Yo Ho, Yo Ho, it's a Cast Member's life for me...

I've been gone a few weeks and it's because I'm back here in Orlando working at Walt Disney World --- again! 

It's good to see you again Epcot!

I told myself I wasn't going to let my blog suffer like last time but the first few weeks are always the hardest with moving in, getting settled and various job training. So now that almost all of that is starting to settle down, I can get a better idea of what my work schedule is and how to find time to do things before/after work. Which really, isn't a lot of time to begin with.

If you're new here, or curious, I'm part of the Walt Disney World College Program internship. This is my second program. My first one was in Spring of 2011 where I worked Merchandise at Downtown Disney Marketplace then Downtown Disney West Side for eight months. This time I'll be here for another eight months working Merchandise again but at a resort. It's a really big change and I think the hardest part is making new friends especially since at a resort, there isn't too many of us working at one time so there isn't really anyone to talk to.

Husband and I have gone on a few adventures since we've been here. We really like the new Art of Animation Resort. Their create-your-own pasta/burger stations are delicious! And probably the most affordable and worth-your-money food on property. If you'd like to take a peek at my adventures while I'm here, I made a Tumblr! I haven't updated it much because well... I've been tired and busy but I'm hoping to update it with pictures and everything soon!

Just wanted to update you guys on where I've been and what I've been doing! I was suppose to film my Stacking the Shelves last night but eh, it didn't happen. Reviews will hopefully be back up this week or next. So I'll see you then!

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Personal: Life at Disney

As you guys know, I now work for Walt Disney World.

I've been here for a little over a month and for the most part, I love it here. Florida is much much more different that California in terms of the weather, the air and the people. I find that the people here in Florida are much nicer people. People in California are always in a hurry and annoyed. At everything. For any reason. Lately the weather has been really nice here, I'm still trying to get use to this humidity thing. You know humidity in CA would label the day "the hottest day EVER" lol. We had a thunderstorm once a week last month, I LOVE thunderstorms. The Bay Area hasn't had one (at least on my side of the bay) for about two years. Except I didn't really enjoy running to my apartment during the thunderstorm. It felt like the thunder was chasing me!

The program is... eh. Don't get me wrong, I think it's an amazing program that offers us college students an absolute amazing experience. But... we're like the bottom of the employee chain. We're the ones likely to close every night, to pick up the extra hours no one wants, to deal with the unstable work schedule's and that's fine... I can totally understand that but sometimes it gets to be too much. I was recently deployed from my main location to a location that's across my area. It's like a 10-20 min walk there (that's how huge Downtown Disney is) and while it's a bit exciting to be moved to a new location for awhile, I absolutely hate it here! The managers, coordinators and co-workers in my main zone are helpful and friendly and they have a sense of humor. Where as this zone, not so much. I mean, at all. No one's every smiling, everyone expects you to know everything even if you've never been there, and they're just not that helpful. I don't think I've seen the closing manager smile once the whole week I've been here. Half the time when you're directing a question towards her she doesn't even respond! It's just a big difference from my main zone, then being thrown into this one where everyone acts so miserable.

I am enjoying my time here in Florida, I love checking out all the resorts (there's so many resorts and so many parks, I've been here a month and still haven't seen everything!) and making a list of restaurants I want to try out (I'll be posting reviews for them on a different blog), I've been stalking characters (I saw Peter Pan yesterday but he left before I could go get his autograph/picture because he had to get ready for the show and I've been trying to track down Peter forever. At least now I know where t look!), I've been indulging in caramel apples (if you haven't had a Disney caramel apple, you're missing out. They have the thickest yummiest caramel), and visiting the parks.

It's hard to do anything else other than that here without a car. It's a little weird not to be able to drive to Taco Bell and get some food or stop by the mall or the bank. I miss my car, I miss being able to drive. But this is an amazing experience and being away from all the home stuff isn't so bad sometimes :). Now, pictures!

