Week Forty-Eight: Mine Train Fire Alarm + INSANE WEEK

December 18th (Monday): I had physical therapy in the morning, then went straight to Disney Springs to meet up with two of my friends to see the Last Jedi (the new Star Wars movie)!!! We all thought it was really good, kept us on our toes the whole time for sure. When I came into work we were posting 200 minutes, and that's when I knew it was going to be one of THOSE days. We got up to a FOUR hour wait at one point, and it was so crazy that they extended park hours from 11pm to midnight. SO we all got force extended...yippee. Luckily I ended up pulling great positions, so it was okay. Just a stressful work day. I think I worked from 4:30pm - 1:15am?

December 19th (Tuesday): I went to Magic Kingdom in the morning with my circus friends, Peter, Chris, and Alex. We went and saw Hall of Presidents which just reopened, and rode Dumbo and the Mine Train. Then we went and did an escape room, which we failed to escape from, got Freddy's for dinner, and ended our night in Epcot! We got to see Neil Patrick Harris' Candlelight Processional (standing room, but great view), ride Nemo, and see Illuminations from the FP viewing area! It was really good, I'd never seen it from the FP location and it's so much better. Also we got ice cream from Ample Hills on the Boardwalk.

December 20th (Wednesday): I had an awful night's sleep with coughing fits all night, then had the CRAZIEST day of work. My shift was 2:45pm - 1:45am. It was a 180-minute wait when I came in, so we're already really busy, then around 9pm our FIRE ALARM goes off. And granted, sometimes when the fireworks go off and the wind hits just right, this will happen, however, this had never happened to me. So we're doing our thing when all of a sudden the lights come on and our emergency lights start flashing and we just start dumping people through the door. Cycled out the trains and basically kicked everyone out of the line. Of course we had guest recovery, but since it was an emergency, we couldn't hand out fastpasses until after guest relations came (maybe 10 minutes after we dumped?). People were AWFUL though!! Demanding fastpasses as we're getting them out of the building, like they'd rather have a fastpass then get everyone out safely. It's ridiculous. The second we all leave we're bombarded, not even a second to breathe. Luckily there was no fire, and after guest relations came, the worst guests left, and everyone else was pretty understanding. What sucked though, was when we were resetting, everything kept going wrong and we'd have to start over. My coworker had to walk the track and reset the ride FIVE times. So we were down from about 9:20pm - 1am (close). Terrible timing, because the extra magic hours guests didn't get to ride at all during EMH. So yep that day was nuts. On the bright side we hit a near record for guests riding in an hour so EFFICIENCY! YAY!

December 21st (Thursday): I had a rough start to my day, trying to do laundry only to find out the card reader was broken, then I locked myself out of my apartment, and had to wear a dirty costume to work. But luckily work went really well because I never had to go outside or go to merge! YAY! BLESSINGS! It was also an 2:15pm - 8:15pm day. Also the card reader was back up and working that night so I got to do laundry.

December 22nd (Friday): I worked from 10:45am - 7:15pm and I started my day by pulling tower, then pulling tower again after rotation came, so that was a great start. The only time I pulled an outdoor position was during the Christmas party when I got FP, so that was super easy! It was our last Christmas party of the year, so it was fun to be able to work it. Also I took the wrong bus and was late to work by two minutes, but my coordinator fixed it so I didn't get penalized :) THANKS BRANDON!

December 23rd (Saturday): It was the day after Martia's 24th birthday, so I took her out to First Watch for breakfast. It was super busy but we got seated immediately because they had a party of two no show. Also during breakfast we booked our cruise excursion in the Bahamas which is going to be ATLANTIS!! That super cool water park resort thing. So excited. After breakfast we went home and started packing/throwing away stuff, because we move out in just over a week. Felt good to at least start organizing. Work is a bit of a blur, but I know it was insane because we had (allegedly) 82,000 guests in the park. I worked from 4:45pm - 1:14am and I closed station assist and got to join my coworker on our nighttime ride through! Fun end to the night!!

December 24th (Sunday): CHRISTMAS EVE! I had a really easy 2:30pm - 8:30pm shift and I had good positions but the day DRAGGED on. We had another busy day, posting 240 minutes at one point. Also we had a LOT of international guests with a language barrier, so it was a little less efficient than usual. After work I went home and changed, then picked Martia up from work and we went on a hunt for a Christmas Eve church service!! Well the church I found was dark when we showed up at 10:45pm for their 11pm service, so I might have made a mistake somewhere. So we drove 40 minutes both ways to Winter Garden to basically drive around and see Christmas lights. So not a complete waste, but quite embarrassing hahaha. Then we went home and ate food. 

