See Emily Play

I can never remember what I’ve done all week when I sit down to write this! I never really know what day of the week it is as I have had random days off since I arrived. At the moment they are Tuesday and Wednesday but they could change again soon. We went out last Monday after playing some drinking games with the Mexicans, I don’t think we won many! There was an international party in a bar nearby and it was good to meet people from all the other countries. On Tuesday my main task was to tidy up! I don’t even realise I’m doing it but I leave things all over the place and I don’t think my housemates enjoy it. I also managed to catch up on Grey’s Anatomy, I love it! That night I went out to a club called Rain which has a gay night on Tuesday. It played really good music and the drinks were reasonably priced. I went with six gay guys, we had a great time!

Wednesday was a busy day, started with an all you can eat pizza, pasta and salad buffet for $2.99, Disney discount! We then went to Typhoon Lagoon as the weather was really lovely. It was the first time I’d been to a Disney water park so I was excited. We get in free till the end of February so we’re going to try and make the most of it! We went to the wave pool first which was right next to the ‘beach’. When the hone went off to signal the wave I thought I was prepared for what was coming...It was honestly the biggest wave I have even seen in my whole life! I wish I could have caught my face on camera, it would have been priceless. I turned and tried to run to the shore but everything went into slow motion and I was soon caught up in it! It was absolutely crazy. They only do one at a time so you can prepare yourself for the next one and sort out your swimwear! We went on all the slides which were pretty standard for water parks apart from one, called Crush n’ Gusher. It went up as well as down, it was amazing!

Typhoon Lagoon shuts at 5pm so after we went to Disneyquest. It’s a 5 story interactive arcade in Downtown Disney. We luckily got in for free! There are lots of attractions as well as all sorts of arcade games from pac man to guitar hero. My favourite attraction was Pirates of the Caribbean. You get into your ‘pirate ship’ which has screens all around you and you have to shoot all the other ships with your cannons to get teir treasure! We were really good J We played in there for about 4 hours, I think we managed to do everything. There was also a realy good ride which was like bumper cars but you shot balls at other people and if you ht them they just spin around for ages! That night we just went to bed as we were tired from all the game excitement.

I was back at work on Thursday, late shift again! It’s been quite quiet lately so I’ve been trying to learn the menu of the restaurant as you have to know it before you can go into service. We have to take a written test then a practical test where you serve the managers, very intense! I can’t do this for another month though so I have lots of time to learn it all. It was someone’s birthday that day so he hired the penthouse suite of a local hotel and had a party, as you do! It had four double bedrooms, two kitchens and a huge balcony. It was a good night but it did get shut down at about 1am. No one got into trouble we just had to leave! The next night I went to someone’s apartment for a beer pong tournament! I didn’t get through the first round, though the girls team did win at extreme flip cup after...this is where you have to jump over and crawl under tables on the way! My body clock is on a strange cycle now, bed about 3am, up at 11am. I’m still getting a full night’s sleep but not necessarily at the right time!

I do work hard too but that’s not as exciting to talk about! A lot of funny things happen but they are probably more ‘you had to be there’ moments. It helps to be a little crazy to work in Disney, and ridiculously friendly. People always ask about where I’m from as it says Brentwood on my badge. I do get a lot of people who live/work/have family nearby which is always fun to talk about! Someone went to St. Martins about 30 years ago and now lives in Las Vegas, which is probably the weirdest one so far.

I have two days off now :) wahoo! I hope everyone is having a good week!

From Florida with Love

Emily

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A Kind of Magic

I've had a pretty quiet week since last Friday. I have been working late most nights so we don’t always feel like going out when we get back. As we are still the ‘newbies’ we get all the closing shifts which finish about 10pm. There are two new arrivals groups in February so we won’t be new for much longer! I managed to put on a photo of my costume this week, though I did leave the mop cap off! I also have a very fetching coat which I need to tak a picture of. Hopefully we won't need it much longer as it is getting warmer, though the evenings are cold as there aren't many clouds.

On the Saturday before last I went out for lunch to a buffet restaurant called Sweet Tomatoes. It was so amazing! It was unlimited salad, soups, jacket potatoes, chilli, vegetables...I ate so much. We had about 5 courses, I was struggling to stand up by the end. It was all healthy though so I didn’t feel bad about it! Apart from the pizza bread, and the chocolate cake I had for dessert. We were meant to have games night that evening as my friend Kaz had just bought Disney Monopoly which has a pop up castle in the middle! However, by the time we’d all got there and they had eaten dinner (I was still stuffed!) it was about 1am, a bit late to start that game.

Most other evenings we watched films and just chilled out, singing along to iPods and eating fudge! I’ve watched The Lion King, Mulan and Aladin in the past few weeks as we can get borrow them for free at work. You can’t escape the Disney bubble! On Monday nights all the girls from the UK get together and after a few drinks meet up with the boys from another country. This week we met the UK boys at a bar nearby as someone was leaving. I played pool against one of the guys from culinary and managed to win as he was very drunk! It is good to be able to get together outside of work and get to know other people you might not see every day. After you have been for 6 weeks you get a t-shirt!! Tomorrow is 80’s themed, I knew I should have bought my legwarmers.

