We are Part of a Pattern about to Unfold

Hello friends,

Everyone I know and care about in central Florida is safe and sound for like the millionth time this year. Much rain, many wind, Hurricane Matthew, WOW, we're all good here. It's pretty cool to be here for park history though; we've only been closed something like four times since we opened in 1971. I'm enjoying my lazy time, although I wasn't supposed to work today anyway. 

Moving on. I know it's been awhile. Let's blame the hurricane for this one, and bless it for giving me the time indoors to work on it. At least, that's what I'm going with. 

Yesterday (October 6th), the (Disney) world was preparing for the onslaught of the hurricane, and I was preparing to say goodbye to my lovely friend Laura, as it was her last day at Hollywood Studios. Nicole had moved her into All Star Music that morning (long lines everywhere, #hurricaneproblems) before meeting me at Hollywood Studios. The parking attendant driving the tram reminded us that all parks were closing at 5pm as we put on our rain gear for the fourth time that day. No matter. We still managed to do Toy Story Midway Mania one last time (neither of us could beat our current scores), as well as Rockn Roller Coaster and arguably the best Frozen Sing-Along I have ever witnessed (and we all know I've seen it frequently). We also got PB&J milkshakes at Prime Time Cafe before saying goodbye at 4pm, when Laura headed back for possibly another bonus night at All Stars, as her flight to BC had been delayed. Safe travels, Snow White, say no to apple slices on the plane.

Pre-Hurricane Princesses taking on Toy Story

Nicole and I spent the entire evening indoors with more snacks than were absolutely necessary, and basically it just rained all evening and we woke up to a lot of wind this morning. We're now allowed to leave our housing complex if we so desire... but I don't.

The highlight of my day before the storm (October 5th) was braving Target after work with fellow merchie Nick. About half the customers in Target were in their Disney work costumes like us and it was basically super chill, except there wasn't much bread left. You should've seen the Walmarts and Publix though. Eerie. I also was a champion and filled my car with gas while it was still cheap. So clever, so prepared.

Times are tough in Target.

October 1st, for those in the know, is a rather important date around here. Magic Kingdom, and Disney World as a while, opened its door for the first time on October 1st, 1971 (Disney history is the only history my brain retains), and 11 years later, Epcot opened on October 1st, 1982. Magic Kingdom was celebrating its 45th anniversary and Epcot was celebrating its 34th (does everyone remember my picture for Epcot's 30th? I do.). Magic Kingdom had a whole hullabaloo going on, but Epcot was celebrating too. Costumed Cast Members were permitted to proudly sport the Magic Kingdom 45th anniversary button, and sneaky costumes CMs like myself also wore Epcot anniversary buttons. I'm not saying 34 is a particularly big number, but you better believe every year is worth celebrating. There were cupcakes available for us but sadly every merchie I knew started work well before distribution.

To be fair, Disney Look says we can have two
additional prices of flair...

September 30th was Princess Laura's last day at Animal Kingdom. I met her and Emma there for two more rounds of Festival of the Lion King (three rounds for them, I slept in), too many more rounds of Expedition Everest, and one last Finding Nemo: the Musical (quite possibly the most underappreciated attraction at that park). Expedition Everest though. I'm glad I'm capable of doing it, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.

Laura and I in the second row, Emma behind us.
Moose antlers frighten Yetis. 

On September 28th, I spend an day unexpectedly bonding with my adopted attractions child, Emma. We went to Magic Kingdom mostly for show purposes, as Emma is an excellent photog and Mickey's Royal Friendship Fair, as well as Festival of Fantasy, is her jam. More unexpectedly, Harmony Barbershop had an empty chair when I checked in upon arrival, so I got a bonus haircut and more pixie dust than anyone (even me) could imagine. Emma got it too, and as far as I know it's still in her hat. We then spent some time being basic Magic Kingdom girls in the hub grass with our pixie dust and Starbucks, before round 1 of Mickey's Royal Friendship Fair. There's a new Fall song and Fall-themed costumes, so beautiful. If you want to see actual good pictures of it, here's Emma's instagram. Go nuts. Emma experienced the joy that is Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room before the next MRFF presentation, but sadly it turned into a sing-along due to inclement weather. We rode the People Mover twice (rerides are my favourite) before seeking out a location for Festival of Fantasy. There weren't much to be had, and the weather was creeping up on us (as it does in Florida), but we still enjoyed it from Main Street. We then decided Florida Mall was a great idea for some reason, but I did need a Lush run and we just had to check out the Disney Store, so no regrets. 

