August 8th was my last day in Florida for the summer of 2015! We woke up pretty late, went to the pool, explored Saratoga and went to Downtown Disney in the afternoon to see Fantastic Four at AMC. It was a fun, relaxing day to settle from all of our emotions from the last few days before going home. Staying in Disney for two days after the end of my program was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Going back the my family after the craziness of the last few days would have been a choc. I needed a moment to make the transition between the Disney life and normal life and staying with girls from my home town who know what I am going through was exactly what I needed.
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On July 23rd, Erin, her roommate Paige and I left at about 10:30 to spend the day at Daytona Beach. We were lucky and the weather was perfect all day. It didn't even rain! Daytona Beach is beautiful and the water was just cool enough to be refreshing. We spent the whole day swimming, shopping in the tourist shops by the beach, playing football and drinking slushies. We stayed for diner and ate on the pier with a beautiful view of the beach. I really wanted to go to the beach during my program and didn't think I would be able to make it because it's so far away and I don't have a car so this little trip was amazing and totally made my whole weak haha!
On July 22nd, I decided this was the day I would spend at Magic Kingdom from opening to the goodnight kiss! It was on my Bucket List after all! To add to the fun, I decided I was going to try to do all of the attractions in one day without any fast passes. Just to see if it's possible. The parc opened at 8 and at 7:59 I was already in, ready to start this challenge. Since it was very early and I hadn't had time for breakfast, I made my way to Starbucks first and then to Tomorrowland for the first attractions of the day! In Tomorrowland, I started with Space Mountain while there was only a small line, then made my way to Stitch's Great Escape, followed by Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Astro Orbiter, which I had never done before, Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, PeopleMover and, finally, Tomorrowland Speedway. The lines were not that bad since it was so early, but by the time I left Tomorrowland, the parc was starting to fill up! I then made my way to Fantasyland and started with Storybook Circus. I did Dumbo and the Barnstormer and then walked back to the older part of Fantasyland. I did Mad Tea Party, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and then went to eat at Columbia Harbour House because it was getting late. After lunch, I did Peter Pan's Flight, It's a Small World, Mickey's Philarmagic and Prince Charming Regal Carrousel. I then went to Guest Relations to get my phone charged because the heat is very hard on the batterie and it dies very quickly. While my phone was charging I went to New Fantasyland and did Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. There were so many people everywhere that day. The wait times were ridiculous and Fantasyland is always the most crowded part, but I made it and did it all! After getting my phone back, I took a picture in front of the castle and made my way to Liberty Square. Liberty Square is a tiny land so it didn't take me long to do all the attractions. There are only two: the Haunted Mansion and the Hall of Presidents. After Liberty Square I went to Frontierland and did Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain during the parade so there wouldn't be a big line. After that I watched the fireworks and Celebrate the Magic and went to Adventureland to do The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Jungle Cruise and Swiss Family Treehouse. Unfortunately, Pirates of the Caribbean is closed for refurbishment and Tom Sawyer Island, Country Bear Jamboree and Enchanted Tiki Room close early so I didn't get to do them, but they are not my favorite attractions so I wasn't disappointed that I didn't get to do them. I still finished early so I had time for something else on my Bucket List: I tried the Dole Whip. It's very good! It seems like it is possible to do all the attractions in one day, even on a very crowded day! Even though I was alone all day, I still had a great time and got to meet people from everywhere. Magic Kingdom is definitely my favorite parc!
On July 7th, Florence and I had made a reservation to stay in a Deluxe suite at the Polynesian. We wanted two days of calm and relaxation on a lounger by the lava pool. We got there early and our room was already ready! Our room was beautiful. We had two bathrooms and one of them even had a rain shower. The room could fit up to 5 people. We had a giant flat screen TV and a balcony with a view of the pool. As soon as we got our room, we put on our bathing suits and went to the pool. Unfortunately for us, it started raining at about 12 and it rained all afternoon. We ended up watching movies and enjoying our room. At 5, we were hungry so we took the monorail to the Contemporary resort to eat at their cafeteria which is bigger and has more choices than the one at the Polynesian. We then explored the shops and went back to our hotel. Since the rain had stopped, we went to the beach for the campfire, took pictures, watched Wishes from the beach and went to bed.
On the 8th, we had a reservation at O'hana's so Catherine, Julie, Laurie and Anipier joined us for breakfast. We met Mickey, Lilo, Stitch and Pluto and had a lot of fun. After breakfast, we went back to our room to show it to them, they left and we went back to the pool. It didn't rain that day! We were able to spend the whole day by the pool. Swimming, tanning, playing with the children's activities cast members and enjoying pina coladas (virgin for me of course, not 21 yet). At 5, we decided it was time to go back to housing, even though we both wished we could have stayed longer. The first week of July, one of my friends from Quebec was coming to Disney with his friend and since my family is not coming down this summer, I offered to give him my passes to the Parks. He was very lucky and even Magic Kingdom was unblocked for the week they were here! On July 3rd, we went to Hollywood Studios and I spent the morning with them before going to work. We rode The Great Movie Ride and saw Beauty and the Beast and while they were riding Tower of Terror, I went to the drawing class at Animation Academy and learned to draw the aliens from Toy Story. Animation Academy is now closed and we don't know yet if it's gonna reopen so I am very happy I got to go one last time. I then had lunch at ABC Commissary and left for work.
