It was cool watching the fireworks from the back of the castle because they where all around us. Some fireworks where let off of the castle and the buildings around it and then some way back from the castle for safety reasons obviously. After that we saw a character attendant and so we got in line without knowing who it was. Turns out it was Merry, Burt and two penguins. I obviously got more excited about the penguins. It was so cool to meet them. After that we started walking towards frontier land to watch the parade we saw peter and Wendy walking towards back stage. We watched the parade which was so cool as some of the floats smelled so good! Then on the way back to meet the Characters from the hundred acre woods I spotted Peter and Wendy. We went over and the character attendant said they where making a standby line. There was apparently a lot of people from the ride being down and the parade going through. They where not sure if they where going to open it again. Luckily they did and so we got our picture with them! From there we walked over to where we could meet Winnie the Pooh, tigger, piglet and eyore. We wated in line and when it was our turn we went up an hugged all of them.  When I hugged eyore he made the kisey noise as the scared me! I thought they never made noise but turns out they do! Carrie told me after that a lot of them do it. I wasn't a fan of it at all! After that we went on the Winnie the Pooh ride. After that we went home and slept we are all super tired!

Have a magical day! 

Sam 

Back to work again!

This post will be about the last two days of work. So I can get fuly updated!

Thursday: 

Today was a normal day at work. It was going so slow untill about 6:00. I was on pre show greeter. The new thing they have instead of promenade greeter. I was standing with Kristal at greeter when a person from guest relations came down the stairs. I at first thought that it was weird to see someone in full costume walk around. The people behind him all have full beers so Kristal did her job and said they had to finish their drinks but the next show was in 14 min so they had time. Then one of them took their sunglasses off and said "I can finish this in 12" and they all walked down the bridge. Kristal and I looked at eachother in shock as the person was Neil Partick Harris! I knew he loved the canada film but I didn't think I would actually see him! I eventually went to do trivia with the group and from the podium I could see them. After trivia was over I saw then red light come on the same time they walked in the pre show so I did the welcome spiel. He was on his phone walking towards the doors but it was still so cool. I went back to pull what I thought was going to be rotation but it wasn't. I got pre show greeter again. When I talked to a coordinator he was like are you sure you don't want to watch the movie with NPH? So I did. It was cool. At the end of the movie his fiancé decided to dance around doing spins and kicks and did flips on the lean rails. He must do things like this often because the other people with him didn't pay much attention. After that we fixed the schedule and went on with rotation. 

Yesterday was just a normal day. Longer then normal though. This girl Alison had tickets for the taping of the Christmas parade and so she wanted a later shift that day and I started at three. My shift was going to be 3:00-11:45 but I changed it for 11:00-9:45. Two hours longer but that was okay. I had a good conversation with one of my coworkers. They are becoming my favourite person to work with. Okay no they definitely are. That made the day go by so much faster. 

Today was a normal day again. Nothing out of the ordinary other then I'm an finally getting sick. I knew it was coming eventually I was just waiting for it to happen. I am currently in the break trailer waiting for Carrie. I am done 15 min before her and I use to not wait but I decided to now. I get home almost half hour later but I don't mind. I lost my laundry card which sucks. I don't know where it is. I had planed on doing laundry it up early so I would have time then I couldn't find my card. I will have to wait untill I have cash to do it. Which sucks but what ever. I have a feeling the cards at the bottom of my basket but I don't know really. 

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Magic Kingdom yet again!

Yes today I went to magic kingdom! For those of you wondering that is three times in less then a week! I went today with someone so I didn't go alone! I was with Kim, it was her first time going since traditions so we had to go. We did all the same rides I had done except for its a small world as it was closed :(. We did splash mountain, carousel of progress and buzz lightyear spin which I hadn't done yet either. It was a nice day out, not to hot but not too cold so we didn't freeze either. We where there with a group of 500 high school students from Argentina too. It made everything more exciting where we were trying to do things before they got there. I love that park so much. I like that there is so much to do there. It does feel the most like a theme park but it is okay because it is where I feel most of the magic happens. When we went on splash mountain I lied a bit to Kim and said that the ride was you go up a hill then back down thats it. It is kinda true but she quickly figured out I was not being honest. It was still funny how every time we where about to drop she would freak out and then close her eyes and swear. We are working on her not swearing so much its a long process and I don't know if it will be successful we will try though!



Have a magical day!

Sam

Canadian adventures at epcot!

So today Carrie and I went to epcot!!!! We left the house around two after getting frustrated and we both needed to leave the apartment. Once we got there we took a few pictures and then went on spaceship earth. I love that ride it is so cool to go on, we did it in spanish and that way we could actually pay attention to the things on the ride not on what they where telling us. After that we walked over to the land building and we saw the circle of life and then went on sorin'. We walked from there to the Canada break trailer so that Carrie could put something in her locker. We then went to the sotre in Canada to see Carolyn. We also took a bunch of pictures of the pavilion and then we started on with our journey. We stopped in every country looking in all of the stores and around the areas. Only buying these weird things in Japan and marzipan in Germany. We didn't get all the way around but it was okay because we are going to be here for an entire year! We did everything but Mexico and Norway and technically China. We went to the movie but we didn't go anywhere else as it was closing. We decided to leave during the fireworks as we had obviously seen them before. We ended up going this other way. I think it was longer but it made for a good adventure! After coming home I just went to bed. I was super tired and didn't really have energy for anything else.


Have a magical day!

Candle light processional!

Today Carrie and I both had the day off so we decided to go to candel light processional. In the early afternoon Carrie, Kim and I went to whole foods. I only bought things I actually needed this time. After that we dropped Kim off at work and then we went home. Carie had a song practice to go to so I stayed home and charged my phone. I was going to leave the apartment at 6 but I lost track of time and didn't actually leave the house until almost 7. That was not good because the line we knew was going to be super long and we wanted to get a spot. Luckily Carrie got there before me and stood in line because if she hadn't we would not of gotten a spot. We ended up sitting at the back on the side and I had a nice tree in front  of us but it was so cool still! Neil patrick harris would say a short thing about the christmas story and then the choir would sing. They where so good! After that was over carrie and I decided to stay and watch the fireworks in front of Canada! It was cool to see the entire fireworks show as a guest not as someone who tells people to get off of things. Over all it was a really good day, and a really great start to my three days off!


Have a magical day!


Sam

Property control, Cast connections and magic kingdom round two.

This morning we just took our time getting ready and at around 2 Carrie and I went to property control. This is a cast discount store. One building its smaller but it is all damaged things so it is all 75% off. Some of the things are almost in perfect condition. I bought a bucket of soldiers from toy story for 75% off because one was missing. I don't think I will miss 1 from a bucket of 71 other ones. I also bought something for Ali and its in perfect condition just the batteries don't work. After that trailer we went into the bigger building where other people can join the cast members. They sell some food in there and then disney clothes and toys at a discount price. I got a bag and a shirt both of them where $30 on their own but I got them for basically $10 each. After that Carrie needed to go to work but she dropped me off on the way there! I walked from the contemporary to the main entrance. It was less then a 5 min walk. I walked around and went to the place where I saw the watches. I thought they had sold the one I liked but then I found it in a different spot. I decided to wait and look around first before I was to buy anything. I tried to Skype taylor but it didn't really work and I had no head phones and so I could hardly hear anything. Then all of a sudden different music came on and then a dance party started. the most exciting thing is that fro-zone was there! I had never seen him before so it was so exciting!!! After that I finally went back to the jewellery store. The person helping me at the store was an ICP from Australia he was really cool and funny. I waited for them to size it and then I went to the enchanted tiki room. On the way there though I went on the pirates of the Caribbean ride. I will always love this ride so much. The enchanted Tiki room was so cool! I loved it!!!!!! After that I decided to walk back to the bus. I just missed a bus so I had to wait for half an hour for another bus. It wouldn't of been that bad if it wasn't a cold windy night in the middle of a parking lot. After that I just went home and relaxed as I was tired and had work the next day.