Pixie dust: check, Starbucks: check...

Purple wall: Check.
Want a great purple wall picture? Be Emma's mum.

On September 25th, I returned to Blizzard Beach for the first time since the Spring. Shane, Louise and I were there mostly for lazy river and tanning purposes, but we did sneak in a few rounds of Teamboat Springs, and Shane braved Summit Plummet without us. We packed up when it started to rain. It's always starting to rain.

It's been several months and this hole still hasn't been fixed...

On September 23rd, I went to Disney University to attend a Disney Ambassadors session. Basically our current 2015-2016 ambassadors are on their way out, as 2017-2018 ambassadors have been selected, so they're giving weekly or twice-weekly talks at Disney University for fun. This one was entitled "We Create Happiness" and basically it felt like Traditions crammed into an hour. It was magical. It was nice to be reminded of why I was there, and it was nice to get a selfie with the ambassadors (the one visited our pavilion for Canada Day, so it's my second with him).

Basically, the Ambassadors were psyched to meet ME. 

On September 22nd, I was so briefly reunited with my dear Anastasia from Ottawa and from my last program. We were supposed to attend a Mickey's Not So Scary Party together on the 20th but alas, Food and Wine means shifts longer than one can imagine, and I couldn't attend. Regretfully, we forgot to take a picture, but we did have a great time buying ALL THE THINGS at Cast Connection. Welcome back to the Blue ID club, Asia!

September 20th was Kara's last day of work with us in merchandise. Coincidentally, earlier in the week she regained a proper nametag with her actual name on it, as well as her one-year Steamboat Willie pin, as she got a glorious month-long extension. Her farewell celebration/funeral was super low-key the way she wanted it, and sadly all of us were doomed to stay at work well into the evening, because Food & Wine.

Kara puts the FUN in FUNERAL.
(Did I use this last time for Kevin?)

Shall we stand like Irish dancers?
Yes, please!

Luckily, the day before, we were able to have a half-proper last Magic Kingdom all together. I mean, it was bucketing down rain as it usually is, but we had dinner, we rode a few rides, we caught like half of Wishes since they were delayed, we got a bunch of great pictures, and we didn't have to be at work to be doing it.

On September 18th, I spent quality senior citizen time with Shane. We went to Olive Garden way before even the early dinner crowd (because buy one, take one Olive Garden is life), and we went to Universal. We made it with probably two hours left at Islands of Adventure, but it's ok because this is what annual passholders do. We still rode Hulk twice, Jurassic Park once and Spiderman once, then when we got kicked out we went to the new restaurant on City Walk called The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savoury Feast Kitchen (basically it's what you'd imagine a chocolate factory ought to be like) for milkshakes containing probably more calories than your human should consume in a day. Not to worry. Neither of us could finish.

The Hulk does great things for your hair.
Shane is lucky he had a hat.

I also went to Universal on September 17th, because why not, and also I was with Matt, who had celebrated a birthday the day before! We attended the Barney stage show for the first time each, because obviously it was raining, and we explored Fievel's Playland for the first time for me. I was always under the impression that it was exclusively for children, but it turns out there's a waterslide in there for kids of all ages, and these kids were already damp from rain so we didn't mind at all.

The sign says something about "Wet Britches" and is correct. 

You better believe we were the first two in line.

Fingers crossed for the end of inclement weather!

See you real soon!

Lindsey

Magical Moment: When Emma and I were at MK, a Photopass photographer approached us and gave her a few times about her fancy pants camera. This was all well over my head, but he did take some great hub grass pictures for us as well!

