2) getting in to the parks for free

half the fun of working at Disney was being able to go to the parks whenever I wanted. (Of course I never went as much as I should have bc work can exhaust you.)

At Hollywood Studios

I loved the times you could decide to go to animal kingdom an hour before it closed to go on Everest or the dinosaur ride. Or walking through Epcot and making new friends in Italy or Germany (chris). Going to magic kingdom just to get ice cream and watch the fireworks. Or spending an hour trying to convince someone to ride tower of terror telling them it is the easy side and watching them freak out when they are on the ride. (sorry Jessica).

Epcot with Chris

There is not much more I can say about how much fun the parks were you can only imagine what it was like to be able to see Cinderella castle whenever I wanted.

Animal Kingdom

Magic Kingdom

4) working at Hollywood Studios

the cast member who told me where I was working the second day I was at vista asked me “guess where you are working” I first guessed magic kingdom, then epcot, and the animal kingdom… I couldn’t remember the name of Hollywood studios. My response was something like oh I guess the studio one.

I had no idea what to expect. I had no idea how horrible or great my costume would be. After my first traditions I went to studios with a group of people and tried to look for where I looked.
But I had no idea where or what “left block merchandise” was.

But after I was finally able to reschedule my traditions and start work the next week. I realized my costume wasn’t that bad.
I mean panty hoes and wearing a pair of short/skirt combination up to my belly button stinks.. but it was still better then what they had to wear at animal kingdom.
I went through my first day of training with Megan (I later became friends with her) and our trainer was fred. The first day of training went by just fine.

But after the second day of training with this guy who was younger then me teaching me how to do everything I wanted to quit. I officially hated my job and even more I hated having to count back change the Disney way.

On my third day I hated it even more. I had to work the main entrance cart. (all by myself). I caught myself lying to guest. Trying to make it seem like I knew what I was talking about. And I also had to wear the hideous green costume. (and it was really really hot out)
But that soon changed some where in july ( I think). I began to embrace the block party bash and come to love high school musical 2. I became excited when I got hub carts and I could watch the parade, hsm2 and see the 4 and 5 o’clock characters come out.
I also started to love and wish it would rain every day.

Something happened and I decided that studios was my favorite park and I saw my self going there to play more and more.

Because I worked at studios I know love high school musical and I am completely okay with dancing like an idiot when I hear the block party bash music. (I am sure I will catch my self on youtube looking for both of those when I get home.)

block party bash

on news year eve me and monique went to the park to hang out before work and we watched the block party bash.

they have this part where they have people come on to the street and dance with them and of course i was dancing on the street (bc i have seen it a million times) and jessie (from toy story) made me come out... and i made monique come with me.
of course there was no photos.

but i bring this up bc i was youtube searching bc that is what i do... and i found this video i thought kinsey would appreciate.

it is a guy in the block party bash signing during the parade (when he is in the parade) i have seen him before but i thought he just did it when the float was coming out.. but no i guess he does it the whole time.
it is amazing
(the last time i watched this parade i saw the professional signers on the side doing there thing in their blue shirts... like the ones we saw the one day when we watched hsm2.)

high school musical rocks

so i don't know if i have informed you all of this before but i am slightly a high school musical freak now. (well i mean i am kind of a disney freak now, but i never thought i would be a hsm freak)
a couple of weeks ago me and my friend bought a wildcat tshirt when they were 40% off (and then we got our cast member 50% discount.. so it was like 5 dollars).

last Monday we went to animal kingdom to take pic with characters and go on some attractions i have never been on (like the planet watch.. which was amazing)

we waited in line to meet mickey, minnie, chip &dale, brother bear, donald and daisy duck.
.... but the coolest character was goofy bc he knew the high school musical W-I-L-D dance.
it was amazing.

then we headed off to hollywood studios were we meet bolt, rhino, and mittens.
and rhino (the hamster) started doing the dance and bolt also started doing it. (mittens just kind of stood there like a stuck up cat).
that was even more amazing...

we also watched the hsm 3: right here right now show.

i let megan stand in front of me bc i knew she was a bigger fan.
and during the song "i want it all" they pick 4 guest to come up on stage and be the star of the show... and megan was picked to be in it.

... she freaked out. i'm pretty sure she almost started to cry.