Have a magical day!

Sam

Magic kingdom!

Yesterday I had the joy of going to magic kingdom!!! I wanted to go there since we first got here. I went by myself which was fine because that meant I could do what I wanted. When I first got there (without getting lost I might add!) as soon as I turned the corner I saw the Dapper Dans! It was so amazing!!!!! They where singing christmas music and tap dancing. I have a feeling I will always freak out when I see them! I walked around looking in a few shops before deciding to go to fantasy land. It was the old part not the new part. I walked right on to Philharmagic, it was so good! It was like the muppet 3D movie but with Disney characters. After that I went on it's a small world and then got food. I walked out of fantasy land and into Liberty square and went on Haunted mason and then Big thunder mountain rail road in Frontier land. I then walked through adventure land and Main St. USA to tomorrow land! The first thing I did when I got there was go on Stitch's great escape. I then stupidly decided to go on space mountain. I didn't go on this ride the last time we where here because it scared me. This time I decided to go on because I am not usually afraid of rides any more. Well I wasn't afraid this time but I still didn't like it. By that time is was kinda dark and I wasn't feeling good after spaceship mountain and not really eating so I decided to walk around new fantasy land. I bought a candy apple and a new dumbo shirt and continued walking. I thought about going on the new little mermaid ride but decided to eat my candy apple instead. I did go on the Winnie the pooh ride and it was amazing! Probably one of my favourite things I did all day! After that I decided to take my luck and go home. It was a good idea as I still wasn't feeling good, it was freezing and the parade didn't start for half an hour. I am glad I left when I did because on the way out I wasn't looking where I was going and i rolled my ankle on the street car track on main street. I ended up having to wait a while for the bus in the parking lot. I decided that no matter when it was that spot would always suck. Oh well its not that big of a deal if I actually knew when the busses where coming I could time it better. After that I went home and then went to bed.


Have a magical day!

Sam

Kim's 21st birthday!!!

Yesterday we celebrated Kim's birthday!!! In the morning Kim and I went to the outlets. We both needed shoes for the formal next week. Disney housing is having a winter formal so we have decided to go. I already had a dress as in the first week of me being here when I went to the outlets I bought two dresses. One casual and one more fancy. Now I actually have a reason to wear it! I also bought running shoes because I have recently felt the need to work out so I needed to get shoes. I was really happy with the price of both these shoes. Running shoes and high heals for under $100. After that Kim and I went home. We had originally planned to go to Hollywood studios at 1. We got home at 12:40. Then Kim decided to spend half hour making food, when we finally left it was almost two. From there I kept getting frustrated and was in a bad mood. I could feel it inside of me that something was off and I didn't know what. I tried to be as happy as I could but they kept irritating me for some reason. As much as it sucked I think I did good a month with no bad days. We went to the park with K and this guy Wade. We had a plan not to go on tower or rockin before Carrie got there. She wanted to be there when Kim went on these rides for the first time. We walked around for awhile with me leading. I didn't know where they wanted to go or what they wanted to do. Yet kept saying they wanted to go on rides. I knew they meant thirll rides but we where saving those. That's another reason I was so frustrated. I have spent so much time looking at Disney stuff watching the vacation planing videos. So I know what to expect and what there is to do but they have no idea about anything. We went to muppets 3D I know that Wade and I think K didn't like it but I loved it so it was okay. We walked towards star tours and then Kim announced that we needed to get Wade food. Of course he wanted pizza. There was a pizza planet in the muppet area we could of gone to. So we started to walk back to the muppet area when we passed American idol experience. The cast member was yelling it was the last call for the show. They wanted to see what it was so we went in. After that we walked back to the muppet area. You could tell how unobservant they where because Wade kept asking is this it? NO DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A PLACE THAT SELLS PIZZA!!! Eventually we got there and when they where eating Carrie texted me saying she was done with work and would be there in like half hour. K and Wade wanted to go on the rides really badly you could tell that they where not happy with waiting. This put Kim in a bad mood. When Carrie was only like 10 15 min away they announced they where going on the rides and we would wait for Carrie. That was fine as they wouldn't be grumpy anymore. Once we where with Carrie all my grumpiness went away. We immediately went on tower of terror. I swear that ride gets better every time! Then we went on rockin' roller coaster. Wen we where in line we saw K and Wade. They where not that far ahead of us compared to the fact we wet on both rides like 15-20 min after them. Once we where leaving rockin' roller coaster we saw them waiting for us. We mentioned how we wanted to stay for fanstasmic, they didn't so they went home. So Carrie, Kim and I walked over and waited for fantastic! It was amazing! My favourite firework show yet! Granted I've only seen that and illuminations. After the show was over we decided to try and see how long the wait was for toy story mania. It is a really cool ride where you pull a string and then on the screen something will fly at the targets. It's so cool and was so worth the almost hour wait. By the time we got off that ride it was after park close so we went to the washroom and went home. The other girls started to get ready to go on the party bus. Carrie, Nycole and I decided to stay home. So Nycole slept and Carrie and I watched a Disney movie and then went to bed. Over all a very good day!

Have a magical day! 

Sam 

Work work work

For the last two days and now today I have had work. I thought about making a post but then I remembered that I didn't really do anything other then work. So on Sunday it was just a regular day at work, nothing exciting happened. When I got home I just ate food and then went to bed. Yesterday was just another normal day at work again. Met someone else from Markham too. On the way home I could if gotten on the 9:30 bus but it was so busy and the 2 other Canadians I where with didn't want to stand. So we waited for the next bus. It came like 25 min later. As much as it sucked it was nice talking to them. One of then I had already rode the bus home once with and the other person I hadn't it was nice bonding with them outside of work. I really want to join their circle. I know because I am new it will take awhile but it's a start. Other then that I went home made food and watched awkward. Overall a thrilling night haha. That brings us to today, I am currently on the bus going to work. I doubt anything exciting will happen. I if something happens then I will post on the way home. If not then I will post tomorrow for Kim's birthday!

