An Enchanted Moment, and It Sees Me Through

Hello friends. I know what you're thinking. I didn't die, I was just very very busy. I always was terrible with the procrastinating.

Since my last blog post, I celebrated my six-month-iversary on July 25th with my arrival squad Justine, Sarah and of course Nicole. Nicole and I were able to book the day off, so we went to the Japan Pavilion to Tokyo Dining for a delicious and filling (and 50% off!) sushi lunch. We even got more sushi for dessert because we could. To walk off our fullness, we found Justine at work (we got our own boat - we know people) and Sarah at work, we visited Anna and Elsa at the Norway pavilion, we rode Spaceship Earth, and we had some Photopass pictures taken to commemorate the occasion. We collected Sarah and Justine after seeing Star Trek: Beyond and had a late celebration dinner consisting mostly of Domino's and snacks. We already have squad plans for our next month-iversary - next week. When did that happen?

Spaceship Earth and two of its biggest fans.

Squad. Goals. Achieved.

I have also been to Universal TWICE since my last post.
I went on July 29th with Kristin and Shellby for Kristin's last Universal trip (for now) and I went on August 12th with Rachel because we wanted to. This is how you win with an annual pass, people. Kristin's trip involved a very specific itinerary - lunch at Leaky Cauldron, Escape from Gringott's, train to Hogsmeade, Forbidden Journey, Hufflepuff sweater purchase, Butterbeer purchase, and home in time for dinner. We accomplished all the things.

THAT's why they call it "The Leaky Cauldron"!

On a scale from 1 to 10, how much do we love HP?
9 and 3/4. 

The dinner we couldn't miss was at probably my number one restaurant on property - Ohana. It was wonderful to stuff ourselves silly on all the protein and watch the rain fall from the Polynesian. This is the stuff you can't put a price tag on (but somehow Ohana manages). Feeling too full to move anywhere, we decided the best course of action was to mellow out with a hilariously themed beverage from Trader Sam's. Since we were so close and dinner was so early, obviously we had to end the evening at Magic Kingdom. We watched Wishes from Fantasyland such that the fireworks were everywhere and there wasn't a huge crowd wanting to leave after the finale.

We had someone take an actual photo but my selfies are better. 

Rachel and I made our triumphant return to Universal on August 12th. We have very little park time together, all things considered. We left at the crack of 9, cuz Universal busies up in the afternoon and we're efficient. We hit up the Mummy twice, E.T. Adventure, Kang and Kodos Twirl & Hurl, The Simpsons Ride (our bodies hate it), Men In Black and finally to Diagon Alley for an Escape from Gringott's, followed by Leaky Cauldron lunch, Florean Fortescue's ice cream for dessert and a train ride to Hogsmeade. Out time at Islands of Adventure was cut short by the inevitable daily downpour. We rode Forbidden Journey before hoofing it out of there only minutes before we would have been soaked. Good planning, us.

Where we're going, we don't need roads.

August 2nd was a very sad day in the Canada pavilion, as it was the last day of work for magical Canadian Cast Members Kristin and Clifford. Our day started out, as final days often do, in the UK for a little goodbye ceremony wherein certificates are presented and tears are shed before the World Showcase opens for the day. I honestly don't know how they expect us to proceed with our days after starting with such sadness. But we keep calm and carry on, as our UK friends say. Of course, not every Cast Member is an opening Cast Member, so a few of us spent time in the DVC Lounge again before lunch at Sunshine Seasons and then we started work.

Canada Merch selfie, including Micayla on the iPhone.

One more pose in plaid with Kristin.
Did you know we have been mistaken for each other?

August 3rd was Clifford's last full day on Walt Disney World property. Naturally, I was working, but I was able to join the merry band at Magic Kingdom for frolicking, character-meeting, and mad tea-partying before Clifford's last Wishes. This is why I have to see Wishes more frequently, people. I always associate it with people leaving and it makes me sad. Ta ta for now, Clifford, see you in Brockville eventually!

Minnie personally selected the gentlemen for her arm candy. 

On August 4th, I assisted moving Kristin out of Patterson Court (a very unceremonious activity, thank you very much, housing) and into Art of Animation for a few days. We swam in the Big Blue Pool while the thunder rumbled and our fingers pruned up, at which point it was time to head to Magic Kingdom for the evening with Sarah and Shellby for another tragic round of last Wishes. The next day, after a gorgeous sleep in a Little Mermaid-themed room, we headed to Animal Kingdom so Kristin could indulge in Festival of the Lion King a few more times. I think at the end she had seen it 43 times (correct me if I'm wrong). Girl. I had to nap but the party moved to Hollywood Studios later, where I joined Shellby, Kristin and Rachel for a Frozen Sing-Along, and later most of the loyal merchies for Kristin's last Fantasmic - I believe she has now seen it 31 times. Girl.

