December 11, 2011

It looks like I am coming home from Florida this week! So I figured I should try to explain what is going on! I am super excited to come home but at the same time I'm extremely sad to leave. This experience has amazing, exhausting and probably one of the coolest things I will ever do. I had a blast here. I have met people from all over the world and I really have made a new Disney family. I stopped updating my blog because honestly everyday just blurred in with the next. I work a lot and then on my days off I got to the parks or either sit at home and watch Disney movies with my awesome room mates. That's it. Just fun all the time haha. Just kidding of course. Sure there is some awesome days and there is also some really crappy ones, but that happens every where! This experience has really taught me about growing up. Sure working on Peter Pan's Flight makes me want to stay a kid forever, but I have learned that everyone has to grow up. I feel like I have learned things that I will use in my life and it has helped me have a perspective of an adult. I really hope I can start acting more like one! hahaha.. What a way to finish up my teenager years eh? in Disney World! I am turning 20 in 9 days and I can't even believe that!
Now thinking about coming home I believe it is my time to learn how to work like a grown up and try and get my life in order. This is the time of big life decisions. So I am coming home ready for whatever God puts in my path. It seems whenever I make plans they don't work out or they just change drastically, so I am just going to try and keep an open mind! I believe everything happens for a reason and I am excited to try preparing in every way for whatever!
That means not freaking out when Jayden Smith and Justin Bieber walk by me.... I need to stay cool if there is ever a next time.

Day 44

Well.. It has been a good week. Church was really amazing on Sunday. I love my ward here and the Elders are super cool too. I really don't have much to say.. The days are so similar here I feel like I am telling you guys the same stories over and over. They blurr together and I can not even believe it is October tomorrow and General Conference!! Man that year went by super fast!
I had Wednesday Thursday off this week so on my days off I went to Animal Kingdom and Magic Kindgom with my fan land friends Katie, Abby and Andrea. It was a lot of fun.. I got super wet on the Kali River Rapids... I recommend that on a hot day. which is everyday here... We did all the rides we wanted to do. my favorite in Animal Kingdom is by the ride Dinosaur. It is the same track as the Indiana Jones ride in California but it is all Dinosaurs which is super cool. Then we went to Magic Kingdom after getting lost in the parking lot for a good half an hour. The parking lots here are INSANE! I heard the one for MK is the same size as Disneyland plus 500 cars... so remember people if you ever come here remember where you parked because you may be walking for a while.
We rode the good ones.. Splash, Thunder, Space and Jungle cruise.. we also rode small world... I have no idea why.. and then we went to the Laugh Floor.. I am super excited for my family to come down and see this ride because honestly I havent laughed so hard in a very long time.
Yesterday Megan and I went to the pool in the morning and tanned for a bit... It was Becca's birthday too so Megan and I got some cake and presents and stuff and celebrated and when Becca got home we took her out to Earles sandwhiches at Downtown Disney... SOOOO amazing.. everyone should try them.. and then we came home and watched the usual Thursday night TV and went to bed.
I am starting to make a list of must sees here... so if you ever come visit... I will have a great list. It is now the Food and Wine festival at Epcot.. I have yet to go but I hear it is amazing so I am sure I will have fun with that. One of the things Dad and I have in common is our love for food so I am sure we can indulge when you guys get here. anyway.. gotta go to the halloween party to work! love you!

I don't remember what day it is...

Well.. I am sorry I don't write as often.. It is basically just because the days blur together and they are all basically the same. I get up.. I get ready... then I go to work. Then I come home and go to bed and do it all again the next day. So that's fun! haha
Let's see... what is new.. I have my first wishes shift tomorrow night (firework) so that should be super fun. On my day off these past few weeks I have been chillin with Becca and Megan.. and may I just say they are a pretty fun pair to hang with. We went to downtown disney and walked around for the night.. you may see some pics on facebook from that. We bought boxers and now we live in them when we are not at work.. they are so comfortable! We were going to go on a hot air balloon ride too.. but the winds weren't looking too good for that. so another night forsure!
The weather is menopausal as always... the rain is like a warm shower though! It is kind of nice and crappy at the same time considering I wear a white shirt to work.
Megan is the best and she took me grocery shopping on our day off today. We floated down the lazy river at Blizzard Beach this morning as well which was very relaxing.
Becca and I got a pedicure because my feet were nasty from wearing shoes all the time. So that was super great. Then we all came home and Megan joined the four of us for some tv.. VD, Greys and Big Bang... lets just say it was a good night. We ate chicken and frozen grapes and just had a quiet night... which these days doesnt happen very often.
Tomorrow is my monday so I dont have a day off until Wednesday. Should be fun! I am excited to get back to work!

