They're gonna be the main event, like no fam was before!...

I promise I haven’t gotten eaten by Tic Toc Croc! (name that movie) But time sure has been flying. I can’t believe that March is almost over and April is almost here. That means May is right after that then I go home… and then there’s CAMP!!!! aaaand back to school (but that will be fun and I am excited about going back to the good ole Dub).

Where do I begin again? First, sorry about not posting regularly at all… Sherri is really showing me up with her blogging skills. I feel like Spain is way more interesting than Disney though. I’m not going to say that I’m going to try and start posting regularly, because really there isn’t all that much to post about working for Disney. There’s work, then being at the apartment, going to the parks on about a weekly basis, and the ever approaching visit of the Dysfunctional Family. Yes, you read that right, we are having all out Dysfunctional Family Reunion. Disney isn’t going to know what hit them. Hehehe.

Living on my own is turning out to be ok. I just wish I had roommates that were a bit more courteous about keeping the place clean and thinking about other’s sleeping habits… but what can you do? I’ve said for a while that I eventually want to live out on my own by myself, and I still want to do that because of the freedom and independence, but also just to figure out what I like and don’t like. For instance, I have learned that I don’t like Ramen EVERYWHRE in the kitchen (like spilled in the microwave, raw noodles on the counter, and on the floor). I also have learned that I like my clothes to be folded and hung up. Simple things like that, ya know?

Oh! I do have a brand new roommate. Her name is Peach and she’s from Thailand. That’s about all I know about her so far. She also has a friend that came with her whose name I don’t have any clue how to pronounce, but it translates to Butter in English. I think I’ll just call her Butter. I sure hope she doesn’t mind. She’s been doing a lot of welcome stuff and Traditions class and all that fun stuff that I had to do when I first got here. Then there’s jetlag. She got here 9am Sunday morning and has been going to bed a lot earlier than I do, granted my schedule has changed soooo much since I started working here.

Work, work, work. What to say about work? Well it has definitely been educational, in a lot of different ways. Mostly though, I have come to the realization that I am a bigger nerd and know-it-all than I thought. Also, working for a company that employs 60,000+ people teaches you that there are always those who are going to think they do their job better than anyone else and you’re just there to fill in when they have the day off. It’s ok though, I’m sure you are all nodding and laughing when you read that I just realized that I’m a huge know-it-all, because you have known this since I was born, or from the moment you met me… and I’m ok with that, it’s a part of who I am. I think it might be hereditary! 

Some fun and positive things about work:
1. I met a guy, his name is Matt. He’s really fun and sweet and loves Jesus. More on him later ;)
2. I can tell lots of jokes when I’m spieling.* yes they are corny, but they make people laugh when they are so so so tired from walking around the parks all day. I get some complements too. A lot of people tell me that I’m like the Jungle Cruise Skippers (even a former Skipper told me that), if you don’t know what that is, either google it, or ask and I’ll explain later. One old man tried to give me $5, but I graciously denied (we’re not allowed to accept tips). I just do it because I like to make everyone chortle when they’re half asleep… and they gave me a mike—bad idea! haha
3. I have learned more about… the physical part of relationships… from those in my area that are much older than the CPs.* Way more than I did in health class in high school (and just to be clear, not in a practical sense of learning, nor from Matt). The break room is an interesting and sometimes scary place for a girl from small town North Carolina. I tell my CP friends that they are worse than we are all the time…
4. I think part of the reason I like this job is because I have a servant’s heart. I love to make people happy and especially kids. How is it God always shows us what we least expect in the most surprising ways? It’s not about the recognition, but the smiles in my opinion because happy little Princesses and Space Rangers make me so smiley. Making a kid’s day Magical… that’s my “Disney Dream.”

