Expectations.

I went to the Magic Kingdom this week.

I was expecting to see this:

But, uh, it didn't quite turn out that way.

I suppose since I've been to Disneyland dozens of times that the magic wasn't quite as new as it is for the other parks. They did do a good job getting you out of the miserable Florida heat though. And we had lots of fun.

This week was interesting. The OHMYWHATI'MWORKINGFORDISNEY feeling died down a little. We all kind of realized that this isn't a vacation. It's a blast most of the time, but it's also a lot of work. This is real life. A good part of your paycheck goes to rent, and most of the rest of it goes to groceries. Luckily we work for a property twice the size of Manhattan, so we don't get too bored.

I'll try to keep things interesting.

Adventures at Epcot!

Thursday was my day off as well as the roomie's. So we decided to spend the day at Epcot. This was my first of the four parks to visit since last time I was here 12 years ago, so I was very excited. Here are some of my favorite sights:

Busy, busy, busy.

I have been neglecting my blogging duties and for that, I apologize. The past few days have been packed and I am so exhausted by the time I get home. But things are going well. I've mostly just been training for my cast member position. I am working at Downtown Disney in the Art of Disney store, which is a wonderful art gallery. People come in and spend thousands of dollars sometimes. I had never seen the store before this week and my knowledge is being tested. You have to know a lot of information. I think I'm going to like it.

Some people have asked what I do on my days off, and it has been truly spectacular. While we get free admission to all the theme parks, I have not made my rounds just yet. I'll be here a while; I think I have plenty of time.

On Saturday I went with a few Merchandise girls to one of Disney's waterparks: Typhoon Lagoon!

Home to the world's largest wave pool. They have a beach and all kinds of slides, even a water coaster (which I was sure only existed in my dreams). We got to snorkel in a saltwater pool with tropical fish, sting rays, and baby sharks. Stayed long enough to get a tan.

Yesterday I started my Marketing You class. It's taught by this sassy black Florida native named Penny Hightower. She's crazy fun, and I think the class will go well. I met up with my friend Natalie from UVU in that class, as well as her roommate Megan and friend Ryan. They invited me to go to the beach with them since we had the day off. Of course, I said yes. It's the BEACH!

So I put on my swim suit and my brand new floppy sun hat, and we drove a little over an hour west to Clearwater, Florida. We ate at Skyline Chili, a Cincinnati hometown favorite of Ryan and Megan that's a little odd. Their most famous dish, the 3-Way, is basically spaghetti noodles topped with chili and a mountain of cheese. Weird, I know. But I was feeling adventurous and twas quite delicious.

The rest of the day was spent in the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. Walking the beach, playing frisbee, watching the sunset, we even caught some sand dollars in the water! It was amazing. A perfect way to spend my one week Disney-versary.

From now on.

I'm going to start carrying my camera everywhere I go. There are way too many magical moments that I don't want to forget about. Tonight held quite a few. I went to my lovely friend Jocelyn's apartment to meet her seven roommates.

This is her:

We were all rather hungry and decided that since we get discounts, we should go somewhere on property to eat. We ventured to Downtown Disney towards the Planet Hollywood Restaurant. The wait to get in was over an hour, but we showed the host our Disney badges and didn't even have to wait five minutes! Not only did we get quick seating and quick service, but we got twenty percent off the total tab. We were basically the most VIP members to walk the planet.

Then we walked around the nightlife that you find Downtown. There's street performers, live bands; hundreds of guests coming to have a good time for no admission price. We took a free water taxi across Village Lake. Wandered a few of the many rooms of the biggest retail Disney store you can find in the world. Ate some magnificent Ghirardelli ice-cream.

We were on our way home when we passed by one of the bands. They were just playing cover songs of some radio hits, but they were really good so we stopped to observe for a while. There were two silly looking guys who thought they were cool, dancing their gangster dance in front of the stage. Everyone else just stood or sat and listened. Jocelyn, out of nowhere, decides to go down in front and start dancing too. She's a parade dancer here in Florida so she's very energetic and tried to get the crowd's participation. One by one, people watched her and slowly joined in. By the end of the song, there were at least 50 people having a crazy celebration. That lasted for a good ten minutes before we took off back home. It was so cool though. Dancing there near Pleasure Island may have been some person's favorite part of the night, and my dear dancer friend started that. It wouldn't have happened without her courage.

I don't know if it sounds as spectacular to someone reading this, but tonight showed me again how simple it is to put a pinch of magic into an ordinary day.

I hope I have days like this again.

I got my costume today.

It's awful.

I'm not even going to post a picture.

Seriously.

We create happiness.

Today was oh so magical. I went to a four hour class called Traditions and I can't tell you too many particulars about it without ruining the show that Disney puts on, but it basically told all of the history of the company and how to be good representatives of it. We got to take a tour of the backstage of Magic Kingdom, which was amazing. I made some friends with a few lovely individuals from Puerto Rico. Best part of the day: Mickey Mouse gave us a visit and bestowed upon us our nametags!

I put it on proudly, and watched a speech given by Walt a few years back. I don't know how to make sense of it, but that moment was so incredible. I got chills realizing how much magic we really get to make for the guest of the parks and resorts. Putting on my name tag finally made it real.

I have been lacking in my picture taking responsibilities for a few days. I will try to be better about documenting. But for now, here's a picture of me and my name tag and some more fancy professional clothes (Disregard the mess; I have yet to buy hangers). Talk to you soon!

My new home.

I am officially in Orlando!

My flight was just swell. My mother spent 240 dollars on checking my luggage; I guess it's expensive to move your whole life across the country.

Other than that, I didn't have too many problems. Got myself a Mocha Coconut Frappucino and awaited boarding. Sat next to a beardy retired DJ from Las Vegas. Read Haunted until I arrived in Phoenix. After an hour long layover, boarded another flight next to...wait for it... noone! The seat next to me was conveniently empty so I could put my feet up and sleep for a little bit. I arrived around 5am so the airport was deserted, and I managed to get myself a taxi (first cab ride!).

Then came check-in. Tons of paperwork; I won't bore you with the details.

I moved into my third floor apartment at Chatham Square with five other girls and have been having the time of my life with them the past two days. We've explored a little bit of the surrounding area and stocked our fridge full of food.

I've only been here 36 hours, but it feels like a week has already gone by. I think I'm gonna like it here. (:

Today's the day.

Well. The time has finally come. Tonight I get on a plane with all of my belongings to make the voyage to Orlando.

Scared? Yes.

Excited? Very much so.

I have no idea what to expect from this experience. I'm just going to do everything I can to make the most of it. Soak up as many adventures as possible. It's going to be a long seven months, but I have a feeling it's going to fly by. So I will see you all soon!