Pixie Dust to: Everyone from the homeland (or otherwise) who checked on my well-being during the hurricane. It's a pretty weird thing when Facebook asks you to check in twice in as 'Safe' in less than a year. 

Think of a Wonderful Thought, Any Merry Little Thought

Oh my goodness I've nearly fallen a month behind. Is it too late now to say sorry?

Before my family vacation I really should have posted something, so here's the highlights: Princess Breakfast at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall on May the 12th to celebrate the birthdays of both Princess Katrina and Princess Laura, of Canada Attractions land:

Laura, me and Katrina are a pretty princess sandwich. 

Canada merchandise bowling at Splitsville in Disney Springs on May the 13th. Congratulations to the new champion, Micayla.

We moose go bowling? Moose pun of some kind. 

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom with Laura Brown on May the 14th. We wore ears and watched Festival of Fantasy with Kimberley, and it was very warm. In the evening, I found dinner at the food trucks at Disney Springs with Matt and we failed to find any remaining Disney Dollars. RIP Disney Dollars.

Laura is all about helping Merlin.
You're welcome, wizard friend. 

Jungle Cruise selfie is just mandatory. 

When dinner comes from a food truck,
there's a lot of room for dessert...

On May 18th, well before my family was scheduled to arrive, I woke up at the crack of dawn (that's an exaggeration) to be at the pav before the Guests arrived. All thirteen merchies plus one Lindsay Wilson were finally all in the same place at the same time. So we may have had a few pictures taken. Thanks, Patrick!

Thirteen gorgeous Canadians. I am fifth from the left. 

Shellby and I demonstrating just how full
these glorious skirts are. 

Although my family was travelling on May 18th, I'm going to say our vacation didn't really start until the 19th. Mom and Steph arrived well after midnight and our entire first sleep in our pirate ship beds was after midnight, so... this just makes sense.
After a lovely resort breakfast of probably something Mickey-shaped, we went to Hollywood Studios. I had FastPasses booked for us for Star Tours, Toy Story Midway Mania (my first time this program I think) and the Frozen Sing-Along. We also met Olaf, since no one knows he's there and the wait time is tiny, Steph rode Tower of Terror while Mom and I bailed on a normal elevator, we did Muppet Vision 3D because we are Muppet fans for life, and we ate a lot due to being on a Dining Plan. In the evening, I dragged them to Skipper Canteen for dinner, since there was a spot available, and had them ignore all the stimuli that is Magic Kingdom, since our MK day wasn't until the next day. When you enter the park at the beginning of Main Street Electrical Parade, it's pretty hard to ignore.

Do you want to meet a snowman? 

How impressed am I by the Sing Along snow?

We started our Magic Kingdom day with a (delayed) breakfast at Ohana. So we ate all the waffles and biscuits we could handle, while visiting with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto. We saw Pluto delicately smush a cupcake into a toddler's hair. Best puppy ever. We monorailed it over to Magic Kingdom and stayed all day and most of the night because my family members are champions of course. We boarded Big Thunder Mountain in high winds, and by the time we actually got on our train, it was of course bucketing down rain. Good thing Lindsey is prepared and brought ponchos. Obviously in the rain you also have to do Splash Mountain, in which we definitely got wet. We caught both FoF and Main Street Electrical with great viewing spots and got a lot more in than I ever would have imagined. We accidentally stayed for Celebrate the Magic and Wishes, and definitely got caught in the large surge leaving, but it's all part of the park experience, am I right?

Bringing the family to meet the boss.

The view from a very rainy Big Thundy.  

Advantage Lindsey: I know where the best selfie spots are. 

...See?

The next day was our Animal Kingdom day, and it was unfortunately also a work day for me. We were all able to have breakfast together at Tusker House (with Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy) before I went to make magical vacation memories for other families at my park while my family enjoyed their day at Animal Kingdom. I wasn't there, so I'm not 100% sure what was accomplished, but I know Mom and Steph enjoyed their FastPasses for Kilimanjaro Safaris, Dinosaur and Festival of the Lion King. We met after my work day at the much needed Caribbean Beach pool and hot tub.

