Chatham Pool, Illuminations and Strawberry Shortbread...

23^rd of June 11.45pm Us Time...

What a great day!!!

I had a lie-in until about 10, uploaded a big old bunch of photos to facebook, started posting some of these blogs I’ve been writing and just generally chilled out until Louise and Vikki came over at about 2pm. We hung out for a bit whilst Louise moaned because she’d been forced to wear a lab-coat in her training because her skirt was inappropriately short. I know I shouldn’t laugh, but I really couldn’t help it. Apparently, Rich Port even walked over to her and said, ‘Did you come in that?’, whilst Vikki wondered, ‘What’s she got on?’ but didn’t want to ask as it was just too awkward. I laughed so hard! Poor Louise. I’ve since lent her my pencil skirt, as we think she’ll get away with that tomorrow and this way she doesn’t have to go buy an entirely new skirt. Bless her.

At around 3pm we went to the pool with Taryn and we found Karyn there! I love Karyn, she’s from Scotland and it so funny. We met some French boys named Pierre (how stereotypical) and Something Else (didn’t quite catch his name, which was a shame really as he was kind of hot) after confiscating their ball. They were splashing us. And taking up the whole pool with their stupid-boy-game of throw-and-catch. Seriously, boys are so easily amused. They had it coming.

Once we’d finished at around 5pm we headed back to our flats because we wanted to catch Illumination: Reflections of Earth firework show at EPCOT and have some dinner too and on the way back we found Joe. YAY! He said he’d come with and we all agreed to meet in half-an-hour. Well because we are all uber-vain, none of us were ready until about half six, but whatever. I love us, so I’ll let us off.

We went into EPCOT via another Cast Entrance (I really don’t think I’ll ever tire of materialising out of thin air) and walked right onto World Showcase. I love World Showcase as its a massive path around a lake and a big old bunch of countries are represented with different pavilions hosting shops, restaurants and attractions. There is Canada, China, Japan, Norway, Mexico, France, Italy, Germany, Morocco and even England home to a proper English pub named the Rose and Crown. Seriously, on World Showcase there are tons of places to eat, and yet we couldn’t all settle on one so decided to go to Sunshine Seasons in the Land Pavillion in Future World. Tons of different options to suit everyone’s taste and desert’s galore. NOM. Plus it’s all pretty reasonably priced.

Again, I went with a kiddie meal of chicken thigh with mashed potato and rice. I know that potato and rice don’t often go together, but it loved it. Wanged a big load of soy sauce onto my rice and hot sauce onto my chicken. The mash was lurvely so it didn’t need anything extra. I had it with a cup of pink lemonade (NOM) and followed up with a strawberry shortbread which was just scrumptious. Mmm. I could eat it all over again.

Once we’d finished up at dinner we walked back to the lake to catch the fireworks from the bridge near to England (an excellent spot if you’re ever after one). Once again, we had planned to meet up with my Vista pals like Kristian, Sexy Rich Elliot, Katie and Leanna, but we couldn’t find them, L so once the fireworks were over we walked over to the bus stop at the Beach Club Resort (this happened by mistake as we used the wrong exit out of the park. However, it was totally for the best as we didn’t have to wait in line for the monorail back to the TTC (Transportation and Ticket Centre)... WIN!)

Can’t believe it’s so early and yet we’re all so tired! I think it’s finally catching up on us. I have my in-park training first thing tomorrow, so I really should get some rest.

Wish me luck for tomorrow... keep your fingers crossed for the Great Movie Ride for me J

Love

gabriellasofia

Vista Pool, Purple Jumper, Beaches and Cream. Nom.

22^nd June 1.30am US Time...

What a delicious day it’s been! I woke up kind of late, like 10.30am(ish) had a nice long shower, put my red bikini on under my red Pearl Jam t-shirt and grey Forever21 jersey shorts, grabbed all my stuff and headed for the bus to Vista at about 12 for my 1pm meeting. I didn’t really know what the arrangements were that I’d made with Kristian so I figured I’d just get the bus over and mooch around the pool hoping to find him, but luckily he was waiting for me at the bus stop! What a sweetie J

So the clubhouse at Vista Way was all set up with different stations where we needed to hand over and receive different bits of information. We had to take along the same documents as yesterday, and because I didn’t have the DS-2019 form I had to hand over the bits and bobs which the hot immigration guy told me to hand over and I was told that they would keep my passport as it would be couriered to Washington in order to verify a new form! How exciting. People keep saying to me, ‘Aren’t you nervous that you don’t have your passport anymore?’ I just reply, ‘I had my DS-2019 and I somehow managed to lose that. It’s probably for the best that I don’t have my passport right now. It’s safer out of my possession.’ Haha. Silly Moron Me.

