#INCREDIBLESSuperDanceParty

My favorite shift to work, ever. The Incredibles Super Dance Party. I was very lucky to have the opportunity to work this shift at least twice a week for about three months. I haven't done the shift since early June, but I will be visiting later today so I thought i would talk about it.

At this dance party guests have the opportunity to dance with their favorite supers, Mr. Incredible, Frozone and Elastigirl! The characters do not stop for photos or autographs, but they do dance with you. I have seen so much joy from these shifts, also lots of ridiculous dancing.

I have two very special memories from the dance party. First was a little girl that was at Disney on her Make-a Wish trip. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress and she was completely bald. Her name was Isabelle, but she went by Izzy. I brought her to dance with each of the super heroes. But then for a while she danced with just me. Her dad even joined in, he and I were copying whatever Izzy would do. Then the following conversation ensued:

Me-"Izzy, your dress is so pretty! You look just like a princess!"
Izzy-"I feel like a princess! I am a princess, even though I'm bald. I'm still a princess."
Me-"Absolutely, you are beautiful. And now you are at Disney so you are an official Princess!"
Izzy-"You are too!"

Izzy and her family touched my heart. They were so kind and so much fun.

The second was when a little girl dressed as Ariel came to dance party with her brother. I brought them over to Elastigirl to dance. Then they both grabbed my hands and pulled me over to each of the other supers so we could dance with them. Then I danced with them while the supers were saving the day. They were so sweet, and had so much to say about their fun day at the park. When they were getting ready to leave, the little princess took my hand and said, "okay let's go see Ariel now!" She wanted to take me with her! My heart melted at that moment.

Overall though, my favorite thing that has come out of this dance party is the friends I have made. The cast members that are constantly at that dance party truly make it magical. They are some of the kindest, most fun people I have ever come across. They truly make it an INCREDIBLE time.

       

                             

Tinkerbell's Magical Nook

Here is a small dedication to one of my favorite areas that is now closed. Tinkerbell's Magical Nook holds so many fantastic memories for me. It closed in May, and has [sort of] relocated to Town Square Theater. Tinkerbell is one of my favorite character's, and I love her story. If you haven't seen the Tinkerbell series of movies- it is absolutely worth it! So much laughter, magic, and pixie dust came from this location. All of which can be attributed to the wonderful fairies that flew in to make some memories. 

The thing that is so special about Tinkerbell and her Nook, was the people that knew the storyline, and knew the other fairies would be so genuinely excited to meet them. It would warm my heart to be able to talk to a little girl about the pixie's and their life in pixie hollow. 

                        

Star Wars Weekends 2014

How about an overview of an event that made my life very exciting for 5 weekends?

STAR WARS WEEKENDS!

First of all, I really knew nothing about Star Wars before the event, and to this day I still have not watched a single movie all the way through. I will eventually! Regardless, I was super excited to have this opportunity. Luckily for me, I got placed with the 'Big Figs'. AKA Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy in their Star Wars get up.

I ended up spending 95% of my time with Darth Goofy and Storm Trooper Donald. Because of this event, I have a new found love for that grumpy duck. I have always adored Goofy, and he was the first furry friend I worked with so he already holds a special place in my heart.

The amount of times I found myself crying from laughter, keeled over with stomach pains from gut wrenching joy, are countless.

However what truly made Star Wars what is was, was the people I worked with and the guests I met. Every weekend I looked forward to seeing my fellow cast members, and sharing crazy stories of the different locations. A majority of the guests were huge Star Wars fans and annual passholders so I would see some of them each weekend! Usually I meet a family once and I'm lucky if I see them the next day. But with this event, I had visitors every single weekend.

One guest I met that left a serious positive impact on me before and after the event was Ami. Ami is from Japan and she LOVES Goofy. He is her favorite and I have never seen someone more excited to meet him ever. She had happy tears in her eyes every time she came up. And by every time- I mean she came to almost every set for two days straight. Some of the time she had a friend with her who loved Donald. They were so kind and so much fun. Even with a bit of a language barrier we were still able to share in the excitement. Ami and her friend gave Donald and Goofy notes, so in return, I helped the boys write notes back. Tears were shed when they received those letters. One of the times they came back, Ami invited me to take a picture with her and the boys.

When it was time for them to leave in the second day, Ami used a translator app to tell me that when she returned to Japan, she would send all the pictures to Walt Disney World. She set such a positive tone for the following 5 weeks. And then about two weeks after Star Wars finished, I received her letter! Along with a disc of 67 pictures she had taken with our friends

Ami created some serious magic for me, and she was my very first Guest letter!! It meant a lot that it came all the way from Japan. Hopefully I will see her next year! 

