Typhoon Lagoon Fun!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

I only have two more days at Typhoon Lagoon! To end the fun, my coordinators recently threw us, the college kids, a going away party...with authentic Puerto Rican food! Even though there are times I don't like my job and times that I get frustrated (like when communicating to foreign coworkers through the radio), I worked with a wonderful group of people! Everyone was incredibly helpful! Although my time at Typhoon is about to end, I'm looking forward to meeting new people and creating new memories at Magic Kingdom. And plus, I'm excited to see my Egg family in January!!

In addition, my roommate Alexis's family is in town, so I was invited to attend the Boyz II Men concert in Epcot! Not only did we listen to some emotional and joyful music, but we also made a stop at the Florida Local Food & Wine booth! I ate a Florida grass fed beef slider...YUM. It wasn't very "international", but totally worth $3.25! The quest to try food from every country continues! More pictures are under my profile!

Today, Jessica and I carved a pumpkin at work! Every department at Typhoon decorated a pumpkin to compete in the park Halloween contest. Jess and I volunteered to represent the cast members in guest services! We spent 2.5 hours, on the clock and making money, carving our pumpkin! Can you tell what it is? It's Disney related!

It's the dancing broom from Fantasia, with Mickey ears! Dad, you were our inspiration for the pumpkin ears!

Two other things!
1) MY FAMILY COMES IN 3 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2) If you haven't already done so, check out Katy Perry's new album, Prism! AMAZING!

Fun with work friends!

Monday, October 21, 2013

Life at Disney has continued to be full of fun! The other night, I met some work friends at Epcot! I usually just hang out with my friends in guest services, but that night we also hung out with food and beverage cast members. Here's a picture of my FRIEND Brandon. He lives in Florida, so he's going to show me around! Also, this is my last week at Typhoon Lagoon! Every cast member is deployed to another park, so we are all going to be separated! However, all of the college program kids in guest services are transferred to Magic Kingdom...together! So I start at the BIG park on Halloween! It's exciting because I'll be around all the REAL magic for Christmas, but it's also terrifying! I'm nervous! It's scary starting over, but I'll get comfortable once I get there and get in the groove!

I also recently went to the mall! It was actually like normal life, a night outside the Disney bubble. Kevin, Jessica, Miguel, and I had a relaxing night walking around the Florida Mall. We had Pumpkin Spice Brûlée tea from Teavana! Not as good as pumpkin spice coffee from Dunks, but it was still good!  We also made a stop at M&M World! Check out all the pictures under my profile!

And to celebrate our last week at Typhoon, the work crew and I had a park filled day! We spent the morning at Magic Kingdom, where we met Mickey, the boss! Typhoon Lagoon is known for doing the "hang loose" hand sign, so we included Mickey on the fun! We also went to Typhoon, as guests, in the afternoon! I got to swim with sharks, stingrays, and fish that looked like Dori from Finding Nemo. The Shark Reef is definitely a cool attraction at the water park, so check it out if you're visiting! And to finish out the night, we hit Epcot! I bought a souvenir, a lucky owl from Japan. They had all different colors, but I chose white! A white owl will bring me good luck and happiness, so we'll see if it works! I'm excited about my purchase!

Did anyone notice that I'm wearing my Broncos jersey? Supporting Denver all the way from Florida!

People say that Disney is the happiest place on earth? Yeah, not when it's 90 degrees with 1000% humidity. That was today's weather. NOT FUN. People at work are telling me that this is irregularly hot weather for October, so I don't think I'll go a day without sweating while I'm here!

Best News of the Day: MY FAMILY COMES IN 5 DAYS!!!!!!!! I couldn't be more excited!

Polynesian Fireworks

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

 

I recently enjoyed a night at Disney's Polynesian Resort! My roommate, Ashley, my friend, Allison, and I watched fireworks on the beach. The Polynesian Resort is one of the Magic Kingdom Resorts, so it is right across the water from the park. It was a relaxing night watching the Halloween fireworks (from Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party), wearing our Halloween Mickey ears, eating dull whip, and laying on the beach! Good news, we finally need light jackets at night! The weather has dropped to the 70s and I LOVE IT. I'm finally not sweating my brains out. Something funny also happened the other day...one of my friends saw a Floridian wearing a parka and scarf, while smoking a cigarette! I'm not so sure this is winter jacket weather, but the Floridians think so! It's winter for them! Make sure you check out firework pictures under my profile. 

