Day 42

Sitting in the airport.



On Thursday I hopped on a plane and made my way back to New York. I spent all of Friday chaotically getting ready for my Darling's Surprise Party and when he came home early, ran upstairs and tried to hide the mess I had been making while baking cookies in the kitchen. Luckily he just thought it was his housemate attempting to bake cookies. He was completely surprised and it couldn't have been better.

Spent that evening catching up with all the wonderful people who came to the party (let's face it, there wouldn't have been a party without them, so thank you all very much!). Saturday, Darling and I joined my parents at my grandparents house for a wonderful barbeque, then proceeded to see my sister's show at SUNY Ulster. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was amazing and I highly recommend it to any and all who can see it. We left the show with Lani and Kevin, and went to the diner for a quick bite to eat.

And now it is Sunday and I'm in the airport waiting for my flight. It's been a whirlwind of a weekend, but it's been a great one.

It's strange coming home after 6 weeks to see how unchanged some things are. Other things, however, have changed a great deal. My bedroom is still mine, but it's been rearranged and there's something about it that makes it feel slightly odd. Olivia will always be the my younger sister, and yet she's grown up so much. I've watched it happen over the years, yet somehow in the past six weeks I missed something. Be it her birthday, or her losing her braces, I don't know. She's definitely more of a woman now tho. She's beautiful.

I try not to talk too much about my personal life on this blog. It's intended to be here for people as an informational source on life working at Disney and living in Orlando, however I can't help but spend just a few moments addressing my wonderful relationship with Darling.

We weren't certain how we would fare under the pressures of a long distance relationship. We approached the situation more than cautiously. The first week was definitely hardest. Acclimating to the new environment and trying to realize that I wouldn't be seeing him in person for some time. But every nite we skype. On my days off we IM during the day. I'll text him when I'm bored at work, and every now and then he sends me just a little "Hi :)." I couldn't stand not seeing him for another 6 weeks tho, not when he's been this wonderful to me. So I decided to come down this weekend and while I was here, host a surprise party for him in honour of his 25th birthday. I'm glad he enjoyed it, and I'm so glad that I came. Now it's only 6 weeks until we see each other once again, and knowing that we've already gone that long once makes it just that much easier. So thank you Darling, for everything you've done. You've been a comfort to me even when you weren't here to hold me and kiss me good nite.

Point is, for those of you coming who are wondering how on earth you're going to be able to do the long distance relationship, this is my advice- Relax. Don't panic and worry yourselves out of a relationship before you've even tried it. It's do-able if both people are willing to make it work. And remember, just be happy :) . It helps more than you'd think.

It's strange to me how Orlando seems like a second home already. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to live there. But it's somewhere I feel comfortable now. The people, the environment, the atmosphere. It's in my blood now.

My schedule has become less chaotic to me now. This past week and this week coming have similar shifts for three to four days in a row.

Jesse will pick me up from the airport and I'm hoping we'll go out and have some bonding time ^_^

I love my Orlando family! See you all in a few hours!

Day 32

I've officially been here for a month! Yay!

July 4th was amazing. We went to The Boardwalk and were able to see both Hollywood Studios and Epcot fireworks. The 5 minute tag they had added to Epcot's Illuminations was brilliant. Though we couldn't hear the accompanying soundtrack and narration it was still a marvelous site.



I had my first dining experience. On the following day, July 5th, I was immediately pulled from my spare position to work at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary. The first set I was practically shaking I was so nervous. In addition to it being my first dining experience, it was additionally my frist time working dining with a tour group taking up half a room! Everyone wanted individual photographs and autographs, and they were all taking their time about it. Fortunately there weren't loud or rambunctious, there just a great deal of people in bright green shirts taking up the first room! The captain did compliment me at the end of the shift tho, saying that I had done particularly well for my first time. I was very happy and relieved to hear it.

Since my shift didn't end till 3 and the dining shift ended around 1, when I returned to base I helped out the costuming people. First sorting Goofy's gloves, and some of the bloomers for one of the parades. Then I got to help one of the costumers, David, put together Tiana's gown. Oh, My, Goodness. It is sooooo gorgeous. And HEAVY! There are three layers to the initial skirt and then she has to wear a sort of dress on TOP of that. There were, I believe, 4 or 5 hoops in her skirt, each significantly larger than the last. (After we had put together the skirt I went under it and felt like I was a lamp and her dress the lamp shade.)



I've heard many of my fellow character performers say that face characters can be kind of snobby and stuck up, because they feel they are above us. I like to think that this isn't the case and it's simply that we perceive them that way. However I couldn't help that notice that when I was in costuming with David, goofing around, when an Ariel came to get her dress she gave us this kind of... look. However, determinded to kill the stereotype, I complimented her on her bag, which happened to have many Disney autographs on it, all in different colour markers. She immediately smiled and was pleasant. So, perhaps they only act this way because they think we don't like them. I don't know, I have hope yet.



Originally posted at Win Blog .

Going on this thought, I came to the realization that perhaps other cast members felt this way about ALL character performers, Face and Fur. I've been trying to say hi and smile at people as I pass them backstage and noticed that some seem surprised, others smile back, and others just look at me like I'm crazy, if they look at all. I hope we don't all come off as snobby :( .

Last nite we went out to celebrate Jesse's birthday and our one month anniversary as official Disney Cast Members. We previewed Taste of Africa at Animal Kingdom, which was a blast! I highly recommend it to anyone who will be visiting Disney World. Essentially, following Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade, vendors come out and offer all sorts of food, music, attractions, and more. There was a live band, and a WONDERFUL MC/DJ. It was staggering to see how many people work for Disney (It was a cast member exclusive event). Especially considering I know many people who had no idea what it was and many others who didn't come.





After that we went to the Cheesecake Factory, which was delicious and then to a bar called The Peacock Room. I didn't realize you could still smoke in bars in Florida, so was surprised by the smell of cigarette smoke upon entering. Oh well. I'm doing laundry today.

Yesterday, before all this partying and celebration I had work with Stitch in Tomorrowland. I hope I get the shift again because it was a lot of fun. My attendants, Kurt, who looked like a Ken Doll, Erin, and Anna, were such fun. They made it a very enjoyable day. The Performance Supervisor, or something like that, came and evaluated all of us. She said that she liked how I personalized my time with each of the guests, adjusting to them. It was nice to know that my efforts are noticed. She did note that I needed to put more energy into my character portrayal. I completely agreed with her and we had a nice discussion about sleeping and eating, two things I have yet to get on a regular schedule and am therefore feeling a little worn and less energetic than usual. She completely understood, which is good because I feared I sounded like I was making excuses. She was very sweet and I'm glad that she enjoyed what I was doing on set.

Well I think that's all for now. I'm going food shopping today, woot.

Have a magical day!