Week Forty-Seven: 77K in Magic Kingdom + Rough Week for Positions

December 11th (Monday): I had a crazy (but awesome) day off with my friend Jennifer! We had one day to do three parks, so we started at Hollywood Studios where we were able to do Rockin' Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, Star Tours, and Frozen Sing-A-Long all before 12:30pm. Then we went to Epcot where we got a DELICIOUS caramel filled salted pretzel with vanilla ice cream, rode Test Track, and Living with the Land. Then off to Magic Kingdom where we rode Mine Train, Dumbo, Space Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, Big Thunder Mountain, the People Mover, and maybe one or two others that I'm forgetting. We lined up at 8pm for 9pm fireworks, Jen saving our spot and me getting us Starbucks. Well it was about 50 degrees out, so the line for Starbucks was FORTY MINUTES LONG. Yes, I waited. Yes, I knew it would be long. There is no shame. But it worked out perfectly because I got back to our spot with ten minutes to spare, and our area wasn't too full so I had no problem finding her!

December 12th (Tuesday): I worked from 11:45am - 11:45pm, my first 12-hour shift in SO LONG. It was awful because our wait time kept posting 40-60 minutes when it was actually 120. We kept calling and changing it, but it would change back, which was dreadful. Because ANGRY guests. I also pulled two of my least favorite positions THREE times. Thankfully I ended in tower, so a nice way to end the night.

December 13th (Wednesday): We were doing really well with FastPass until like 2pm, then it got crazy backed up. Naturally I had to be out at FP, a position I absolutely hate, just in time for the mob to come. Yippee. I ended the shift at unload assist, a mostly useless position that just waves and tells people where to exit. So easy end to the day! I had an easy 9:30am - 3:30pm shift.

December 14th (Thursday): I worked from 7:30am - 4pm, and put in for an ER I was convinced I was going to get (because they normally give out like three ERs at least and I was second in line), but didn't get one. Of course I didn't pack a lunch because I thought I would get my ER, so jokes on me. I pulled FP twice (I know, rough week for me on positions), and merge once. We started out with great staffing, so that was nice, but it got crazy real quick.

December 15th (Friday): I started my day off with physical therapy, and treated myself to a papaya boba tea on the way home. I worked from 2:45pm - midnight and I pulled FP twice AGAIN but it was fine because it was a Christmas party where there is minimal FPs. When I was at FP I had a family who got evacuated off Peter Pan's Flight and were having trouble with their recovery FPs, so I accommodated them, and they were super grateful. It's just really nice to know that some people appreciate you when you do nice things for them. They were super sweet and I could tell it was an honest mistake, so I let them through and let them keep their recovery FPs, and they thanked me multiple times and made sure they knew my name and everything, so that was incredibly sweet :) I also had lots of fun working with one of my coworkers, who was in a really good mood. He's the kind of guy that people either tweet about because he's so good, or take to guest relations because he's so bad. Like, he's SUPER animated and dramatic, so when he's in a good mood he's TONS of fun, but he can be SO rude when he's in a bad mood. So he was in a good mood and we had lots of fun with the guests!

December 16th (Saturday): IT WAS SO BUSY. We had 77,000 people in the park today which was NUTS, and pretty close to our park capacity. My shift was 5pm - 1am, and we had a FP line out the door and around the corner basically the whole day. At one point our standby line was 3.5 hours. Yeah, awful. So that was a JOY, but for the most part my shift went well. We had lots of trainers and coordinators helping us out with efficiency, so we were moving the line the best we POSSIBLY could, which felt nice. I love efficiency haha.

December 17th (Sunday): I was off! Yay!! I went to Magic Kingdom in the morning to meet up with my old roommate, Alyssa (AHHHHHH!), and we got to ride Space Mountain with a FP my leader was kind enough to give to us!

Unfortunately that was really all we were able to do, because I had to go meet my second cousins for lunch! Which was also really nice. We went to Columbia Harbor House and I got to catch up with them (who I haven't seen in years), so that's cool. After that I went to Epcot and got snacks from Japan, walked the World Showcase, and waited in line (for 1.5 hours) for the Candlelight Processional! Trace Adkins was the celebrity narrator, and it was beautiful as always. Then I went home and now I'm here writing this!

