If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It

It has been WAY too long since I’ve updated, oops!

Today is February 29th, which means it’s One More Disney Day! Disneyland (and Disney World) are open from 6 AM today (February 29th) until 6 AM tomorrow (March 1st). They handed out special ear hats to the first 2,000 guests that entered the park this morning (they could start lining up at 10 PM LAST night), and I guess it was just pure insanity last night. I work 4 PM-12 AM, and will then be spending 12 AM-6 AM in the park with all my buddies :) Oh, and Modern Family is shooting at the park today!!

Last night, because we’re CP’s and awesome, we were able to ride Space Mountain after hours (once with the lights off, and once with the lights ON). Yes, you heard me correctly, we were able to ride Space Mountain with the lights on. How crazy is that? It was so strange, but so awesome!

On Monday, a group of about 25 of us woke up bright and early (4 AM) and headed to The Price Is Right!! It was a ridiculously long day, but April was chosen to “COME ON DOWN”!! I can’t divulge too much information because it hasn’t aired yet (it’ll air March 9th), but it was a fantastic experience. 

Next week, I’m taking a tour of Walt’s apartment above the fire station on Main Street. Kate assures me that she’ll start crying. This college program allows us to do some crazy things, but I think this will be the most awe-inspiring event. 

Classes have started! I’m taking Leadership Speaker Series and essentially we just sit there for three hours listening to someone important from Disney talk about the company, their job, leadership qualities, etc. Everyone and their brother skipped class today because it’s One More Disney Day, but I’m sure class was still great :)

I can’t believe it’s already nearly March! In one week, we will have officially been here for 2 months! This means we only have a short 169 days until check-out. It has gone by SO fast and I can only imagine how fast the next 5 months will fly by. 

Time for a bullet point list of things that have happened recently:

-Kate and I saw Wilmer Valderrama, Mandy Moore, Minka Kelly, and Topher Grace at Pooh’s Corner. It was magical.
-Kate and I should never be allowed into vintage/antique shops. Ever.
-Kate and I are going to start making our own nail polish. And when I open my own boutique one day, we shall sell it there!
-It’s totally normal to stay up until 4 or 5 AM playing beer pong and being dumb.
-Sitting on my bathroom floor at 1 AM is also perfectly normal.
-Gas prices are already ridiculous. I can only imagine where they’ll be once summer comes.
-Kate, McKenzy, and I are insane.
-Gretchen is always confused. Gretchen can also lift couches.
-I’ve been to Disneyland (as a guest) 14 times since I’ve been here. That’s twice a week.
-I’ve been sucked into the world of pin trading. Someone help me.
-The people I work with are fantastic. They make the long days totally worth it.

My mother has made is known that it has been about 2 weeks since I’ve updated!

What has even happened in the past two weeks? Oh goodness. 

My cousin came to visit! We went to the parks, Huntington, Burbank, and the mall! It was a pretty glorious time, but I’m sure I said “I’m going to burn this place (Southern California) down” AT LEAST 50 times while she was here. Oops! She witnessed me pumping my own gas (it’s really a milestone in my life…), we went on the swinging carts of Mickey’s Fun Wheel (and I DIDN’T cry), we met Mickey, we had amazing pasta/cheesecake/other food, and it was just a great time!

Work has been swell! I had my 30-45 day check-in yesterday and I passed, YAY! Essentially, you sit down with your home team lead and you two discuss how you’re performing and what not. I’m awesome, so we had no problems. I also received a “SafeD Starts With Me” card yesterday because one of my leads witnessed me fixing a safety concern! Had a few crazy guests in the past week, but it’s okay!

What else? Hm. I adore the people I know here. We have way too much fun doing the dumbest things! I think I need to do another list of random facts about the last two weeks!

Random facts of the week:
-Lauryn loves giraffes.
-Kate and I are twins.
-Tagalongs are called Peanut Butter Patties in Southern California. It’s not okay.
-McKenzy wants Five Guys in her mouth. If you’re unaware, Five Guys is a burger place :)
-Lauryn and Sarah are “petty gangsta” (watch this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=EjwaIGthvLA They’re at 1:10 :))
-Two new Tumblr’s have been created (one for funny shit my roommate says, and one for funny shit we all say).
-There was a dog in our room today doing pest inspections. McKenzy and I are getting closer to having our OWN dog. 
-I saw Tom Cruise and Suri!
-I really suck at Midway Mania and Astro Blasters.
-Living in Southern California for the past month has made me appreciate the Pacific Northwest SO MUCH more.
-I miss Dutch Bros and VooDoo like crazy.
-I’m not too bad at beer pong.
-Kate, Kevin, and I have problems with going to bed at a reasonable time when we’re together.

Greeting y’all!

It’s been a solid week since I’ve updated, ah! Let’s recap, shall we?

I’ve been working (without a trainer)!! If you don’t already know, I work at Emporium on Main Street in Disneyland! It’s a pretty great store and is usually pretty busy (well, anything is busy compared to Hallmark in Sherwood, amiright?!) Once my 120 probationary period is up, I’m free to pick up shifts all over the parks and I cannot wait! Emporium can be fun, but I’m looking forward to being able to work at smaller stores with different stories!

Aside from work, it has been a fun week! I headed to California Adventure on the 17th with Kate and we met up with Merissa and Kevin and pretty much walked onto all the attractions because it was completely dead. I FINALLY went on Midway Mania and I am terrible at it, and my arm hurt for a while! If you’ve known me long enough, you know that I DESPISE ferris wheels. They’re terrifying. Side story: last time I was at California Adventure was in 2001 and my parents essentially forced me onto the SWINGING cart on the ferris wheel. I cried. The entire time. Well, I’m now 21 and I decided to be a badass and get on the ferris wheel (NOT the swinging cart, not yet). It was a wee terrifying, but I didn’t cry! :) We also did Tower of Terror, Screamin’, Soarin’, etc… All in all it was a glorious day!

What else has happened? Hmm. Kate and I went to Company D yesterday. If you don’t know, Company D is accessible only to cast members (and their guests), and they sell Disney merchandise at 50-75% off. It’s pretty great. I didn’t go TOO crazy, but I did buy 5 Vinylmation figures. Oops. They’re just too precious!

I think it has really started to hit me that I work at Disneyland. I was standing by the door at work the other day and I heard Julie Andrews’ voice welcoming the fireworks and thought to myself, “Woah”. Just woah. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life (aside from walking out onto Main Street at 1:45 AM and seeing the park completely dead). I doubt it’ll ever fully sink in while I’m here, but I’m enjoying every minute of it :)

Random facts of the week:
-Outback doesn’t open until 3 PM on Saturdays.
-McKenzy is a badass.
-Goofy’s Flight School at DCA is the most insane attraction ever.
-Never forget where you park in the Mickey and Friends parking garage. Second largest parking structure in the world? Yes.
-Some people living in the building don’t understand that we’re college kids and are often awake at 2-3 AM making some noise. Sorry for party rockin’.
-I have a Vinylmation problem and I blame BK.
-I get seriously happy when guests call me by name at work. 
-Wendy’s isn’t open at 2:30, no matter WHAT Jackie says.
-BK has termed me at least 15 times.
-You can’t get a veggie burger, like, anywhere in Anaheim.
-McKenzy and I are freakin’ great. We need a video camera on us at all times in the car.