Star Wars weekends

Yesterday was an intresting day. It was planed that I would go to Matt's house at 10 to say goodbye. He ended up having to say goodbye to someone on their way to work so I met him at the bus stop. We got to his place and he finished organizing stuff and moved everything out of his room. We sat down for a few min waiting for his roommate to get back to vista with his rental car. Once his roommate arrived Matt moved his stuff from his apartment and returned his key and housing id. He got his stuff to outside vista and that's when I said goodbye. I walked back to my apartment trying my hardest not to break down. When I got back to my place Kim was awake and she told me her plan for the day. I decided to tag along as I couldn't just sit at home and do nothing. We were on the bus to mk costuming when I got a message from Carey (not my roommate). She asked if I wanted to join her at Epcot/HS if I get up to it or needs a distraction. I decided to join her but it would take awhile as I was on my way to mk. I went to costuming and then to property control. I found this really awesome hook boat with a snow globe inside. There was also this other Aladdin music thing I was going to get untill I realized I didn't have my canadaian bank card on me. I got on a bus to the ttc and then on a bus to Epcot. When I met up with Carrie we walked over to Hollywood studios. We went on tower of terror and then met up with baby Nate. We looked in darth's mall. I didn't have any money on me so I couldn't get anything. We went and got lunch from pizza planet and then walked around a bit more. We then met up with Daniel from food and bev. He was on a mission to meet characters but as it was raining they where not out. We went and watched the padewon family chalange that turned out to be a lot cooler then I expected. Muffy from that's so raven was te host. Apparently she is the voice of a character on the clone wars but who really cares about that right? After Daniel and Nathan went to meet characters and I sat with Carey as she finished her cupcake she bought. They where in line for darth mall ( or how ever you spell it). We reconigned him but that's about it. We went on the great movie  ride (the best thing in that park). We met up with them after and we walked around a bit more before finding a spot for the fireworks. They had a small stage show where they brought out the characters and then they had the fire works. They where surprisingly good, I was not expecting that. They had fireworks going off to the songs from the Star Wars movies. After those where over Carey and I where exhausted so we went home and Daniel and baby Nate went to see a movie. I got home and ate some food then passed out. All day I was too busy to process that Matt was actually gone. For the past few days and even more so yesterday I kept thinking about things that happened over the past 7 months. I realized that any exciting thing to happen so far Matt has been there. Starlight splash, training, when I became a trainer and so much more. Honestly when Amanda said that when the person you are closest too goes home you tap out, I didn't believe her. Now I kinda do, I also understand why Kristal became super busy when Jeremy left. I know this won't last long but there's a part of me that just wats to go home. I am already thinking about my last few days here and how I will pack up all my stuff. Before I was thinking 5 months wasn't that much time. Now it seems like forever. I keep thinking that Matt and I became close 5 months ago. It went by so fast but it feels like forever. I am currently on a bus to MK, still haven't found my Canadian bank card so this is the next best thing to emotional shopping. Also better for my bank account. I will be there for a few hours untill I am emotionally stable again.

This is also something that you don't fully understand unless you go through it. People can say everything to prepare you  for this momen, it won't do anything. It's just something else to add to the list of things you don't expect untill it happens. So much that happens on this program no one understand unless they have too done this program. People back home may try and userstand but they won't get it. That's okay, that's why the people you work with become your support system because they are goig through it with you. 

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Updated bucket list

Before I got down here I made my bucket list. I wrote down everything I really wanted to do. It didn't seem long enough so I googled ideas on what to do. The problem is I haven't really started and I don't have that much time left. I have decided to go through my list and take out the things I'm okay with not doing. Leaving only the ones that are non negotiable.