I also received a piece of paper telling me that I would be at Hollywood Studios on an ‘Icon’ attraction... included in this sort of attraction is the new Star Tours, the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular show, The American Idol Experience and... the attraction I requested and have been dreaming about since I first applied for the program... The Great Movie Ride! I’m trying really hard not to get my hopes up and I know that my area is full of amazing attraction, yet somewhere in the back of my brain I really want to get excited on the hopes that I may become a Movie Rider... We’ll have to wait and see! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Anyway, after all that paperwork style stuff I came out of the room to look for Kristian (he’d finished a good 20 minutes before me), but he was nowhere to be seen and his phone isn’t working here, so I couldn’t text him. Luckily I knew a girl who was behind me in line and we decided to head to the pool where I found the cheeky child sitting with some of his hot flatmates. Nom. There’s one from France who is just beautiful... but... he smokes. Major turn-off. VOM ALERT. Bleaugh.

We swam together for a little while after which stage I realised I didn’t have a towel with me. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times; Stupid Moron Gabbi. After a bit of a catch-up we walked (and I dripped) all the way to his friend’s flat and got her to join us and before I knew it there was a crowd of us... including Sexy Rich Elliot. Nom.

I definitely got burnt. My nose is red and my shoulders L Leanna did warn me in fairness and I never listened. I had to learn the hard way.

I met some really cool people including Leanna, Katie, Sherrie and others whose names shamefully escape me. They were initially planning on going to Golden Coral but I managed to persuade them that Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club Resort on the Boardwalk is the way to go. Yay! We met at about 8ish on the bus then walked through this cast area to the Beach Club hotel. There were literally about 30 of us, but by the time we made it to the restaurant we had managed somehow to lose a bunch of people.

Sexy Rich Elliot was definitely wearing a jumper. In Florida heat. Bizarre.

After about 45minutes of hanging around the Beach Club pool with the NON-alcoholic drinks we’d purchased at the bar, we got seated at various tables. I had a hot dog which was pretty yum then I managed to force Kristian and Vikki to share a Fudge Mudslide with me. *Salivates at the memory*

Once we’d finished we went to find the others who had left the restaurant a little earlier on the beach as we realised our bus wasn’t for another half hour. They were showing Finding Nemo on this big screen and it was so cute!

When we got in me and Vikki went to sit by the pool for a bit since I had no idea where it was. It is pretty lush... can’t wait to jump in tomorrow. We had a bit of a catch-up as we seem to do at the end of every day before heading back and the rest is history!

Ciao for now my lovelies and stay tuned.

gabriellasofia

Day One Housing Orientation and House of Blues!

21st June 2011 – 2.30am US Time...

I am so exhausted and yet I really don’t feel in the mood to sleep! I guess I’ve got that excitement going on right now where I don’t want to miss anything, but I’m actually going to have to force myself to go to bed in a minute as I can hardly keep my eyes open right now...

So this morning we had to make our way over to The Commons (the living complex for all of the Cultural Representative participants like my friend Charlotte from home) to use their clubhouse for our housing orientation. Luckily, The Commons is only about a ten minute walk away from my place, so this meant that to be there at 8.30am we all met up at about 8.10am by security and headed over as a big group. On this first orientation thing we were allowed to wear whatever we wanted which was a relief as I hadn’t unpacked my smart clothes at this point! On our little yellow paper schedule for the next couple of days it advised us to bring along our Program Guide (given to us yesterday in the envelope), our passport with the I-94 stamped card inside, the dreaded DS-2019 form and our proof of medical insurance, although to be honest I don’t think we really needed any of that... The only time they came in handy was when I needed to fill out my social security form and I needed my passport number. We filled out and signed a few more things including our soul over to Disney; if we have an idea which could benefit the company, we are now legally obliged to share it and hand over the rights to it. Nice.

We had a variety of different presentations including a ‘welcome session’, Immigration Presentation, Housing Welcome etc. They gave us a massive run-down of the ‘rules’ which include no hazing or initiations, no weapons or threatening behaviour and NO ALCOHOL if you are under 21. It was all pretty obvious, but I guess it is good that they went through it all as one French boy was still confused despite the repetitions about the fact that if you are in a wellness apartment you really can’t drink... ‘But, what if it’s been a long day and I just want one?’ ‘Well, are you 21, sir?’ ‘No.’ ‘Then no, sir, that would not be allowed.’ Poor guy, everyone laughed so hard at him!

The immigration guy was particularly scary telling us how we shouldn’t pay to bail a friend out of jail or be involved with any drugs or under-age drinking as those mistakes could haunt us for life in border patrol.