Two breakfasts with the boss in as many days.
I'm probably a favourite now.  

I LOVE THIS. 

My last day with my family was our Epcot day. We didn't have a character breakfast for the first time in days (hard Disney life), but rest assured the Disney Dining Plan kept us very full. Naturally, I started our Epcot day with Spaceship Earth, and moved onto the rest of Future World - Test Track, Mission Space (Green training obviously), Universe of Energy (I had to), and the Seas. We explored the aquarium and the air conditioning before moving along to World Showcase. Sorry Canada, I started in Mexico. They have a ride. We had dinner at Biergarten in Germany and it was wonderful! The surprise band was just delightful. Same with grapefruit beer. If you don't like making small talk with strangers, this might not be for you. I was able to get a visit in with every pavilion, with the exception of Norway. It'll be a crazy commotion in a few weeks anyway. We were able to get great spots for IllumiNations, although I admit everyone was slowing down a tad. Some last minute shopping was accomplished while MouseGear remained open, and we returned to our ships for one last night.

This vacation isn't entirely selfies. It just mostly is.  

It's a Sealfie. SEAlfie. 

Gorgeous lighting in the France pav.

Mom and Steph's Magical Express was boarding as I had to go to work. I'll admit I was grateful for work as a distraction, as well as the company of Kristin and Micayla for dinner that night at the Polynesian. Our reso nicely coincided with Wishes at Magic Kingdom, and the music was piped into the dining room for our enjoyment.

Me with two of the loveliest people you'll ever meet.

You'd think I'd have to take it easy after a family vacation. But nope.

The blockout date for the waterparks is quickly approaching, so in the last two weeks I had the joy of visiting both water parks again - Blizzard Beach on May 26th with Sarah, and Typhoon Lagoon a week later on June 2nd with Sarah again, as well as Shellby, Heloise and Patrick. With the exception of the lazy river, I feel prepared to hand over the water parks to Guests for a few months.

On Friday, the 3rd, Nicole and I had a chill afternoon exploring the newly opened Town Center (not Centre) of Disney Springs. We explored until we found the Daily Poutine kiosk. It may or hard to believe, but I've actually never had poutine because I'm not a fan of gravy. Luckily, there were options that did not involve gravy. We also visited the newly opened Sprinkles cupcakes for dessert, after exploring the new shops, and then we went to Cast Connection in hopes of finding nothing in particular. I had an evening of (slightly) off-property time with Matt, Mike and Rachael, wherein I lost in Monopoly again but I was full of Steak & Shake so I suppose that was a win enough.

We found a shady spot for our yummy lunch. 

On June 1st, we said "See You Real Soon!" to Kathleen, fellow merchandise CRP alum. When World Showcase opens, the leaders and coordinators gather us together to present the departing cast member a certificate of completion, we cry, we take many group pictures, it's sad, but then we have an entire work day to contend with after. Between goodbyes and work, I went on the newly reopened but still old Soarin' with Shane, Kevin and Shellby. The new version of Soarin' opens later this month. I expect to start giving directions again any day now.
The vast majority of the merch cast was able to gather at Magic Kingdom after close for the mandatory sad final viewing of Wishes (or Celebrate the Magic, for people closing). We also got a bonus last round of Big Thundy.

Kathleen keeping it together like a champion.  

Kathleen's last work day posse.
We are a good herd. 

This Wednesday, we had to do it all over again with beloved merch CM Morgan. Before work that day, Shane, Shellby, Rachel and I made our first appearance in the new Disney Vacation Club Lounge over the Imagination pavilion. There was free Coke Freestyle pop, snacks, iPads for borrowing purposes, and probably the best air conditioning on property. New tradition? New tradition. We had lunch at Sunshine Seasons, rode Living with the Land, and visited Starbucks before returning to work for the afternoon.

You must wear sunglasses in Living with the Land.