More about Matt now. He’s 23 and did the career start program is 2006 (like the CP, but for people who just graduated high school. After that he moved back home (to El Cerrito which is on the other side of the San Francisco bay) for a while and worked for Starbucks (yummmmm, I know the Mama Mafia likes the sound of that). Then he decided to come back and work for Disney again after about a year (if I am remembering correctly). We started dating in February  He likes me and I like him. He treats me like a princess… He gets to meet/experience a lot of the Dysfunctional Family next week. I feel like they’re going to become a new attraction at Hollywood Studios or something, actually maybe Animal Kingdom. And that’s all I have to say about that right now. (name that movie)

One thing that I do regret about my program thus far is not finding a church or small group get plugged into. I just work so late all the time that there is no way I could be coherent on a Sunday morning. I have looked for and found virtually nothing around Kissimmee/Orlando that is for college aged kids. :’(

I did mention that camp is right around the corner. Which I am soooooooooooo very excited about. I have been hired as a Residential Senior Counselor! YAY!!! And I get to be a counselor for a certain retreat that is in July… also very excited about that :D Pray for camp and me. It’s going to be different this year and so am I, but definitely in a “God’s gonna rock my heart” kinda way… and more importantly the camper’s hearts!

Alrighty folks, it’s 2:30am and if I’m going to get some sun tomorrow I need to be getting some sleep. My roommates have quieted down now, so maybe they went to sleep too? Who really knows, I love ‘em though, crazy and all.

Hope you have a Magical Day!!! Lots of love coming to you from Sunny Florida!

PS--name the movie that the title of this post came from, bonus points if you're specific




*spieling: telling people how to get out of the parking lot, what to do if they can’t find their car, and what parking lot(s) we are currently going to/at. I had to figure out some way to make it more fun.
*CPs (College Program): those who participate in the Disney College Program. synonym: close park, CPs are often given the latest shifts because the Florida retirees have to make it do dinner by 4:30pm (hints why I am writing this at 2:30am on my day off).

Sweet Transcriptions

Today my dad sent me this really cute email, and I just need to share it with everyone. Made me smile, enjoy it, and my response:

Dearest Princess Victoria,
Alas the kingdom is amiss without your presence. Please wear your kerchief so perhaps you will not keel over from sunstroke. Remind the squires, cads and young princes not to meddle with my eldest princess (and soon to be the shortest princess). Therefore the cantankerous king will not have to result to butchery or have them drawn and quartered. Stay the course and do not meander for you are loved and missed!
Love you,
Dad

Oh Pa-Pa!
I love thou dearly and miss thou every second the sun shines or casts shadows in the nigh. Whilst I am away making negotiations to bring the peace and happiness of the magical kingdom of Disney to our humble homeland, do make sure not to spoil the young princesses of the castle too much. But my Queen, she whilst always need thou kind words and happy face to shine her way.

Thou silly worries should be put to rest, the princes must be hibernating like bears, for they do not come to call upon me. Only the paupers come to call upon my ladies-in-waiting day and nigh, they have not shame. My course is set, and compass ready. Our Lord shall not let thy eldest to be lead astray, for He hath provided dear sweet Lady Zasha to be in fellowship with this past fortnight. Do petition out Father daily to protect over my tender heart, for I fear it is as if it alone has looked upon Medusa's gaze and turned to stone.

Thy loving words have been proclaimed for all to hear. The world will know what a kind and mighty king you are. Give all of my lovely sisters, my loving Mother, The Queen Mother, and the Seer of Rains sweet hugs and tales of joy from afar. Tell them all that negotiations are sometimes long, but will pay back our humble nation seven-fold once I do return.
Love always,
Princess Victoria

Yeah, he's a softy on the inside.
--Fare-thee-well

And another email from the Queen:

Princess Victoria,

Thy Queen misses thou dearly and eagerly awaits good news from the Kingdom of Magic. Thou has brought great pride upon thy homeland and thy Queen has made proclamations around the land of thy worthy adventures. Thy Father, the King, has shared your good news with me and has madeth my day! Oh how I wish we could be speaking this in thy presence instead of by scribe. However, it will not be long before we are in each others presence once more and I will be able to gaze upon the lovely face of my eldest Princess.

