Too Much Information... Brain Overload!

27^th June 2011 1:00am US Time...

Just a quickie for today guys as I’m absolutely exhausted! I worked from 2.30pm until 11pm tonight and my brain hurts from all the things I’ve learnt so far.

Spent the morning by the pool with Louise who had to vomit because of a particularly heavy night at House of Blues (bless her.)

I took the bus that got me to work about 30 minutes early and I was wearing my white T-shirt with my black sixth form skirt, my brogues and my brown woven belt. I wasn’t sure whether I had to dress all smart or not, but I figured that you don’t get a second chance at making a first impression, so I went the whole hog and topped it all off with a Big Beautiful Eye from benefit. This is how I looked:

When I arrived at costuming I met Katya, my trainer. I think I’m really going to like her. She’s from Puerto Rico and she is also a trainer at The Great Movie Ride! She’s only in her early twenties yet has already been made a relief co-ordinator which shows that she loves her job and that she works hard... definitely my kind of person.

She took me to get my costume which is rather ‘fetch’ if I say so myself. Ugly black 'sneakers', a pair of grey pants made of wool (!) with stripes down the side, plus a thick silky type shirt (probably polyester... the horror) in a bright blue with red and orange detailing. I actually quite like it, although the pants aren’t quite as tight over my ass as I would like. Then again, I guess they are fitted in order to keep within the Disney Look, so I’ll take it!

Seriously I can’t go over everything I learnt today as it was just TOO intense. Bits that I can still remember are learning how to operate the simulators (pushing a lot of buttons), reading about Safe D (and how it Begins with Me), I got a little practise at Welcome Agent which was pretty cool as I liked measuring kids and letting them know that they are tall enough to ride, I memorised about all six fire exits (Exit 1? We’ve just begun. Exit 2? It’s in the queue. Exit 3? Ewok Trees. Exit 4? Break-room door. Exit 5? Perimeter Drive. Exit 6? Muppet bricks.) AND I got to see the Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade, the Jedi Training Academy AND the sexy ass Storm Troopers without their heads on. Nomnomnom. Definitely on my to-do list: Make out with a Storm Trooper.

In all it was a good day considering I was worried I might hate it. Not sure what tomorrow will bring... I’m working the same hours again and Katya says that she wants me to actually launch a flight by myself, including all the little spiel bits I have to say... Kind of nervous but really looking forward to it!

Keep reading and I’ll blog as often as possible.

gabriellasofia

Two days off before the 'Magic' begins at Star Tours...

26^th June 2011 1.00am US Time...

Just a quick update as I start work tomorrow (don’t start until 2.30pm, but I still want to be relatively fresh for it!) Sorry I haven’t written much... well... at all this weekend. It’s simply because I’ve just been taking it easy and relaxing!

Yesterday I had a lie-in until just past ten, then me and Vikki decided to head to Walmart. Seriously can’t believe I’ve been to that place three times in one week, but I have! Had to pick up a variety of miscellaneous items including shampoo, bobby pins, lunch bag, sandwich things etc. Ended up spending about $75 but I’m glad because I should be set for a week or two now I would have thought. I hope so at least as $75 is no peanuts!

We decided to head to Downtown Disney for dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express and before we knew it we were being joined by Bethan, Johanna Glass-Doors, Jayne, Kat, Emma, Taryn, AJ and Steven which was nice as it’s very true that, ‘The more, the merrier.’ Unfortunately, while most of us were eating, Taryn, AJ and Steven decided they didn’t like the look of the menu so they left us for a bit to go to TREX.

Wolfgang Puck was really nice! I had a kiddie pasta which was nearly too big for me to finish... I managed it though, don’t you worry. It was in a kind of tomato sauce, pretty lush. After we’d finished eating we went for a mooch around the World of Disney and mused over all the pretty things we can afford with our merch discount enforced by our lovely Disney ID’s. Most of the girls seemed to want the charm bracelets that me and my sister used to have when we were younger. My sister lost hers, but mine’s in a jewelry box in England. With all the charms it must be worth at least $100 now. Anyway, I think I’m going to start collecting Disney pins. Like, a pin per week I’m here. Some of them are really cute... it would be an investment... but I think I like them enough to make them worth it. We’ll see.

We also looked in TrenD which is a really cute shop selling cool girl clothes. There’s a top in there, a slouchey thin wool one with Minnie on the front, off the shoulder which I’ve definitely got my eye on.

