First Two Weeks

First of all I apologise if this is a really really long post, it's my fault for not updating things sooner!

Secondly, this may be kind of rushed and all crammed together in a list but I'll tidy it up later.

So, I've been in America for over two weeks. Are you all missing me yet? I managed to get to the airport on time, leave before my mother started blubbering and meet up with the other guys flying from Manchester. From there it was pretty much smooth sailing (including managing to get my food from Spoons before I'd even got back to my table! Service or what?) The flight from Gatwick to Orlando was pretty long and boring but luckily the fine people of British Airways managed to successfully transfer my bags to the right flight. The same could not be said of the Mears shuttles. They left half of the bags behind and brought them on the next coach because there were so many ICPs. I was so tired but I was really excited when we got to Vista Way. Because it was so late, we pretty much just got our room assignments and were sent on our way. I was all the way over in Chatham Square so I had to take another shuttle over there. It's a two bedroom apartment. I share with another British girl named Hara and the other room is home to two Mexican girls, so maybe I'll be able to practice my Spanish rather than randomly lapsing into it when pissed off!

The second day was kinda uneventful. I met about a million people and we watched a bunch of boring presentations and signed a billion forms. I was really unprepared for them to take my photo for my housing ID so I look like poo on it. Plus they've squished it and made it kinda orange so it is pretty much impossible to look good on it. I was also checked for the Disney look which I passed with flying colours, well at least until the brown fades and the bleach blond shows through!


The third day was miles better. I had my first ever Wendy's burger, which was square and really god, and I discovered they serve Dr Pepper! Probably more slightly important than that, I found out where I was going to be working (Pop Century Resort) and I went on my first ever WalMart trip. That place is bloody huge! And everything they sell only ever comes in huge portions. The Sunny D is about my height! Becca, Alexa and I decided to go on a trip to visit each of our hotels. It as the first time I'd been through the WDW gates so I was bouncing up and down in my seat when I saw the Mickey sign. We went to Becca's resort first, Port Orleans. There were (fake) gators playing music everywhere and a huge dragon slide into the pool, it was really nice. It was so big, we only had time to look at hers.


The next day was Traditions class so out came the black trousers and shirt (boo). We got our name badges and Disney IDs which means I can now get into the parks for free! Jealous? Traditions was basically the history of Disney, the future of the company and a load of safety videos; not terribly exciting but my team did win the competition to name as many Disney characters as you can in 30 seconds (33!) so I won a little plastic Minnie Mouse. After Traditions I met up with Becca, Mandy and Laura for our first outing to one of the parks. Of course we went to the Magic Kingdom first. We walked in together holding hands in a very Wizard of Oz type manner. I must admit I squealed when I finally saw the castle and it wasn't a cake like last time. Amazing! We didn't have long so we went on all the little rides around Tomorrowland and ate at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe (my favourite when I was little!). We secured a place on the bridge to watch Wishes (the fireworks show, see the video in my obsession post!). I was the only one who hadn't seen it and I absolutely loved it. It was so amazing. I think all of us cried at one part or another. It was totally amazing.


Some people started work the next day, I was lucky enough to have three days of to enjoy the parks! The next day I went to my favourite park, Hollywood Studios with Hara, Jon and Becca. Becca and I bought mouse ears (mine are pirate princess ears, hers are Steamboat Willie ears) to wear all day. Tower of Terror is as awesome as I remember it being and I think I pretty much want to buy everything in the Star Wars shop. We watched the Block Party Bash parade where the Pixar characters dance in the streets. They always drag little kids up to join in but the one's near us were miserable so they chose me and Brooke to go up as we were joining in with the Macarena anyway!


The next day I ventured out on my own and managed to get lost, ended up walking from the Boardwalk to Epcot, wandered around the countries for a little while and took the monorail over to Magic Kingdom. Monorails should be the standard mode of transportation everywhere, I love them, plus you get to sing the song from The Simpsons every time you ride.


On the Saturday I went to Magic Kingdom again with Laura and Kirsty. We did loads more rides than last time. Kirsty and I were put on the big screen at the Monster's Inc laugh floor. I rode Splash Mountain although I really didn't want to. I hate log flumes but at least now I've done it once I really don't need to for the rest of the six months. Laura and I went to Downtown Disney afterwards so I could top up my phone. The greeter in the World of Disney called Laura a Princess and me a pirate. I sulked until he called me a pirate princess!!


My first day of work was basically a glorified tour of the resort with a safety course on how to pick up boxes. I also got my costume. It is so gross. Black and grey gingham secretary costume with shoulder pads; need I say more? After that I went to Epcot for Illuminations with Becca and Laura. I decided I love the new version of Spaceship Earth (mainly because it takes your photo and makes you part of the ride), Mission Space pissed me off due to the annoying teenage Americans shoving in front of us but illuminations was good. We also managed to make Britain more authentic by sitting on the curb with drinks. A definite improvement!