Please continue to guard thy heart from young squires and princes.

Much love from the Kingdom and your Loving Queen

Also, these scribes would be very numerous on your blog_ (just saying).

Was way ahead of you Mommy!!!
Hope you enjoyed this little side note. Have a Magical Day!!!

Here we GOOOOOO! -Peter Pan

Ok everyone, sorry for not posting in forever, but things have been a whirlwind here! Now I have a few minutes to sit and collect my thoughts. Last Monday, Mommy, Granny, and Sydney drove down with me. 11 hours of fairly safe driving with just a little rain and we were all tired, but still ready to head to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Oh man… that was soooooo much fun!!!! We had Butter Bear, road all the rides, and were still able to have some time in the other Islands of Islands of Adventure. But let me tell you, Disney will always and forever trump Universal.

On Wednesday, I officially became a Disney Cast Member. I got to wait in line, choose my housing, wait in line, register my car, wait in line, set up my direct deposit, wait in line, get my assignment, and wait in line…. It was a really long day, but I had a lot of fun and met a ton of people. I got to meet my roommates, Hannah, Zasha, Kaylie, Brittany, and Kelsey. I share a room and bathroom with Kelsey she is crazy energetic and lots of fun. They’re all really cool and we all get along.

For now, I’ll leave everyone with just a few details, gotta keep everyone on their toes! I am working in Parking Operations in Magic Kingdom. I can drive a 171ft long tram, spiel all about the Magic Kingdom (and surrounding parks and resorts), and direct and park traffic. There are only three other CPs (College Program people) at the moment, but we should be getting more. I am hopefully going to get to carry pins to trade too, but I have to work that out with my manager later. I love the people I work with, and this job is so much fun!! Signing off for now, but I’ll be posting in the next couple of days, need to read and write essays for my classes!

Y’all have a Magical Day!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
–Mark Twain

Almost there!!!

Well friends, it’s been a month since I have posted, but I’ll be better about that, promise!
Now there are only a few more days ‘til I leave for beautiful Orlando!!! Yesterday I spent a good part of the day packing all my junk. There is so much stuff to go down there, and I haven't even started on packing my clothes.

While I have been at home, there hasn’t been much at all going on. The holidays were wonderful, don’t get me wrong! Got to see Papa and Grandma when they came to visit pre-Christmas, went to Ohio to see everyone there for wonderful festivities, Santa was good to everyone at my house (we’re all angels, if you didn’t know), and had a great time ringing in the New Year and celebrating my 20th birthday. We were busy busy busy!! Since then though, there hasn’t been much to do. Lunch with Sherri and some retail therapy helped butttt—I have to stay away from the stores before I spend all the money I don’t have!

So much prep is going into this, but I truly have to thank my good friend Tiffani for giving me a little preview into what I should expect at my new job. Aside from living in the most magical place on earth, I get to work for one of the best companies out there too. Now unfortunately, I have signed a confidentiality agreement and won’t be spilling any trade secrets, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t be sharing some of the Magic with my lovely friends and family! The first few days look like they’ll be full and exciting. I’m packing up and leaving Monday morning, possibly going to Harry Potter World on Tuesday, then breaking out of the starting gate on Wednesday. After that, I get to move in, learn all about the ins and outs of Disney, and begin making Magic for kids and kids-at-heart. One of my Disney Dreams is to get to put a smile on a Make-A-Wish kid. I also look forward to trading pins with kids and being a keeper of the coveted ‘cast lanyard pin’ and hard-to-find pin carriers! I’m such a nerd; I get so excited about the goofiest stuff. But while I’m traveling the secret tunnels, you can laugh all you like!