Once we’d roamed for a while and been to the toilet about 20 times (Kat is pregnant so the baby must have been kicking her bladder or something, I don’t know...) we walked to the bus stop. Steven, Taryn and AJ were there. The boys looked like they were about to vomit. No joke. Their stomachs were puffed right out like those starving people in Africa and they were in actual food comas, really dopey. I’ve never seen anything like it. It turns out they’d ordered a main each PLUS a ‘side’ of ribs, which naturally is massive as we are in America and everything is. Because they are boys and boys never want to let down the side, they’d eaten it all and were really ill. Haha. Hilare.

Went to DTD again today as it was Kathryn Martin’s birthday, hooray! We went to TREX, but I’d already eaten so me and Sexy Rich Elliot just had dessert. I was thinking about going to House of Blues afterwards with Louise and some others. However, Sexy Rich knocked an entire glass of ice cold water all over me, in the ice-cold air conditioned restaurant and as I was wearing denim, I didn’t dry off at all L My bum is still freezing cold now, even though I’ve had a hot shower and are in my pyjamas. I only let him off because he’s so sexy.

Anyways, we all got home safe and I’m going to jump into bed now so I’m fresh and ready for work tomorrow. Wish me luck!

gabriellasofia

So All Our Wishes WON'T Come True???

24^th June 11.30pm US Time...

Mmm. So. Today.

Well, I’d better go ahead and spit it out. I didn’t get GMR. FML. I got Star Tours, the stupid Star Wars themed, boy ride. L

I’d better start at the beginning. I caught the bus at the crack of dawn this morning with Kylie in my smart business attire all hopeful. I had on one of my old Sixth Form skirts so it was black with a sheer, grey, silk blouse tucked in with my brown belt holding it at the waist like a paper-bag skirt, my brown brogues and a white t-shirt under the blouse to maintain some kind of dignity.

The bus journey was totally uneventful, but when we arrived at Hollywood Studios I found Jasper, Robert, Kathryn and Marianne so I knew we’d have a good time! A really sweet lady named Mary Virginia introduced herself to us and told us that she’d be our guide. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any photographs at all, even in the park as the park was not ‘show ready’ but the tour was amazing. It was just a case of looking at the hidden secrets behind the details to the park. I learnt loads of back-stories to why things are the way they are... For example, Sid Cahuenga’s One-of-a-Kind store is a shop selling various film and television memorabilia but it didn’t start out that way. Sid and his wife retired to Hollywood just before it became the Hollywood we know today. Once film makers began setting up their scenes and using shots of the landscape etc, they asked the old couple to move house as they really wanted the space. Sid and his wife refused but during all this, Sid had an idea. In the USA once you throw something out in the trash, it’s officially no longer yours. So when the film directors threw out their old props or costumes, he went to collect them in his car. Eventually, he figured he could make some money by selling the things he found from his Hollywood bungalow, and not the store stands in his honour. Of course, if you’re in on all things Disney, then you know that the entire story I just wrote out was complete and utter bull, invented by the Disney Imagineers in order to maintain the theme of the park and hence the show!

Anyways, we went around the entire park learning stories like this for a whole two hours. It was pretty hot out too so it was nice to roam the area without any guests there (yes, we started our tour at about 8am before the guests had arrived. Bare early.) When we finally made our way to the Great Movie Ride, I went out of my way to nose at the things the girl outside was doing. You know, for just-in-case. It turns out Mary Virginia works on GMR so I immediately wanted to pick her brain over it... whilst of course maintaining professionalism at all times.

We stopped at Take 5, the Cast canteen, for a fifteen minute snack. I had some ‘Garden Salsa’ flavoured potato chips. Seriously missing Walkers Prawn Cocktail crisps right now. Take 5 is pretty cool really. They have a great salad bar, hot food area, Subway sandwich stall and just basically loads of choices of things to eat.

We went back to a classroom and watched a couple of Disney Traditions-Style videos, all about Making Magic and what not before Mary Virginia left us with this other guy. He told us we’d be doing some E-learning and that we’d find out our actual locations at the end of the session, before out of nowhere he just gave us some pieces of paper with our location training schedules on. Idiot.

That’s when I thought, ‘This doesn’t say Great Movie Ride on it.’ No, chick. No, it doesn’t. It says Star Tours.

