It's been nearly two weeks since I had my last shift at Disney and I figured one last blog post was in order.I learned a lot of things at Disney. It's a place I now call home, where I met people that I now call my family. Here's a bunch of random things I learned/discovered.

1. MK east side managers are the greatest.
2. Custodial isn't about cleaning it's about talking to guests.
3. In the Magic Kingdom whatever custodial side you're from is the best and the only one you'd dream of working in.
4. You work so often and for so long your coworkers are like family and the people you know you can turn to for ANYTHING.
5. but your pan and broom will always be your number one! Guard them with your life- people will try to steal them.
6. Custodians (on average) know the park better than most other cast members.
7. Know people in every park so they can make a "magical moment" and get you on whatever ride you want through the fast pass line.
8. Custodial break rooms are known as "little haiti" (especially MK east side pooh side) so we've taken over the attractions/merch/F&B hall way but it just means we've had the oppurtunity to meet soo many more people.
9. It gets scary how easily you can tell the difference between puke, spilled food, gum, blood etc.
10. People do ask stupid questions like where's Disney World, where's the castle (while standing in front of it), is this space mountain (pointing to the castle), is this area closed for the parade ( after reading a sign that says preparing for WISHES!), can we go over there (into the new fantasyland construction zone) etc.
11. Post Disney Depression is a real condition that many think they are immune to but sooner or later it gets everyone!

So I realized I kind of dissappeared but my last two weeks went by wayyyy to fast and I barely had time to check my email let along blog.
After my last post my dad came down and I spent 3 days with him before I had to work. It was nice to get to spend some time with him and as always it was nice to roam around the parks.
While he was down I had my graduation which was cool because I got free food, prizes and of course I finally earned my ears!!!!

This is my favourite picture of my entire 3 months.

My final week included working for 7 days in a row, hanging out at parks and with friends as much as possible, attempting to pack, avoiding packing and trying to figure out the best way to get a green card.

I also had planned on taking several pictures of my apartment and posting them so everyone could have an idea of where I lived but sadly I got to busy to do that so a picture of the outside of my first apartment will have to do.




Overall I loved my program and I've already applied to work at Disney again. I will probably have another blog to document that adventure but I'll give that to you when I start it/reveal it. Although I've applied for another ICP program I may also look into working on a Disney cruise or see what other adventures I can have. I'm still young so still have many adventures and oppurtunities ahead of me but either way I'm excited for the possibility of workin for the mouse again.

So the last couple days have been jam packed with fun an adventure. Tuesday I did some shopping for a couple souvenirs for myself as well as a couple family members and friends. I also went to Magic Kingdom and down to the Emporium where I had planned on buying most of the stuff however, they didn't have the one thing I really had hoped to get which was the LARGE Eeyore plush. However, they did have a couple of the shot glasses I wanted and a couple of the mugs. I still have to go back to the Hundred Acre Goods in Fantasyland to get my Eeyore. I've been eyeing it up since I got here so I cannot not get it.
Wednesday I was suppose to call off and go to the beach with my friends Rick and Gavin but we couldn't get a hold of Gavin so Rick and I gave up and I went to work. Work wasn't tooo bad I had Storybook for 6 hours total that night which was HORRID because storybook you're just constantly doing a trash run as it's one of the busiest icecream places and for half of my shift Friars Nook was open so two food and beverage locations plus a nut cart, popcorn cart and an ice cream cart makes it SUPER busy. But I managed to walk away alive so I'm happy.
Thursday I went to work and had Storybook for 5 hours total which I was not impresses with.
Friday morning I went to see Harry Potter at 10:45 with my friend Kelsey. I absolutely LOVED it. I now feel like a part of if not all of my childhood is over as I have nothing from that time to look forward to. All the movies and books are done. Harry is grown up which would imply that I am too. However I still have almost 2 weeks left here in Disney so at least for the next two weeks I'll still be a kid. Friday night I worked until 3 it was a 9.5 hour shift which means OVERTIME!!!!!