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Animal kingdom

Today I had plans on going to either animal kingdom or magic kingdom. I got up early, well not really early but I just didn't sleep in. I did my laundry as organized a bit. By that time my other roommates where awake. I told K my plans and she wanted to join me. It was fine it was just that Carrie and her where going to get our new tv for apartment. It's not a new tv just new to us. After we got that and we finally left for the park it was about 1:00. I like going with K to things because she is so expressive. She gets excited about everything! We went on its tough to be a bug first. I knew what was going to happen he had no idea, that's what made it so funny. She ended up grabbing my hand like three times because things kept scaring here. We then went to Kali river rapids. I told her it is a water ride that you don't get that wet on, the plan was to trick her into going on. Once she saw people coming off the ride soaked she started freaking out. It turns out though that this one couple got all the water and the elephants that squirt water at the end no guest push the button. So we came off basically dry. It's not what I was expecting but was probably good we didn't get wet. We went on expedition Everest next. The fact that K had no idea what to expect made it so much better. She started screaming as soon as we started moving. I forgot how much I love these rides. We walked from there to Dino land. We went to primeval (or how ever you spell it) whirl. I love this ride it is so much fun. K was expecting it to be a kids ride but didn't realize what it actually did. I recorded the entire thing, it was amazing! My favourite thing she said was "I thought this was a kids ride and then it does this to me!"  We walked from there to dinasour. It was a good ride but I remeber it being a lot more extreme. That probably has to do with the fact I was a huge wimp last time we where here. As we where walking our of Dino land K stumbled and ended up breaking her shoe. So she had to walk from Dino land to this big spree in the centre of the park. It was not far but still funny as she only had one shoe on. Once we get there the parade was going on. As she was about to pay she turned and saw Mickey and then asked if she could go and see him. So he ran and saw him at the end of the parade. We got her a shoe then we went to get food. After that we walked to Africa and again we got the end of the parade. Once we got out of the parade madness we walked to Africa. There is not a lot to do there but I know I was happy to be there. We headed home after that. We relaxed for a little and then decided to go swimming. I was okay with this as I have my new life jacket for my phone and I wanted to try it out. It works! I knew it would it was just cool to actually have it. K and I decided to take advantage of this and took pictures. They didn't turn out good but I'm still learning. After that we went back inside and just relaxed until the others came home. These are the days that I am here for.

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Book signing

Today I had the day off and I was extremely happy about that! I went I a book signing for Marty Sklar. Must be honest I had no idea who he was before I came down here. So I'm not surprised when  one else has any idea who he is, anyway he is a Disney ledgend. He helped design and build Magic Kingdom after Walt died ad he is the only person to of gone to every grand opening of every Disney park. I don't even know what his book is about really, I think it is about his life and stuff like that. I got on the first bus that could take me to team Disney. As vista was the first stop we stopped at the other two housing complexes. With that came a few other people going to the same thing. Once we got there we had to show our cast id to security and then we went and lined up. We got there at about 8:00 and the store didn't open until 9 so we had a bit of a wait. I was listening to the two people from the cp program talk to this other lady about work and the school system as such. Eventually I started talking to them too. The one girl works at a hotel in children's activities. It sounds like such a cool job to play games all day. The other guy was friends with goofy (or in entertainment as we both learned that day). We bought our books and then got in a different line where we got wristbands. Marty arrived just shortly after 10. The line was moving at a good pase, it was good because it was fast but you could also talk to him for a bit. If you wanted a picture you had to have your camera ready to give the lady when they took your wristband off. It was finally our turn at almost 11. Not bad really and considering he was only there until 12 it was good timing as probably some people didn't get a chance to meet him. He was super nice. He asked where I worked and then when I told him he asked of people asked about Canada and I said they do. Then the best thing ever happened! Marty asked where I was from in Canada I said I was from outside of Toronto. Then after the Canada question he asked if people asked me about our mayor. MARTY SKYLAR ASKED ME ABOUT HIM! It totally made my day! Anyway it was cool. We where allowed to get 2 books so I did and I am mailing one to this camper Curtis from the summer. After the book signing Carrie picked me up from down town Disney and her Carolyn and Kim went to whole foods. We had just gotten payed and then I spent it all and more.... I need to stop going to whole foods for things I can get at publix. We went to Walmart after and I got a new bath mat. Kim bought like this plastic one that didn't do anything. It would make a puddle on the mat and make the floor all wet. Once we got home I put everything away and went to down town Disney to go Christmas shopping! I mainly went there for a watch as I haven't gotten one with my birthday money from my parents. I didn't get a watch but I got a few DVDs on the making of both us parks, a walt Disney quote book and this huge walt Disney book of art. I wanted it for so long and I decided to finally get it with some birthday money as my Holliday discount. Other then that I just went home and tried to watch mean girls but my computer was acting all funky. I fixed it though!!!

Have a magical day! 

Sam 

Kennedy space centre!

So today I went to the Kennedy space centre! With my family in town we all went together. They picked me up at vista at 9:30 and we where off! Of course with Bob driving and 7 of us in the car it was an exciting ride! I just sat back and laughed at what was going on. We got lost a few times and people were getting frustrated. I just laughed and remembered what it was like to travel with family. Once we got there and walked in I was disappointed. I thought it was going to be more exciting and more things to do. The first building we went into was the angry birds space incounter. I was a room with iPads and a few other interactive angry birds theme things. And they had this maze thing. It was a mirror maze with low light and weird lights. I kept thinking how this is not Disney and not to have the same expectations. From there we went and got lunch. After lunch uncle bob had all these things planed that he wanted to do when we where there. With a 2 year old ruling the schedule it was not going to be possible. We walked into this building after lunch and this one was more grand like what I was expecting. We walked up this ramp into this theatre thing. We watched this movie on the making of the space shuttle and then we walked through these doors to go into another room with a screen. We watched a movie about the take off of the space shuttle and the time between it being done and going into space. Then the screen faded and you could kind of see through it to see the room behind. Then the screen roled up and there was the shuttle hanging from the cealing. It was so big! I knew it was going to be big but never seeing one in real life made it different. They had a few things around it that where interactive. Then we walked down this ramp to the main floor. They had a lot more interactive things and simulators. They also had this take off simulator. It was so cool! I went with Stacey, Martin and Bob. They way the lady described it to this family was they lean you back and shake the seat. Basically that's what it was but it was so cool! It was really well done and the kind of stuff I was expecting. After we did that building we got on a bus and we did a tour that they said was 15 min to get to the destination but it felt longer. They talked about things in history that happened. Things they are building currently and even a bit about the animals. The bus took us to this building and this is where we got all messed up. We where to go through these big doors and walk around upstairs before coming down but those doors where closed so we followed the crowd. Who obviously had no idea what they where doing. So we ended up entering through the gift shop or the exit. It was a big building with something else hanging from the ceiling I don't remember what it was though. It was really wide and open and talked more about... Well I don't actually remeber to be honest. We walked around the gift shop and I waited with grandma while she got a few things. We then got back on the bus to head to the visitor centre. Once we got back we started heading towards the car. They took me to the house and I got the tour of it. It is a lot smaller then I expected but it is nice. Big enough so that everyone can have their own space but small enough that there is no wasted space. Stacey and Julie where going to go to the outlet store next to the commons. I went with them and was there for a little before I decided to head home. Over all it was a nice day and lovely to see my family again.

Have a magical day!

Sam

New roomate

Yes today's the day! (Well really yesterday when I post this) we are finally getting a new roomate! We are so nervous about this because we are so close we don't want someone to mess everything up. Oh well we will have to wait and see when she gets here. Work today was boring. It was my 6th day in a row working so I am going a bit crazy. There was this lady colouring at kidcot with her daughter and a few other people and started singing "blame canada" from South Park. Of course she only knew the words blame canada so it was funny. You take your kid to a place to learn about cultures and then sing a song you don't know the words too about the best country ever. When I got home I was expecting to be the first one home other then the new roomate but Monica and K where both there. Her name is Nycole she is from Brazil and she is doing the icp. That means she is only here for 3 months then we get a new roomate. Oh boy yay new roommates..... She seems really nice, her friends are nice and their English is really good. Kim is harder to understand and her first language is English! Tomorrow is my Friday and I am really excited about that because I finally get to see my family!!!!