Me, Kristin and Shellby being attacked by a wild Brer Fox
at the entrance of Animal Kingdom. 

Is this Canada? Snoap, it is the Frozen Sing Along.

While Kristin was boarding her Tragical Express back to the airport, Nicole and I were rising with the sun for a very special tour - The Walt Disney: Marceline to Magic Kingdom tour, beginning far before park open. Marceline to Magic Kingdom is described as a tour that tells you how key events in Walt's life lead to the creation of particular attractions and features of Magic Kingdom. You know how I like to be in the know, so it was right up my alley. We were accompanied by fellow keeners Sarah (from the arrival squad) and Leanne from UK merch. It was so magical and just the distraction I needed from the constant stream of departing cast members.

Nicole, Leanne, our super guide Kelli, Sarah and I.
I blend in with Carousel of Progress.

This past Thursday, the 11th, I braved very early and very hot Magic Kingdom to do something I've never done before at Walt Disney World (yes there is still such a thing) - Witness the welcoming of a new princess into Magic Kingdom! Princess Elena of Avalor was warmly greeted by Prince Charming and Cinderella in front of Cinderella Castle after being accompanied around the hub by a horse-drawn carriage and many many very lucky girl scouts. Princess Elena sang for us and told us how happy she was to be here. No word yet on when actual meet and greets can occur. It was very magical. You may or may not know that I was back from my first program for about a month when Merida's coronation took place. I could not have been more pissed to have missed it. But I got this one!

Katrina is elated to have found her prince
in the crowd behind her.

Emma's totes profesh photo of our newest princess.

I meandered around Magic Kingdom for a few hours with Shellby, Emma, and official princess stalker Katrina. We sat through Hall of Presidents because Katrina wanted to, and we met Belle because Katrina has Memory Maker at the moment and therefore has access to a special meet and greet location. We were joined by my friend Anna and Anna's magical friend Marie, who were also thrilled to meet Belle in her yellow dress.

I like how we all more or less are coordinated with Belle.

I have saved the best part of my last two weeks, and definitely one of the highlights of my program so far, for last.
On Saturday, July 30th, Matt and I travelled to Port Canaveral because we had been invited onboard the Disney Fantasy Cruise ship! My new forever friend Alex (with whom Matt completed his second cultural representative program) invited Matt and a Guest (which was ME this time) to join her in the brief few hours between two of her shifts, in which rooms were being prepared for new Guests, and early bird Guests were being greeted for their one-week Caribbean cruise. Eventually I will be so lucky, but I feel genuinely thrilled to have spent any time aboard at all. After a somewhat scary security process than involved surrendering my ID, having my bag checked three times (once by a dog!), and constantly displaying a "VISITOR" badge, we entered the ship through the crew entrance and into the glorious Atrium Lobby. The Fantasy's lobby is described as being inspired by Art Nouveau, which I totally get now. The Welcome line had already started, so obviously I was doing all the clapping. Alex was able to take us through most of the onboard restaurants, bars, the theatre, the movie theatre, the children's lounge, the nursery (much to Matt's delight), the teen zone, all the pools, and even the cast mess hall, rooms, and bar. Alex very graciously answering my thousands of questions about Cruise Line life over our complimentary buffet lunch, and saw to it that Matt and I were reunited with our former leader Jamie (also hailing from Canada), who is most definitely Alex's current leader. If I wasn't vaguely considering Cruise Line life before, I'm definitely thinking about it now. Who needs a real life when you can live on a ship?! Matt and I eventually did have to disembark, as the ship had to conduct a safety drill before its departure. We sat and sadly watched it sail away without us. Next time, Disney Fantasy, next time.

Minnie Mouse is the icon of the Fantasy.
I'm smiling so hard I can't see.

Let's discuss how even the washrooms are magical.

Mandatory porthole window picture! 

This is Andy's Room, part of the kids' Oceaneers Club. 

I'm in a Bippity Boppity Bootique. AT LAST. 

This is my new best friend Alex and an almost empty pool. 

I believe this is also a mandatory cruise line shot. 

[Not sure if anyone noticed, but I'm actually wearing a Disney Cruise Line shirt I had purchased for SO cheap at Cast Connection. Now that I've been on a ship, it's not a lie.]
As some consolation, we went to Universal (for actually the THIRD time this blog post) to check out the nightly fireworks and have some dinner. Passholder privileges.

We also saw a Horror Makeup Show.
I'm good at waiting for things.

See you real soon!

Lindsey

Pixie Dust to: My new friend Alex, for being the best tour guide a Cast Member could ask for. I will send you so much mail.