After work 7 of us went to Melbourne beach to watch the sunrise and swim in the ocean. The beach is about 1.5hrs away but it was welllll worth it. After we went to Dennys and then back home. By the time I got home it was 11ish and I worked at 2 so I got a half hour "nap", showered and went to work an 11hr shift. I was ABSOLUTELY exhausted as I had been up since early Friday morning. I was suppose to go to a going away party for a guy I know in the next building after work last night but when I got home I layed down for a second and then passed right out clothes on and all.

Last night was a really good night at work though because I ran into Mickey Mouse and we got to talking and he said he'd wave to me if I came to watch the Electric Parade last night so I told him where I was going to stand and then I ran over for the parade and we waved back and forth and blew kisses and drew hearts he even asked me to call him. For a good 2 minutes he was waving at JUST ME! And everyone in the crowd knew it. It was a really magical moment for me. Some of the guests looked at me weird but I explained that me and my boss are really tight. It just goes to show that the magic of Disney will never wear off. I've seen Mickey a million times but because he was waving to me and just me it truly made me feel really special and made me soooo happy.

Today I got my last schedule for the summer. I'm in fantasyland for 3 days then I end in restrooms. I'm going to ask to switch out my restrooms with streets though because I don't want to end my program in restrooms I know i'll want to be streets for my last shift. I'd prefer ending in Fantasyland but really I'd take Tomorrowland.

My dad is coming down today. I work from 10pm-4am so I'm going to meet him up bright and early at the hotel so that if he wants he can park hop (I have his ticket) while I nap or he can just lounge by the pool while I get more sleep. It stinks that he'll have to wait to hang with me at the parks but such is life I have the next 3 days off so we'll have plenty of time together.

Hopefully I'll be able to post within the week maybe put up some pics of the beach and such.

Today I met Peter Pan four times! Yes that's right four times! It was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I went to Magic Kingdom with my firend Emily who's in attractions in Fan Land. She is also a Peter Pan FANATIC! The first time we didn't spend much time with him just kinda randomly went to see him. Then we got pixie dust and saw him again in the same set (characters do 20 on 20 off). It was really fun and we were joking around with him and spent like 5-10 mins with him it was pretty cool. Then we headed off did some rides and got even MORE pixie dust (yes I am still covered even after working and taking a shower and changing 3 times). We decided to go back and harass Peter Pan some more and do some fun poses and such with him. He made us honorary lost boys which was amazing. We then asked him to do a pose he normally doesn't do with people and he couldn't think of one off the bat so he asked us to come back at 510 when he was done all his sets for the day. We agreed and even pinky promised. So 510 roles around and we are last in line to see him AGAIN (the 4th time) and we play follow the leader and jump around over the sword and the stone and take a picture with him there. Peter visits the sword and the stone on occasion but to actually get a picture with him there is rare and super cool. We then went backstage to calm down from all the excitement and Peter saw us laughed/had a huge smiled winked and then dissappeared. It truly was one of the most amazing character interactions I have EVER had in my entire life.
Below are some pictures.







EMily and I also went on Dumbo, Peter Pan, PhillharMagic, Tea Cups and Pooh all without a wait. Being a cast member sure has its benefits sometimes especially when you're playing at the park you work in.

So I'm getting slightly homesick. I love it here but I'm really looking forward to going home. 3 weeks and at this time I'll be on a plane ride home. I haven't done anything tooo interesting lately.
A couple work friends and I attempted to the kitchen sink which still makes me sick to think about. It was an epic fail but at least we tried. For those of you who dont know the kitchen sink is 12 scoops of ice cream, a can of whip cream, a bunch of brownies, some angel food cake, oreos, random other topppings and a bunch of sauces. All of that goes in a big bowl that looks like a kitchen sink. It was good at first but then after awhile it was just too much sugar.
I've been busy working and it's been busy raining a lot which makes my job easier. I got to see 4th of July fireworks twice!!! On the 3rd then the 4th. They were AMAZING!!!!! They were perimeter fireworks meaning there was 20+ firework set off zones. It was soooo cool and I'm so glad I got to experience being at MK on the 4th. It was a little crazy off and on but really it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be.
But overall I've made some great friends and done some amazing things and I'm really considering coming back next year. But we'll take one step at a time one summer at a time gotta finish this summer first.