Morgan didn't celebrate her last Wishes until Thursday, so I was able to join her much earlier than Epcot closing time. We got pixie-dusted at Castle Couture, rode the Walt Disney World Railroad, unevenly crammed ten people into three cars on the People Mover (don't try it), watched Celebrate the Magic twice, the Main Street Electrical parade, and sadly, Wishes. Luckily, we were able to stay late enough to get some magical Main Street pictures. I'm sure Photopass will edit out mascara tracks?

Happy last day, Morgan! I hope it was as magical as you!

Yes, yes you can fit six people in a People Mover car. 

Today Laura and I had a day of exploring Hollywood Studios. Laura had some autographs to gather (these are the errands we have to do), and we were able to get a Toy Story FastPass, so good times were guaranteed. We met Olaf, Bolt, Kylo Ren, Chewbacca, as well as Minnie and Sorcerer Mickey in their new meet & greet location, Red Carpet Dreams. We also attended the Frozen Sing Along, for the second time this blog post, and got the cowboy scene in Great Movie Ride. We departed just as the daily downpour was beginning. The theme of the day was "we have great timing." And so do I. Because I'm more or less done this post. LOL finally.

We met this movie star today! 

See you real soon!

Lindsey

Magical Moment: A Starbucks CM wrote "Sheriff Lindsey" on my iced coffee cup. I was in fact wearing a Sheriff's badge, so it was totally appropriate. And properly spelled.

Pixie Dust to: Departing merchandise CMs Kathleen and Morgan (keep being magical), my family for coming to visit me, and every CM with whom we interacted for making our vacation magical. It's nice to be reminded of why I do what I do.

Like Painting a Masterpiece, it's a Work of Heart

Hello long lost friends! I have returned with more adventures but no news about my housing situation. When I know, I'll share.

This will be a highlights reel post, since too many work days have passed and I can't recall all the fun at this moment. The non-work days though, those I remember.

On Thursday March 3rd, Sarah and I planned the Magic Kingdom open-close day we've been wanting basically since we met. We woke up bright and early with a change of clothes in tow (it had been getting cold in the evenings) and arrived at the park for something obscene like 0830. We caught the show which opens the Magic Kingdom and brings all the characters in, then followed behind the hoardes wanting to either see Anna & Elsa or get on Mine Train, laughing all the way. We got on Splash and Big Thunder Mountain with minimal waits, and met Woody in Frontierland. We popped in for early lunch at Be Our Guest (which actually opened during my last program). I had never been there for Quick Service lunch so that was new. By the time we left, there were huge lines to get in. We went under the sea with Ariel in New Fantasyland (the ride, not the meet & greet) and visited Dumbo in Storybook Circus.
We were joined by Justine and Dan for awhile, and we completed the FOF challenge, in which you watch the Festival of Fantasy parade once in Frontierland where it starts, then you race down to Main Street to watch it again. We got onto Pirates in Adventureland and we did Philharmagic and somehow we got a relatively short wait for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I had never seen the interactive queue before and I had never done the ride during the day so that was new and exciting. We also chilled on the People Mover, before taking in the Main Street Electrical Parade, Celebrate the Magic and Wishes. MK actually closed early for a Disney Vacation Club event to which we were not invited, so I think in total our day was just under twelve hours. I've done fifteen.

Beautiful, serene Splash Mountain...

Five seconds after the first picture...

We are the princesses of Splash Mountain

Such a charmer. I'm obviously talking about me.