Megan in the show!!

she got a star dazzle button. which was pretty much awesome.

we also took a million jumping photos in front of the hat. (it took like 15 min to get a good one and we had a bunch of people just looking at us funny).

that was the end of an eventful day of hsm fun... and oh yeah i am also a freak bc i own the soundtrack for 2 and 3.... but i am ok with it and my iowa friends are just going to have to deal with it.
:)

Christmas at Disney Hollywood Studios

kassie and john got me a hannah montana stocking with a hannah montana and hsm picture frame and skittles chap stick!!!!



and then we sat around for a while and then we headed to studios....



there kassie and john was able to get fast passes for toy story (they still had some left at 11... amazing) and i went to buy my secret santa a gift (a stitch backback) and then we went to draw a character (this time donald duck... john did a much better time this time around)



and then i had to work from 1:30-9. but it was one of the easiest days of work ever.



i'm part of the communication team and when you are part of that you plan the events that go on for our locations so we were putting on the Christmas diner behind my location.

my first assignment for the day was "cast excellence" which involved me standing outside watching the food and making sure only our cast members ate it.



after that i got my 30 min break.

then i was assignment to keystone 1. ... and there was someone on keystone 2. (so that was really easy bc you normally only need one person there)



i went on my next break and when i got done i went to sids for the remaining of my shift. (kassie and john also came to visit me.. which was amazing)



I got off at 9:00 and we went back to the hotel and went straight to bed... it was amazing



.... i also took some ham from work for kassie and john to enjoy.

sunday

sunday was the last day that kassie and john were in town and we went to Hollywood studios.

Talking to mom on the phone

one of the first things we did was go to animation courtyard and draw a character. we all drew stitch, but it was mean stitch so i think he looked a little different (and when i say that i mean scary).

we sent the pictures to mom and she said jeff d. drew the best one and she also said that some of us don't know how to draw. (obviously i should have one but i think she just wanted jeff d to feel good about himself.)


we also got ice cream... which was delicious.


and then i had to go to work and kassie, jeff d, and john hung out.

Trading a pin with jeff d.... tinker bell for pirate donald

i was working outside at the hub carts so kassie came and talked to me a bit. she also managed to take some very unattractive photos of me. but it was a nice change of pace b/c i actually had someone to talk to then stand there by myself

after work i hung out with jeff d for a little bit b/c hstud was having extra magic hours. we went on toy story like 3 times and drew a couple more character (Donald and Minnie)

Jeff super excited to go on Toy Story Midway Mania

we were able to go on the ride a whole bunch since when we first got there i ran into a friend who worked there and he gave us fast passes and when we got off it was only a 20 min wait so we waited in line. and the third time we went one it was 11:55 and the park closed at 12 so there was literally no one waiting in line and it was like a 5 min wait.

Yeah my score is the one on the right

busy weekend

so i know i promised you all many blogs about my awesome weekend but i did so much that it is impossible to blog about it all in one post. so most likely there will be a few blogs consisting of me talking about john, kassie, jeff D, and johns family.

so the best place to begin is on Friday.

we arrived at magic kingdom really really early. (well at like 10-11.. which is way to early for me).

my friend stephen came to get 3 of kassie/johns friends into the park. (one b/c he is amazing, but not as amazing as me or kassie)

we began the day by going on splash mountain which resulted in me getting more wet then i wanted to. but it was hot enough outside and i dried off pretty quickly...so no one should feel that bad for me.

then we also road big thunder railroad, space mountain, the tea cups, pirates, and haunted mansion. (the typical "hey we are at magic kingdom for the day rides")

kassie had the brilliant that we should go to Hstud to ride some thrill rides. (b/c it was johns sister in law and her sister first time at disney and we wanted to give them the full experience) they road tower of terror and rockin roller coaster and then left to go to epcot.

i was told that they liked those rides the best.. which i completley understand why.

after going to MK, Hstud, checking into the resort, etc. we finally arrived at Epcot for the food and wine festival. which was pretty awesome.

at this time monique arrived and we began exploring the various different countries and the adult bevages and amazing food they had.

(kassie had to leave and pick up Jeff D. from the airport)

they John and his fam arrived at epcot and they road mission to mars again

(oh yea the first time they did it one of johns brothers friend had a protein spill on the ride... which is hilarious. so john definelty ruined another person disney vacation)

me and monique patiently waited for them while enjoying a delicious American normal disney pretzel. and finally kassie and jeff D arrived and we began to finish out exploring the epcot food and wine festival.

we had a night full of taking pics with fun hats, Chris, a donkey, and various other objects that don't move. and then sadly we found out around 10 pm that all the countries closed their shops at 10 even though they had extra magic hours.

so our food and wine experience was cut short, but it was okay bc it was still amazing.

i ended the night with a million pointless photos, amazing memories, a WALL-E tshirt and disney throw (thanks to johns fam.)

me and Kassie at epcot

Canada!

... Jeff D

no need to worry there will be blogs coming about mini golf, toy story, and drawing classes.

work!

i work three days this week :)

i have class on Tuesday and Wednesday (well a lecture thing on wed. it is the first one and it is about security.. more info coming soon) and kassie (who is awesome) is coming to visit me this weekend and we are going to the Epcot food and wine festival!

so that means i can only work sun, mon, Thursday... i could prob pick up an extra shift on a morning (but to be honest that is to much work).

tomorrow (or i guess today) it is my neighbor bday so i may ER from work. i am suppose to work from 5-1:30 we have EMH: extra magic hours. which kind of stinks. so i wil lprob try to leave a tlike 11 or so (at least that will be a 6 hr shift)

and for some reason the wonderful people at disney decided it would be a good idea to have hollywood studios be open until 9 and have 2 fantasmic almost everyday this week... which means that today i worked until 1130 and didn't get home until 1230... blah

hollywood studios

So after i got off work the other day i walked around hollywood studios and took random photos for you all!

Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
aerosmith rock-n-roller coaster

random sorcerer mickey

Toy Story midway mania
Kermit the frog!! outside the Chinese theater
sorcerer hat

Kassie's Second Guest Blog

Kelsey and I are watching the Iowa game right now. The first quarter of the game was pretty horrible, but the second quarter is improving from the Iowa perspective. Hopefully it continues getting better.

Last night we went to Hollywood studios with Kelsey. We rode the Toy Story ride twice, which was pretty much awesome. Kelsey has two fast passes. She is so cool. Kelsey won the first time, and John won the second time. I did very poor on the first game, only 80k points, but in the second one I got 120k. A pretty good improvement.

We also ate at Sci Fi Cafe. It was pretty cool, inside it is like a drive in movie theatre. John and Kelsey both ordered Cheese Burgers even though they weren't on the menu. Disney makes everything magical. (picture to the left)

We also went to Epcot. Kelsey rode the intense Mission Space. Last time she road it, she blamed John on ruining her disney vacation. This time she actually liked it. We also road Soarin'. The line was very slow moving and John got very grumpy in it. I blame it on the double scotch he had earlier, but he claims it was not due to the scotch.

They were already setting up for food and wine. I am excited for that. It is a really cool event that Epcot has. We are coming back in a couple weekends for that. Jeff D is also coming, and a couple of my friends from Jacksonville. John's brother Mike and his wife will also be here. So that should be pretty much awesome.

night of joy

so this past weekend Hollywood studios had an event called night of joy where they had christian rock bands come and preform. this event took place on friday and Saturday and started a little after 6. on friday i worked in the morning so did not have the 'pleasure' of working the event. on Saturday i came in at 1:45 and was only schedule to 8 but i extended til 2:00 (it was my first 12 hours shift.. and that was an experience all it own).

during the night i was in the money room (counting down the registers for the night) since there was so many people we really were not allowed to close any registers until 1:45 (am) so i didn't get to leave work until 2:50... it was the quickest/longest money room experience ever.

so anyway bc of that we had a lot of time where me and the other person just kind of stood and cover people break.
during the night i dealt with more rude people then i have ever dealt with at disney. i had once guest tell me i should be fired bc i didn't know the answer to something and i had another one who cut in front of a whole line of people and while i was helping another guest ordered me to check them out bc they needed to catch the bus.

the majority of the guest were middle school and high school age people and i have learned that if you are under the age of 18 you are not capable of standing or thinking by yourself.
so that kind of explains the rudeness of the general group, but the above examples were people who were adults.

maybe it is bc these disney guest didn't really come in for the disney experience.. but just for the concert so they don't understand how disney is suppose to work.

i also was scheldule to work at 9:45 the next morning which i wasn't very happy about... but they changed my time to 11... so i got about 4 1/2 hour of sleep.

i did enjoy the high astomsphere of the event with the bands and the majority of them were good... but i could definitely go with out the massive group of people.

my family rocks

So basically my family is awesome
As many of you can tell from the previous wall post my sister came to visit me in Florida… and it was awesome.

We were able to go to all four parks and back to Jacksonville for a very exciting jaguars football game. It also only rained one day out of the four they were here. (which was shocking especially after I told them that it rains everyday here a million times.)

We went to magic kingdom the first day where kinsey got her free tshirt for “spilling” something on herself. The second day we went to animal kingdom were we able to final get our first autograph in our autograph book that I thought was essential to get. We also went to epcot. The third day we went to my park (Hollywood studios) and then back to epcot and then back to studios. And on Saturday we went to Jacksonville.

So the reasons why my sisters are awesome is bc they surprised me with the best bday presents every. The first being a cupcake cake, a shirt that say “pretty much awesome”, a princess diner (which was pretty much awesome), and a shirt that says completely corn-fed (to show of my iowa pride).

It was great having them here and I am so glad that they finally understand the idea that august is Kelsey's birthday month. !!!!

There was five albums of photos we took.. they mostly just consist of photos were you can’t see the background just our pretty faces.

I am hoping that kaci will post the links for the photos for people can look at them !

PICTURES

At Epcot.

.... notice the awesome matching tshirts











At Animal Kingdom

... notice the pretty much awesome tshirt (one of the many bday presents i got)














At Magic Kingdom


















At hollywood studios

i guess we didn't take one in front of the hat (this was taken in one of the stores i work at)









Downtown Disney (the store monique works)