Today, I went to Magic Kingdom with Jessica! I got to meet Peter Pan, Wendy, and the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella. I hope she makes all my wishes come true! I also bought a slice of pumpkin fudge...to go with my Dunkin' Donuts pumpkin coffee! Still OBSESSED. 

In other news, I think our apartment needs more Halloween decorations! Another funny story! Shelby, my roommate, and I were in the Dollar Store today and Shelby said, "Instead of buying Halloween decorations, we could stick our roommate outside". We are both scared of her (she will remain unnamed). Anyway, Halloween is fast approaching and I still need a costume! 

Mini Golf

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Not only am I good at mini golf in Colorado, but I also dominate in Florida! My work friends and I went to Winter Summerland Miniature Golf, the courses owned by Disney! There are two seperate courses, one covered in snow and one along the beach...just like Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon!  We did the Winter course! And I won, obviously. It was a great time! I even got to play in the snow...fake snow, from a snow machine. I miss REAL snow! So yes, I still hate the HOT weather here. NOTHING here feels like Fall! Check out all the pics!

We also had Saturday empanada night! Again, Alexis showed me around the kitchen…which I loved! It was really cool to learn how to make empanadas; however, I don’t think I’ll do it again. With all the folding, stuffing, and fork pinching, my hands were about to fall off! Saturday empanada night could have fed an army! We made beef empanadas for dinner and mango/cream cheese empanadas for dessert! Don’t they look good? In the picture: Allison, Steph, Ashley, Alexis, and me!

Also, I visited Typhoon Lagoon as a guest! Isn't it weird that I'm swimming in a water park in the middle of October? Or weird that I'm still dying of heat/humidity in the middle of October? It's not right. But I do work in paradise! I definitely have a better view here than of the retirement housing across the street from The Egg!

Aside from the fun, I spent the morning in Urgent Care. I have strep throat. There's only one person (or is it a thing?) to blame...
Actually, there are two things to blame: 1) half of my apartment is overcome by disease (Alexis jokes that we are all going to die of Sepsis, haha), or 2) I'm around A LOT of people 24/7.


Either way, I'm now on the road to recovery!

MY FAMILY COMES IN 13 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Inspection #1

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

A lot has happened in Florida recently! My work schedule changed, so I had Sunday and Monday off! On Sunday, my roommate, Ashley, her work friend, Chad, and I went to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom! It was a park filled day. We watched the Beauty and the Beast show and rode many rides in Hollywood Studios! It was just like any other park day; however, check out this picture from Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. Ashley is eating a sandwich. How creative is that for an embarrassing ride picture! I was too busy laughing at her to pull out my sandwich too.

On Monday, we went to Blizzard Beach and Epcot! It was a rainy day in Florida, so the water park was EMPTY! We didn't have to wait in any ride lines and basically had the whole park to ourselves! To much of your surprise, I'd rather visit a water park than work at one. I've mentioned it before, but I get transferred to Magic Kingdom at the end of the month! I'm ready for some change!

Anyway, we ended the night in Epcot! My work friends, Jessica and Kevin, and I had sushi in Japan! It was delicious, but really made me miss getting sushi with my Dad. Sugar Ray was also performing in Epcot last night! Not only did we explore a new culture, but we enjoyed some peaceful music! Nights like these are good reminders as to why this program is worth it!

Can you tell I'm a little homesick? Although this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I've learned more than expected, I do miss normal life. I feel very disconnected from reality. Working for such a giant company has made me realize that I wouldn't EVER want to go into business. Some things aren't always as they appear. And even though there are times that I wonder why I'm here, there are many MORE times that are encouraging and positive to keep me going! MY FAMILY COMES IN 19 DAYS!

To finish off this post, do you remember how I previously mentioned apartment inspections? We survived inspection #1...BARELY. Seriously, the inspectors told us that we almost failed. Mine and Ashley's room and Alexis's room passed with no problems! The other room; however, was not so lucky. They said the floors were disgusting, they said the toilet looked/smelled like it hadn't been flushed/cleaned in months, they found hair all over the bathroom floor (and asked if my roommate is bald...hilarious!), they said the bathroom was overall unsanitary, and they found ants above the door. Would you like to live in this? And I didn't even mention the worst things! If you're curious about those things, you can call or text me. But you should be warned...you will probably be traumatized. So since I live in these conditions (which is NOT my choice, I'm grossed out too), I've been sick for the past week. Sore throats are no fun! Anyway, I hope inspection #2 doesn't uncover any more bugs or diseases in apartment 1605!

So yes, I miss how clean home is.