Here are a couple extra pictures with my boys. And the mice of course. 

I'm back!

Well long time no see!

So many memories have been made since February and there is still more to happen. In recent events I was fortunate enough to get trained at Enchanted Tales with Belle and Magic Words with Mickey. Also in the time I haven't updated this, I got to partake in Star Wars Weekends. It truly has been a crazy, fun, and busy couple of months.

I am going to try and keep up with the blog about the little memories here and there, because going back and reading them from the holidays is truly heart warming. So I welcome you to follow my adventure again. Some of these stories and things I experience can brighten anyone's day.

Pics or it Didn't Happen!

Here is me with the boss and his lady. 

Hangin out with some cool duck friends at Epcot while waiting for the runners to come by! Darkwing and Launchpad! 

Selfie with my "I'm important" badge!

My friend Sara and I had a Disney adventure and got lucky enough to see a practically empty mainstreet. It was beautiful. 

We also took some selfies. Or shall I say, royal selfies?

More character selfies! 

January/February Updates

What a crazy way to start the new year! I worked 6 days a week for the past 6 weeks. Busy, busy, busy.

Here are some highlights--

1) I began my new year with the Boss Man! That's right, I got to work with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse on January 1st. That was a super fun day! One of my favorite guest experiences from that day was with a little girl who was super excited to see Mickey and Minnie. Before she came in, they hid from her so she could play hide and seek with them. When she found them her excitement was contagious. Her laughter was loud and adorable and her smile lit up the room. It was just great to watch her interact with them.

2) On 1/9 I got to work my very first Castle Show, even though it was rainy, we were still able to do 2 full shows. I get chills every time the audience joins Mickey in saying "Dreams come true!"

3) I got to work during the Walt Disney World Marathon. I worked the half marathon with Donald and Daisy right behind Cinderella's Castle. Then, I got to work with Launchpad McQuack and Darkwing Duck during the full marathon. Both of those shifts were just fun overall. It was also slightly emotional to see all the families supporting their loved ones as they completed such an amazing achievement. The full marathon was 26.2 miles long!!!

4) I got to work with Buzz Lightyear a couple times in the last month, one memory that just melts my heart is when we had twin boys come meet Buzz. One was dressed as Buzz and the other was dressed as Woody. It was so adorable, and the little Buzz had even drawn a picture of himself holding hands with Buzz and going on an adventure.

5) I was lucky enough to get to work with Anna and Elsa again on the 25th. That involves a lot of guest interaction. Good and bad interactions. One amazing one is when I was joking around with a little girl asking her if the cookies she had were for me, she said no. When I walked by her later, her arm was extended towards me with a little cookie in her hand. It was so adorable. I didn't even eat the cookie, I just kept it to remind myself of why I put up with the rude people. I put up with them because for every rude guest, there are 5 nice children who are about to make an amazing memory.





Well that's all for now.

Ellie's Badge

Little gestures can go a long way. While working I always try to not forget little details that can make a big difference.

Sometimes, even at the "happiest place on earth" it is possible to have bad days. Or in this case, a rough 2 weeks. From having boring shifts, to having rude guests, to getting sick, it's a lot that adds up to a sour mood.

Today started pretty good, I was doing a brand new area with Woody and Jessie, and it was great! Not really a bad day at all. Compared to the previous days it was actually splendid. After work a few of us went to Beaches and Cream (basically Disney's version of Steak and Shake). After we ate, as we were leaving there was a gentleman sitting at a table wearing a shirt that had a sewn on patch with the characters from UP on it.

---Side note---
UP is my favorite Disney/Pixar movie and really means a lot to me. I cry every time I watch it and I can basically quote the entire movie. If you have not seen it, It is definitely worth watching.

Anyway, I stopped to compliment this gentleman's shirt. I told him it was my favorite movie and he said it was his as well. Before we could leave he handed us little plastic bags, inside of which there was an Ellie Badge.( An Ellie badge is the top of a grape soda bottle attached to a safety pin, it has a lot of significance in the movie). The bag also had a paper that quoted the movie.

This man just gave the badge to us. He didn't know who we were, or what we did. He just decided to do something generous and give us his (obviously) hand made badges. His small gesture made my entire day, actually it made my entire month. Just when my pixie dust was starting to dull a little bit, he absolutely restored its shine.

Moral of the story is always be kind because you never know the impact you can make on someone.

Busier than St. Nick?