Day 28

Well yesterday was the most interesting day yet! The park closed down at 7pm for Christian youth groups all over the states. We had bands like the Newsboys, Skillet, Sidewalk Prophets and other big names. We listened to the church music through out the entire park. Everyone was clapping and yelling out "Jesus loves you!!!!!!!" and little songs and when I say yelling I mean it was insane! I forgot what it was like to be around these people..... I am glad they believe in something so strong but it was so obnoxious a bunch of parents apologized and said they were ashamed. Don't get me wrong.. It was refreshing to get only happy people for the night but man!!! These people were like.... I cant even describe. haha.... uh oh.. good thing no one saw my name (or understood) what Brigham Young meant on my tag because I felt like I was going to get like beaten to death. It was fun for a while with everyone so excited and singing it's a small world, no not singing, yelling. And screaming I love you and trying to hug all of us working. It was just so obnoxious. I have never seen anything like it even though I used to go to the churches! Everyone was yelling basically 98 percent of the time and the time they weren't they were clapping. hahahahahaha it was an entertaining night... but so annoying.
Good times...

Day 26..

Well.... I am def enjoying my days off here! but I am ready to go back to work already!!!! I LOVE IT!!
Yesterday I went to the Disney Typhoon Lagoon water park with Megan and her roommate Ashley. It was so cool. I swam with sharks and snorkled with sting rays! It was awesome. I was super nervous but I was told if it was Disney would it be dangerous!? hahaha prob not. It was over all the coolest thing ever!
We went on the 5 story drop water slide... wow.... that was basically like a colonic... okay not really but OW! and then we rode a couple of the water roller coasters which was totally sweet! It is amazing what water can do! We floated around the park in the lazy river which was so relaxing for the day off.

When we got home I showered then went to Olive Garden to treat Megan for driving me around everywhere.... THANK YOU MEGAN!!! YOUR AMAZING!! then did some laundry... I haven't had a day off in a super long time so it was getting gross in my room and then we watched a movie... I got Becca hooked on the Big Bang Theory! it is so funny and then I wen to bed around eleven because I was still exhausted.
Today on my second day off I slept in.. I am planning on ironing all my clothes and maybe going to Walmart for some groceries. I don't know yet! I am going to try and find a bank as well haha. I might go to the parks tonight... but I am just waiting to see how I feel.
Love ya!

Day 24

I am in shock on how fast time is flying by! It has already been 24 days which is insane! I guess the days start blurring together. You get up in the morning.. or afternoon I should say.. go to work and close the park and then come home and do it all again the next day. But I sort of love it! Even though it is tiring this is REALLY the only job I have ever liked this much. I am excited to get up and go.
It has been a good week so far. The weekend was pretty insane because it was Labor day but it died down on Monday for sure. People have calmed down as well. Which is great. I have been working for over a week straight! So that means extra money! Today I work from 11:15 am to 10pm.. should be a good day!
Yesterday was great... I went to work and within fifteen minutes I was told it was time for my bump out. I was extremely confused but then all the college program people had a special meeting for an hour and a half. It was fun just to get pumped up for the day! Then when I went back to the computer to get my assignment it told me I was going on my break. So basically it was a pretty relaxed day.

I closed Small World on Monday night. I don't know why but dolls have always freaked me out.. and I was in the position where you have to do the ride through at the end of the night... ALONE! I don't know about you but dolls are weird and Disney has some creepy stories about these things that freak me right out... I just sat in the boat and did not make any eye contact with them.

Last night I was in the position where I got to close Peter Pan and do that ride through. I like it a lot better! The day was super good too. We had a make a wish family... It is always so sad to see the little ones with terminal illness'. It makes me so grateful for life everyday. He was the cutest little guy. All in all it has been a good but long week. I am excited for my day off tomorrow!!! and especially because it is pay day!! WOOT WOOT!
Megan and I are going to be going to Typhoon Lagoon tomorrow which is one of the Disney Water parks.. oh and my friend Megan saw SHAQ!!!! how cool is that!? I hope I get to see someone famous while I am here because everybody has seemed to be seeing the stars... Johnny Depp, Lady Gaga, Tyra and now Shaq.. haha
anyway have a good day!