After we’d finally finished at The Commons I realised that I was actually going to faint if I didn’t have something to eat and soon, so we headed to the Premium Outlets across the road from the complex to have a bit of a Food Court Feast. I chose Chinese and went with Sesame Chicken, Vegetable Spring Roll and Fried Rice which was lovely, but not as nice as I’ve had in the past in the Florida Mall... Will definitely have to compare.

In the meantime Emma was concerned about what to do as she’d been told that her roots were coming through too obviously to be part of the ‘Disney Look’ and that she would have to dye them... It is bizarre really because I think the colour in her hair is really quite natural. Anyway, she decided she’ll take her chances and leave it as it is.

Once we’d finished eating we headed back to Chatham as the buses were to arrive for us at 1.45pm to take us to Vista for our official housing check-in. When we arrived we handed over some paperwork, had our pictures taken and got given our housing ID’s which was great as it now means I won’t have to carry my passport and temporary yellow-paper-proof-of-residence everywhere with me. Having said that, my face has been squashed right down in the picture and I look a right chubby pig on it. Wounder.

At least I’m not the only one. Vikki obviously has the same problem with hers.

Once we were sorted over at Vista we headed back to Chatham and everyone kind of wandered off in separate directions. We’d agreed to do Downtown Disney tonight and go to T-REX ages ago on the facebook group, but we had a couple of hours to kill so I decided to come back to the flat and unpack properly, which was very grown-up of me as I could have just gone to sit around the pool. I rearranged our room a bit also as all the plug sockets were covered up by beds and bedside tables for some reason, but now they’re tons better. I even had time for a quick nap before showering, doing my face, choosing a dress and heading out with everyone.

By the time we got to Downtown Disney T-REX was packed. There were people queuing out of the doors so we decided to give it a miss. We split into smaller groups and everyone headed to different places. Some went to Rainforest Cafe, others to Earl of Sandwich, a couple even went to Pollo Campenero (which I hear was a big of a disappointment) whilst we headed to House of Blues. It was Johanna’s birthday so it was nice to do something special!

Whilst the servers sorted us a table for 13 people we sat at the bar. Glass-doors (Johanna), Jayne and Bethan celebrated with a cocktail, whilst me and Vikki went wild and savoured our Cokes with lime. Delicious. While we were waiting, a guy called Joe who I’ve never met before materialised and we invited him to join us. I think I’m really going to be good friends with him. He’s so funny. Gay though. Gutted.

Once we got seated I decided I would have the kiddie cheese burger which was about $8. I chose blue cheese and had a side of blue cheese dressing too. Vikki chose the adult version of what I had which I think was about $15 but a massive rip-off as when they arrived mine was only about two ounces lighter than hers with a few less fries and a smaller salad. PLUS I only ate half of mine and took the other half away in a doggie bag. Economical Gabbi For The Win!!!

Our waitress was lovely and she helped us all choose. She even put all our food on separate bills and wrote a little ‘Good Luck as new Disney Cast Members’ note on the bottom of each one. Attention to detail or what???

After we’d finished at House of Blues half of us came home whilst the other (over 21) half went over to Bongo’s for more cocktails. So jealous of them.

We waited for the bus in the completely wrong place so ended up missing it but eventually we managed to make it home. Vikki and Joe came back with me and Taryn for a bit and we exchanged some stories and just generally had a bit of a gossip!

They left about an hour ago and I’ve since had a shower and am pretty much ready for bed. Stupid internet still isn’t sorted even though me and Taryn bought a wireless router yesterday. It turns out we need a cord which they were supposed to provide us with when we moved in but it wasn’t here so we have to wait for someone to bring us a new one tomorrow. Will be nice to be able to check my facebook, Skype my family and of course upload these blogs! I’m supposed to be at Vista Way tomorrow by 1pm so I’d better go to sleep as I don’t want this lack of rest to catch up on me and accidentally sleep until the day after!

Thanks for reading and keep checking back J

gabriellasofia

ps. The weather has been amazing... can’t wait to get some tanning in tomorrow. Saw Kristian on the way to DTD and he said we could hang together at Vista Pool after our meetings tomorrow so I’m super excited!

Finding 'Home'!

20^th June 6.00am (ish) UK Time... 1.00am (ish) US Time...

Phew! I’ve made it. Finally!!!

So where did I leave off? As soon as the shuttle arrived, the doors opened and Summa was there, a girl I met at my visa interview, with a bunch of friends. Thank Baby Jesus for that. I wouldn’t be on my own on the way to Vista Way REJOICE!!!