At least I feel like I am busier than Santa Claus!!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays! I know mine have been full of fun and magic! I have so many fun stories from the last two weeks. I'll share my favorite ones, not really in any order. Plus all my days sort of pushed together, so these aren't chronological either.

1) I was lucky enough to spend a christmas party in Agrahbah with Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie and Abu. What a fun night that was! My favorite moment was when a little boy named James went up to Aladdin and said "I was in my stroller and had four cookies, then I fell asleep, and when I woke up I only had two." Aladdin said that James deserved more cookies so he personally walked James over to the cookie station and made sure he got some more cookies. Then, James came up to me and handed me a cookie and said "this is for Aladdin and Abu to share, so don't eat it!" Children can be so kind and adorable.

2) Another Christmas party story- I got to spend time with the 7 Dwarfs! My favorite part of that evening was all my awesome guest interactions. One guest even said they were going to stop by city hall to compliment me. Which honestly made my week. Or month.

3) For the very last christmas party of the year, I got to hang out with the Country Bears. Oh my goodness. That was a PARTY! Wendell, Shaker, Liver Lips and Big Al seriously know how to have a great time! So many memories, such a great cast and a wonderful ending to the christmas parties!

4) I got to work with Gaston again!! Boy, was that awesome.  The guests were fantastic, and I made an awesome new attendant friend. I love when I am scheduled with another fantastic attendant who likes to goof off just as much as I do. My favorite guest of the day was actually our very last one. Her name was Nyla, and she was about 4. We weren't going to have time to spend time with her, but Gaston made an exception for the tiny princess. She told him all about how she would find him a princess for a wife. Then, when he asked her: "What's your favorite thing about me?" she responded with: "Your clothes. I like your clothes." She was so beautiful and sweet, and really put the cherry on top of an amazing day.

5) I love, love, love working at Animal Kingdom. It's a breath of fresh air away from the craziness of Magic Kingdom. I was a spare, meaning basically an extra attendant that would be called if necessary. And that I was. I was pulled immediately to spend my day with Rafiki! That was also a super fun day! The best part is when Rafiki was basically malled by 5 kids at the very end of the night while playing hide and seek with another guest. Usually I would get upset or frustrated, but honestly it was just hilarious.

6) I had my very first shift in Fairytale hall with Rapunzel and Snow White! I never knew I could have so much fun it what seems like such a peaceful place. One little girl went up to Snow and said "Snow, my dad is just like your Grumpy DORK!" Everyone in the room was laughing hysterically. Then later in the day, another girl went up to Snow and asked, "Snow White, where are your seven SMURFS?" Oh my goodness. Kids say the darndest things!

Well, I am exhausted and I have man more crazy days ahead! Luckily there is a lot to look forward too! Enjoy your holidays everyone!

The Hundred Acre Wood

I almost forgot, I had my first animal kingdom shifts with 2 of my favorite cuddly friends!!! It's hard to get pictures with all the characters I work with, but I was lucky enough to get these! 

Highlights

Long time no blog!

I have been busy busy busy! I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving/hannukah/beginning of the holidays!!! 

So instead of individual posts for everyday here are some highlights---

1) I was working at Tinkerbell's Nook, loading guests into the room where they would "shrink" down to pixie size to be able to meet the fairies. Well as I was telling a young girl about shrinking to see the fairies, she did not believe me one bit. She said "shrinking is impossible, you're a liar." I told her "how could you possibly hug Tinkerbell if she was her normal pixie size? Well you have to shrink." The next statement made my day. She exclaimed, loudly, "listen here, I'm 6 years old, and I'm in first grade, and I know EVERYTHING. Shrinking is impossible!!!" 

After that I had nothing else to say and let Tink do the rest of the convincing. Lets just say I heard the little girl yell from the other room "OMG I SHRUNK." 

2) I was working Holidays Around the World in Norway. The location is right across from where the Frozen girls do their meet and greets. So because I that I saw a lot of little Anna's and Elsa's runnin around. Well when I was discussing the movie frozen with a pair of sisters dressed up like Anna and Elsa, we talked about or favorite songs. I told them I love the song 'Do You Want to Build a Snowman?' And as soon as I said that the little Elsa began to song VERY loud all the words to that song.... Well sort of! Anyway it was super adorable. 

3) I got to work my first Very Merry Christmas party with Mary Poppins, Bert and 2 of their penguin friends. Lots of memories from such an amazing night. But the one that tops it has to be: I was watching the fireworks while setting up the line for the characters to come back. It was beautiful. The finale gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes. As soon as the fireworks ceased to fire, and the music was complete, a little girl screamed "THAT. WAS.AWESOME." Exactly how I felt. 