Now, you all know I don't have a car with me down here. And the Transtar buses are the worst thing on the planet. So I ended up taking the Guest bus to Epcot because you have to take the bus from Epcot to go to Typhoon Lagoon, but it turns out that is only true after 2 PM so I took the bus from Epcot to Old Key West which is the closest resort to Downtown Disney and then took the bus to Downtown Disney which also goes to Typhoon Lagoon until 2 PM. I don't know about you, but I'm out of breath just writing about it lol. I made it to work on time and I'll know next time I go to the parcs before work! On July 6, we went to Animal Kingdom. We got there at 9 when the park opens and since everyone starts with Expedition Everest, we made our way to Kilimanjaro Safari. We waited about 10 minutes and saw every animal except the lions. We got to see Kiama the baby rhino and lots of giraffes and elephants and an ostrich even decided she didn't want us to leave and blocked our way for about 15 minutes. It was hilarious! We went to It's Though to be a Bug, Dinosaur and to see the tigers in Asia. After that, I left to get pizza at Pizzafari and left for work. This time, I took the bus directly to Old Key West! On July 7, we went to Magic Kingdom. I got them in the park, we went shopping for some souvenirs and then I left to meet up with Florence at the Polynesian Village Resort. Why we were going to the Polynesian? It's a surprise! On Wednesday June 10th, Florence and I had the day off and we didn't know which park to got to. So why not do all four of them in one day?! 4 parks in 1 day is a challenge that CPs (College Program participants) have been doing for years. The goal is to do 2 attractions in each park and finish the day at Magic Kingdom to see Wishes. The trick is to start at Animal Kingdom because this park closes early, then take the bus to Hollywood Studios. From Hollywood Studios, take the boat or walk to Epcot and take the monorail from Epcot to Magic Kingdom. That way you save a lot of time AND try every type of transportation available! How cool is that!? So that was our plan for the day... We started our day at 9:30 at Animal Kingdom. We did Expedition Everest and Dinosaur. Of course, our day couldn't go perfectly and my phone fell from my purse in Dinosaur! :O I found out about 30 seconds later while we were walking to the exit. So as we walked back to Dinosaur, Florence used the Find my Phone app to locate it. With our picture from the attraction, the Cast Members could pin point exactly which vehicle we had used, but unfortunately, my phone wasn't there. They told us that it had probably fallen on the track and they wouldn't be able to look for it until the park closes at 8 PM. Since there was nothing we could do, we went to Guest Relations to file a report and went on with our day. When we got to Hollywood Studios, we had lunch at ABC Commissary and, while we were eating, Florence tracked my phone again and it wasn't in Dinosaur anymore!!! Someone had taken my phone!!! We put it on Lost Mode so they couldn't use it and the only thing that would appear on the screen would be Florence's phone number so they could call us. There was still nothing I could do about it, but hope that they would give it to a Cast Member or bring it back to Guest Relations. So we rode The Great Movie Ride and Rock n' Roller Coaster and left for Epcot, but there was a thunder storm as we were starting to leave so we couldn't walk or take the boat and ended up taking the bus again :( It had stopped raining when we got to Epcot. We rode Mission Space and Soarin'. Now, if you have been to Epcot in the summer, you know that the line for Soarin' is incredibly long. Well, we had to wait 1 hour and 45 minutes! It took forEVER! And I didn't even have my phone to keep me busy!! But, when we finally got to the end of the line, Florence and I were asking ourselves which row went the highest. Well, one of the Cast Members, Sean, saw that and asked us if we had a question. Turns out, the first row goes the highest and he asked us if we wanted to wait and be on that row! Euh... YES!!! So he put us on the front row, in the middle, and, when we were seated, he came to see us and gave us Fastpasses so we could do it again anytime in June without waiting in line for 2 hours!! To thank him we went to Guest Relations and wrote him a letter that will hopefully go on his record card. Thank you so much Sean!! That was so nice of you! Next up, Magic Kingdom! We took the monorail to Magic Kingdom and, during the ride, Florence tracked my phone one more time. Turns out, it was at Animal Kingdom's Guest Relations!!! Since they hadn't called us, we went to Magic Kingdom's Guest Relations and asked them to call to confirm that they had it and they DID!!! I couldn't go get it because Animal Kingdom was about to close, but I could go and get it at the TTC (Tickets and Transportation Center) the next day. Of course, by the time we got out it had started pouring again. We decided to go eat at Cosmic Rays because it was the closest quick service restaurant from where we were. While we were walking, Florence spotted a guy she knows who works at Buzz Lightyear. He took pity on us and gave us a No Strings Attached coupon so we could get ponchos. But instead of giving us a coupon for two ponchos, he gave us a coupon for 25$ worth of merchandise! So we got two ponchos (9$ each) and a bag of Goofy's Gummy Worms and they are delicious! Instead of going to