I was fine. I just worked through all the E-learning without thinking then very calmly took the guy to one side and asked him if my request had been received. He explained that he wasn’t sure, but that he knew Star Tours have recently had a bunch of staff leave for elsewhere in the company, and since it has been completely renovated, management expect they’ll need tons of staff and so I might have initially been held for GMR, Star Tours may have pulled me due to ‘company needs’. Still I was just like, ‘Oh, ok no problem, thank you.’

See how happy I look? NOT.

It wasn’t until after I’d finished the E-learning that it kind of hit me. I know NOTHING about Star Wars. I have no interest in it. How am I supposed to make ‘magical moments’ when I don’t even understand the concept myself? Also I was being really childish, but I just thought, ‘It’s a freaking boy ride. I’m never going to see any little girls.’ My eyes kind of stung with tears for a little bit as we were walking back to the bus stop, especially as we walked past Star Tours. Luckily, Kathryn and Marianne were gutted with being placed at Honey I Shrunk the Kids play ground, and you know what they say about misery loving company? We just whined to each other all the way back to Chatham.

When I got in I left a message for the Icon area manager, Scott, just quickly outlining my desire to be cross-trained for GMR if possible and jumped into bed for a nap. Everything is better after a nap.

So how do I feel about it all now? Well, I’ve realized I need to grow up, firstly. We don’t always get what we want right? Not to mention, I’ve been placed on a brand new attraction with a rather snazzy space-related uniform. It really won’t be that bad, I’m sure. Just because it’s not what I hoped for doesn’t mean it can’t be just as good. So, being the optimist I am, I’m going to grin and bear it.

Also, I’m so full of food. We went to Cici’s for dinner. It’s a pizza buffet over near Vista but we had to get a taxi from Vista even though we could have walked because the rain was absolutely pelting it down. I was so glad when Craig had a towel with him at the bus stop as I was actually a drowned rat in a denim playsuit. Kind of cute I reckon.

So I particularly liked the macaroni cheese flavoured pizza. It was all-you-can-eat PLUS a drink is only $4 with our Cast Member discount. That’s like £2.75 or something. Unreal. So naturally I ate until I felt sick and am now paying for it. Bleaughhhh.

Anyway, I have the weekend off before starting at my Star Tours training on Monday so by then I should be feeling much more positive about it. Just thought I would keep this blog as honest as possible. It is a bit like a diary after all!

Keep reading to see what happens next...

gabriellasofia

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

Traditions, The Magic, The Memories and You and Cosmic Rays Nommings.

23^nd June 2.00am US Time...

Today I finally got to go into a theme park!!! AND got my Disney ID which lets me in on all the perks and good stuff that comes with being a cast member. What does that include? I hear you ask. Well, it’s 20% off in most Disney restaurants, between 20% and 40% off in the shops, between 20% and 60% in the hotels and... well you get the idea. Just a big old bunch of free money basically J

So what happened today? I was up at 5.30am to get the bus to Disney University (yes, Disney has a University) for my Traditions class. We had to dress up really smart in business attire, so I wore a denim-look silk blouse tucked into one of my Sixth Form black pencil skirts, plus nude panty-hose, my tan brogues and a tan belt to top it all off. I think I looked rather chic even if I do say so myself. Oh and I’d curled my hair with the new curlers I’d bought from Walmart (a pair of Conair’s for just $15... I’ll review them on my beauty blog _____________) I was carrying my folders in my hand and I had my little brown fringe bag from Topshop.

A girl in line in front of me got told off because her skirt was too short, but she was from somewhere Oriental and just giggled saying, ‘Oh oh oh no espeaky eenglish hee hee haha!’ So the woman let her off. Then I saw the same woman checking out my skirt and I thought, ‘Just try it, love, and I’ll be ‘no espeakin’ eenglish’, yeah?’ But she didn’t.

Traditions training is the Disney way of kind of initiating you and making you aware of the Disney employee life style. The mentality behind it is ‘We create happiness’ by using four keys, Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency. Sometimes you have to sacrifice one of the keys a little further down the line in order to preserve one of the others, for example if a Tomorrowland Cast Member (member of staff) sees a child about to get hurt in Fantasy land, sometimes they may need to spoil the ‘Show’ by going to ensure the ‘Safety’ of that child and crossing a Tomorrowland Costume (work uniform) into Fantasyland. But this is ok, because ‘Safe D begins with Me!’ which is another Disney Traditions motto.