I had Monday off so I went with Alexa, JJ McCrae and Becca to Animal Kingdom. It was the first time Alexa and I had been there so we all got the first timer buttons. We didn't see everything but it looks cool. I got absolutely drenched on the Kali River Rapids (I will never wear denim there again!), we saw some bats which are so cute and I have a new favourite WDW restaurant, Restaurant-a-saurus! It basically serves the exact same menu as Cosmic Rays but it's like a huge trailer park complete with lawn chairs and plastic flamingos! The yokel in me was loving it! That night we went to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party at the Magic Kingdom. We had to pay extra to get in but it was well worth it. Unfortunately they ran out of tickets so Laura couldn't come with us :( but the four of us went in the most impromptu fancy dress ever. I was the devil, Becca and Jonathan were vampires and Alexa was Minnie Mouse. A strange party mix and we did get some stares on the monorail but it was worth it. We all got Trick-or-Treat bags (which Becca and I pretty much filled). Riding on Big Thunder Mountain in the dark was awesome. I screamed when I saw Woody and Bullseye, and Prince Charming (who was well fit) asked me if I'd always been a little devil! *Blush* The parade was okay, not much different to the normal parade (except Alexa swore at a Lost Boy who made her jump), the fireworks were awesome, even more spectacular than Wishes, and we got to meet the villains who aren't normally around. It was so worth it, even though we got evil looks on the bus ride home from the cast members who had been working when we'd clearly been trick-or-treating!

I was absolutely shattered for my first class at Disney University. All I remember is it was four days of fake checking people inand out of hotels, and I was also told you have to triple the amount of training to do concierge like me so I'll have to go back there in a few weeks for more classes. On the second day of Disney uni we went to Buffao Wild Wings (B Dubs to the local yokels). At first I wasn't uber impressed with the place (sports bar full of people watching baseball), but then the karaoke started! Woop! I luuuurve karaoke! A group of us Brits sang a HSM song and then Don't Stop Me Now. We rocked the place I'm sure!

In the middle of all the Disney uni stuff there was a trip to UCF, and it's just a pretty as in the photos. Unfortunately the only person I spoke to there was rather rude and totally unhelpful so I haven't been given a very good impression of the place so far. I guess I'll try to reserve judgement until classes start on Saturday.

I also got to see Fantasmic, the night time show at the studios. It was so cool and the music just makes me feel happy. Plus Meg was on the boat and they never have characters from Hercules about!

One of the days at Disney uni we couldn't use our canteen so we had to go to Magic Kingdom. I was ridonculously excited to see the utilidoors but I wish I hadn't bothered. Nightmares everywhere! Ariel walking around in a shirt, Sleeping Beaty on the bus, Millificent, the mitress of all evil wearing jeans...I could go on but it's too traumatic. I just know I will ever ever go through the utilidoors again. I'd rather go hungry.

After graduating from Disney uni I had the day off. I went to the premium outlets with Alexa (Tommy Hillfiger jeans for $6! Cheaper than Primark!), then we chilled by the pool and went to see iluminations. I also made her go on Maelstrom, the Norway ride because I love it, Alexa seemed to enjoy it too. Jonathan managed to get us priority viewing for illuminations. It was good not having to look between people's heads to see the globe and the fireworks. Even though it's my least favourite of the night time shows, it is still amazing.

My first actual day at work I was shadowing a runner named Chuck, he spoke like a yokel which made me happy. It was so fun, we got to drive around in golf carts and blow up balloons and all the fun little things around the resort. I wish I could drive just so I could train for that job.

Yesterday I was actually at the front desk and I did my first ever check-in. It was a lovely British family from Manchester so I wasn't as nervous as I would have been if they were scary Americans. The jobs ok but I can see me getting bored in a week or two. Hopefully concierge will be more exciting, if not I am so going to ask for a new role.

I've got work again today, apparently I'm in charge all day which is scary. Nobody should leave me in charge of $2000! Tomorrow I have to be on a bus at 6am to get my social security number which kinda sucks but at least I have the rest of the day off. I plan on napping and then going to see the midnight showing of HSM3! YAY! I still can't believe I'm actually here!

"The real summer has just begun" - HSM 2

SORRY!!!

Sorry guys, I've been in America 2 weeks and I haven't updated this thing yet. I'm going to try and find the computer area tomorrow morning before my first real day of work (eek) and give a proper account of what I've been up to. This is just a quick note in case I can't find them to let you know I haven't forgotten you all, and to give you a sneaky peek of what's to come:

• Dancing with the guys from A Bug's Life
• Singing HSM and Queen at karaoke
• Crying at Wishes
• Screaming at Simba (in a scared way, not a crazed fan way)
• Being traumatised by Disney secrets
• Mingling with villains at the Hallowe'en party

I also need to letyou all know I'm going to the midnight showing of HSM3!! Woot woot!

And I promise I will post a proper update soon!

"After all, Captain Hook never breaks a promise" - Peter Pan