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Sunday funday

Not really to be honest. Haha hard to think of titles for a regular day. I woke up to someone in my apartment speaking Spanish. It turns out it was the cleaners for the new roommate. They cleaned both bathrooms and vacuumed all the floors and swept the kitchen. It was okay with us because we didn't have to do it. After that I just got ready for work. It was a normal day at work except for the last show tonight at 8:55. I walked out to find 4 people from bc. I love it when there is not a lot of people in the theatre. Especially when they are from canada. They had me take pictures of them in the empty theatre and they were so much fun. They also pointed out that Montreal is the only big city shown covered in snow. The one son said it was because the city is so nasty they had to have snow to make it look nice. They where pointing out where everything was. Even where the one son's apartment was. It was an amazing way to end the night. Currently on the bus back home, planning on eating food and then going to bed. My computer is being dumb so I am going to find time for me to go to the apple store and get it looked at. Hopefully it won't be hard to fix. This sucks as if they need any thing it came with I don't have it. Oh well we will see what happens.

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Happy Saturday!

Yay! Now that I am finally caught up I will try my best to not let it happen again! Today I ended up sleeping in later then I thought I was going to. It's not normally a bad thing other then when I have to organize all my stuff before tomorrow's cleaning. I like how they do that though, new roommate moving in so they are cleaning the floors for her. Good for me so I don't have to do it! I have most of my stuff organized but I still have a few more things to do once I go home. I had work at the usual 12:30-9:15. I don't know why but this shit always seems to go by so much faster then last nights emh did. Probably because of the time diffrence. Work was good nothing to report. Oh wait yes! I don't remeber if this was today or yesterday but either way the story's the same. I was at greeter and these three adults walk up. The one guy asked if I was from Canada, I said yes I was. Then either his wife of his friends wife asked me to repeat myself. So of course I did and then she said, "I haven't heard that accent before" and walked away. Haha I just said again that I was actually from canada and they walked into the theatre. Before they got into the lobby without turning back the guy I am guessing is her husband said "we are from canada too I'm sorry." Oh yesterday when I was on promenade greeter (that's how overstaffed we where) this lady walked by and said; "I heard canada has good pot and pie. I don't like pot and I don't want pie so I don't want to go". Definitely made my rotation there so much better. My family is here now! They arrived some time this afternoon. I don't know when I am going to see them but it's nice just knowing they are in the area.

Have a magical day! 

Sam

First emh!

Today was my first ever extra magic hours! It was the same amount of hours that I normally work but because of when they where the day seemed so much slower. I started off the day with a long sleep in. I thought I deserved it after yesterday. I got ready and made food. We are gettin a new roommate in a few days as so with that we need to make room for her stuff. We have too much stuff in the freezer so we are eating all of that stuff to make room. I was working from 2:30-11:15. It was a usuall day except for the fact that I was the only 11:15. Kirsten was there until 11 but she ended up staying with me. Although I ended up closing on my own. That was okay as it was faster with just me. Now I am currently on the bus back home. I am planin in going home, changing eating and then going to sleep. Nothing exciting to report on. Some of my family are coming tomorrow and I am looking forward to seeing them.  Once they get here my days will be a bit more exciting.

Until then have a magical day! 

Sam

Whoops!!

Okay a lot of blogs I have read say they don't post as often because they are busy. Although I understand how they say that, I am not going to use that excuse. Honestly why it has been so long is because I waited a few days before updating and then when I did it deleted everything. So I have been putting it off every time I realize how many days it has been.  I am going to try and update for every day but it wont be in full detail. I have been up since almost 5 and so I want to go to bed, but not before this is done!!!


Thursday November 7th:

This was my third day of training. We learned the safety spiel and reviewed over some last minute things to make sure we knew what we where doing. We also went over our assessment test, it is all basic stuff, really easy. I was done at 4 so I think I went and walked around epcot.

Friday November 8th:

Today was my assessment day! I was so nervous I didn't know what to expect at all! It was good though, because there where two of us we balanced each other out. We did the test and it turns out it is so the managers see how the trainers did not how well we did. So that was a lot of stress for nothing! Anyway we did that test and the rotation test. We then went to the managers office and he went over some things. I thought this would be a test of some sort so I was so nervous!! He could totally tell that I was because of the way I was acting.  He basically went over some things we covered in training and some we didn't. The conversation made me realize how many people can help us out when needed. Now they might not all actually do something, but they are there! After that was all over I walked around epcot. I keep realizing how small the parks actually are! Okay they are big but not as big as I remember them being. I guess thats what happens when you actually pay attention to whats going on around you and you get older. I went on test track and seas with nemo and friends and I loved it both.


Saturday November 9th:

Today I had the day off so I slept in and then took my time getting ready. I went to publix and got a bunch of new and exciting food! When we got back I was planing on going to EPCOT with Kim, but she left basically as soon we got home she left. So i decided to stay home instead and relax. There was suppose to be a party for this South African but it was cancelled. So I decided to go to epcot and see the fireworks with Kim.

Sunday November 10th:

Today I went to the outlets in search of a jean jacket. After a few stores I finally found one!!! I also discovered this wonderful thing that is called Silk frozen yogurt. It is amazing! Once I got home I just relaxed and cleaned my room until my roommates came home.

Monday November 11th:

Today I was originally planned to have the day off but I picked up someones shift. I did it not because I am new and didn't want to have 4 days off in a row. It was my first shift out of training. It was good a lot of tasking but other then that it was good. I worked from 12:30-9:15 my normal shift for now. I thought because he was higher up it would be an earlier shift but I was wrong.

Tuesday November 12th: 

Today was an exciting day! Carrie took all  of us roomies to get our main gate passes! We called and it turns out they ah already sent them in the mail but we could get them if we wanted to. And of course we did! After we got them Monica, Carrie and I went to whole foods. It was so exciting and wonderful to be in a place where I know the brands again. Well most of them.  We went home and then I put all my cold foods in the fridge and then I was off to Hollywood studios. I felt bad because Monica and Carrie where trying to organize everything in the freezer as we have way to much food. I met up at Hollywood studios with this guy Christian. We met over fb on a Disney group. When we met up I was relieved to find out he was who he said we was. I didn't really doubt it, I just have watched many episodes of catfish (thanks Ali) so I know what could happen. Haha anyway the first thing we did was go to Hollywood tower of terror. We also went on rockin' roller coaster, star tours, great movie ride, voyage of the little mirmaid, and a few others but I don't remeber. We ended up going on tower and rockin again before we left. 

Wednesday November 13th: 

Today was a normal day of work 12:30-9:15 nothing exciting happened that I can remeber. 

Thursday November 14th: 

It was a looking and tireing day! I got up at 4:45 to get on a bus before 6 to go to our social security appointmet. We walked to the welcome centre and got on the bus to commons. We picked up out forms and then got back on the bus. I packed so much food and my uniform thinking it would take forever. Turns out it didn't. It took half an our to get there and so we where back at vista at about 10. didn't have work until 12:30 so I had a bit of a nap. Work was a normal day nothing exciting really. 

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Day 2 of training

So today was much better. I didn't not feel as lost or confused. I think that is always a good thing. I know that these feelings won't last long, that's what keeps motivated. The cast seems like so much fun and they all get a long great. I am looking forward to when I am not bran spankin new anymore. Today was a shorter shift from 10:00-6:45. When we got there we learned about how to do opener one. They start at ten and because of that they go to the morning meeting. After we did that we both practiced our closing spiel. I don't really remember the order of things but I know we did more greeter. Read a chapter of this book and then learned the opening spiel. This is the one we say to get the guests to go to the door and stuff like that. This one is longer and there for took me way longer to learn. Because I have this problem with my short term memory this was a bit tricky. I got most if it anyway. Like I said learning the things the fact that the rest of the cast is so supportive really helps. We practised a few times in the theatre I between shows. Rebecca is so amazing 

First day of work!