Magical Moment: Before Kristin's last Fantasmic, we witnessed many magical moments. We were fantastically amused by a glow merchantainer by the name of Andrew. Many videos were taken, and we even got a group shot with him afterwards. Two PhotoPass photographers were kind enough to mark the occasion with many shots of Kristin and her merch posse celebrating her last day... they even gave her a bunch if magic shots on her own camera. This is why I work here.

Probably Getting Gorgeously Tanned in Summer

Hello friends!

I have a week's worth of adventure days to catch you up on.

My lovely friend Lesley (whom you may remember from the 29-time-on-Star-Tours day) was visiting this week. I knew she was coming and that she was coming to see me at Epcot after she arrived, but she still managed to surprise me while I was at the bar. Therefore, pictures were necessary. In retrospect, I regret not getting any of the two of us while I was in costume, but she's coming back in October so more fun will be had then.

Happy to be photographed, so-so about serving alcohol. 

We stayed at Pop Century resort and made a hard commitment to sleep in as frequently as possible. We made it to Hollywood Studios on our first day in time for our Rockn Roller Coaster FastPass at 12:15. It was also May the 4th, aka Star Wars Day ("May the 4th Be With You"... get it?), so Hollywood Studios was the place to be. It was also drizzly all morning so the park was not as full as we were anticipating. We were able to ride Star Tours with a minimal wait, we experienced Muppet Vision 3D, and just before we attended the Frozen Sing Along, we were able to have a surprise meet and greet with Olaf! It was one of his very first days in the park and we were able to see him with, again, a minimal wait. Sticking it out during rainy days has its rewards, people. Also, looking super cool in a poncho is its own reward.

Ponchos are totally rock and/or roll. 

We only stuck around til 3, because we felt a nap was necessary. When we returned, it was to Magic Kingdom, as we felt we needed to conquer it. We arrived when it was just bucketing down rain, meaning we made straight for Emporium to purchase and mail some postcards (to wait out the rain), and find my former coordinator and now leader at Emporium, Dave. We were at Magic Kingdom from 7pm until 1am, the end of Extra Magic Hours, in which we did actually all the attractions one needs when attending Magic Kingdom on vacation - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mickey's Philharmagic, Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Mad Tea Party (we don't spin in the tea cups, we just sit in them). There was probably more. We felt very accomplished. And very hungry. So we made an emergency trip to McDonald's near the All Star Resorts, since everything else was closed.

Lesley, Ariel and I taking a "shellfie".
See what I did there. 

We obviously slept in hard the next day, then finally rolled into Epcot in the early afternoon. We had a leisurely day of wandering around World Showcase in our matching Epcot 30th anniversary shirts, checking out the the new band in Canada (they're called "Alberta Bound"), eating an entire baguette in France (and telling people where they can purchase said baguette), getting our own private boat for the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico, and generally having a wonderful day. We ended the day by going to Disney Springs for a late meal at House of Blues (despite all the eating, we were starving) and some shopping at World of Disney.

Cheers from the American Adventure!
See Spaceship Earth behind us?

Baymax selfies! 

Friday was our Universal Studios day. We had many adventures at Universal on my last program, so this park deserved its own day on our vacation. We were able to get there for 11, even though it closed at 6 (whyyyyyy though), we still got all the money's worth of fun. We started in the Universal Studios half with The Mummy, Transformers, ET Adventure, Men in Black and finally lunch in Springfield. We were evacuated off of Kang and Kodos Twirl & Hurl, although it never actually started so it was less of an adventure. But we were given an Express Pass (Universal's FastPasses) to use later in the park, so no big deal. Then we explored Diagon Alley and escaped from Gringott's Bank, before taking the Hogwarts Express to Islands of Adventure.

Clowning around with Krusty in Springfield

You have to pay for a picture with ET. Nope. 

We started with a quick single riders trip through Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, then moved along to Marvel Super Hero Island to use our Express Passes for Spiderman. Our passes were never taken from us, so we used them again in Seuss Landing to board the High in the Sky Seuss Troller Train Ride (that's the real name of the ride). We also did the Cat in the Hat ride before circling back through Hogsmeade to board the Flight of the Hippogriff before we had to leave. Universal Gradventure was that night, so there were tons of elementary school grads from across the country in their matching tees and it was terrifying.

Unmatched shirts today.
We're lucky no one got lost. 

Hogwarts Express, and somehow the Hulk coaster.
#badshow

Mandatory castle picture. You can kind of see the castle...

We went back to our hotel, dined, then changed into our newest matching shirts and went to Hollywood Studios at 9, which had extra magic hours until midnight. Basically we're park champions. We met Olaf again, watched the Star Wars fireworks, rode Star Tours again, braved a stampede for Great Movie Ride, rode Rockn Roller Coaster again and ended our day with a small wait for Toy Story Midway Mania, already showing signs of expansion (another track is happening soon-ish).

We match Olaf's carrot nose!