In final news, Katy Perry and John Mayor visited Disneyland the other day! Why didn't they visit Disney World? But Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey were in Magic Kingdom tonight! Maybe I'll see a celebrity while I'm here!

The Kitchen Sink

Saturday, October 5, 2013

My cooking skills are improving! Mom sent me the recipe for a California/Florida quiche. It was GOOD. It will definitely be made again! My roommates even liked it! I'm still really enjoying my time in the kitchen!
















WE TRIED THE KITCHEN SINK CHALLENGE. If you haven't heard of the kitchen sink, check out the show Man vs. Food. It's a GIANT ice cream served in a miniature kitchen sink! It had chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, coffee, and mint chocolate chip ice cream, plus every topping they had (which included one whole can of whipped cream!). Even though we all went in on empty stomaches, we were defeated. In this situation, FOOD won. For those of you up for the challenge, it's at a restaurant called Beaches and Cream in the Yacht and Beach Club Resort! More pictures are posted under my profile.

To go along with all the fun, my work friends and I went bowling at Splitsville, the bowling alley in Downtown Disney. A great night with some great people! And plus, I won one of the games! I'm looking forward to more fun nights with the group!

Month #2!

Thursday, October 3, 2013

We've officially made it to October! And guess what! My family comes to Florida in October!!!! I couldn't be more excited. October 26th cannot come fast enough!

But until then, I'm still enjoying my CRAZY Disney experiences. Yesterday, I went to Hollywood Studios and checked some things off my Disney bucket list! We rode rides, met many characters, and watched some great shows! I even learned that there's a muppet named Rizzo! And I saw Herbie, the bug they used in the movies! For those of you who are curious, my bug is still going! No recent visits to the shop! And I may as well say it, my bug is better looking than Herbie! Also after spending the day in Hollywood, I definitely need to rewatch some classic Disney movies (and see the ones I haven't seen, like Monsters University!). And as some of you may know, a new Disney movie is coming out on Thanksgiving Day. It's called "Frozen". I've seen some of the animation work done for it...I think it's going to be a 'must see'! As always, don't forget to look at all the pictures under my profile!

To go along with all this BIG news, I've been living in Florida for 2 months! Here's a list of SOME things I've learned after month #2:

1. Taking 'me' time is SO needed...it's incredibly hard to escape people in Disney World!
2. I've become obsessed with Dunkin' Donuts and Earl of Sandwich. It could be a problem.
3. A lot of women don't care about what they look like in a swimsuit. Some women who wear bikinis should not be wearing bikinis. A thong does NOT work as swimsuit bottoms. And as much as everyone hates going up in clothing size, sometimes it's needed so you don't flash the world.
4. About 60% of women think it's unnecessary to wash their hands after going to the bathroom in a water park. GROSS! Always wash your hands, people! Just a few of the things I've observed while working at a water park!
5. I feel detached from reality. I'm stuck in a Disney bubble! It feels like life didn't exist before this, like a dream.
6. 'At First Sight' by Nicholas Sparks is a good book! I'd recommend it.
7. Katy Perry never disappoints. 3 new GREAT songs! If you don't know what these songs are, you need to go to iTunes immediately (after reading the rest of my post, of course).
8. I finally learned how to get home from visiting the parks! Only took 2 months to figure out the Disney highway system!
9. I feel genuinely happy for the first time in about a year. I feel like my old self again, which is such an accomplishment!! Some of you readers may not understand why I'm saying this, but I'll never again let a relationship change the person I am or my happiness. That's too important to lose and it sets me apart from everyone else. And frankly, I wasted WAY too much time being unhappy with someone who doesn't deserve me at my best. Although it took a while to realize everything, I'm really proud of myself for getting to this point! It just took a move to Florida to put all the pieces into place!
10. Based off #9, I have a new love for life and for adventure!
11. EVERYTHING at Disney is overpriced. Good thing my discount off merchandize gets raised to 40% (from 20%) soon!
12. People from the East coast handle conflicts A LOT different than people from the West. From this, I realize that sometimes I'm too nice.
13. I already know that I want to travel the world, but after experiencing the Food & Wine Festival, I really really really want to travel!
14. When meeting characters, you have to be in line 15 minutes before they arrive or you'll be waiting FOREVER to get a picture.
15. Sometimes I wonder if I live with girls or with pigs...

Some of these things are very personal, but I feel that it's important to share exactly how much I've grown and learned over these past 2 months! This experience has been a lot harder than I originally thought, but it's definitely been worth it! More excitement and learning to come!