Thursday, February 24, 2011

OMG!!!

Everyone in Canterbury I hope you are okay!!!

Okay so I know this is out of order but another earthquake in Christchurch totally demands it!!! So I had an 11 hour shift on Monday and I get home exhausted and find my mum has written on my facebook about the earthquake. America is so slow about getting World News that most people still don't know about it 3 days later!!! Anyway so I was completely panicked because everyone was saying people had died this time and it was way worse than the September earthquake which was aweful and something I know everyone was hoping they would never have to live through again...and now this...

After hearing this news I of course checked in at home to make sure everyone was okay and I now know all my family is and most of my friends but there are still a lot of people that I know who haven't posted on facebook which is my only means of communication with them - so please if you are okay tell us!!!!

On Tuesday when I went to work only a couple of the tourists and 1 of my co-workers had heard, American's are so backward when it comes to World News!! Anyway we have been fielding a lot of questions about the earthquake and if anyone we know was hurt as all of the Kiwi's over here pretty much know someone in or around Chrsitchurch.

My roommate Sam is from Christchurch but all her family is safe and then my other roommate has a few family and friends in Christchurch who are safe too!! but both Sam and I and others from Canterbury have friends who we still haven't heard anything about which is really scary for us!!

Well enough with the depressing stuff maybe I should talk about the most magical place on earth to help take our minds of the horror.
I will continue with what happened today and then write another post soon to fill in the gaps.

Today was my day off and as our class 'Disney Interactive Learning' was on today and had a field trip to Magic Kingdom. I decided to go to Magic Kingdom early and fill in some of the gaps with rides that I hadn't done yet. I was supposed to go with Loren and Sarah but they decided that they wanted to go to Animal Kingdom, so I ended up going with Hadassah who is in my class and who I know from work. We first went to the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor which was actually really good and funny - I will definitely do that again. Then we went to see Rapunzel but apparently we wouldn't get to see her until 2.15pm and it was 11.30am which was a bit of a fail (I think it actually was 12.15pm but the guy told us 2.15pm) so we decided not to wait and went to Philharmagic instead. I love this show so so so much!! We then saw Pinocchio so I got a photo with him. And tthen we went on Peter Pan's Flight which had like a 40 min wait but was really cool!!

After Peter Pan we headed to Liberty Square which was where we had to meet for class but we stil had an hour and a half til we had to meet so we went on the Liberty Ferry around Tom Sawyer Island which was nice and relaxing in the warm sun!!! Then we went to Sleepy Hollow and I tried a funnel Cake cause everyone said they were really good but it just like fried batter and pretty gross actually I only had a few bites. American's have a weird sense of what good food is!!

For our class we went on a scavenger hunt and our team was the first team back so we hope we win the prize! fingers crossed!! I was with Courtney, Amanda and another girl Caitlyn. We got the Liberty Square scavenger hunt which was funny as that is the America themed land and three of our team were not even american. But we did awesome and met some really helpful people. The only issue was when we checked on our photos at the end of the day three of them were missing from the camera so we had to email our teacher and explain/beg that it wouldn't matter.

The funniest thing happend though - while Amanda and Caitlyn went on Haunted Mansion to find answers to some questions on the trivia page Courtney and I had to find some things on the scavenger hunt. One of which was take a photo of two teammates with an icecream cart menu board - as we were by ourselves we had to ask some tourists to take it and they looked at us so strangely, taking a photo (disney pointing) at an ice cream cart menu!!!!!

Fingers crossed we win though!!

Tomorrow I am going to Hollywood Studios with Sarah so will be a fun day will go see Beauty and the Beast finally!!!!

Stay Safe
xoxo
E

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Last days of Training

Okay so after my two luxurious days of exploring the parks I had to head back to work which really sucked. At this stage I was working 8 1/2 hour shifts and my feet, unused to standing on concrete for soooooo long would be killing me after just a few hours!!!  On Tuesday I was training in Rosie's filler where we give the drinks and prepared meals to the guests. We also did a few hours of online training so that was good as we got to sit down. On wednesday we were supposed to train on Register but our trainer never turned up so we were given another trainer and we did an hour on register each and then for the rest of the time we just did other jobs that we had already learned. But we got to finish up learning how to work in Eddie's and it was closed so we didnt have to be all smiley and we could lean on the benches so that was a plus.

Thursday I had my assessment which I passed yay!!! I was supposed to have my walk through which is when a manager asks you questions about working and walks around with you. But we were really busy so didnt get to have my walk through until Saturday which meant I wasnt able to take the earning my ears pin off until Sunday.

Once Sunday came around though I was getting much more used to standing on the concrete for a long time so my feet weren't hurting as much by the end of the day. That was so good cause when ur feet are sore it is sooo uncomfortable and there is nowhere to sit at all!