Day 21

Well yesterday was AWESOME!!! Church went so good! I love testimony meetings! I came home and made dinner for us, which was great as well. I then watched a movie with Becca and we giggled and had some girl talk, so that was fantastic... I went to work around 6:30pm and had the most magical day! or night I should say. I was in a great mood. I worked on Peter Pan for the day.. It probably is my favorite to work on load two because you get to walk on the treadmill and sprinkle pixie dust on the lap bar when it goes down.. It is so funny to watch the kids face.. It is such a magical moment!!! I love it!!  I worked till 2am but the day went by pretty darn fast if you ask me. I took out the trash and accidentally spilled it all over the ground.... oops.. but I swept it up.. so that was fine. I walked down the utilidor to hand in the lost in found. Disney world is big! even underground. This nice man stopped and offered me a ride back to the bus stop. It was so nice so I got there in 5 minutes instead of 25! I got home around 230am so that was fun and I had a really great day.
Today I work from 4:45 to 10:45 so I am excited it's not so late! I feel like I have been working non-stop.. which is true but I am excited for my day off this week.

Day 19

Why hello there! I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off... There is so much to do and so little time! So sorry I haven't written in almost a week. This week has been great! I passed my assessment so I earned my ears and can now operate on the stations all by my self!!! I was freaking out having to write almost a 200 question test to do so. But everything went great...
As soon as I finished my test on Wednesday I went to the computer to get my assignment and they put me at Peter Pan fast pass merge... which is where you get to merge the stand by and fast pass lines together... I did not know people were so vicious wanting to get on rides until now. I really have not seen people so eager to ride around in a boat in the sky through Neverland.... I guess its a big deal.
As I cut off the stand by line to let fast pass people in, one woman clawed me and asked when it was her turn AGAIN... she would not stop digging her nails into my arm...... Sometimes I just want to punch people in the face. As you open up a line you get shoved and pushed aside and it is very hard to get control sometimes... RELAX PEOPLE YOU ARE ON VACATION! you are the ones who chose not to get a fast pass and when the line says there will be a 50 minute wait... we are not lying.
I am making it sound awful!! I really do love it.. it is just a little overwhelming sometimes. The kids definitley make up for it. Talking to the girls who have just come out of the Bibby-bobbity boutique, they are adorable! and waving at them they just laugh and giggle with you. It truly is amazing.. it is just kind of hard to remember those moments when people are swearing at you because we have closed off the fantasyland section for the fireworks (YES PEOPLE IT IS A FALL OUT ZONE FOR THE SHOW-- SPARKS WILL LAND ON YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN) but people just don't get it! I work everyday until next Thursday! they gave me two days off next week!!!!! When I wasn't supposed to have any. so that makes me happy!
The people I work with are so happy and so patient.. I think it is a real blessing to get put on these rides. It is teaching me ALOT of patience. You have to be happy to be on these rides and no matter what circumstance we need to be level headed... it is good for me! I am so glad Disney could hear my smile on my phone interview, because you have to be able to smile when times are tough. I am having people over for Sunday dinner tomorrow after church because I don't work till 8 at night. We are having tacos!!!

This is the first time that I am actually excited to go to work.. minus the 45 minute bus ride.. and hey.. If I am loving this.. its okay that I am getting paid with basically dirt.
Love Laura

Day 13

Well the weekend has seemed to blow by.. literally... it's pretty windy and the weather is a little odd here. Irene has not hurt us at all though! so that was a lucky thing! I got off work Saturday at 2:30am. We were working extra magic hours for the guests in the Disney resorts. The park closed at one but shutting down small world takes like a billion years! It was a fun shift. My trainer Colin is awesome and my fellow trainees made it actually pretty fun! So that's good right? I got up yesterday around 9 after getting home at 3:30am. I was pooped but I didn't want to mess up the schedule. Lindsay and I went to the post office so I could mail a letter and then we went to Denny's for breakfast. I had those Hawaiian pancakes... I am telling you.. everyone needs to try them. They have macadamia nuts in them with pineapple and man they were delicious! It was nice to eat real food instead of rice and ranch! haha... I know no dairy mom but its ranch! We then came home and watched Condorman... I love that movie because of the cheese. We got Lindsay ready to go out with a friend and then I went out myself to meet the wonderful Emmy and Danelle Richards at Hollywood Studios!!! It was awesome to see people from home!! We laughed and I talked both their ears off... so sorry about that guys. We went on the Toy Story ride which was SAWEET!!! and then saw Fantasmic... holy poop on toast... this show is an absolute must see. I was freaking out.. and Emmy was even more.. and this was her second time. It was absolutely fantastic. It reminded me of band when we played the Disney music and basically all I thought was crap I wish Brad could see this because he would freak out like Emmy!! It was great... then I came home and showered and went to bed.
I didn't want to get up today.. but I am thankful I have 3 days off to just relax. I got ready for church and I was excited to see the new ward! the building is so cute with like cherry wood instead of the normal light wood color. I love it!!!!!!
The people are so nice and I met a girl from Raymond Alberta which was cool! She works in Epcot under the Canada section so that was neat. What can I say..... It's a small world...... -.-
I am loving everything so far so that's good! I am just sitting at home making cookies for fun and just chilling.  After these free 3 days I work for ten days strait!!!! so that should be a good paycheck..