4) I got to work my second Christmas party with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and piglet!! It was awesome. Such a fun group of friends to spend time with! One of my favorites was a little girl who called Piglet, PP. Yep. PP. 

So today, I got to spend time with Buzz Lightyear, and it was great. Pretty simple, lots of guests, lots of space rangers. However, one brought back a little magic to my heart. His name was Logan. He was 5. The first thing he said was "my dad, an mom, and whole family, and me are going to Christmas tonight." As in the Christmas party. I asked him if he was excited for the parade and fireworks and he said "one day, when I'm all grown up I'm going to be just like you. But a little different." I asked him what he meant a he said, " I will work at Disney. Like you." I asked I he wanted to work at a ride or be like me an work with all the character friends. He said " I'm going to grow and dance in the parade. I'm going to be Captain America and dance with Mickey." 

The biggest smile was on his face. This moment restored my magic by rinsing me that even though some kids are snotty and mean, there are still gems like Logan who have all the hope in the world with big dreams, and Disney makes it happen. 

Club 626!

Greetings Earthlings!!

I had one of the most fun shifts ever! I go to attend to Stitch, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale as they danced the day away at Club 626 in Tomorrowland.

It was so much fun to literally just dance and play with the characters and with guests. The only part that sucked was getting lost in the tunnels twice. Whoops. It's been  long week, but a serious amount of fun and I love being a character attendant.

Everyone has been super nice and more than helpful. Next week should be super fun as well!

Characters include-
Tinkerbell
Mary Poppins
Pooh and Tigger
and Maybe Minnie Mouse!!!!!

Until next time friends!

Holidays Around the World- Japan

Konichiwa!

I had my very first day at Epcot as an attendant in Japan. There isn't much to tell, it was a simple, easy shift. I did enjoy learning about Japanese culture on New Years, though.

Did you know that at midnight on New Years Eve, in Japan they ring the Gong 108 times!!! Yep. They do.

Santa Goofy

Tonight was awesome! 

I got to be there when Santa Goofy turned on the Osborne Family Spectacle of the Dancing Lights, and listened to the very last song. It was so much fun. Goofy is one great character to spend time with!!! The whole night was spent laughing and having great conversations with guests! 

Didn't get a chance to take a picture, but this experience will go down in the books as a great one. 

Princess Fairytale Hall

Well hello! 

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to hang out with some beautiful princesses! 

I spent my evening with Cinderella and Aurora, 2 lovely princesses who made many magical moments. 

My favorites include:

-we had a family of 6 that we had the oppurtunity to spend some extra time with, so the princesses decided to play a game of hide and seek with the family. The youngest, who was a 3/4 year old girl with golden pigtails was the counter. She and I counted to 10, and them we looked for the princesses and her family! It was so much fun, and so great to see how happy this family was afterwards. 

-another was when Cinderella and Aurora made 2 teens sing a song, and the danced while they sang. 

-and of course all the little girls dressed up was super adorable too!

The other attendants and captain were all super fantastic, helpful and just nice. 

Princess Brianna

Hello! So here is a story of a Princess named Brianna. She is a beautiful 7 year old girl, who has been perfectly healthy for years and now, she needs a brand new heart. Princess Brianna is very close with one of my sorority sisters, Jessica. 

When Jessica asked if there was anything I could do to help lift Brianna's spirits, I had an idea. 

I painted a poster with Brianna's favorite princess, Ariel on it. I then took it to Disney to get signed by some special friends of mine. I brought my 6yr old brother, Ethan with me. He loved getting it signed and telling the characters that it was "for a little princess who was getting a brand new heart." The best part was all the cast members and characters who were so eager to help and send good wishes. 

Please keep this sweet girl I'm your thoughts and wish her a speedy and easy recovery! Enjoy some pictures :)

Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party!

After my Day 4 of training, I went home changed, grabbed my brother and left to go back to Magic Kingdom. We were headed to Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party!! 

For the first time this year my sister, brother and I did Mickeys Not so Scary Halloween Party, so why not do Christmas as well? These parties are special  ticketed  events that allow for rare character meet and greets, special FREE treats, and themed shows. Definitely doing at least once! 

Anyway, we went with my friends Kailey and Vicky, and a 7 year old girl named Brooke. As soon as we got there we did what Ethan had been anticipating or weeks. We met "talking" Mickey. Mickey, Brooke and Ethan pretended to be pirates an it was the cutest thing ever. After that we headed to the Jingle Cruise, then it was off to Neverland! 