Also I only have 2.5 weeks left of work and that's insane. Where has time gone?! AND my roomie Martia and I booked a cruise to the Bahamas!!! So excited. It's January 8 - January 12 and we're so pumped. $360 including taxes through Royal Caribbean for a 4-night, 5-day cruise. WOOOOOO! Can't wait.

Week Forty-Six: MORE VISITORS!

Surprise, surprise, I had another full week of strictly mine train.

December 4th (Monday): So we had SEVENTY of Dan Cockerell's (Magic Kingdom Vice President) colleagues ride the mine train through FastPass, so that was absolute nuts for a while. Work itself was pretty good, I had a solid mix of positions but was still feeling a little under the weather from the stomach flu. On the bus ride home I actually thought I was going to throw up, but luckily I was able to keep it together. Also one of my coworkers came and visited on her day off, so here's a candid she got of me at work haha:

December 5th (Tuesday): It was my day off, but nausea woke me up at 6:45am and I spent the morning throwing up. After FIVE days of this weird stomach bug not making me sick, I threw up on the last day of it. But I did feel better afterward. I also went to physical therapy, I didn't want to call and cancel because I had done that on Friday...probably should have but oh well. I was too scared of throwing up to eat all day, so I had Gatorade and two bowls of applesauce to last me the entire day.

December 6th (Wednesday): It was a struggle of a day. We kept having issues with crying/screaming kids refusing to ride, guests too large to fit in the ride, and all sorts of mayhem that killed our efficiency. And when that happens, we end up with a 2-hour wait. Joy. I did get an ER though, so that's a plus ;) I know I should be keeping my hours since I'm poor, but let's be real here, I'm weak. They offer me an ER and I'm like yes ok can I leave now.

December 7th (Thursday): Another weak day with me taking another ER. Whoops. I was supposed to work 7:30am - 4pm, but ended up going home at 11:30am. Awesome for me, awful for my paycheck. Work was easy, I pulled positions I don't really like, but since it was the morning it was easy. The later the day gets, the crankier people are, and the more $&!* they try pull on you. In the afternoon I completed a job application for when I come home from Disney, then at night I went to Disney Springs to meet up with a friend from my spring program! She came down to visit, so we hit up Blaze pizza, ate ice cream, and walked the Christmas tree trail.

December 8th (Friday): I had PT in the morning, then went to MK in the afternoon with my circus friends! Cassie and Gerri from my spring program were both visiting, so it was fun to hangout with them. We rode Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Dumbo, Barnstormer, and Buzz Lightyear.

Then I went off to work (a super easy 7:15pm - 1:15am) where we were short-staffed. But it was a party night, so it was easy. Also I had to walk all the way to City Hall to turn in $2. That's a solid 10-minute walk, but because someone left TWO DOLLARS behind. But exercise, right?

December 9th (Saturday): I spent the afternoon at Universal with my circus crew again and we rode Forbidden Journey (castle ride), Spiderman, and Mummy. We also saw Merry Grinchmas, a stage show version of Jim Carrey's How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

I left early and picked up my friend, Jennifer, from the airport! She came and visited me for the weekend :') We went and checked in to Caribbean Beach Resort, then went to Disney Springs for dinner. We were trying to get a sit-down restaurant but everything had AT LEAST an hour and a half wait. T-Rex was actually almost three hours. And it was 8pm! Crazy!! So we ended up doing Earl of Sandwich and getting Starbucks. We also walked the Christmas tree trail. Then back to the hotel where we watched Star Wars!

December 10th (Sunday): I only had one comp ticket left, so Jen bought a one-day ticket for Animal Kingdom which was used on Sunday, saving my comp for Monday. We got FastPass for Everest (twice), Dinosaur, and Kilimanjaro Safari. We also watched Festival of the Lion King, ate at Pandora, and got Starbucks (twice). We ended the night at Pandora, waiting only 40-minutes for Flight of Passage when the wait time said 140. Wooo!

Week Forty-Five: Treehouse Villa Staycation + Stomach Flu Woes

November 27th (Monday): I worked from 3:45pm - 9:45pm and it was a crazy day. Always the short days are the crazy days. I started off by only shaving one leg in the shower, and not realizing the other leg wasn't smooth until putting my socks on for work, so I shaved the other leg in the sink. Quite the start to a shift, right? Work was pretty awful, I pulled greeter twice (which I HATE because you get yelled at a lot and have to go to merge which I also hate) and we just weren't smooth. A kid peed in a row so we had to call custodial and re-group our rows so people wouldn't sit in those affected rows, but the cast members grouping kept mis-grouping so there was a lot of confusion and inefficiency. I did have two sweet moments though, one was a two-year-old and five-year-old princess both celebrating birthdays, and they were so excited to talk to me and give me high fives!!! I got to see them multiple times and their dad would always say "look girls, it's your friend!" so that was sweet. And we had two little boys, probably about six, walk down the ride exit after they rode chanting "WE ARE MEN! WE ARE MEN!" so that was pretty funny.