Yesterday I had my first day of on the job training. I was at training from 12:30-9:30. It was a long day but at times it went by fast. I was training with another girl who is also doing attractions with me. We ended up on the same bus and we went to cast services together. We arrived quite early so we waited for our trainer Rebecca. Rebecca arrived with another girl Vicky. Rebecca is leaving in a few weeks so Vicky was learning how to be a trainer. We started off my clocking in and then going to costume. The sizes for costumes are not real life sizes so don't feel bad if you have to wear a bigger size then normal. After we got all sorted out at costuming we walked to Canada. There is a bus that goes to all the pavilions. They call it the "lazy bus" this is because if your country is close then you might as well walk. Granted if your country is on the other side of the showcase it's not that far but it's more of a reason to take the bus. Once we got to the pavilion we went Into the break trailer she showed us around there and we put our stuff down. After that we went to lunch. They have a lot of selection depending on what you like. After lunch the real training began. Rebecca told us it would feel like so much is being thrown at us and there was. It gets easier though as each day goes on. We learned the closing spiel which is  I hope you enjoyed our tour of my Canada. Please gather up all of your personal belongings and exit through the doors on your left. Thanks and enjoy the rest of your day in Epcot". The first time I had to that in front of people just happened to be my first time saying it out loud. I went up there pressed the button and had a total brain fart. Lucky the trainer was just behind me probably just for this reason and took over. Before that I was stressing about learning the spiels and messing up. The cast on the attractions are all amazing people and always made me feel like what I did was fine. They would tell stories about how they messed up. I felt better about everything after that. We learned about greeter and the different situations. We didn't go over closer we went over illuminations though. When you do that you are alone and when you are closing there are other people there. Found illuminations makes you feel quite special because you have a walkie talkie and such. Overall a good first day, long but good! I ended up getting home at about 10:30. I got home ate food and then passed out.

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Training day one/ My birthday!

I didn't update yet about yesterday and I wanted to update before any more time went by without an update. I haven't found that I am super busy just that when I am home I am talking to my roommates or eating. Anyway I had yesterday off! Because we don't have our park passes yet we need to find something else to do! I slept in and then took my time getting ready! After that I took the bus to the commons and went to the outlet and then to Walmart. When I got back a few hours later Kim and I went to the boardwalk. We where planing on going to the Poli to go watch the fireworks but we decided not to.

And then that brings us to today! My birthday!
My birthday was good, mostly because I kept forgetting it was my birthday! The day started off with a early bus ride to EPCOT for discovery day! I didn't think I could like anything more then traditions but I did! I will not say much about it because I had no idea what to expect and so it was amazing! It was really cool to see the original plans for EPCOT and Walt's vision. I am a HUGE Walt Disney fan, so this class was amazing! After lunch I had some e-learning, it was so boring but luckily I finished about an hour early so I came home right away. I am so lucky to have a roommate with a car! She took me to walmart so I could get my boots for work tomorrow! Really the best thing I could ever hope for ever!!! Then we picked up Carolyn from Paterson and she dropped the two of us off at DTD. When Carrie got back to DTD with the other girls we went bowling. It was so much fun! I love all of those girls so much! It has only been a short time and I all ready am so close to all of them! Carrie told the waiter it was my birthday so he gave me a candle and did this weird dance thing. It was amazingly random but I loved it! These girls have quickly become my family and I love them so much! We all look out for each other and we all care.

Tomorrow I have my first official on the job training! I am so glad I have someone else who is training with me so that it is less awkward for me! I am working from 12:30- 9:30 it kinda sucks that it ends so late, but at least I will know how to close and the other days are early endings. I am looking forward to actually knowing what I am doing. When I first got here the first 24 hours I was so lost and confused and now I understand everything a lot more. I am excited for the time when I actually know what I am doing and not stressing about work.


That is all for now!
Have a magical day!

Sam

P.S My phone is still canadian! My phone is not unlocked and so the sim wont work in it this sucks!

Traditions!!!

YAY!!! Finally got to do traditions!!! So today started with an early wake up. I got up at about 6 and started getting ready. At about five to seven K and I went to the bus stop and waited for the bus to come. When we got on the bus we went straight to Disney university! When we got there we signed in and then a little bit later we walked to the classroom. All though they never said not to tell anyone about traditions I am not going to give anything away. I am going to say it was so much better then I expected. They have a lot of surprises (not really if you read a lot about it like I did). We learned about the 4 keys and Safe-D begins with me. We talked them over and over again but it is good because now I have it memorized! Overall the day was amazing! I loved it so much! On the way back we had a few roomie pictures outside of the university and then all drove home in Carrie's car.  I love my roommates more and more each day! They are all wonderful people and we are becoming so close in a short time! I can already tell I will have a super hard time saying goodbye to these girls!



Thats all for traditions!  I am going to see if we can get into the parks for free yet!


Have a magical day!

Sam

Day off number one!

This morning we didn't do much. I slept in a little and then got ready. One of my roommates from Norway had her throw in last night and they didn't know where one person was. So Monica and I went to his apartment to check I see if he was home. After that K and I got on a bus to the commons at almost one. She needed to go and change over some money to American. Once we got to the commons we walked over to the outlets. On the way to the exchange place K saw a photo booth so we went and took our photos. They look amazing if I do say so myself! After our adventures there we walked back to commons to wait for the bus to down town Disney!! Down town Disney looks a lot different then I thought it would. It is still really cool though. The world of Disney store is amazing, it is basically everything they sell in one store! I can't wait to have a discount! After downtown we bused back to vista way. We where going to go for a swim but then decided to walk to this store so K could get a new baiting suit. After we got back we went to the pool for about two hours. After that we both where getting tired do we went back and made ourselves dinner.  We just had a relaxing night at home and through out that time out other roommates came home. Kim, Carrie and I all picked out our outfits for  traditions and got our things ready. Tomorrow is traditions and I am so excited!!! I will update tomorrow (actually today when I post this) about traditions. 

Have a magical day!

Sam

Day 2

Yesterday we had an imagration meeting in the commons club house. Basically going over what will get us kicked out of the country and filling out forms to be able to work here. Once that was done we had a bit of a break. I came back to the apartment and had some lunch and then Carrie and I went to the dollar store. I like this dollar store because everything is truly a dollar or less. Unlike stores in Canada where it could be $3 an item. After that I had to go to the vista way pavilion for 1pm. They gave us all different times to go and hand in our papers. I was lucky one of the first ones inside so I was back at the apartment by 1:30. My other roommates where not that lucky. They had a 1:30 time and didn't get back until 3. After that I stayed in the house until I started going crazy. I wanted to go somewhere so bad. I decided to go to Publix and I fell in love with that place! It was the first place that actually had vegan stuff. After that I came home ate dinner and then at about 10:30 myself, K, Kim and three african boys went to the pool. We where there for a little but then Kim and I got tired and came back to the apartment. That was basically yesterday. I love publix and got so many vegan goodies I am so happy!


Have a magical day!

Sam

Quick update

This is going to be a short post. Just wanted to update before I started another full day!