Day 11

Well Wednesday Megan and I hit the Magic Kingdom for the day! It was really sweet! We went on all the big ones.. I think my favorite in the park would be space mountain, it is so cool. I then came home and ran to Walmart and picked up some food. Then we all watched Something Borrowed and fell asleep!
Yesterday I was trained on Peter Pan. I actually really liked doing it! The walk through was cool! We put on footies and got to walk around London! I really enjoyed it, even though it broke down during the day. As a boat was heading off to neverland it slammed back into the last one! I mean... it is the oldest ride in the park.. but it freaked me out a bit! So they evacuated and we got to learn that procedure which was helpful. I like the load and unload spot because you get to walk on the conveyer belt which is like the treadmill. It is pretty fantastic! My trainer didn't show up so we got someone else! I feel a lot better about it too... not to be rude but I learned a lot more than Tuesday on small world. We are prepping for our written exams next week to prove we can operate the rides. I always freak out about tests but hopefully this will be okay. After work from 530 to 230 Lindsay and I went to Epcot and had supper then went to hollywood studios and went on the tower of terror and the aerosmith rollercoaster(which was soooooo good btw) and then we went on the new STAR TOURS twice!!!! It was sooo cool and there are 54 combinations of the ride so you usually dont get the same ride twice.. it is epic! Today I work from 6pm to 230am. so I got to sleep in instead of a 345 morning which is nice! I have 3 days off after so I am pumped to go meet the ward and relax in the parks!

Day 8

Well today I revolved around this small world that we live in. I got up in the middle of the night it seemed and got ready for the day. I got on the bus and my eyes were so droopy!! When I got to work I met up with my trainer and two other trainees. We were learning everything about It's a small world today. We learned how to start up the ride and get the boats going. We walked all behind and made sure all the safety procedures were in order. It was REALLY CREEPY considering I hate dolls. It was still dark outside too so that didn't help all that much. We did the ride through and made sure everything was working. We counted the boats and got all set up for the day. When the park opened we went through all the different stations and got used to working alone. It was very intimidating but it actually was fun. I think my favorite part was standing in the tower waving to people and pressing the button to start their ten minute journey. Opening the gates were fun too after I got the hang of it! haha, atleast I didn't hit anyone with the gates. Basically we just went over everything for the ride... I was so tired by lunch. I packed a lunch to save money today so be proud of me! haha. We rode winnie the pooh and walked around Fantasyland so we could get to know our part of the magic kingdom. I saw Rapunzel out today! that was exciting... a lot more than seeing her backstage in jeans and texting. As soon as I got home I changed and went to bed.... I thought I would wake up after maybe an hour when Lindsay got back, but I actually slept for five hours right through a HUGE thunder storm. I was right out. I got more sleep than I did last night though so that was nice. I didn't even hear Lindsay come in which is weird for me, I usually always wake up! apparently I was in a trance of singing dolls or something weird. When I woke up it was 8 and I was in shock. I am still so tired but I was hungry so my beautiful friend Meagan and i went to Chick-fil-a and got some food. It was alright... interesting food haha. Then we came home and watched half of something borrowed but we both started to fall asleep so we decided to leave it till tomorrow. Tomorrow I have a day off so I am excited to wake up when the sun is up!
I really hope hurricane Irene does not hit this weekend. I don't think I am ready for that yet! I am just getting used to the humidity. The park may close early though.. so that would be okay considering I work until 2:30am this weekend.

Day 7- I made it a week!!