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Monday Movie Review: Tuck Everlasting

Tuck Everlasting
Released: Feb 25th, 2003 (DVD)
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Run Time: 90 minutes
Summary (amazon):
Walt Disney Pictures' TUCK EVERLASTING, a timeless and enchanting adventure about one girl's magical summer, will captivate audiences of any age. Young Winnie Foster, stifled by the formality of her proper life and domineering mother, escapes into the woods only to get lost. Soon she happens upon Jesse Tuck -- a boy full of life and adventure who's unlike anyone she's ever met -- and falls in love. The Tucks, a kind and generous family, have a powerful secret -- a spring that holds the magic of everlasting life. And now Winnie must choose to live life as she knows it or drink from the spring. It's a life-affirming adventure that will cast its irresistible spell over you again and again.

My husband suggested I watched this in hopes it would help me write my story. I guess it's odd to say I'm a huge Disney addict and I've never seen this movie before. And even worse that I had absolutely no idea what it was about...

Winnie Foster lives the "proper life" and with a wealthy family and she hates it (I personally would hate to had been born in those days, I can't stand proper)! Her family tries to send her off to school and feeling misunderstood she ventures off into her family's woods for a walk. There she runs into Jessie Tuck, who's drinking from a spring in a water. After a brief confrontation she's whisked away by his older brother Miles who's claiming that no one is an exception (honestly, if you ask me, had his older brother not acted so crazy, maybe it wouldn't had been such a big deal. I mean come on, it's just a spring it's not like she assumed there was something wrong with it)!

I loved Mae, of all the characters, she was my favorite. I loved the adventures Winnie and Jessie went on together and I loved Miles' story. Oh! And I also loved the scene where Winnie free's Mae and Tuck! I didn't expect much from this movie, but I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. It's the perfect summer time movie filled with adventure, love and deciding what you want to do with your life and where you want to go. I'm glad Winnie got to do what she wanted with her life as I didn't agree with her parents actions prior to her missing. And I hated how her mother didn't believe her, if you're asking the story from someone who was indeed the one who the situation is about, you don't shout "she doesn't know what she's talking about!" it's just rude! Just because she isn't saying what you wanted to hear. Seriously, I wanted to smack her mom. Crazy bi... okay, whatever lol. The ending was bittersweet for me, but I think it fit right. There is no doubt that I won't watch this movie again :)

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Review: Dream Factory

Dream Factory by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler
Published: May 17th 2007
Details: Hardcover, 224 pages
Summary (Goodreads):
When the character actors at Disney World go on strike, the teens hired as replacements learn that it isn't exactly the Happiest Place on Earth. Ella gets to be Cinderella, simply because the shoe fits. It should be a dream come true, but Ella no longer believes in dreams. Luke is a fur character, Dale the chipmunk. Chip is played by his girlfriend, Cassie, who is perfect in every way. Why, then, does Luke find himself more drawn to imperfect things like the theme park's Phantom? A team-building scavenger hunt brings Luke and Ella together. As they uncover the Magic Kingdom's treasures, they discover an undeniable magic between them.

At first, I found this book to be a bit hard to follow. There isn't much of an introduction and you just jump right into the story. Ella and Luke spend the summer working at the happiest place on Earth with a bunch of other people around their age including Luke's hot girlfriend Cassie (which makes you wonder, why did they make her a chipmunk if she's so hot?) and Ella's best friend. Ella doesn't believe in dreams coming true much, and how could you blame her with the tragedy she's carrying around with her that no one but her best friend knows about? Luke's whole life after DisneyWorld is planned out for him and Cassie is urging him to be smart and take it. But it's not what Luke really wants. So what will he choose? The path already set out of him or is he going to risk it all and find his happily ever after? The book switches off from Luke's point of view to Ella's point of view.

I'm a huge huge huge fan of Disney, so that's why I picked up this book. When I started reading it and it was a lot of complaining about how much they hated their jobs, I was starting to re-think reading this book since one of my biggest dreams is to work at Disney. But I realized, they're in Florida and not California, the weather must be much hotter out there and there are some people who really do hate working at a theme park, I for one, loved it. Ella struck me as someone I'd like to sit down and have a conversation with. Everything she says is thought provoking. She doesn't always make sense but to Luke, she makes perfect sense. And the whole time you're urging Luke to ditch miss Barbie and run off with Ella already!

I enjoyed reading this book. To the point where I stayed up until 5:30AM this morning just to finish it. The lack of sleep was worth it. It's a romance book without the cheesy predictable romance. It relates a lot of what really happens in real life. The struggles, the secrets, the questions you ask yourself and the wants. I highly recommend this book!

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