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Here we go again

This week we had to say goodbye to so many Canadians. Three in the attraction, two from merch and two from food and bev. It has been a rough few weeks slowly as the time went on it sunk in that they are leaving. With every situation there are people who I was okay with leaving and some who I never wanted to leave. For me that would be Erica from merch and Matt from attractions. Erica was like merch and attractions mom. She is the responsible one with the voice of reason at all times. Over the past few months I have spent more time with her at games I am going to miss her so much. The biggest loss is Matt. Matt quickly became my best friend down here and he taught me so much. Coming down here you learn so much about life and yourself. The people you work with quickly become your new family and you create a bond that you can't create anywhere else and you can never explain to anyone. Other people who have left before this week I was friends with but I wasn't that close to them. Matt leaving has been the hardest thing I have had to go through yet and is the beginning of many difficult goodbyes. Yesterday was their last day of work, I spent a few hours at the attraction and quickly it became time for their last spiels. I walked over to greeter and then went into the pre show to wait for the first spiel to start. Thats when I saw them, some of the merchies who where there for Erica and Julie's last also came. Vicky went first and there where so many people, then by the time that Matt had his last spiel more managers had shown up. The year is full of ups and downs but they truly got the send off they deserved. After they where done work we did the boot toss and then put the rest of their costumes in cast services and thats when we learned how hard it would be to travel in a large group. We had two groups and we where planing to join into one group eventually. That kinda happened but the original attraction group got split into two. We went and saw captain EO and then went on spaceship earth. After that we got on the monorail to MK. We got into the main gates and decided on a plan. We had to take the boat over and that was okay with me, I like it better anyway. Matt suggested that we all get either I'm celebrating buttons or family reunion buttons. He decided on family reunion buttons so Alex went off and got 20 buttons. That was when the rest of us went and got food and sat down for a bit. We then went on pirates and we had our own boat. We tried to take a selfie and as soon as matt had pressed the button the cast member said "No flash photography". Of course the flash went off and we all jokingly made a big deal and "got mad" at Matt. We where going to go on haunted mansion but  Erica's one request was carousel of progress and she couldn't stay after the fireworks. So we started to head over there, because it takes forever for a large group to get sorted out by the time that we where able to get on the ride we wouldn't have time to do both wishes/celebrate the magic and the ride. We came up with a plan and so we went to watch wishes Right after we went on the carousel and thats always a good time. We then walked out of the park as the electrical parade was going on and we saw half of it and the last float we saw was the peter pan float. We saw peter and that was the best way to end the night. We walked to the contemporary and then ran to catch the bus. Over all it was an amazing day, an emotional roller coaster for sure but it was a great last day. Six more weeks until Alison leaves, three months for Kristal and 5 months until mine. It will be hard adjusting to life here without the five of them but hopefully things will get almost back to normal quickly.



Have a magical day!

Sam

Starlight splash and Alan Parsons Live project

I know I let it happen again. Its been almost  a month since I last updated. I am doing it now though and this month will have to be broken into three parts.

Starting with starlight splash. Seeing as all the housing events are for the CP's this one was their big end of program event. Disney interational programs buys out typhoon lagoon for a night and they host this big party. They have food, a DJ and fireworks. I normally have Wednesdays off but that day I had to work. It worked out for the best because I ended up going with people instead of alone hoping to find someone. It was so much fun. I heard about the event before and so many people say it's a program highlight. I agree it was one of the best nights so far, I hardly ever spend time with canadians. It was  nice to just hang out and spend time with them. We spent most of the time in the wave pool and we took some amazing photos and videos.


A few weeks ago i had my first am gard shift. I was dreading this as soon as I saw it come up on my schedule. All I knew about it was from when Matt would be forced to go. He said he hated it so much, so it didn't look too promising to me at all. I got there and got a tour of the stage. That was the coolest thing as I love backstage stuff in the entertainment business. I was on the tech both, that means that I had to hold a rope and keep the centre isle clear. It sucked but it will be a lot worse in the summer when it gets really hot. It wasn't that bad, I was done at 8:45 instead of 9:15 so that was a plus.





Have a magical day!

Sam                                                        

Family visit

Finally updating about something that happened almost tree weeks ago! My family (plus pyper) came to visit me!