Today was my first real day off! It was marvelous to sleep in! Becca (my awesome roommate) and I headed off to Animal kingdom for the day. She works there and loves animals so we were super stoked to go see things. We went on the Kilimanjaro tour right off the bat! The wait time was 50 minutes and it really only took us like 15- that was a great surprise! This is the tour where you are on the big buses like they tour around Africa. It was soooo cool!!!! We saw a whole bunch of animals.. I saw a live alligator for the first time outside so that was freaky! I love the animal kingdom because of the different countries that it has... Africa is a big part so the store all look like they are from Africa.. I am telling you these imagineers are sooooo amazing at paying attention to details. We then walked around and looked at the animals for a bit, we saw where Becca will be working and what her costume looks like. We headed off to Asia to ride Expedition Everest. It was a sweet roller coaster!!!! With the Sasquatches and all that stuff. Again the detail was remarkable. We then walked over to Dino land and rode Dinosaur twice because I think it is my new favorite ride!!! I reminded me of Indiana Jones but cooler because we were in the prehistoric era. It was hilarious to see our faces on the pictures because they took it as this huge one came at us.. we looked like we had just wet ourselves both times! We picked up some lunch and ate in dinoland and then went to the FINDING NEMO MUSICAL!! This is a must see people!!! holy cow.. it was soooo good. We then took the bus home. It is really nice to go to a theme park and not have to do everything in one or two days. I have fiveish months to do everything so I felt relaxed and in no rush. I would highly recommend the animal kingdom. The litttle things make it worth while. and there is also this HUGE tree that is in the center and it has all these carvings.. beautiful!!

Day 6- First day of training.

Today was good! It started off with me waking up late! It is weird to get up so early on a Sunday because usually I am at church. Oh well. I got dressed in my little yodeler outfit and got on the bus at 6:25 am. We learned how to do Fast pass tickets before the park opened so we were able to answer the guests questions and all that jazz. We went into a conference room under Fantasyland for a bit and talked about the different situations we will be facing on the rides we are working on. It was a lot to process. hahaha I totally looked like an idiot too today.. I started collecting fast pass tickets on peter pan at the beginning of the line where the line starts!!! I just did not understand apparently. But I will definitely not make that mistake again. It was more funny than anything, and it was my first day so people were just laughing at me as well. It is so hard to control people as well! Holy man some people are rude.. and no matter what we cannot break that smile. We have to make the magic happen haha. It was so nerve wracking! We went inside for about 3 hours and did training online so that was so much fun.... haaha they were actually pretty funny tutorials. I was laughing the whole time... got a few funny looks. We then got to go on Peter Pan just for the heck of it. It was pretty lame to be honest.. but if I was 5 it would be totally sweet!!!!! Its nice because Fantasyland has no height requirements because they are mostly all kids rides. One less thing to worry about. I found out that not a lot of people get trained on Its a small world because we actually have to get in those fishing jumpsuits and walk through water to do the checks in the morning.  okay this was ridiculous to my ears because it is the one that no one gets and I got it when I loathe it... how does that even work!!!!? but the jumpsuits are why people like it.. they also said that the music will shut off at night and the dolls still move to no music.. talk about creepy....I dont like dolls to begin with.. and the clown ones are freaky! I thought it was bad enough in the first place! haha. If the ride shuts down we have to get in the jump suits and pull the boats through the water. It is an original ride.. so we still do original things in some places. That should be interesting.. haha and I also get to walk in little footies around Peter Pan for checks. Its cool to be behind the scenes.. I have seen nearly every character and who is in them. I have to stop myself from freaking out because they are just my co workers and if you say anything they just look at you like you are a freak.. haha some are stuck on themselves because of their status but most of them are just as great as the princess themselves!!!! It is fantastic! anyway... I am starving..

Day 5- Split offs..

