Halloween in September?

Well, life here in Florida has gotten pretty crazy. I'm working pretty regularly now, and I'm even picking up shifts most weeks just to make sure I have a little extra cash flow. I have become very obsessed with pin trading to the point that I'm pretty sure I doubled my collection in the short time that I have already been here. I haven't seen as many characters or shows, but that is mainly because I have been working a lot and trying to not kill myself by over doing it.


For anyone reading who doesn't know, I broke my foot in January of this year which meant I couldn't go to the character performer auditions for the College Program. But it turns out all the walking and standing I've been doing has hurt just as much. I keep going back and forth on trying to decide whether I should say something and get myself transferred to a location where I would have more chances to sit. But when I think about it, nothing really pops as far as locations that sit, so I also don't want to transfer and ruin my program by getting stuck in a horrible job. For now I'm trying to take it easy and sit down as much as possible. I'm also excited because I can finally go to some auditions. There is one next week that I am planning on going to with some friends from my work location and I'm pretty pumped. It'll be my first audition in a while, but it's just what I need to get myself back on the horse again. I'm a little hesitant because if I got through the auditions it means I would extend my program and stay in Florida longer, but I have decided that if I do make it all the way, I will decide what to do when the time comes.

I don't feel like I have anything too exciting to share since I do work a lot but I do have two things that come to mind that are kinda exciting. Before coming down to Florida I made a bucket list of all the things I hoped to achieve while here (this can be seen here) and one of those things was to become a Galactic Hero on the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. One day I worked in the morning and decided to take the afternoon to just go on the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin so I could become a Galactic Hero. Since it is in our slower season, the wait time was only 5 minutes so riding it multiple times was no hassle. I ended up going on the ride about 20 times and got Galactic Hero 5 times! The Cast Members were definitely starting to recognize the crazy girl in the Buzz Lightyear shirt who was constantly getting off and getting back on again. But it was a great day for me and it made me really happy to achieve my goal. Since then I have all but mastered the ride and I am working on teaching a couple of my friends all the tricks.


My second story is a bit more magical. I was working the opening day at the Princess Fairytale Hall and of course the lines were crazy and everyone was excited about all the new things they could take pictures of, including the princesses. Now, Walt Disney believed in drawing his crowd in, which can

be seen in the perfect example of Main Street and the Castle (either Sleeping Beauty's or Cinderella's, this is true for both parks). The Imagineers decided to follow this same example inside the Princess Fairytale Hall by placing Cinderella's glass slipper at the end of the queue line to draw all the guests into the building. Of course, this shoe has now become a focal point that every guest wants to take a picture of. As Cast Members, we have to encourage guests to take pictures quickly as they walk by, and we can't let them take pictures as they wait. I know this seems like it sucks, but trust me, there is a reason for everything. Anyway, back to opening night, pretty much every guest in line asks if they can take a picture while they wait, and the answer is always no (we Cast Members joke that we could have a separate line just to meet the shoe). But one particular guest came up and had to be an exception. Like every other guest they walked up and asked to see the shoe, when I told them they would have to wait, he told me he was an Imagineer who worked on Princess Fairytale Hall. The woman with him proceeded to tell me that he had brought her into the Hall on a 'Sneak Preview' a few weeks before and when showing her the glass slipper, he actually had a replica made, but inside that shoe was the ring he used to propose. How magical is that?! Of course I let them look at the shoe but I asked them to wait until the next group went in. Of course they understood why I had to ask them to follow the same rules as other guests and they were great when I told them I couldn't let them stand by the shoe much longer. But still, I met an Imagineer! How cool is that! And what a romantic story his new fiance told me! I almost started crying right then but obviously I had a job to do and couldn't let myself be overwhelmed by the sappy romance.


For now all I'm really doing is working. I'm loving working the Halloween Parties because its so fun to see all the costumes everyone wears. I'm still working on getting to go myself and I can't wait to go and meet all the new characters and try all the fun treats like candy corn ice cream! And once the Halloween Parties stop, the Christmas Parties begin! I definitely picked the right time of year to spend 5 months at the Happiest Place on Earth!