This was a bitter sweet thing to happen. I was excited to show my family my new home here at Disney but them being here also marked the half way point of my program. I didn't know what the plan was for them being here untill it was too late for me to book any additional days off. So I only had my three regular days off when they where here. 

On the Friday I took the bus back to vista and quickly made food and packed some things. Then my dad picked me up from outside of vista. He put into the gps the airport and then learned that it's only 20 min's away from vista. My uncle told him it would take 40 min. We had so much time to kill before their flight got in so we went for a bit of a drive. I showed him around the other three complexes. Even though it was dark and you couldn't really see anything it gave him a general over view of the complexes. We then went to the airport. Even though I have only flown into there twice (technically three but I'm not counting 2007) I knew the lay out of the place. We got Starbucks and then waited for them. Once we found them we walked to the car. Thankfully my dad drove so we didn't have to wait for luggage. We got in the car and then where on our way to bob and Julie's. As soon as we got into the car I was already tired of pyper and Ali. They haven't bothered me in so long I guess they just needed it out of their system. When we finally got to bob and Julie's, Bon had already gone to bed so Julie showed us where stuff was and then we went to bed. The next day we got up I made lunch for myself and then dad drove me to work. It took ten min longer then usuall because of how far away they are but I still made it on time. It was just a regular day of work and I can't remeber anything special happening. After work I was in such a bad mood from doing lums. I got in the car and pyper and Ali where too happy and that didn't help. Normally I go home on a crowded bus full of people who just worked all day so they hardly talk. We got back to bob and Julie's and I ate some food while talking to them about the program and my job. Sunday was the same routine as the day before other then I didn't go back to the house. Instead I went to Alex from merch her apartemt for an Easter/goodbye dinner for Alex (two Alex's). 

Monday I had the day off and so we went to Hollywood studios. This is where the frustration began. This is the place where I learned that they really don't care about Disney. We did almost every thing there is to do at Hollywood studios. We didn't go on one mans dream though. That's something I do almost every time I am there. I chose not to do it because I didn't want them (pyper and Ali) to try and ruin it but complaining. So we didn't do it. They don't seem to mind. They probally don't even care. I took them to everything I wanted to other then fantasmic. Fantasmic is this really cool firework show with characters and they project thigs onto water. I asked them many times and they didn't have care if they saw it or not. So I didn't take them to it. At this point I was done with then for the day so they dropped me off at the board walk. I had two hours to kill before our kitchen sink reservation. I took the long way and walked to japan and got some food. I then went back and as I was passing the beach club they had a movie playing in the beach. I went and sat down and watched monsters inc for a bit before finding Erica. When it was time we walked over to the resturant and on the way their found both Alex's and Carolyn. We continued the walk over and when we got there Matt was waiting for us. After finishing the kitchen sink we all got on a bus and went home. 

Tuesday we went to magic kingdom. We got fast passes for the more popular rides then we went on space mountain. We went on almost all of the majour attractions. I even made them go on a few of my favourites. We didn't go on carousel of progress or country bear jamboree like I had planed but they wouldn't of liked it anyway. By the time we did everything we wanted the electrical parade was about it start. Again they didn't care about seeing that or wishes. Celebrate the magic is my favourite thing about the night at MK and we didn't see that either.  They just wanted to go home. So we did, the last of enthusiasm about it all made me not want to push them.