Yesterday was exciting, yeah not really but what ever. Started the day off with a fun and exciting drug test! They said they do it randomly and we where all attractions people so thats why we where chosen. We got a shuttle from vista way to the health place and then back after. Once I got back I stayed in the house and spent time with the roommates before our housing welcome session. At 2:30 we had a welcome session at the commons clubhouse.  It was a basic meeting going over some of the rules and codes they have at the housing complexes. Oh and Ali guess what!?!?!?! You are allowed into the housing complex after all! Yes that is right the bug can come in. She just has to have someone with her at all time, and be out by 7PM. After that housing meting I came home and then went to Walgreens and got a few things. Finally have a filtered water bottle, I heard the water here isn't good so I got a water bottle. Turns out the water is not that bad at all. What ever now I have cold water in the fridge as well as a water bottle now. I love all of my roommates so far. They are all really funny and we get a long well. We are very open about how we like things and we work together to figure out how to organize stuff. I have 4 out of 5 roommates here. I am living with two lovely girls from south Africa, one girl from Norway and one from Canada! I also realized the amount of research I have put into this program is not normal. The girl from Canada has done this program before and I feel I know almost as much as her. The other three roommates have no idea about some things. The girls from south Africa didn't even know what Traditions was. Oh well good to be surprised I guess. Well that is all for now! Time to go to some more meetings! I will update later today!


Have a magical day!

Sam

First night

After the shuttle bus ride to vista we went into the building and got our papers and signed some stuff. Got our housing ID and this nice lady told us some more things we needed to know. I am staying in Vista Way. Yes my last choice but at least I am super close to the bus. Otherwise I would not be happy about this place. I am in a three bedroom apartment. When I first arrived there was one girl moved in. She is from Norway and her name is Monica. I unpacked my carry on and called home. After that I got on a bus to Chatham to meet with Carolyn to go to Walmart. Few hours later I get back to vista. I forgot I was in building 26 and was looking for building 25. I also forgot how close I was to the bus stop. I ended up walking around my building twice. I was getting so frustrated because my bags where really heavy. Eventually I figured it out and got my stuff to my apartment. I unpacked everything and organized the best I could. I just had a shower and made the worst cup of tea in my life. The plus side is I found un-glazed poptarts. They are vegan so I am happy! Feeling homesick right now but going to push through it. I knew I wasn't ready for this but I did it any way. Stupid me right? I am promising myself I will be here at least two months then I can decide what I want to do.

My new bed for the year (or two months)

Have a magical day, 

Sam

2 more days

I can't believe I only have two more days before I leave! This is crazy! I don't have any cold feet about this. I still want to go, part of me though just wishes I had more time here before leaving. Although if I did I wouldn't spend my time any different then I did. I am going to miss everyone and everything so much. I love being independent and going places but I also like having a home base. People say the program goes by so fast. I know 9 weeks at camp goes by so fast, hopefully this will be the same. When at camp we have a saying that the days are long but the weeks are short. I hope this is also true for Disney. This is the longest I have ever been away from home. That will be the biggest adjustment. Honestly sorry family and friends but I am going to miss my cats the most. With family and friends you can use technology to talk to them. With cats though you need to be with this to feel their warmth and love. Please mom and dad try not to kill the cats while I am gone. I like them for some reason and would like to have them here when I get back! Thanks a bunch!

Haven't done any more packing then I did last Sunday. That's the plan for tomorrow and Monday. I am going to have everything in my suitcase and carton that I can and then on Tuesday morning put the last min thigs before the airport! 

I will update more as I do more to prep to leave.  

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Farewell party

This past sunday I had some people over so I could see everyone one last time before I leave. It was a small drop in with family and close friends. It was nice to see everyone again, it was a bitter sweet event though. It was nice to see everyone I love and care for but at the same time it wasn't. Most of the people who where there are my family. It made me kinda sad knowing I would go a year without seeing most of them. My aunt and uncle now have a place in Orlando, over the year some family will be coming out to florida. The biggest thing I noticed from this gathering was all the support I have. Everyone genuinely seemed excited/proud of me and what I am going to do in the next year. I know that not everyone understands why I am not in school and why I want to work at Disney. Even with that I knew they still supported me in my decision to do this. If any of you are reading this who where there that afternoon, thank you. Thank you for coming and making this transition easier. I am so proud and honoured to have each and every single one of you in my life. With the party behind me it is now time to start packing! I will write about that and my last week in Canada later in the week.

8 MORE DAYS!!!!!!


Have a magical day!

Sam

11 more days!

I can't believe it is almost time for me to leave!! I was really nervous and excited to go a few weeks ago. Now the nerves have all gone and I am just excited! I figured out the banking thing. I received a new bank card in the mail, it's a visa debit card. I read in the booklet they gave me that if you use it internationally just say you are paying by visa and you avoid some of the charges. It's obviously not a Visa card so I will need to remeber how much I have left in my account.

I said goodbye to some friends and Collingwood this weekend. As a tradition of the last few years my family always goes to Collingwood for thanksgiving normally I don't want to go. This year though I was so excited. Probably because that was the last time I was going to be there for over a year. I saw my good friends the Sorleys on Saturday along with my friend Danielle. We spent the day together and it was really hard to say goodbye to them. On Sunday I hung out with my friend Danielle. In the afternoon I went to the village with my friend Gavin. It was nice to see him after all this time. Overall it was a nice weekend to start my goodbyes. 

On the Disney side of things, I have started to get my things together to start packing. I have put my request in for housing. I will make a separate post on that though. I cleaned my room and finally unpacked from camp. I decided it was probably time as I am about to start a new adventure. I am organizing my folder with all my papers in them to be ready for the flight and arivial. I am having my leaving party on Saturday and because of that I haven't started packing. When ever myself or my sister go anywhere for over a week (camp and now Disney) we lay all our stuff out on the dining room table. There is no point in me bringing everything down to the living room. If I am just going to have to bring it all back up on Saturday morning. Once the party is over I will start packing! I will be making a post about packing once I have finished. There are not a lot for the CRP program mainly for the dcp or the icp. I will make the post like how I wanted to see when I was looking at blogs. 

That's all for now! 

Have a magical day!! 

Sam

Banking problems...

