One of the best perks about working for the Disney World is the ability to go to the parks whenever we choose.
Last night, I met Ren and Meghan at Magic Kingdom after their traditions class for an hour or so of MK fun! I even got to ride the monorail for the first time on my trip. We walked over to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin for our first ride of the trip! After me failing epically at playing Buzz Lightyear we made our way over to Space Mountain so Ren and Meg could ride it but it was closed for the night already so we opted to take Ren on her first ever ride on it's a small world. We got off it's a small world and walked around the park to the Jungle Cruise. We rode the Jungle Cruise and while we were, we heard the fireworks start to go off. We left Jungle Cruise and walked towards the sea of people watching Wishes and dodged through them as fast as we could to get to the monorail first because we knew that Jen, Laura and Lo (Amanda) were waiting for us to go to Downtown Disney for dinner. So we rode the monorail to the TTC with some boys who were from Iowa and on a road trip. At the TTC we caught the bus back to Chatham where we quick changed and met the girls in Downtown Disney for dinner at House of Blues. It was very delicious (especially since I was really hungry) and a lot of fun. It was especially fun because it was our first family dinner as an apartment. After dinner we walked around Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island doing some "window shopping" and got some ice cream and the ghiradelli shop. Soooooo yummy! After we were stuffed to the brim, we came back to our apartment and went to sleep ready for another day of fun!
So today, 3 of us were lucky enough to have a day off before beginning training so we spent it in EPCOT! We boarded the bus to EPCOT at around 11:40 which took us to the backstage parking lot. After orientating ourselves, we made it through the cast entrance to the front of EPCOT. We were really hungry at this point so we made our way to The Land pavilion for some lunch. I grabbed us all fastpasses for Soarin' and then we had a really delicious lunch at the Land, Beet and Goat Cheese Salad with Candied Walnuts and a Sherry Vinaigrette. When we had finished lunch we decided to ride Living with the Land since we still had lots of time before our fastpass was ready. After Living with the Land (and seeing some very cool plants), we walked over the The Seas with Nemo and Friends! We took a bunch of pictures of the Seagulls outside because they're fun and cute and then went on the ride. Once the ride is over it leads you out to lots of aquariums and stuff which we spent lots of time looking at including the Dolphins who are so adorable. At 2:15 there was a demonstration with the dolphins that we stayed to watch which was really, really cool. They were doing research with the dolphins about how good their memory is and it truly is incredible how smart they are. When that was over, it was time for our fastpasses so we walked back over to Soarin' which I love! Such a fun ride. After Soarin' we decided to make our way around the world....World Showcase that is. We started in Canada and spent lots of time taking pictures and just walking around. I also stopped at a pin stand and bought my first pin of the trip! A 2010 pin, fittingly enough. When we got towards the end of our walk, something really cool happened, the bridge opened up near China and out came THE ILLUMINATIONS GLOBE!! I've never seen it that close before and it's even bigger than you think. That was such an awesome thing to see and I didn't even have to be backstage to see it! On our way back towards the front of the park, we stopped at Mouse Gear so I could buy some postcards and I also bought the Illuminations CD since I've been wanting it for so long and they had it. Hurray for Cast Member Discounts! We then walked more towards the entrance to the park and road Spaceship Earth before we left and got back on the bus to come home. When we got home, Jen picked us up and we ran to target to get some things and have just been chilling out since then. Ren also made us a delicious pasta dinner. :)
First day of training tomorrow! Can't wait to see what I'm really going to be doing. Until then,
Jess <3