On Friday March 4th, the four merchies supporting the bottom of the totem pole had plans for Hollywood Studios. We got a little split up at the beginning, but (spoiler alert) we all end up together for fireworks.
Myself and Kevin, the youngest merchie (I am indeed the oldest, what a surprise) started off our day with the Frozen Sing Along, which was awesome and magical and snow-covered. We then checked out Path of the Jedi, which is basically a supercut of the first six Star Wars films and a bit of the newest seventh. Now we know. We went on Star Tours twice. I have no idea how I did this ride so many consecutive times on my first program. We met Sully and Mike from Monsters Inc (and it was awkward) before going on Great Movie Ride in which I FINALLY got to experience the infamous cowboy scene instead of the standard gangster scene (it was a goal of mine to see it), before meeting the rest of the crew, Shellby and Shane with special guest Shane's dad, who was visiting. We had FastPasses for Rock'n Roller Coaster and we visited Star Tours again before breaking into smaller groups again for Voyage of the Little Mermaid and reunited for MuppetVision 3D before Kevin and went to Fantasmic. We also met Kylo Ren and Chewbacca (generally Kylo Ren was unimpressed at our level of laughter). We all got back together for the wonderful Star Wars fireworks, Symphony in the Stars, before Shane and his dad turned in for the night and Kevin, Shellby and I went to Steak & Shake and met fellow two-time merchie Kathleen for Deadpool at Disney Springs. It was a long, full, day people. And it was awesome!

Waiting to watch Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

Kylo Ren is super unhappy with us. 

Chewbacca is more chill. 

This past Thursday, the 10th, Laura and I went to Epcot to explore some of the Flower & Garden Festival. We also had a cast scavenger hunt-style thing we were wanting to complete, and we'd decided to get some Duffy Bears to get signed all around World Showcase. I'd like to say it was for better product knowledge of out own park, but really it was just for fun.
We rode Spaceship Earth with our FastPasses then went off to Living with the Land before finding the Fantasia topiaries of Future World, along with the cacti section and Cars topiaries near Test Track. We tried violet lemonade, and a potato and cheese biscuit with salmon tartare, as well as a chocolate raspberry macaron. We picked up from very special Duffy bears courtesy of our friends in the Canada attraction. We intend to do a sequel day, as only one half of the showcase was experienced this trip. Good thing we're here all year!
I actually went to Cast Connection later in the afternoon, and to Magic Kingdom for just a bit in the evening. It was supposed to be a quest for a specific pair of earrings but then I met Sarah and fun ensued.

The new view in Future World

Laura and I are beautiful butterflies, too!

These topiaries are outside the Canada pavilion.
Thumper wants my violet lemonade.  

On Friday the 11th, I went to Blizzard Beach with two wonderful merchies who both had traded their day off to get a Friday off, Morgan and Kimberly. We had an amazing day of sun in the lazy river (Cross Country Creek), the wave pool (Meltaway Bay) and the slides, the most famous of which is Summit Plummet, of which I am not a fan. Collectively we had brought quite a picnic, and we arrived right at open to get our first pick of hang-out spots, which we were called "camp" all day. We were very sunsafe, multiple layers of sunscreen all day, and the park was practically all ours. Neither had been to Blizzard Beach ever and it had been years for me, but we had an awesome time!

I got out of the lazy river to take this picture.
That's an "I'm Celebrating!" temporary tattoo, btw.

Goodbye, Blizzard Beach, see you real soon!

Today (yesterday now!) was Nicole's birthday! YAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICOLE! We went to 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian Resort for brunch. 1900 Park Fare is a Victorian carousel-themed buffet, BUT you get to meet an assortment of characters. We met Piglet, Winnie the Pooh, Mary Poppins, Alice and the Mad Hatter. Those that can talk gave us some excellent conversation, and those that cannot gave us some unforgettable interactions. I was able to nip off to Magic Kingdom with the rest of the squad for just a few minutes before I had to go to work.

Sarah, Pooh bear and I!

Justine, the Mad Hatter and the birthday girl!

Our whole squad together on Main Street!

It's getting hot here, friends. This is a warning for future visitors.

See you real soon!

Lindsey

Magical Moment: This wasn't my magical moment, but it's still magical. Today, Nicole met a princess at the Grand Floridian. Princess Quinn was also celebrating a birthday. Princess Quinn had recently gone to Bippity Boppity Boutique and therefore had too many tiaras. She gave one to Nicole, her fellow birthday princess. Parenting done right, over here!

Pixie Dust to: Angela and Mary, thank you for the mail. Sorry no one else has my address. I'm trying to make it very temporary.