Oh baby! Today was a doozy and a half.. I woke up at 4:45am to catch the bus and get to training. I don't know.. but because of the time change I am still used to Calgary time so that was not so fun.. Oh well I got over it fast. I met my friend Megan (she lives below me, goes to my school, and works in Fantasyland attractions as well) at 5:50 and headed off to Disney University. I am getting used to riding buses everywhere. I am realizing how blessed I am to have a car. It is really weird not to. We are also no where near any food places or restaurants so it is hard to even get groceries.  Oh well. We got to our room and separated into two groups. Our leaders were really fun and upbeat so it didn't seem like the crack of dawn. Or in my case the middle of the freakin night! We headed over to the under ground tunnels again and basically that is where we get everywhere as cast members. It is weird to see Cinderella on her cellphone and Rapunzel with jeans and a sweater. But it is still magical. I have now seen every Disney princess backstage.. because I work in Fantasyland where the princesses are!! So that is fun! Some people ask if it ruins the magic.. but it actually seems to be better because I am apart of it and can make others happy. We took the tunnels to the entrance and because we work in the Magic Kingdom park we need to know all about it. So we talked about EVERYTHING important and everything from history to the future plans. A lot of people think that the Magic Kingdom is Disneyworld. But it is actually only a part of it. Everything from the Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT and the water parks are apart of Walt Disney World. So you have the whole shabang. They are just sections of it even though the Magic Kingdom is bigger than Disneyland in California and has a lot of the same but different rides. We walked everywhere and learned a lot. We got to see what the imagineers do and  we actually got to ride the Haunted Mansion. I love it!! We then separated into our specific locations of the Magic Kingdom and went to have a training session about our specific area. Megan and I met a wonderful lady names Jeanine. She was so energetic and so fun. We did some online training for a little and then got our costumes!!! I look like a yodeler from switzerland.. it is so funny and we all look like tools but I actually love it because it is so comfortable and is way way better looking than 90% of the other cast costumes! We went on Mickeys Philharmagic ride which was soo good by the way.. and then at the end of the day we got our ride assignments. They finally told us that we were going to be on 2 rides for the duration of our time here. I was confused at first because they were so indecisive about what was going to be happening. So we get an inside ride and an outside ride.. So that is good because you can get some sun and then when your warm you can go inside!
I would first like to point out that I have always VERY VERY MUCH not liked It's a small world. I don't know why but that song basically makes me want to stuff my ears with anything that will make the sound stop. I thought applying for this job I probably would not get it. Out of seven parks over 47 miles long of land there is a huge chance that I would not. But of course with my luck... which is really not good apparently... you guessed it..... I am going to be an attractions CP on It's a small world. oh and also Peter Pan which is cool.. but I can't stop thinking about the other.. We may be switching in our area to cover peoples shifts but other than that... I will be hanging out with singing dolls and flying fairies... is it weird that I am still excited!?
I actually talked to a couple of my leaders and I asked what their favorite ride to work on was. All of them said It's a small world... Because you can't really hear the music and you always hear the lovely sound of water flowing which apparently is peaceful. So bring it on Disneyworld... I am ready. But I still need to be trained more.
We have to get black shoes for our costumes... they are butt ugly with the outfit by the way, I decided to get Shape ups to work out my butt while working.. hahhaa they are soooo gross though.. and they want us to wear WHITE socks! hahahhaa can you say tacky?
I know I sound like I am bitter... but I am actually SUPER SUPER SUPER SUPER EXCITED!!!!
Something that is also neat is that I found out Fantasyland is going to be doubling in size and they may ask us to extend our program after we are done.... I will have to see. . but man..
ALSO... our section closes down during the fireworks because we have the castle in our area which is where they go around. We get to be trained with fireworks!! I heard that we get a bonus because of this training... and I just think it will be cool to learn about. We obviously wont be setting them off.. but we will probably be there to help when they do. Now I am sitting at home exhausted. My roommates have all gone out to the parks.... I really want to.. but I still have 5 months here and I have to be up at 4:30am tomorrow to do something like this all over again. I feel good. I am so excited to be trained this week and I hope it isnt as bad as I have it pictured in my mind...

Day 4- Traditions

Well it was a very eventful day actually. Lindsay had her trad session in the morning and I didn't have to catch the bus until 12:45pm. It was nice to sleep in till 9:30! I got dressed up in my professional looking clothes (haha) and went to the Disney University. We were split up in teams and when we got there we checked in and then were separated to our rooms. My table consisted of me, Ashley from downtown Disney, Allison from Animal Kingdom Custodial, Morgan who is friends with Snow White, and for the life of me I cant think of her name.... but she is doing stroller renting! So that's fun. We worked as a team all day. It was cool to see how everyone is really in the same boat no matter what role you are playing here. We learned all about Disney History which was fascinating! And Mickey.... (YES the actual MICKEY MOUSE PEOPLE!) knocked on our door and quizzed us about things we have learned. We then took a bus over to the underground tunnels to take a tour through the Magic Kingdom. I think this was my favorite part of the day because we got to walk around Disney looking so professional with these security- guard- important-people-type ear pieces. Every last one of us. Then our leader would talk to us so we could hear him in our ear bud things. It was so neat. The tunnels are coordinated according to which land your in.. I am so happy that mine are purple and pink. haha it just makes it happy, even if you are underground.We walked through Main Street and through fantasyland as well which was nice because now I know where to go for work! I basically peed when we walked past where Rapunzels house is... then I had to calm down because I am not just a tourist... I WORK with Rapunzel... I work with all of the Princesses now so I have to get used to that! It was truly a magical experience that got me loads more excited if that is even possible!! I then met up with Lindsay and Lance later and we walked around the park. I feel great. I am so blessed that this is actually happening. And I start training in 2 hours... so talk to you later!

