4 parks, 3 days... GO!

Last week I had some really super awesome visitors from home, Lauren and Stephanie, come down and visit me and my friend, Erin, who is also on program. All 4 of us were on the same RA staff together so I was excited to have a little piece of my Whitewater life visit for a few days. We planned for their visit for a couple weeks and literally had to sit down and figure out exactly how we were going to hit all the parks in the short amount of time they were visiting. CHALLENGED ACCEPTED. 

They flew in on Wednesday night, where we surprised them with their very own Mickey ears, which they loved, or at least that's what they told us. :) We decided to start the vacation off right and go to Magic Kingdom the following day. Erin luckily got some fast passes for us and we pretty much walked onto every ride throughout the day. We knew Stephanie really wanted to see the princesses so we especially had to spend some time taking pictures with them. They, of course, were great and I am happy we got the chance to see all 4 of them. It was great to spend time with friends from home and show them all the cool new things Magic Kingdom has to offer. The park closed early for the halloween party so we went over to Downtown Disney for dinner and hung out there for a little while. It was a really longgg but extremely fun day.

The next day we went over to Hollywood Studios and spent a significant amount of the day riding rides, seeing characters and walking back and forth between attractions because the lines were long. Still not sure why it was so busy that day but we made it work. Unfortunately we couldn't make it to Fantasmic because Lauren really super duper wanted to ride Test Track at EPCOT so we took the resort boat over there around 7. Since Food & Wine Festival is still going on the park was insanely busy on the World Showcase side so we power walked over to the rides. It was still 60 minutes long but when we finally got on it was so worth it. I hadn't been on it since they changed it either and I would wait in that line again.. and I don't even like lines anymore! Another long and tiring day was over but it was still so fun to be with Whitewater friends!

Animal Kingdom was next.. I hadn't been there yet since I started my program so I was very excited. We went of Expedition Everest, watched the Lion King show, became Wilderness Explorers and met Russell and Dug. I am so impressed with the park and the commitment everyone has to the animals and the environment. Hopefully some of the things they are doing there will carry over into the other parks. I can't wait to go back when my family starts coming down. I NEED to spend some more time there. 

Overall, it was a really great to spend some time with them at the parks catching up and reminiscing. So sad they couldn't just move in with me forever.

"Taste your way around the world!"

The other day I had the chance to spend some time with friends at Epcot's International Food & Wine Festival. The festival includes more than 25 countries for the annual event including Mexico, South Korea, Belgium, Poland, Brazil and Australia to name a few. Before you start, Epcot Cast Members give each person a 'passport' to get stamped after purchasing and trying something from each country.

During the festival you can also sign up for cooking classes, have the chance to meet some chefs, and "Eat to the Beat", where some famous bands play at specific times of day. Yesterday supposedly Sugar Ray played.. pretty sure people only know one song by them but it was a huge deal according to Facebook. The park is also offering some really great merchandise right now including some Chef Mickey ears and wine glass shaped sunglasses. Totally want some!

We walked around the entire World Showcase twice before actually deciding what we wanted to eat. I personally chose Italy, Greece and Japan. It was delicioussss and of course now I want to try each country and get every stamp.. if only I had a money tree!

Can't wait to go back!

Weeks 6 & 7

Another two weeks down and once again they have been eventful! Lifeguard life is going well and I have become a professional at applying sun screen. Last week we did win against Custodial at flag football! I, however, played against Recreation because we had more players but it was still fun to get to know people from other lines of business and my fellow Caribbean Beach crew. I threw two touchdowns which is a big step up from the last time I played in high school.. i.e.. when i broke my leg.  It was fun. We are hoping to play sand volleyball as our next activity which I am not going to complain about that.

I finally made it to the beach! Jess's fiance's family lives three hours from Orlando, so we drove there and stayed with them for a few days. We went to Bowman's Beach in Sanibel. It was a wonderful day!

Last week I also started volunteering at Give Kids The World. They offer an all expenses paid, week long trip to Florida for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. First of all we got a free, awesome t-shirt. Secondly.. I love it there. It is amazing to see the passion that the volunteers and employees have for inspiring hope for the guests that come there. Each week they celebrate different holidays. I worked the Christmas celebration in the Santa Claus room, where we had the chance to meet him. It was amazing to see the happiness the event brought to the families. I'm going to try my hardest to go every week! 

My friend Erin, who was an RA with me at Whitewater and is also on program here, went to Epcot the other day to check out Food and Wine Festival. They added a lot of extra countries and offer food & drinks from them. You can pick up a "passport" and get it stamped as you taste your way around the world. The portions are smaller and less expensive as well. It was verrrryy busy but it was interesting to see all the choices. I plan on going back a few times before it ends in November!

This week Jess and I made a plan to go to Magic Kingdom and take pictures with as many characters as we could before she had to go to work. We succeeded! The new Princess Hall opened and it is amazing on the inside. There are two sides where you can meet four princesses. Having never actually seen a princess in the park, I was really super excited to go there. I was not disappointed! We also met some others throughout the park as well. We plan on going to each park to hunt down characters over the next few weeks. I think it's probably my favorite part aside from Wishes at Magic Kingdom now. So happy I have to opportunity to do everything I've ever wanted at Walt Disney World. :)

Disney recently released a new application for Smartphones called "My Disney Experience" allows you to link everything about your Disney vacation to it. It also shows you exactly what time and where everything is at each park including characters. It is extremely helpful and I recommend everyone download and check it out! 

I have some good news about my quest for a Professional Internship as well! I applied a few days ago after slowly updating my resume and received an email yesterday morning about setting up a phone interview. It's tomorrow at 1:00 pm! I also set up a meeting with my guest service manager and asked her a few questions about her journey through the company. She was extremely helpful and is going to help me set up some meetings with other people in the company in the marketing department, etc. So thankful for her help! I will keep everyone updated as it progresses. 

That's all for now!

P.S. SOOOOO excited for all the people who are coming in the next few months. Cannot wait for everyone to visit.