Cosmic Rays we went to Pinocchio's Village Haus because we now had ponchos and could walk a little more to a restaurant where we actually wanted to go (Cosmic Rays is always so busy and I don't think it's that good). Did I mention that I had put my debit card in my phone case so I wouldn't forget it at home when I left for work? Well I did! And where is my phone right now? Who knows!? Florence had been paying for me all day so when we got to Pinocchio's, she paid for herself and joked that she was paying for me because it was my birthday. But when she tried to pay, the Cast Member told us she didn't have to! Wait, what!? When we got to the counter, they were speaking French so we started talking to them and they ended up giving us a chocolate cake and a bottle of water each! Wait, whaaaat!? At Magic Kingdom, we did Philarmagic and the Carousel and we ended the day watching Celebrate the Magic and Wishes. It wasn't a perfect day, but it was perfect to me because so many things happened and I had so much fun! Thanks to the many Cast Members who helped make this day magical for us! I don't remember all of your names, but thank you so much!! And a very special thank you to the wonderful person who brought my phone back to Guest Relations! You are my hero! On Saturday June 6th, exactly 10 hours after we had finished work, Anipier and I went to Animal Kingdom to do the Wild Africa Trek. We were joined by Marie-Ève Bédard (another Marie-Ève, I don't talk about myself in the third person haha) who wanted to do the trek too. I recommend it to everyone who likes animals and speaks enough English to understand! Especially if you get a 50% discount like we did! It is 3 hours of walking in the forest and going on a safari. All your pictures are included in the price, as well as a Will Africa Trek water bottle and a pretty big snack! We were so lucky because it was stormy that day so it wasn't as hot as it normally is here and a lot of animals were out and very active so we saw a lot of animals that you don't see often on the regular Kilimanjaro Safari. I learned a lot of new things about the conservation of animals in reserves or in Africa and it was very interesting! (I'm not telling you what I learned because I'm not going to spoil the tour for you. You have to do it!) Once the trek was over, we went on Kali River Rapids, ate chocolate waffles and went back home. Fun fact: On the way back home, I was so tired that I fell asleep in the bus and, when the bus turned, I almost fell on the floor! Hahahahahaha I looked ridiculous and it was hilarious! Laurie got us a reservation for lunch at Via Napoli in Italy, in Epcot. We really wanted to try this restaurant because we heard they had huge pizzas that are really good so Laurie, Florence, Édith, Anipier, Julie and I met up to try them. The restaurant was beautiful and the pizzas were delicious! It had been a long time since the six of us had spend time together and I hadn't seen Laurie and Julie in a week! We had fun telling each other our weeks and funny stories. We ended up eating two of those huge pizzas that are meant for 3-5 people! Thanks to Laurie who had special discounts, it cost us 11$ each which is nothing for how much we ate! After that we went to France for ice cream and sorbet for dessert. We tried to go to Soarin', but there was a 2 hour line so we went to Turtle Talk with Crush and went back home at about 3 in the afternoon. An other perfect day with great friends! I am so lucky!
After our little trip to Celebration, we decided to go to Hollywood Studios. Anipier met us there and the 4 of us had an awesome night! We went on Rock n' Roller Coaster, Frozen Sing-along, we tried to go on Toy Story Midway Mania, but the ride broke down, we drew Goofy at Animation Academy, we saw the Star Wars fireworks which are AMAZING by the way and we tried to go to Fantasmic!, but it was cancelled because of the weather. Anipier and Simon also went on Tower of Terror. We had dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater which is always super fun! And even though we didn't do that many things, it was still a great time! Do you remember the memory jar I made before coming to Disney? Well it's filling up quickly from all the amazing memories I am making here with the best group of friends ever! Hopefully the rest of the summer is as awesome as it's beginning!
To celebrate the end of our lifeguard training and the arrival of the second group of Canadians, we went to the Boathouse at Downtown Disney for dinner. It is a new restaurant that just opened and I had never tried it. I had the shrimps and it was really good, but super spicy! If you don't like spicy food, definitely don't get the shrimps! We had an amazing time and it was fun to get to know the people I had never met. After dinner, we explored Downtown Disney for a while and we had so much fun! Everyone is so nice and I can't believe how much fun we are having together! Did you know they have new cars/boats at Downtown Disney? They are cars that go in the water. They have wheels and everything and they look totally awesome!
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AuthorHello everyone! My name is Marie-Ève. I am from Québec, Canada and this blog is about my summer as a cast member in Walt Disney World. Since most of my family and friends speak French, everything on this blog will be written both in English and French. Archives
December 2015
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