During all that retail therapy (it wasn’t too much actually) I got to shop for grown up, business-professional outfits. Now I feel like a real grown up… being 20 and all! I also bought a new pair of running/multisport shoes, and they’re really great. Dad calls them MonkeyFeet. REI (recreational equipment inc.) is the holy grail of fun. I have a goal of running a 5k in March and work up to a full Marathon sometime next year. Hopefully, I will be able to find a running group in Orlando, don’t want to be inspiration for an episode of Criminal Minds, Law and Order, or CSI. That’s mostly from my mom and Tina though! They crack me up! I’ll update everyone on how that aspect of my Disney Adventure is going as well. Accountability and encouragement is a necessity for me… beginning a new hobby that’s pretty intense. Help me stay on track guys!

And NOW I’m going to brush up on what Disney History is available and work on getting everything washed, dried, folded, and packed away! Pray for safe travel and a great start to this mew adventure. Blessings to everyone! 

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
–Mark Twain

Starting down the road of a new ADVENTURE!

Hi everyone, my lovely friend Sherri inspired me to start blogging. She will probably have a much more awesome blog, seeing as she is going all the way to Spain… you should check it out too (SpaniSherri)! I hope she doesn’t mind that I stole her idea, but it sounds like a fun way to communicate and record my time in Florida. I started this blog my freshmen year in an English class because it was how we turned in assignments every week (that’s why there will be some random and boring posts at the beginning), but I think I will change then name and start anew!

My name is Tori and I’m a sophomore at UNC Wilmington, and tonight is my last night here at our apartment before I start a new adventure. It’s nice and quite here (how I would have loved the peace during exam week), but much too quiet. There’s no Harry Potter marathon going on in the living room, the coffee has been packed away, and the walls are all too white. Sherri (said roommate from above) and her sister Tammy left earlier this evening. Danielle, Beth and Sara all left today or yesterday… I’m the last roommate in our lovely six-person apartment to leave, but alas, I do this to myself.

I work at a church in downtown Wilmington, and I’m taking care of the wee kiddies in the morn. The youth group is also having their annual Christmas F.O.L.D. (Following Our Lord Daily) tomorrow night, so I decided to stay in town till the last possible day. I think I might be considered homeless tomorrow, since I’m checking out before work and then not going home until tomorrow evening—how rebellious! I’ll be spending the holidays and then some with the family (REALLY looking forward to Ohio!!) Defiantly having a lot of fun, food, and laughter at Dysfunctional Family Christmas (look for your invite in your inbox in the next couple of weeks), oh, I’m so excited!

For the spring semester, I am going to be working in an internship at Wald Disney World in Florida. I’m really excited, but also really nervous about packing up and starting over in a new city and state, what am I gonna do without everything familiar?!?! What will my roommates be like? What trade secretes will I learn (but not be able to share… legally binding contract and all)? What am I going to do when I don’t have work, or homework (hopefully, still working on getting into classes)?

I decided to do this Internship for a few different reasons, and I have explained them over and over again, but I guess I’ll lay it all out here anyway. As a Biology Major, I think I want to work in a zoo one day, or at least with kids and animals (but what’s the difference really?). I know for sure I don’t want to be stuck in a lab doing research or in a classroom full of stir crazy kids… so this is the only route that I can think of at the moment. At Disney I’ll only be doing an entry level internship, working as a Main Entrance Operator (Ticket Sales, Trams, Greeting Guests, etc), but everyone knows that Disney is all about the performance and the customer satisfaction. They’re a Fortune 100 company and just a really great recommendation to have on your resume… Also, it’s Florida, and even in the winter the weather is between mild and wonderful. Lastly, I’m looking forward to a bit of an academic break. Yes, I’m still going to be taking two online classes, but I won’t have something like OChem to deal with next semester! Pheww!...

So I guess I’ll just be filling everyone in on what’s going on in the “Happiest Place on Earth” and such. Mostly, I guess I need a couple hobbies. I have been thinking about taking up running, so encourage me on, if you get a chance… I plan to start Monday, after I unpack.

Wish me luck as I start a brand new adventure!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
–Mark Twain