Universally Speaking

So today I betrayed the Walt Disney company and I went to Universal Islands of Adventure. Man was it ever fun! I went with Alex (my roommate), Rick and his roomie Kevin. Right off the bat we went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and went on the Forbidden Journey. Now I was really worried that I wasn't going to be able to ride any rides since I'm on the bigger side of life and I know Universal doesn't cater much to the larger crowd. But I got on! First they take you through the castle and you get to see everything and it's sooo neat. then you get on the ride it was a tight squeeze but definitaly worth it! Our line was probably a good 45 minutes but because Alex hadn't met Rick or Kevin before and I hadn't met Kevin before we were able to talk a lot get to know each other and just overall have a good time.
Then we went to the wand shop which was really cool. I didn't buy a wand but was definitaly tempted to. Throughout the day we also went on two of the water rides- Popeye and Jurassic Park the third water ride Dudley was closed. I went on the Hulk which is probably my second favourite coaster of all time now! It's amazing I'm soooo glad I talked myself onto going on it. We also went on Dueling Dragons.
Originally when we got in line for it (only a 10min wait) it was sunny and nice out. When we got on the ride it was POURING rain it was soo intense and amazing in the pouring rain. The best part was we had just managed to get dry from the water rides. We went to go on it again because it was soooo much fun but they had to shut it down temporarily due to the weather. We then decided to head home as it was 4 and none of us had really gotten much sleep especially Rick who didn't get any.
Today was definitaly one of the best days I've had while down here. It may of poured rain but I went on coaster I never thought I'd ever go on and overall just had a good time with some good people.
Now I'm ready to pass out and watch some T.V

But just to give you a small update like always work is fun and I love it! I had a good day yesterday as well on my other day off it rained most of the day but I treated myself to a movie and went to Mk, DTD, Contemporary, Port Orleans. So a few errands and some fun as I pin traded along the way and managed to get some character pictures.

So my mum and sister were down. It was pretty great. Ate lots and lots and lots of food - pretty sure I gained back half the weight I lost while down here. But it was nice not to have to pay for my own food or anything for an entire week! Sometimes it's the small things in life like not paying for food that can make you happy.
We had several different character dinners and such and went to the hoop-di-do musical revue which was a super corny but cute musical dinner show.
I spent everyday but thursday with them. Thursday I was exhausted from work so I slept at the hotel while they went to Blizzard Beach and Downtown. I also had to work while they were down which was exhausting for me because I work until the weeeee hours of the morning and then they wanted to make the most of their days and I wanted to see them so we'd head out first thing in the morning or I'd head over to their hotel first thing in the morning. However, no day was more exhausting then yesterday. Sunday I got home at 330/4ish (in the morning) then left my house at 7am. Met up with them so we could head over to Magic Kingdom and then I literally RAN all the way down mainstreet to where repunzel resides so that Mandie could meet Repunzel. I knew if she didn't her trip wouldn't be complete. We ended up being the fourth or so family in line which is rather impressive because numerous other people RUN in to get over there.
Honestly the week went by waaaaaaaaaaaay to fast and I can barely remember most of it. But here are some pics







OH! And the best part was eating at Cinderella's Royal Table which is inside the castle. We were eating during the firework spectacular- wishes. It was sooo amazing. The food was delicious and we got to see all the princesses and got swords and wands and it was just overall sooooooo magical. By far the best part of mum and Mandie's vacation.