I’d managed to get in touch with Vikki and Bethan in the meantime and discovered they would be living at Chatham along with a bunch of other people from my flight and I just thought, ‘Oh God. I’m going to be all by myself because I’ve arrived later than everyone else. Great.’

There was a proper full-on Thunder Storm Extreme occurring which was a beautiful welcome into Orlando as you can imagine... The shuttle journey was kind of uneventful as I was just shattered and I’d had such a nightmare at the airport that I really needed a quiet moment or two. As we got closer to Vista Way I started to see places I know or know of, like Hooters, Applebees, Bahama Breeze, Cici’s and Olive Garden. Yes, they are all restaurants.

As we pulled up to Vista Way I started to mentally psyche myself up to move again and when we saw the ‘Welcome Centre’ I got a bit excited. We had to put our suitcases in this kind of holding pen while we checked in with some of the staff. There were us Brits then a few Turkish and French people. In fact, there was a rather delicious young man named ‘Clement’ from France who I immediately clocked... le yum.

We were ushered into this room where it was hard to ignore the fact that there were apples, and oranges and cookies on the tables and an ice-cold water fountain in the corner of the room. I was so thankful... my mouth really needed to taste something other than just my tongue. We received a little blue tote bag with an envelope in it... in the envelope was my key... to... my... flat... at... CHATHAM SQUARE!!! Woot woot! The first thing that had gone right all day, I would be with Vikki and Bethan and Louise and everyone I love... well, not everyone as I soon found out that Kristian and Sexy Rich Elliot are over at Vista, but then two out of about 20 ain’t bad right? Beggers can’t be choosers and all that.

So what happened next? Well, I had to get from Vista to Chatham, right? So this meant I had to move my suitcases (after taking a handful of cookies and apples for the ride... I didn’t know when I would next see real food ok???) to this mini-van where Clement helped me load them in. Then we all jumped in and had a bit of a tour of Vista before heading over to Chatham. I was getting really nervous to meet my room-mates. Although not nervous enough not to, ‘Switch le numbers’ avec Clement. Haha, we agreed to head to Walmart together in about an hour after arriving and he said he would text me. His friend Virginie said she would come too. Totally ruining our little food-shopping-date but whatever, she’s pretty sweet so I didn’t mind... Clement is the boy in the background with the hat at a jaunty French angle...

We made it to my flat about halfway en route to dropping everyone off... Apartment 17210 baby YEAHHH! The driver guy helped me... well... carried my bags up the stairs for me as I’m one floor above ground level, knocked on the door then unlocked it for me. And who should I find but Taryn Whitman from Wales who I met at the interviews! What a coincidence! So it’s just me and Taryn in this massive one bedroom apartment which I was initially a bit disappointed with, only because I really wanted to get the experience of sharing a flat with other cultures and having a bit more of a party atmosphere. But in hindsight I think it’s going to be pretty sound. We’re both quite easy going and really don’t have much to complain about. I really doubt she’ll cause any trouble with drinking or partying until the early hours or bringing strange men back, so I’m onto a winner J

I kind of ditched my stuff then me and her headed out for Walmart to meet Clement and Virginie. This is after making sure I had this yellow slip of paper, my passport and my keys as we need all these to get onto the busses and into the complex until we get our housing ID’s tomorrow.

Vikki was at the bus stop with a bunch of other Brits, so unfortunately I kind of migrated away from Hottie McFrench-Alot but this was fine. We jumped on the bus and half an hour later we were at Walmart. Just before we’d left for the supermarket I’d spoken to Bethan who was already there and she really didn’t seem happy with her flat L As we were getting off the bus I saw her getting on and I kind of gave her a squeeze (oo-er) and said I hoped everything would be ok. I felt bad that I couldn’t stop and talk it over with her really, but she was with Louise and Emma so I knew she was in good hands and I didn’t want to lose Vikki again like I had at the airport!

Me, Vikki and Taryn shared a trolley and we ended up with so much stuff... It doesn’t help that everything is so much bigger in this country than in England... Here is what I had when I got back:

Very healthy as you can tell. Carrying all the food in was an absolute task. Vikki’s flatmate Heather even had to get some randoms to help her carry all her stuff as she’d bought water.

Vikki and Heather have only just left now actually, as I’d taken one of Vikki’s bags by mistake and since it was the bag with her Milka and Snickers she really couldn’t go one night without it. Addict. Yes, her and Taryn were fascinated by the English food aisle... LES CADBURIES FINGERES!!! THEY TASTE THE SAME... THEY TASTE exactly THE SAME!!!

Anyway, I have a big old bunch of stuff to do tomorrow and since I’ve been awake for about 26 hours, I really think it’s for the best that I get some sleep.

Take care and stay tuned!

gabriellasofia