There’s always a first time…

First times! Splash mountain-I must say Jenna and I got more wet going through the ride than the actual “splash” part; that was part-ride too so it’s different and fun. Space Mountain-Fun, not too jerky, fast and you really feel like you’re in space! Tower of Terror- I was the only one on our service elevator going for the first time and they stuck me in the front! But, it was so fun that we went on it twice! So it’s really not that intense at all; it’s more show than anything, but the whole show part is awesome of course (as is the movie which is based off the ride and the ride is based off a true story! Minus the twilight zone part.) Grizzly River Run-another fun “rafting” ride that we got to stay on more than once because there was not wait line.

 We also went on Nemo submarine voyage, which is a 10 minute underwater ride and it’s really neat to do too.

On our way out, I took some night photos, and we shared a giant cupcake! It’s a chocolate raspberry with pixie dust on it. Yummy!

“I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.” ~Vincent Van Gogh

The fun never stops at Disneyland, especially at night! The rides are still fun and everything is lighten up so beautifully, and colorfully too. My roommates and I decided to play in the park after work one night. We started off in tomorrow land.   Every land has a theme and tomorrow land’s was what the future brings. Walt thought how neat it would be if everybody grew their own food in their house (his future was the 1980’s btw). So around this land you will find edible trees, and plants like cilantro and basil.

Rachel and Jenna

After that, we headed over to adventure land and went on Pirates of the Caribbean and I went on Indiana Jones for the first time! That was so fun! And it’s also where Jenna works. Then we headed over to Disney California Adventure for some fun. We ventured through bug land to head over to: Tower of Terror! Rachel and Jenna went on Tower of Terror and I bought some Jack Skellington coasters and a coffee mug for me! They were trying to convince me to go on that ride but I still didn’t want too; not yet anyways. 

I gradumacated and now I’m an official Cast Member!

So after going through a week of training (walking at the most 5miles a day, drinking more than enough water, and shoving tons of info into my cranium), I have finally earned my vest! Yay! I actually wear 2 costumes; one is the blue nerdy shorts, white shirt, and the vest. The other is my favorite because it’s a main street style for when I work at Main Street Photo supply.

 So far I have been working full-time, and getting a unique “Disney tan”; basically I have amazingly tanned forearms, face and calves. I have been working with icons (main entrance, partners/ castle) but I want to work more with characters soon. I do enjoy working with the princesses the most. And for Halloween the Villains are coming out to play too! I’m so excited! (Jack Skellington and Sally Doll are going to walking around the park too).

Speaking of Halloween, we decided to do a little decorating for our apartment! Simple but fun! And Disneyland is doing a little decorating as well. Jack Skellington takes over Haunted Mansion and calls it “Haunted Mansion Holiday”, and Ghosts take over Space Mountain and call it “Ghost Galaxy”. This is going to be the best Halloween ever!

It's those ears!

Ok everyone! I know I've already have had numerous requests for Mickey ears, and guess what? There's a ton of them! On the bottom portion, there is acutally the ear head base, the "ears" and patches to customize your very own ears! Just let me know what you want, and I'll see what I can do. (I recommend the premade ears and adding patches to them.)

Nothing like a 1st time visit.

“To all that come to this happy place, Welcome! Disneyland is your land.” ~W. Disney

Jenna and I decided to take advantage of our day off (Saturday) and venture out into the parks. When you walk through the gates of Disneyland you really do feel special! So after getting through the gates, Jenna and I went straight to the city hall to receive my “1st visit” button and proudly wore it all day! Next, we decided to head over to fire hall, where Walt himself, had an apartment above it. Story goes, he stayed there when we wanted to stay overnight and there’s a light always on to show that the “spirit of Walt” is still alive in us all.

Before I get to ahead of myself, I must list all the characters we saw today:

Alice/Mad hatter, Gepetto, Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Jesse, Woody, Green Army toy guy, Mickey, Minnie, Aladdin, Jasmine, and other various characters in Pixar parade

Princess Aurora's castle

Kitchen of the future

We were all super excited throughout the whole day as we began in Adventureland (starting with the “Enchanted Tiki Room”), enjoying various rides and then we moved to New Orleans Square (Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion!), Critter Country (Winnie Pooh), Frontier land (Big Thunder Mountain), Fantasyland (Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough), and Tomorrow land (Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Captain EO, Innoventions). We had lunch at Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port. Then we decided to make a quick trip to Mickey’s Toontown. We visited Mickey and Minnie’s house, but unfortunately, the line was too long to actually see them. Maybe another day.

Haunted Mansion

Afterwards decided to venture into Disney California Adventure. The gates are amazing because there is the giant “California” letters! The main theme currently happening in DCA is “World of Color”. After you walk pass the letters, you see a mini-replica version of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Muppet Vision 3D

Heading under the bridge, we went straight to Soarin to get a fast pass, which is one of my favorite rides! To pass the time, we headed around the park for some fun rides including, Golden Zephyr, California Screamin (the rollercoaster that takes you from 0 to 55mph in 5 seconds!) I loved that ride so much that we went on it 2 times in a row! And it was finally time to visit Soarin’! That ride is like flying over California and you can smell the pine trees and the oranges too!

Buzzlighter Blasters

Right before we took off on Calfornia Screamin

Then we unknowingly ended up in the Hollywood pictures backlot area, which ended up being really neat! They have a whole “Animation” section where you get to go behind the scenes of how Disney animation works. We also visited Belle’s library which was fun too.

Then the sun went down and we wanted to wait for World of Color but it’s best to come early in the day and get the fast pass tickets to get the better viewing. So maybe next time.

Sleepless in Anaheim

Wow! What a whirlwind of a day! Beginning my busy day off with an early morning flight from DIA to the JWA with a perfect landing in sunny California. The captain said, “Welcome to Orange County. It’s 94 degrees out with clear skies.” (It was partly cloudy out) After arriving safely, I grabbed my bags (which made it too!) and was whisked up by one of my new roomies, Maryanne. We headed straight on to the apartments and began the “Check-in” process. After what seemed like forever, I got checked into our apartment and grabbed a bite to eat at a local Mexican restaurant. Yummm! Then later on we happened to eat at another Mexican restaurant. They were both great, but no more for a week.

Me outside Team Disney Anaheim with my info.

As of today, we have already had 3 long and informational meetings about what to expect, a housing welcome session, getting our ID picture, classes offered, scheduling and ORIENTATION, and have many more to go! After that, me and Jenna (another great roomie), decided to venture out to our first visit to: IN-N-OUT BURGER! They are a great place and suppose ably have a “secret menu”. We will investigate further.

Last night, we also had the wonderful opportunity to see the fireworks show from our apartment! I got the opportunity to take photos of it tonight.           My first day of “work” is tomorrow which we will learn about “Traditions”. What is traditions you ask? Well, we will meet our on-boarding specialist in which we will receive our first official training schedule and we will learn about becoming familiar wit the Disney heritage, philosophy, and values. Jenna and I both attend this at the same time so on Saturday, we both will be visiting Disneyland and California Adventure for the FIRST time! We are both ecstatic about it! Well that’s all for now, as Tigger would say, “TTFN Ta-Ta For Now!”