November 28th (Tuesday): I worked from 9am - 5:30pm and it was another weird day. I had to be merge by myself (THE WORST) THREE times, as well as FastPass (also a position I don't like) and a couple assist positions. OH and we had this lady that was so rude she made our COORDINATOR cry. Like she was vicious. Apparently she was mad about a miscommunication regarding rider switched, so my coord was explaining to her how it works and she just got pissed and starts (loudly) saying "just get away from me" and I guess it got nastier after I left because my coord ended up crying. THEN we went down like thirty minutes before my bumpout, so what a way to end the shift. The ride went down automatically because one of the intrusion mats (those things that stop the ride if you walk on them, they just looks like mats) went off. People were really nice about it though, I just helped give out FastPasses in the station.

November 29th (Wednesday): Off! Yay! I spent the morning at Epcot with Kasia and we rode Frozen Ever After and Test Track, then checked out Holidays Around the World! I got spring rolls from China, gingerbread gelato/ice cream (idk what honestly) from France, and iced spiced tea from the UK. All pretty good, but I think the ice cream was the winner. We also did the sake bar in Japan which I've always wanted to do! We both got the peach which was really good.

Then we went to Disney Springs and checked out the Christmas tree trail which is so cute, got Starbucks, and really just wandered aimlessly. THEN we went over to Saratoga Springs where our friend Peter booked us all a night in one of their treehouse villas! SO FUN! It was Peter's birthday, Michaelene's birthday, and Kasia's last night (her end date was November 30th), so we got a treehouse to celebrate! It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room with two pullouts. There were nine of us all together (all circus family), so there were a perfect amount of beds. Peter is adorable so he designed a homemade escape room for us to figure out, so we started the staycation off with an escape room. Then we had dinner (chicken and salad, THANKS PETER!), and went a roasted marshmallows over the hotel campfire. We played outdoor games like cornhole, then settled in for the resort's movie under the stars which was DUMBO! What are the odds?!

We got free popcorn and watched the movie, then went back to our treehouse for more games, and ended with a trip to the hot tub!

November 30th (Thursday): TWO DAYS OFF IN A ROW WHAT. We all woke up around 9am, Peter made us a homemade breakfast of eggs, bacon, and potatoes, and Alex and Caroline went off to work. The rest of us were off, so I went to physical therapy, then we all got back together to go to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. MK we rode the Barnstormer and Dumbo, then got some slushies (I only drank 1/4 because I started to have bad stomach pain). MK was DEAD because the park closed at 4:30pm for a special event.

At studios we saw the Frozen show, got food (except for me because I started to feel dreadful), and got to see the new holiday shows! This includes the light projections on Tower of Terror, the Pixar thingy on the Chinese Theater, and Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! They were all pretty good and there was tons of snow, but by the end I felt awful. I drove Kasia to her hotel and said goodbye (SO SAD) then went home.

December 1st (Friday): I was supposed to work this awesome shift from 2:30pm - 8:30pm but had to call out due to the stomach flu (we think). I also had to call and reschedule physical therapy. I was just in a lot of pain and sat in bed all day, except a trip to the vending machine to get a poweraid. I think I only ate a frozen waffle and some applesauce all day.

December 2nd (Saturday): I was supposed to work from 2:45pm - 11pm but had to call out again for another day of lying in bed with stomach pain. Anytime I ate food I would get these sharp pains, so I had another day of eating basically nothing.

December 3rd (Sunday): I worked from 3:30pm - 12:15am. I felt a little better, but was on and off with the stomach pain. I mostly pulled positions I don't like, but they went smoothly so it was fine. It was also a Christmas party night and I got to see the fireworks which was awesome! Oh and we had this funny family of four who waited in line, got on the ride, had their lap bars checked, and THEN asked if this was a rollercoaster. My coworker says yes, and they say they don't like rollercoasters and all get off. Um what?? You just waited an hour for a ride that you're not going to ride? Crazy. Then I ended my night by going home only to realize our locks were changed and I had the wrong key. So security had to come let me in.