After being brainwashed (I mean learning) about all these things, we got to go to the Magic Kingdom! Our Cast Member status was incognito of course, although we did enter via the Utilidors which are a series of tunnels and pathways beneath ground level in the theme park, designed by Disney Imagineers in order to preserve the ‘Show’ aspect of the resort. It was really cool to be able to see backstage... we saw a room of character heads (like Eeyore and Tigger... tons of them just lined up on a shelf), some people spotted a couple of princesses having their lunch or practising the dances for the parade in their underwear, and we saw this wall of Guess tapestries which was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take any photographs here but it doesn’t matter because I’ll never forget the memories J

We entered the park up some stairs via Main Street Bakery and the morning Trolley Show was going on at the time which was perfect. I took a bit of video of us seeing the castle for the first time with the Main Street USA song playing in the background. It was just perfect. We walked towards the castle and into Adventureland before slipping out of another hidden Cast Member entrance... really it feels like you’re walking onto Platform 9 and Three Quarters because the Guests must just see you vanish!

After that we headed back to Disney University and did some more training type stuff. They showed a video of Walt and some other people to ‘inspire us’ and it did in fact bring a tear to my eye, especially when he says that line which he gave in the opening Disneyland speech, ‘To all who come to this happy place... Welcome!’ And then as if I wasn’t a big enough blubbering wreck, Mickey came and paid us a visit!!! At least I wasn’t the only teary eyed one, and I think I hid it rather well. I won a little Mickey figurine or ‘critter’ as the trainers called it, and was presented it by Mickey himself. He gave me a hug and everything. In fairness, the question was the easiest ever to answer, ‘Name the founder of the Disney company.’ Wow.

After Traditions, we were free to enter the parks if we wanted to! However, a couple of my friends weren’t getting out of class until after six, and I was exhausted from my early start, so I decided to go take a nap before going to the Magic Kingdom in the evening for dinner and fireworks. After all, we are here for 10 weeks, so there really isn’t any kind of rush at all!

My nap was amazing. I slept for a bit longer than I’d hoped and was woken up by the internet man here to give us the cord we’d been missing. HUZZAH! LET THERE BE INTERNET!!! I was able to Skype home for a little while which was nice and I checked my facebook and university email account. I spent about two hours getting rid of stupid emails. Fantastic.

After all that I went to Walmart with Natalee Jobes for a bit as I really needed an American cell phone! Bought some shampoo and bits to decorate my room too. My cell should be up and running pretty soon so keep an eye out for my number!

Once I got in Vikki came over and we got the CP (College Program) bus to the Transportation and Ticket Centre with Taryn before catching the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. Por favour mantenganse alejado de las puertas.

We had an hour or so to kill and were absolutely famished, so we walked down Main Street to Cosmic Rays quick-service, burger restaurant in Tomorrowland where I had another kiddie meal! This time I had chicken nuggets with carrot sticks, fries and a small Coke. Plus there is a toppings bar which everyone is welcome to, so I had some mushrooms, onions and tomatoes too. All for $5. Seriously, I am a money-saving genius!!!

Once we’d finished there, we plonked ourselves right in front of the Cinderella Castle for the new projection show The Magic, The Memories and You which was amazing. I’m going to video record it one day so you can all see, because it is really breath-taking. About ten minutes later, the Wishes firework show started which was (again) beautiful. However, whilst the spot where we were sat was perfect for MMY it was a bit of a hindrance for Wishes as any of the fireworks which went off behind the castle weren’t visible for us L Sad times. It didn’t seem to hold a negative effect on Vikki though; it was the first firework show she’d seen here and she was like one of those kids who is completely fascinated with a new toy. She had a massive smile on her face afterwards and it really showed me that Disney does make dreams come true. *Insert vomiting.*

Once the fireworks had finished we wanted to meet up with the gang from last night, but we couldn’t get in touch, so we rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise (our skipper was amazing... and she was an ICP (International College Program Participant) from the UK too!) and Haunted Mansion before waiting in the MASSIVE monorail line to get home as Vikki has an early start tomorrow... well, today. She makes me laugh so much. Whilst she loved the fireworks, she didn’t ‘get’ the attractions. She was like, ‘You sit in a thing, and go around a thing, just looking at things.’ And yet she’s scared of any of the adrenalin type rides, so that’s her lot really!

Despite not having anything in particular to do tomorrow (my in-park training doesn’t start until Friday eeep!) I’d better get to bed. Need to try and kick this jet lag.

So good night. Sweet dreams. Love and miss you all J

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!