On Sunday morning I went with Cher and Adina to Epcot. We went on Soaring, Turtle Talk with Crush and The Seas. They dont really like heights so Soaring freaked them out a wee bit. We went to Mexico for lunch and I got Nacho chips, but they were red and black coloured. It was soo weird!!! After that we walked around and just looked at all the pavillions. We saw Snow White and got our photo taken with her. She was quite shocked that we were from 'kingdoms that were so very far away' lol!!! We also saw Aladdin and Jasmine and had a nice chat to Aladdin even though there was a line of little kids behind us waiting to see them!! woops!!! We then headed to the boat that would take us to Hollywood Studios for work, but on the way we saw Marie from Aristocats so Cher and I got a photo with her - she was really soft and snuggly. Once we got to Hollywood Studios I had to work but Cher had another couple of hours until her shift started so she and Adina headed to the park to play for a bit and I headed off to  work. :(

Work on Monday was okay but then I had to close dishes by myself which sucked until my manager came over and was like 'dont you finish now? - you can go' which was awesome cause usually when you are on dishes you have to stay until they are finished. Tuesday was an awesome day. I worked with really nice people and we just talked and sang and danced all day because the park was really quiet.

okay next post will be on my first day of disney class and the animal kingdom and then I am pretty much caught up.

xoxo
E

Friday, February 18, 2011

The Midget Kingdom

On Sunday we had gone to Epcot which stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, and was a dream of Walt Disney's himself this was one of the main reasons why he wanted to create Disney World. Epcot isn't exactly how Walt envisioned it but the park deals a lot with commmunity and the environment. Many of the rides there focus on improving today for tomorrow. But it also contains World Showcase which has 'pavillions' sponsored by several countries from around the world including France, Italy, Germany, Norway, Morrocco, Canada etc.  This is really cool even though I haven't fully explored it yet.

On Monday we headed to Magic Kingdom which is the typical Disney Park that everyone thinks of. It has Cinderella's castle and the Teacups and Dumbo. Loren and I caught the bus pretty early so we would have maximum time at Magic Kingdom once we got to the TTC we had to either catch the monorail or the boat to the entrance. We decided to take the boat and we were so so so excited when we saw the castle. I felt like a little kid it was so awesome.

We made it to the park in time to see the end of the street party parade which was really cool. And then we decided to start at Toontown because its closing in February to make room for a bigger Fantasyland. We took the Railroad around to toontown and lined up to see Mickey and Minnie and then to see Princesses Aurora, Belle and Cinderella. That was cool because the princesses are really funny. Belle asked me if they have Libraries in New Zealand and I told her yes so she said that she and the beast would have to visit. I think it is really funny that she refers to him as the beast!!!

After we visited Minnie's house we explored Fanatasyland which was really cool exploring our childhood again. We went on almost all the rides including the tea cups, the carousel, Dumbo and It's a small world. We also saw Philharmagic! That show is absolutely amazing it is in 3D and explores the music from several disney shows after Donald steals Mickey's conductors stick. The shows here are simply amazing!!!! We saw the Parade and had a really good view, but my camera's memory card filled up just as the parade started. So have to go back to get pics.

We also visted Liberty Square and went on the Haunted Mansion ride which wasn't as good as I expected it to be. Not very scary at all, but the imagineering was excellent. We then caught up with Sarah who had been at work and watched the Country Bears Jamboree and then went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which was a pretty good rollarcoaster though not as good as Everest or Aerosmith. Unfortunately Splash Mountain was closed until the next day so we missed getting to ride that. Then we managaed to meet up with Cody who was supposed to come with us but wanted to go to the mall and said he was goning to catch up with us only it was about 5.30 by the time that happened. The four of us went on Pirates of the Carribbean and Aladdin and explored the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. We then watched the electrical parade which was really good but we were a long way from the front. After that Cody, Loren and Sarah went home but I stayed to watch the Magic, the Memories and You and then Wishes the Magic Kingdom Fireworks show.

OMG when I first said Magic Kingdom Cody and Loren and Sarah thought I said Midget Kingdom so now they always say do you want to go to the Midget Kingdom.

Post again soon

xoxo
E

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Training, Everest and Epcot

Well we are getting so far behind that I am going to put as much into this post as possible. On Thursday I had my first day of training. It was ok but also pretty boring, my roommate Laura and I had the same class so we had to get up really early so we were pretty tired and we had to watch all these online learning modules where we were almost falling asleep. After class I met up with Narelle, Sonia and some of their friends at the Animal Kingdom. We watched Finding Nemo The Musical which was amazing. The props and puppets are awesome and so so colourful and the technologies used are really breathtaking. After that we went on Expedition Everest which is a really cool rollar coaster. Except that through the whole line full of information on Everest, Nepal etc there is no mention at all of Sir Ed which I thought was a bit rude :).