I had a day off on Wednesday and was very lazy, again! I got dressed at about 2pm and went to see a new girl who had arrived a few days before. We went to McDonalds with few of the other people who were off and arranged to meet some friends at the cinema. We saw ‘County Strong’, the new film with Gwyneth Paltrow. It was actually unexpectedly good, I love county music! It was my friend Nate’s birthday that day so we went to TGIs on the way home for some yummy food. We made everyone sing happy birthday to him, which was enjoyable for us!

The most exciting thing I did all week/month/year was to go to Universal Studios on Saturday! We took a local bus which took about half an hour but it only cost us 25 cents as we’re Disney cast members. I bought an annual pass as it costs about the same as going three times in the year and I get discounts on food, merchandise and other people’s tickets. We went straight to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I was nearly exploding with happiness. It was magical! As soon as you walk into Hogsmeade you see the Hogwarts Express and all the shops, covered in snow. There was a queue to get in the Honeydukes so we didn’t go in straight away. We bought a butterbeer which was good, the foam topping was really yummy. The day was really good fun, lots to explore and see. The main ride Harry Potter was amazing, it is really creative and uses lots of bits from the books. We also walked round the rest of Island of Adventures and met some more characters (sorry for not knowing who all the X-men are!). In the evening we watched more films!

I miss you all lots, but I'm really happy here too! I will try and be on Skype more often as I only ever seem to catch people when I'm about to go to work, silly time difference! Have a great week :)

From Florida with Love,

Emily
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5, 6, 7, 8

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope you all had a memorable night, wherever time zone you were in!

On the evening before New Years Eve I went to the Polynesian hotel near Magic Kingdom to sit on the ‘beach’ and have cocktails! The resort is a ‘relaxing tropical paradise’ with really cool buildings and lots of interesting sculptures. Magic Kingdom practice their New Years Eve fireworks the night before so we got to watch them as it turned midnight. There was a really big group of us from work which was really lovely as we were all working the next night. We drank cocktails out of pineapples, as that is obviously what they always do on tropical islands. I had a raspberry pina colada, it was amazing!

On New Years Eve I worked from 5.30pm. It is one of the busiest evenings in Epcot of the year, but it meant the time went quickly. At 7pm we all celebrated English midnight! The fireworks started at 11.40pm so no one came to get any fish and chips after that. We managed to watch the fireworks for the last 10 minutes, they were crazy! It celebrated each countries new year in order that they happened around the world then had the countdown. At the end they let off so many fireworks at one go, it was slightly scary! Everyone got free chilli on the way back to the bus as a thank you for working, and we got hats! By the time we got home everyone was so exhausted that we just went to bed, I didn’t have one drink all night.

I had the weekend off so I slept in late the next day. I didn’t get dressed till about 4pm, I like those kind of days! I watched Princess and the Frog with my friend Arran which was really good, though it is sad towards the end. I went to Planet Hollywood for dinner in the big globe in Downtown Disney. We had to wait about an hour for a table as it was so busy. The food was really good but our waitress was nuts! It was quite funny but also annoying at the same time. We were all so hungry but all she wanted to do was chat! The next day I went to Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, just because we can! I saw a show in Animal Kingdom called Festival of the Lion King, it is definitely the best thing I’ve seen since I’ve been here. I also took a few more pictures to add to my character photo album!

I have finished training now so I have been let loose to open and close shifts on my own, which is good but also quite comical. I think I’m managing ok, although it sometimes feels slightly like a scene from Faulty Towers! I have mostly evening shifts at the moment which I don’t mind as it means I get to lie in which is my favourite hobby. I somehow always end up going to bed late, even if we all stay in, so it’s good to be able to catch up on sleep in the morning. I am getting on ok sharing a room, even though we are on totally different sleep patterns. I am managing to keep the mess to my side of the room!

One of the things I miss most about England (apart from all my friends and family) is a Tesco Express! Especially during university, I could pop to the shop practically any time of the day if I fancied some chocolate or a cheeky glass of wine! The closest shop is about a 20 minute walk so it becomes an hour round trip if you fancy a late night snack. I just need to be better prepared and have a sweets pile hidden away, although I would eat them all really quickly.

Last night I went to a line dancing bar, it was so much fun! I loved it. It was ladies night so we got in free and drinks were only $2. I was straight on the dance floor, trying not to stand on anyone! I managed to pick up some of the dances but they were so hard. There wasn’t anyone telling you what steps to do you just had to follow everyone else! They were all so good but looked so serious. I could follow the ones that just went back and forward but where they span around a lot I got confused. I had a great time though!

It’s our one month anniversary of arriving today, it has gone so fast. We are going out to lunch to celebrate then I’m having a quite night in, hopefully! I hope you all have a great weekend J

From Florida with Love

Emily

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