So I thought once I got my medical insurance figured out that would be the last of my problems... I WAS SO WRONG!!! I went into TD bank today to set up an account because they have Canadian/ US branches. I thought it was going to be easy, walk in set it up. I could not of been more wrong! I was looking forward to switching to TD bank because I don't know why I just was! I am just going to explain the whole thing. It starts off with my mom as soon as I get back from camp. She wanted to switch my account right away, I said I wanted to wait. I wanted to wait until I bought everything I needed, so that way the money I had in that account was the exact amount I had once I got there. Then I decided not a good idea as I would probably be buying things right up to my arrival date. So today I walk into the bank, its a new branch and so its all nice and new and I was feeling good! I was thinking that this was going to work out exactly as I had planed I am going to get this account set up and I did everything correctly. I couldn't of been more wrong if i had tried! We talked to one nice man who directed us to someone else. I thought okay this is a good sign every thing is going as planed! Yeah I was wrong again. She said a cross border account was not a good idea because I am going to be living there for a year. She told me to open an account once I am there. I was thinking thats fine, I will bring all my money to the US and open an account and put all of the money in the account once I get there. Problem is my mom was going on about how she was going to do some money transfer into my account. I don't really understand that because she would be transferring canadian money and frankly that will not help me in america. She said to set up an account with american access would take about two months because the papers would need to be sent from the US to Canada and then back. Then I was going to sign up for something and put money in one account so when i get down there I can call and get it transferred. Sounded simple enough so I decided why not. This of course was after me asking my mom if she would be okay with me taking my money down there in cash not in a bank account. The lady who was helping us obviously looked stressed. In fact at one point she had her elbows on the table and her hands on her head. YOUR JOB IS TO TELL US WHAT WE ARE TO DO! HELP US, DON'T MAKE FUN OF US!!! It turns out I couldn't even make an account because I didn't have two valid pieces of ID on me. I had my licence and my health card, but of course they don't like health cards. Right that makes sense, a government issued OHIP card is a no but a drivers licence is okay? yeah makes total sense! Anyway I finally asked how close the TD was to housing at disney, turns out its a 15-20 min dive. That is if you have a car, which I don't I would need to take a taxi or a bus to get there. I have started to look into what other banks are closer and what other people on the program have gone with. I don't mind making the trip to the bank I just need to figure out how to get there. I also don't know if I need a social insurance card or not. I will figure it out, hopefully soon before it gets to close to my arrival date. It just sucks that I need to take my money down in person. I don't know how much I want to bring I know its a lot but I was thinking between 1-2 thousand. I want to have enough to get what I need when I get down there and have enough that if I am ever in an emergency I have enough money. I will figure it out soon though and when I do you will be the first to know, who ever you are!


Have a magical day,

Sam

DORMS aka housing registration

Disney has finally put something in place they have talked about for awhile now, or so I've heard. Anyway, more about the process. It was very confusing at first. Three weeks ago we got an e-mail from Disney and it had a link to the dorms site, but it didn't work. I was really confused as was everyone else. One of the tips I can give to someone who is waiting to leave is, if Disney sends you something that doesn't work you don't need it. We where all so confused and stressed about the links not working and getting everything done on time before we leave. Don't worry about it though, everything works out in the end. Earlier this week Disney sent out two emails from housing. It has all the information you need to fill out your housing requests. This is where you can tell Disney any roommate requests and your housing preferences. It is a really straight forward form to fill out. I said that I didn't care who I was with for a roommate. Mostly because I don't really know anyone under 21, there is one girl in my arrival group under 21. Well that I know of, and so we will probably be put together anyway. Disney tries to put people in the same apartment who have the same or close arrival dates. They do this so that if they want to the housing company can do any reno's they want and to have an entire apartment to fill with new arrivals. You can put down your top three choices for housing complexes and how many rooms you want. I had a tough choice deciding the order for my housing choices. All I knew for sure is that I don't want vista, it is the oldest and farthest from the other three complexes. What it came down to is a comment that was posted on a housing question on the Facebook group. He gave a short summary of all the housing complexes and it really helped me make my choice. The decriptions where: Patterson- newer, more expensive, walk to bus, no washer dryer. Commons: most expensive, washer dryer, sometimes annoying bus times, some apartments are small, lots of CRPS about, very close to shops and outlet. Vista: cheap, has a reputation, close to lots of stuff and good arivial times, largest for pretty party central. Last but not least, Chatham: close to bus, longest wait to go to Epcot apartments are pretty decent. Some of the things he said didn't make sense but it gives am overal idea of the complexes. Oh and by the way Patterson does have a washer and dryer just not in the apartment. The commons apartments are more expensive because they have the washer and dryer in the apartment. My final decision was the Commons, Chattam and then Patterson. I would be happy with any of those three but I would love commons. Not just because of the laundry in the apartment but because of how close it is to publix and the outlets. We will see what happens when I get there though! Overall the housing stuff is nothing to stress over. Disney has been doing this for so long that they know what they are doing, everything works out in end so just try and relax.

Have a magical day! 

Sam

One month mark!

It has come to the time to the one month mark! I am so excited! On Tuesday it will be October first. It will seem even more real then because it will be less then one month! I got an email from Disney about some more things I need to do before I leave. I was doing something else at the time but obviously, I wouldn't be able to focus on what I was doing. So I tried to fill out my housing stuff and watch this video. Unfortunately the website is down right now. I keep checking, as soon as it a back up I will do it right away. I will update as soon as the site works again to explain what I have done.

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Luggage randomness

This is another random blog post with really no relation to Disney at all.

I bought my luggage! Probably not a lot of people will know this but for some reason I have this strange obsession with luggage. I don't know why but I just like it. I am not to the point where I can tell you information about different company's or anything. I just like the way that it looks for some odd reason. Anyway I got this 28" luggage from the bay. They where having this huge sale on most of the luggage. The luggage I got was normally priced at $400 but with the sale I got it for $140. When I was there I saw this one peice of luggage that caught my eye, haha yeah I sound crazy even to myself. It was a white luggage with Canadian things on it. There where things like tim hortons coffee cups, skiers, CN tower, parliment building and things like that. It was a bit bigger but the only down side was it was not on sale. So it was a 30" luggage still priced at $400. I liked it but I was not crazy enough to pay that much for it. Well fast forward three weeks. My dad is looking at the flyers and points out that the luggage I liked was on sale. It happened to be the same price as the one I already bought. So I decided to exchange it and get the Canadian one. In the end I left the store with the Canadian luggage and a bay gift card for $4.75. It turns out that on top of the 60% sale they also had another promotion going on to get me an extra 15% off of the 60%. So I ended up getting the bigger luggage that I liked better and they owed me money. What! I am totally okay with that. Although I doubt you can find much in the bay for $4.75.  

I don't normally post pictures and wasn't planing on it untilI got down there. I decided to post a picture of the luggage. I am so obsessed with it I want who ever reads this to see it! So here it is: 

 Yeah it's really not that exciting. I find it really cool looking. I also can reconise all the things on there! My little test to myself before I go to Disney :p 

Anyway enough about luggage! 

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Life is a highway

NOTE: THIS IS NOT ABOUT DISNEY, LIKE AT ALL

Haha so the title if this post is my way of making this blog post even a little bit disney related. I have my G licence test next week and I am so nervous! For those who don't know what that is, Ontario has a three different levels for driving licences. Depending on your experience you can have different licences. The G licence though is the full licence, one you get that you are done. No more studying, no more drivers ed or driving tests. You have this licence for life unless you are stuipd and loose your driving privlage. Anyway like I said I have my driving test for my G licence next week. Although I should feel confidant I am so nervous! Honestly if I fail the only thing I loose is my money for the test. I can try again when I get back from Disney. For this test you have to go on the highway and do some basic driving skills. I asked someone who has passed this test what she had to do. She said she had to go on the highway (obviously) three point turn (did amazing at this in drivers ed and g2 road test, haven't done it since), emergency pull over ( have never done this but sounds basic enough) and back into the parking space. I am FREAKING OUT about the reversal into the parking space! I am so awful at this it's embarrassing! I was never really good at this. Since I left drivers ed I totally forgt and prayed I didn't have to do this on my road test.  Thankfully I didn't the first time, I am going to practice my butt of to be a pro for this test. Her brother said instead of backing in to the parking space he had to parallel park. This I'm okay with, better then reversing! I will have to practice this a few times to remeber and get the hang of it but then other then that it should be fine. I don't know why I am so nervous! I feel like I am a good driver, I obey all the rules and compared to some people my age I haven't gotten into an accident. I hope it goes well!

I have done some Disney stuff so I will write about that soon, just needed to rant about driving for a bit! 