After that we caught the bus home because their was a pirate themed welcome party that night at Patterson Court. We got to meet Pirate Mickey- sooo exciting!! I had my first Cherry cola (which wasn't half bad - just really sweet) and I made some new friends. Most importantly Cody who is a really good friend of ours now. Those of us over 21 decided we would go get a drink at Downtown Disney which was really funnny because there really isnt anywhere to dance at Downtown Disney so we settled for a drink at some restaurant bar. We had a pretty funny night and made lots of new friends on the bus home. lol!!

On Friday I had orientation at Hollywood Studios which was pretty fun. We got shown the park and learned all about its history. Afterwards we got our costumes and mine is hideous - honest and truly!! After that I went to Hollywood Studios with Cody for a couple of hours we did the Hollywood Tower Hotel ride (aka Tower of Terror) whic I was really nervous about but wasnt as bad as I thought it was going to be. Cody was squeezing my knee the whole ride though! lol! Then we went on the Aerosmith Rock 'n Rollarcoaster where you go from 0-60 in sixty seconds.It was really cool, but kind of short. Then we saw Woody and Buzz which was so much fun and went on Muppets 3D which was really funny!!

On Saturday I had training at my workplace which was ok because we moved around heaps and learnt all the different stations that I have to work at - none of them glamourous. But I had a pretty good trainer so it was okay and we got free food while we were training and working at quick food we get free drinks as well. A girl from Australia was training with me so we hung out during break beacuse she was in a different shop with Sunset Ranch Market. I can work at either Rosie's which sells burgers or Eddie's that sells Pizza. That day was pretty long though. But I had Sunday and Monday off which was good.

On Sunday Cody, Courtney, Sarah and I spent the day at Epcpt which was really cool. Epcot is my favourite park!! We went on Soarin' which is the most amazing ride! it is exquisite but it is worth it to wait for a front row. We also went on Spaceship Earth where you ride through the past with extremely realistic looking figures and then create your own future on your little computer screen by answering questions. It is also reallly cool. We went on Mission: Space which is like real Astronaught training and as we went on the orange level instead of green we experienced real g-forces during take-off and landing. It did make me feel queasy for a while though. The funnest ride while we were there though was the Norway ride the Maelstrom it is soo fun!! We also were recruits and helped Kim Possible save Norway at the World Showcase from the bad guys. It is amazing the technology and imagineering that goes into that attraction. We had lunch at USA and then said goodbye to Courtney and explored the World Showcase a bit more. We visited Canada and the UK where we met Kaz and Ruth from England and had Fush and Chups but it wasn't real fish and chips (it wasnt even British fish and chips) which kind of sucked. We also went to France and met Julien and Sandrine who actually worked at Disneyland Paris usually they are cultural representatives over here. They invited me to come see them if I ever got to Disney in Paris.

After that we met up with Loren who had just finished work and rode Soarin again and then rode Test Track which is also an amazing piece of technology. You go through a real test drive for a car testing brakes and heat resistance and speed etc. Then we watched IllumiNations, the fireworks show at Epcot which is the best out of all the fireworks in my opinion.

After IllumiNations we went to the Boardwalk where we had been invited by KAz and Ruth but they were unable to make it so we just ate and then went home but I did meet Markus who I talked to at the Bakery and then we met Riyad on the bus coming home where the funniest thing happened to Cody but we are unable to repeat it cause he is soo embarressed about it.

Tomorrow...The Magic Kingdom!!!

xoxo
E

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Traditions

so it happened again when I had wriiten a long post and the computer screwed up when I went to post it. Guttered!!

Anyway so on Monday we did not do all that much we had to go to this four hour meeting in the morning and be told heaps of stuff about housing and work and social security all the important stuff. And we filled out forms but we also found out where we were working and I am working at Hollywood Studios which is sooo much better than a resort. yay!!!! We also got our housing Ids. When mine first came out it said I was under 21 and so did two of my friends so we had to get new ones so we wouldn't get done for drinking by security. lol!!

Tuesday we didn't do alot just hung out mostly. And got our training schedules for the next few days.
I was in afternoon Traditions class on Wednesday which sucked because after traditions is the first time we can go to the parks and we couldn't because we finished so late.

Traditions was not too bad except for the first half hour we had to watch a really boring video. Yawn!!!
We got to go to Magic Kingdom though which was so so so so much fun!!!! We went in the utilidors and I was so glad I wasn't working at Magic Kingdom cause I thought that I would lost every day. When Cameron (our leader) opened this big door onto Main Street USA (think Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) we all had giant eyes and our mouths were open wide. It was like we were seven years old again. It was awesome. Full of Magic!!