It was fantastic times, and my Fitbit steps were through the roof. Vacation is the best exercise there is.

See you real soon,

Lindsey

Magical Moment: Our new friend Hayden at Rock'n Roller Coaster totally played along during the preshow and personally asked Steven Tyler for backstage passes "for the girls in the orange shirts". Thanks bro! Also to that one American Adventure CM who IDed me and did a double take at my birth year. I don't care if you do that every day, it made me feel awesome.

Pixie Dust to: My mom! For making sure Lesley's Magical Express info got to her in Woodstock, although it was mysteriously sent to Perth.

EDIT: Lesley made a video of our brief but memorable vacay. You can see it here!

Fall Apart in my Backyard

Less than three weeks between posts? I know. Craziness.

On Wednesday, April 27th, the early-rising merchies (myself included) gathered outside at the cart to say "See you real soon!" to our friend Eva, whose program has come to an end. Basically all the positions were covered by leaders and coordinators so we could all be together to watch the leaders say nice things about Eva and give her certificates for having been a trainer and having completed the program. Then we posed for pictures and we were all moose. We had our reasons. Shellby and I didn't work til later that afternoon, and Kristin and Micayla didn't work at all, so we went around to the attractions to see Colin, Terrie and Mel on their last days as well. We also accidentally got into a moose picture for the departing Le Cellier cast members. It was a big group leaving us this week.

The moose of merchandise.

Food & Bev Moose featuring merchandise.

On Thursday the 28th, I took a record-breaking FOUR modes of transportation to get to Magic Kingdom. I drove to the parking lot. I took a tram to the Ticket & Transportation Center. I took the resort monorail to the Grand Floridian. Where I was evacuated and had to take a bus. Magical? Anyway, believe it or not but I hadn't been to the Magic Kingdom since my trip with the Shank family two blog posts ago, so I was happy to be back. I had to send some mail (some of you will be getting MK mail!) and do a few other errand-y type things (yes, errands at Magic Kingdom are a thing), then I met my friend Patrick for random fun times at the most magical park in the most magical place on Earth. We were able to secure some pretty solid Fast Passes for Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain, and to be honest the park wasn't busy. We also visited Tom Sawyer Island, a part of the park I just never got around to exploring. It's (you guessed it) an island in the middle of the Rivers of America full of paths and bridges and forts and fun. It was also probably 10 degrees hotter than the rest of the park. That was probably the abundance of stairs though. We didn't stick around for Wishes, but we did go see Keanu at Disney Springs. I always enjoy movies with kittens.

Go away Guests, this is my island now. 

On Friday the 29th, I had my first Universal Studios adventure of this program. I acquired my annual pass and I'm ready to go until I leave (and after, my pass will be good til April 2017). I went with Matt, who was celebrating starting a new big kid job on Monday. We started in the Universal Studios half, under Matt's guidance (I haven't been in four years, I forgot everything), at the new Transformers ride, then onto the Mummy and Men In Black before heading to the (recently?) expanded Springfield area for lunch at Krusty Burger. I had a ribwich, and it was like a dream come true.

Universal Studios or Duff Gardens? 

After taking all the pictures of all the new things, we went through London to Diagon Alley to visit Gringott's, in which the new(ish) ride Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringott's is located. It was gooooooood. The whole new area is maaaaaaagical. After exploring, we considered taking the Knight Bus to Hogsmeade but ultimately took the Hogwarts Express with all the other Muggles, taking us over to the Islands of Adventure side of the park.

# 12 Grimmauld Place, London.
Read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. 

Diagon Alley, featuring fire-breathing
dragon atop Gringott's bank. 

Making new friends with the Knight Bus driver. 

We rode Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and I had Butterbeer to settle my stomach. Rides are getting hard, you guys. Aging isn't as easy as I make it look. We also got moderately damp on the Jurassic Park River Adventure before getting totally soaked on Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges. Like eyeliner everywhere soaked. It was like 39 out though so we needed it.

Goodbye real life, I'm going to Hogwarts now. 

Hello, beautiful Hogwarts Express.  

Standard Queen-of-the-Castle picture. 

We finished the day off with the Spiderman ride, since the line was short and cool, then headed out... when we changed and went to Steak and Shake, Do all my adventures end with Steak and Shake? Probably.
And finally, last night, my squad and I reunited for a late night viewing of the new live-action Jungle Book. It was just stunning. I highly recommend. Maybe not for small children who think tigers are big kitties.

See you real soon!

Lindsey

Pixie Dust to: My merchandise coworkers on Saturday. They have hearts of gold, if I haven't already mentioned it.

Magical Moment: I'm happy to be in a place where people leave me Thank You cards just for talking to them. It's really rough being the face of Courtesy in World Showcase West Merchandise for the week, but someone has to do it.

Courtesy begins with me.