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Medical insurance

Medical insurance was one of the few bigger things I needed to figure out before leaving to Disney. I decided to go with seven corners insurance. They are the company that yummy jobs has advertised on their website. I decided to go with them soley on the reason that other people have gone with them. So that way I also didn't have to do any research about insurance company's. You only need insurance for the first four months of your contract. Then after that you can switch over to Disneys health insurance. I got the insurance for just a little over four months to make sure there is some possible overlap to be safe. It was really easy to figure out what to do. Yummy jobs gave me all the information I needed when I first got hired about medical insurance and how much coverage I needed. Although Disney is trying to do everything themselves now to do with the crp. I am guessing that once the transition is completed Disney will give the next round of applicants the information they need.

If any one has any questions feel free to email me any time!

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Frustrated, lost and confused

I have no idea what is going on right now. For so long I have been thinking that they make it very easy for you to transition to Disney, now i'm not to sure. I have a feeling that they are trying a new system where Disney careers is the main company instead of yummy jobs, but no one has told us. It use to be that if you where from Canada and you had any questions you could e-mail Kristen from yummy jobs. I don't think she has anything to do with the program as it is getting closer to the arrival date and no e-mails from her. I have received one e-mail from yummy jobs recently about hotels and places to stay incase you arrive early for your program. I wish they would just send out an e-mail saying this is whats going on from now on any further questions can be directed to. Just anything to know that we have someone to talk to. I also think that they are switching over to paperless everything so I don't think I am receiving a welcome pack in the mail. I am 90% sure I have gotten the equivalent of it by an email titled 'welcome'. When I had a question about the exact length that you needed medical insurance, on the Facebook group someone said they tell you in the welcome pack. I HAVENT RECEIVED A WELCOME PACK, AND THERE WAS NO MENTION ABOUT INSURANCE ON ANY EMAIL RECENTLY! I am not mad at anyone, this process will get figured out eventually and maybe for the people just applying it will be more clear to them. But for me someone who started out with yummy jobs, for them to switch it two months before I leave is a bit confusing. I emailed Disney and they said I need it for the first 90 days.... THATS NOT FOUR MONTHS! Ugh I am just stressed because this is such a big thing to possibly mess up! I do not want to pay for insurance and then it be the wrong length! I guess we will wait and find out!


Sorry about the rant, I just needed to vent some of my frustration. This does not in any way make me dislike Disney or this program any less. Once it gets sorted out it will all be magical again!


Have a magical day!

Sam

Flight

I HAVE FINALLY BOOKED MY FLIGHT TO FLORIDA!!!

I decided to go with flying and I'm glad I did! I was talking to a fellow October 29th (Carolyn) girl about her flight. I asked when she was arriving in Orlando and she said 1:21 and that was the same time that the flights I was looking into landed. So that made me want to drive down less, knowing that someone would be on the other end that I could meet up with. Well it turned out that her connecting flight from Edmonton leaves from Toronto. That made me more exciting knowing we could have the same flight, and if not then we would connect in orlando. I asked and she booked a flight with west jet and so I looked up west jet flights, as I was planing on going with Delta. I thought I found the flight so i decided then that I would defiantly fly and not drive. This morning I talked to my mom about it and I texted my dad saying that I wanted to fly. I booked my flight, and so now its official! I am for sure going to Disney on October 29th! I was so nervous to press the confirm button! Booking the flight is a huge step. Its the thing that for me makes me realise that I'm actually going to florida! After booking my flight I emailed Disney international recruiting telling them my flight information and am waiting to hear back confirming they got this information. The next big step of medical insurance, I am starting to look into it but I might just go with Seven Corners because I won't have to look up any more options.


Thats all for now,

Have a magical day!

Sam

Even more confused

I am even more confused now. I talked to my dad and I am slowly moving to his side. I like the idea of driving but my heart is set on flying. It would be nice to spend two days alone with my dad but that's also two days that I could spend at home. Fly I will fly final decision. I WILL FLY TO ORLANDO!

Fly or drive?

That seems to be the biggest theme of my week so far. My dad wants to drive me to Florida but I want to fly. They are both good options but they both have downsides too. If I fly its only a 3 hour flight to get to Orlando. Where as driving would be almost two days. Flying would give me more time at my house but driving I would have more one on one time with me dad. I kind of want to go with flying because so many people have blogged about their flight so I know what to expect. With driving on the other hand I have no idea, and I can't plan things out either. Flying I have a concrete answer of when the plane leaves and lands (without delays), driving I have no idea. I also want to do this alone, I have it planed in my head that I will go to the airport with my family say goodbye then continue on to security. If my dad was to drive me down then I would have him there when I go to check in he would drive me to my apartment and then probably be there for my huge Walmart trip. Yes that would be helpful not having to take all that stuff on the but it wouldn't be the same experience. I will talk to him about it this weekend. I really want to fly but I feel bad if he really wants to drive down. Even the fact he is offering to drive me down makes me assume he really wants to. We will see what happens though, fingers crossed that I book my flight this week!

Have a magical day! 

Sam 

55 more days

So I am finally home from camp! Time to start fully getting ready for disney! I have a few things that need to get done this week and a few things I would like to do. I payed the program assessment fee yesterday that was $100, it basically reserves your spot in housing and pays for a few other things that happen when you get down there. Once you pay you will need to print off the proof of payment and bring it on your arrival day. I have to book my flight too this weekend, my dad wants to drive me so I am guessing thats why he keeps putting this off. When ever i mention it to him he doesn't say anything back. I said I would think about driving down but that is a lot of driving and I just kind of want to get there, instead of  taking almost two days to get there. I also am thinking about the fact that if he drives me, he will be there at check in and to get the full experience I want to do everything on my own. I understand it from his side too though. His oldest daughter/child is moving away for a year for the first time ever, so he wants to be there. I also just want to rip it off like a band-aid, when I get to the airport and go through those doors that I have to fend for myself, and only rely on myself. I also want to get my video camera and a few other small things I want before leaving. One good thing about this trip is that I will buy almost everything down there so I wont go with much. I will keep in mind that I will be coming home with so much more, so I will pack as light as I can.
I have to fill out my hiring package too, I am going to print that off tomorrow and fill it out. I keep thinking with things that I have time left so I should just wait and do it. I am going to from now on do everything right away because I have a feeling that before I leave things will be more hectic and stressful so i should do it now. One big thing I keep thinking about is my leaving party. I am thinking of people I want to be there, what I want to give as a thank you gift and things like that. it seems like a while away but I leave in exactly eight weeks today! I am trying to not think about the fact that I have to say goodbye sooner rather then later. Anyway thats all for now!




Have a magical day!

Sam

77 days

I only have a week and a half left of camp. Time has flown by so quickly it's crazy! I have had such an amazing time here and I am loving every minute of it! I am excited to go home and start thinking only about Disney related things! I was sad about leaving camp in a week and a half but tonight I got a text from my dad. A text saying "You got a Fedex package from Disney Immigration today, can I open it to see what it is about?" I replied with " PLEASE DO NOT OPEN IT I CAN TELL YOU WHAT'S IN IT PLEASE DON'T TOUCH UNLESS YOU ALREADY DID AND IN THAT CASE IT'S OKAY" I called him right away and told him what's in it. I am so happy to say that my welcome package has finally arrived!! I am not even home and I know exactly what it is. A thin package from Disney immigration what else would it be? Anyway I will love every minute I am at this camp and as soon as I get home I am focusing more on Disney and therefore will be having more informational posts over personal.

Until then, 

Have a magical day,

Sam