We were only allowed to stay at Magic Kingdom for about 30 mins and then we had to leave. But when we got back we got a visit from the mouse himself. That was cool. Some people got really excited!!! Mickey asked us questions and I got one of them right so he personally gave me a pluto critter. Which is really neat. We also got given our name badges and disney ids. Yay!!!

Since we couldn't go to a park I put on Australia tattoos and went out with Matt and Loren and some other kiwi's and aussies to cicis - which is a all u can eat pizza place which is really cheap like $3.

I kind of felt like I was cheating on my country a wee bit. But at least everyone thought that us idiots were from Oz!! Lol!!

Next post will be on training!

xoxo
E

Arriving at Disney

so I forgot to add in my last update that at night the cast members at pop do the hustle and encourage everyone to join in. So of course we just had too. It was soo funny but we got badges that say "I had a poppin' good doing the hustle' which was very exciting.

On Saturday we decided we wanted to get to Vista Way early so we got all packed up and caught a taxi there at about 10am. When we got to Vista Way - which is one of the four housing complexes that people in the programme can stay at we got given heaps of information and were shown this video about the programme. After that we went to our apartments. My apartment is 2911 and is in the same building as two of the friends that I made at Pop which is really awesome.

We were the first people in our respective apartments and so got a pick of the beds. I picked the room with the ensuite but I was close to picking another really sunny room - I just thought it would be annoying if we wanted to sleep during the day as there are no curtains - just blinds.

My 'roommates' are really nice. I really lucked out with them. Courtney and Sam are from New Zealand and Rachel, Amanda and Laura are from Australia. We get on pretty well with each other though which is good except for the Marmite beats Vegemite arguments and New Zealand is a way better country than Australia rows. Lol!!

But just so you know New Zealand is way more awesome place!!

Once we had moved in we went to visit the others' apartments and then we proceeded to visit Walmart to buy groceries, bedding, pillows and everything in between. There was a mad rush for sheets and comforters (duvets).

That night I just spent a quiet one chatting with my flatmates.

The next day we went back to walmart and at night I went with Sarah, Loren, Jill, Matt and Narelle and Sonia to Downtown Disney. As we didn't have our ID's yet we couldn't get into the park for free. Downtown Disney was amazing though. We had a look through this Dino themed restaurant which has these massive animatronic T-Rex's and a make your own dinosaur - which I totally want to do at some point.

There was also this really cool magic shop and we were treated to some really good magic tricks. The guys that worked there were really nice and we chatted with them for a bit. We probably didnt even visit half of downtown disney while we were there that night.

write more soon

xoxo
E

Monday, February 7, 2011

Walmart

Okay so on the Friday after I arrived the girl I was staying with and some of the other people staying at POP from Aussie wenton a day long shopping excursion, but I decided not to go. So me and another girl Sarah hung out together for the day. We decided to go to Walmart and got a taxi from the hotel to the shop. The taxi driver thought it was pretty weird that we were at Disney but wanted to go to Walmart. When we got there the pedestrian crossing really confused us cause the stripes were really thin and the sign only says 'xing' which I thought was chinese at first. Idiot!!

Walmart is massive, it is like Warehouse, Pak 'n Save, Briscoes and Harvey Normn all rolled into one. Our main mission there was to buy a phone. Mine cost $50 and it is really good. I can pay anywhere from $10 a month depending on how much I want to phone and txt and play on Facebook. Sarah's phone doesn't work properly and always says hello, hello, hello. It is really funny when it happens at really inopportune times.

After Walmart we had lunch back at the hotel and then took a walk around and looked at all the giant Disney figurines that were from all the decades from the 50's to the 90's. It s o funny looking at the records etc from back in the day and all the things in the 90's that are comletely dated now. Lol!!

Later on in the afternoon we met up withthe others and hung out after dinner. Sarah, Loren and I got a cocktail which was pretty good but really expensive. But the others were too young over here lol!!

Well thats my adventures before Disney will write soon about the first couple of days at Disney

xoxo
E

Saturday, February 5, 2011

USA

omg second time my computer crashed  just before I finished this post. AAAARRRRGGGGH!!!!


OK in a nutshell the flight from Auckland to LA was good except for turbulance and I didnt sleep much but I watched Anne of Green Gables and The Switch on my tv screen. I slept on the flights between LA and Orlando. At Orlando it wasnt even cold even though it was really late at night but it was so exciting to catch the magical express to Pop Century which was were I was staying. I was really tired when I finally got to my room so I talked to the person I was sharing with for a few minutes, showered and then was asleep really quickly.

Everything is going really well and I will write soon with more details

PS The roomate trailer was just on and my friend Sarah says she is not going to watch it cause we have roomates here. Lol!!!

xoxo
E