Day 3

Today was very relaxing... I pressed the snooze button twice because our Welcome Session didn't start until ten. We walked to the commons (about a ten minute walk, it's a complex for international students) and had the long talk about what is expected of us and what we are going to be doing as college students. It was pretty great. That only went until about 11:40am, so we have had the whole day to just relax and do what we need to do to get ready before the craziness starts tomorrow. We got settled, went to Walmart again and have just been chilling out inside where it's cool. Now we are watching Tangled and Lindsay is making dinner.. I probably should be out there helping her. I will try and post pictures soon!!!
Love Laura

The longest day of my entire life....

Holy crap on toast! Today was ridiculous... ridiculous.. but amazing. Lindsay arrived to the hotel last night around 12:30am so we chatted for a bit and she fell asleep. I was so freaking excited I did not fall asleep till after 3:30... We got up at 6:30am, called the cab, packed our stuff and left. When we arrived to Vista Way apartments around 8, there was no time for breakfast! People have been lined up since 3 this morning.. I was like CRAP! Luckily our taxi dropped us off at the start of the line and the ladies at the front gate told us that we don't need to get in line with all this luggage! They told us to just wait till the line opens and you can go right on in.. Perfect! It was really great. We dropped our luggage off in this little warehouse thing while we continued to check in. We waited in line for it seemed like over an hour. We got name tags and it was just so magical.  We got packets and journals and papers explaining everything I could ever possible imagine to ask.. so that was nice. As we got to the end of the line, the Disney people were taking us in groups of six to explain what was going to happen today. After we filled out some more employee paper work we continued into a small house thing and got our room assignments, our keys, our private housing passes and where we would be staying. It was great because Lindsay and I were a little nervous about not getting to room together.. but everything went so smoothly. We continued through all the little booths collecting everything that is needed and then we got to take a break at the end and have a snack.. which was breakfast. We were waiting for the buses to take us to the casting center where we would be interviewed about out visas and work status, get finger printed, our Disney Visa cards and most importantly get the information about our jobs. As we drove up the building was HUGE and had large letters in front of it that said "Casting." When we walked through the doors the ceiling went up and up. There were golden statues of random Disney characters and we waited in line for a bit. It was in the line where the workers came around and gave us all tags where we would be working. Mine said "Attractions, Magic Kingdom, Fantasyland." I was excited right away! I found out later that It's a small world is in this section. I loathe that song... but it is Disneyworld, and I will be happy doing whatever really. As we u waited we went through a ton of different rooms getting everything ready for work next week. Man I am being brief because SOOO much happened. We came into our apartment and my jaw dropped. This is probably the nicest place I have ever lived in. And it is soooo big for only 4 girls. Lindsay's and my room is off the living room and we have a bathroom to ourselves and a HUGE walk in closet. I figure I will give you a picture tour when everything gets settled and looks more homey. We were done with Disney for the day so we decided to take a trip to Wal-mart to get some things and food. We were obviously starving... So we grabbed subway and picked up some things. I have to say taking our college program bus to get groceries is difficult when there is way too many people! It was terrible really. But worth it. We got home just in the nick of time to make it to our ward meeting thing about church and stuff. There are so many people from the BYU schools here it is really awesome. We took a bus over to the boardwalk and tried to get ice cream... well I didn't because I am not allowed dairy.. and the line up was going to take like 45 minutes so the group decided against it. Well at least Lindsay and I did. The rest were going to wait. We are both so tired we came home and wanted to crash. So we unpacked some things, set our rooms up and here we are.