Wednesday was the day I was looking most foward too. I had te day all planed out the way I wanted to do everything. Of course that didn't happen. Not much I could do about that. We rode space ship earth, nemo and unfortunately figment. We then went on captain EO. My favourite tog in all of Epcot. Something I had been looking forward to showing them since I first saw it 5 months ago. We went on then when we got off nothing. No reaction at all! I loved it and if it wasn't something that made me so happy I would of gotten mad at them. We then went to canada and watched the movie. Well they did as I stood at the back talking to kristal. After that my mom took a picture of us in front of the garden in canada. It's a beautiful spot don't get me wrong. It's like taking a picture infront of your garden at home, it's just weird. We then went and walked around world showcase. I was planing on making them see all the shows but when we got to France that didn't happen. I was getting annoyed with them. Ali and pyper went and asked the cast member how long untill the show. He said 18 min and they both went "never mind". I HATE THAT SO MUCH!! WHEN PEOPLE DO THAT TO ME I THINK THEY ARE SO RUDE! The nice cast member said to them they could look around and come back. That's exactly what I was planing on doing untill I forgot... We didn't watch American adventure as it wasn't going to start for a half hour and I don't love it enough to wait that long. We did the boat rides though and that was fun. We then went back into future world. We did some more rides there. When we circled back to the land and they went on sorin' I went to canada to wait for them. I'm sorry but I'm not waiting that long for a ride I don't think is that great. Once they got back to canada it was almost time for the fireworks. At this point I was fed up with their lack of enthusiasm about everything and I was super tired. Just as the fire works where starting I left to go home. Not the best thing for me to do but I couldn't take it anymore. 

On Thursday I had work but first I let the girls into animal kingdom. We went on dinosaur and expedision Everest twice before I went off to work. They picked me up from work and then went back to the house. 

Friday I slept in as the girls where planning on gojng to DTD and I didn't really want to spend money. We went to work and I was almost late but I made it with 5 min to spare. Work the the same as normal and then I spent the night at the house for one last time. 

Saturday was their last day. I had to get up a bit earlier to bring my stuff back to vista. We went to work from there and that's where I said goodbye to my dad. After that I was off to work and that ended their trip to orlando. 

As nice as it was to have them here it was frustrating and annoying at the same time. I understood that my mom and dad where just here to visit me and that's okay. Ali and pyper though I thought where here for the Disney side of it. The first time we went under the arch way should of been my clue to how the rest of the trip would go. Before I even knew I was coming down here I dreamed about coming here. I looked up so much planed many vacations and such. I wasn't expecting them to be that into it but at least have an idea of what goes on at Disney world. When we went under the arch I turned and said to Ali and pyper "it's the first time seeing that sign!!". The only response I got was from pyper when she said " it's not our first time seeing it". I tried to get some excitement out of them by saying "well the first time this trip!!". Nope nothing, they kept talking like we where no where special. GIRLS WR ARE AT DISNEY WORLD! I still sometimes get goosebumps and my heart flutters when I see that sign. I've been here for six months and I'm often on my way to work. Also when we saw Mickey at HS. I have never seen Mickey that close other then when I first got here. I pointed him out the the girls and they where like "oh, yeah" and kept walking. YOU ARE STANDING SO CLOSE TO MICKEY MOUSE AND YOU DONT CARE AT ALL!! I get butterfly's and nervous when I see him. After all he is my boss.  That's how the entire trip went. When ever I would ask what they wated to do and they said they didn't care. They ment it, they really didn't care! Look, I get it not everyone loves Disney as much as I do but I feel that they didn't appreciate it at all. I bet if the three days I had off we didn't go to Disney. Or at all during the trip they wouldn't of cared. I understand that people don't like to meet characters. I don't really like it rather but it's all part of the magic. I love this place so much and I am around people who may not love it as much as me but they still like it. 

Down here you are in your own little world. I have six months left and I don't know what I am going to do after. Yes living here is like being in high school. There is always drama in the attraction but that's going to happen. No matter what I love it here so much and it's something that I can't explain. The fact my family doesn't really care about Disney is something that I need to accept and love on from. Seeing as there is so much they like doing and I don't have a passion for.

Well now that I have finally updated and had my rant about them being here I should end this post and move on to the next one. 

Have a magical day! 

Sam

Update soon!

I know I haven't updated in a long time. Two weeks ago my family was here and I was waiting for a day off to post about their visit. For some reason I didn't the week after they left. I was planing on writing on Tuesday but I ended up hanging out with someone who was goig home soon instead. I will be updating on quite a lot. I think I might start the update today and slowly work on it. I haven't decided yet what I will do. Just wanted to post to say I haven't forgotten about this blog again!

Have a magical day!