I would first like to say Holy crap... Florida is hot and I feel like I am in one of those green house things every second I am outside.
Secondly, I am not used to this cold inside hot outside atmosphere... Its just backwards and its weird.
Thirdly... Holy crap when it rains, it pours for like half an hour with the whole sha bang.. thunder, lightning everything..even though it is still 30+ degrees outside and then it clears up and everything is hot again.
Last but not least... the rides I will be working on are Small World... hahaha... Peter Pan, Snow White, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Philharmagic 3D adventure, Prince charming carousel, dumbo, tea cups,  and maybe a show or two. This is where the castle is as well... sooo this is where everything started here.. I am SOOOOO EXCITED!! I can not wait. Tomorrow I have a housing thing for only 2 hours.. Friday I do traditions.. which is where we get all professional and saturday is my first class to start training... holy crap. this should be fun!!

Love Laura

Calgary-Chicago-Orlando

Well yesterday was a pretty interesting day. Mom woke me up about 4:45 am to be at the airport for 5:30am. I was very nervous because considering this internship was paid, and that would mean I am working in the States technically without a visa or green card. Long story short, I am doing it through BYU-Idaho so it is a very complicated situation to explain to an immigration officer, but I promise it is all legal! I was praying so hard that the day actually went smoother than what I was picturing it in my mind. I haven't been feeling great from last weeks Mexico treatment and I just hoped the day went great without any bumps. Luckily when I waited the twenty or so minutes for the custom officer the lady was very nice. She said, "This sounds like so much fun!" I was flabbergasted that she wasn't questioning me more. I looked down at her hand and there was a CTR ring on her finger. I kind of chucked to myself and whispered, "I like your ring!" She continued to say that she hoped I would notice it. So her being LDS really helped the entire situation. I was thankful for that.
Getting through security was pretty easy as well. I had to make my luggage lighter before hand (It was hard to fit five months worth of stuff in two bags.) I had all these clothes stuffed in my carry-on and purse. It was kind of funny. The officer didn't stop me with all my medications or anything. It was smooth sailing! I decided to get in the Starbucks lane and waited for about fifteen minutes because I hadn't eaten breakfast to take my meds. My plane was about to board so I left and got on the plane. As I started walking on I spotted a couple of friends from High School, Jacob Burley, Evan Tatro and Sara LV. They said they were going to Disneyworld as well, I just about peed my pants! I haven't talked to these guys in two years and it was refreshing to know someone. Anyway I got distracted and walked to the very back of the plane when my seat was twenty-three, about the middle. I got a ton of stupid looks considering I had to wait till EVERYONE else got to sit down first. United planes are squishy so I had no room to turn around. Anyway I looked like a total loser, but oh well! I am here! 
I fell asleep right away, and slept until the captain came on and explained how the Dakotas are having some intense thunder storms so we will be going through them. The plane shook for like ten minutes! We were going up and down and side to side and the lights were flickering and it really freaked me out. But I guess it could have been way worse right? At least I got to Chicago safely.
I had a three hour lay over and kind of just sat around, read my book some more, and went on the usual Facebook and talked with Jadyn. I got this veggie wrap because I am not allowed dairy anymore. (My diet from Mexico) and I ate about half so I could take my meds. I was happy that I got to eat, even though it tasted like crap.
I boarded the next plane with no problems! Everything went very smoothly. I arrived in Florida to 30 degree weather and the most humidity I have ever felt in my entire life! haha I felt like I just walked into some sort of sauna. The Airport is sweet here! There is Disney everywhere so automatically I am going to be excited about it. I took the space looking trolley up to get my baggage, which surprisingly did not get lost at the connection so that was awesome! Everything went good!
I got in a Taxi and drove for about twenty minutes to my hotel to stay until I move into the apartment on Wednesday. The hotel wouldn't let me check in because I didn't have enough money on my credit/debit card. Stupid me, I forgot I had put money on my American phone and didn't leave enough for the hotel... hahaha so I had to find a bank. The hotel kept my huge suit cases though so I didn't have to take them with me which was nice. I heard the closest wells fargo bank was back in Orlando, so I was freaking out because I was in the next town over. It was going to be expensive but it had to be done. I was thankful to get a great cab driver. His name was Joseph and was so nice. He told me there was a bank about 5 miles away. I was so thankful he didn't rip me off! We got talking about a lot of things. He was such a nice person. So that worked out fine and I got checked in and everything is great. Traveling is expensive so I am just trying to budget and wait for Lindsay to get here tonight.
There are advertisements everywhere for the new star tours 3D ride here. That makes me excited because I am a total Star Wars junkie and that would be cool to work on it. I am super nervous to open my envelope tomorrow and see what ride I am going to be put on. I may die if it is Its a small world, but everything happens for a reason. I am so excited to start and I hope everything goes as smooth as the trip down here.
Love Laura