Ethan and I had never met Peter Pan and it was constantly something we tried to do, so the fact that Mickey AND Peter happened that night, was AMAZING! After Peter we headed to Princess Fairytale hall to meet Rapunzel and Snow White but ended up on the wrong line and me Cinderella and Aurora instead (no big deal). Then we went to go wait for the parade, but it ended up being cancelled because of rain. So we fast walked our butts back to fantasyland  to see Rapunzel and Snow White. 

Lemme tell ya' we stretched this to the bitter end. We were last to meet Ariel and then do her ride. Ethan was basically sleep walking to the car. 

It was a fantastic and magical experience and definitely worth going! 

Gaston

Oh. My. Lanta. 

Today was such a roller coaster. 

My first 2 sets basically took place on the struggle bus. Meaning, those were the sets where I made a bunch of mistakes and had to learn from it. But my captain was great and helpful so it became better. 

The hardest part of the day honestly was probably trying to judge how long the line was and when to cut it off. But, it got a little better as te day went on. 

I also got special visits from my Aunt Adina, Uncle Mencken and cousins Ari and Eliot! It was awesome to see them!

AND one of my favorite trainers came and said hello today!!! 

Did I mention that the park was also at 85% capacity today?!?! Yea. It was crazy. 

Anyway, there was really only one super angry guest that yelled at me, but I stood my ground and made sure to not give in. 

Gaston was amazing. The guests LOVED him. Twice today he did push up challenges on his fountain with guests! Also I watched a girl cry when she met him. He is just literally that awesome. 

One of my favorite things about working with Gaston was the amount of times a grown man would say "I bet I could take him." It was hilarious! Gaston would look at their muscles and say "that's cute."

Basically today was good even though it may have ah a rough start. I definitely learned a lot. And I am ready for another day of fun filled adventures! The newest adventure will be with some princesses on Wednesday! 

Have a magical day y'all!!!!

Throwback Thursday #2

One day, while working in Baby Care at Animal kingdom I met a very, very sweet family with a baby boy and a young girl. The little girl really wanted to meet pocahantas and the parents didn't know where to find her. Actually, they didn't even know you could meet her at AK. So I told them when and where and they were ecstatic. The father stayed with the baby while the mom and little girl (whose name was Ava) went to see Pocahantas. 

When they returned, Ava was crying. She was sad that she had to leave pocahantas. The family was about to leave when I told them that they were welcome at baby care as long a they wanted, decided to stay. This time, Ava and her father went to see Pocahantas this time. And when they did, pocahantas noticed that they had returned and did a special meet with Ava after her set was over. 

On my way back to the store, the father found me and shook my hand. He said that without my help their day would have been crappy. 

Something so small can make such a big impact. That was the first time that a parent, or anyone had shaken my hand after I helped them. It made me feel so good, like I had truly helped them. 

Whenever you go to disney, think about the cast members that may just tell you where the bathroom is, a simple thank you goes a long way. 

FINALLY day 6

What a long, amazing training experience it has been. 

Today was day 6, we got to tour more I Magic Kingdom and specific areas and even got more practice. 

Today was also very emotional, we witnessed the park opening and all te exciting guests as well as 5 or 6 magical moments with Make A Wish families. One  of them left barely a dry eye in the room. Sometimes, it's not the children to character interaction, but it's the parents reactions to everything that breaks your heart. A special princess was having a special moment with Princess Ariel, and a their conversation continued the little girls mom began to cry. And the dad even teared up as he smiled and took pictures. It was so beautiful to see such a sweet, humble family go through something so magical. It touched my heart. 

When we went to visit Petes Silly Sideshow, I got to personally escort a wish family to meet all four characters at that location. (Minnie, Daisy, Goofy, and Donald). It was very sweet and I felt really lucky to be able to have that opportunity. 

Anyway, today was fantastic. And I am officially a Character Attndant! Tomorrow I have my Once Upon a Time, I should of had it before training but my schedule was a bit funky. And then I don't work again until Monday. I feel so much better about getting started after these last two days and I cannot wait! 

Till next time folks!

PS- I didn't realize so many people would read this and I really appreciate it. All the comments y'all tell me really make me happy. If you ever want to comment, r message me or ask a question, feel free! 

More Training, Day 5? right?

HELLO!

Finally today we went right into more Magic Kingdom specific training! I was so nervous about starting and certain areas, but now I feel so much better. We got to tour the tunnels to get more used to getting to different locations. For me this was a huge help, for everyone else, who transferred from MK they knew what they were doing. We didn't do any practice sets today, just observing. Not much else to say about training today. Simple, and enjoyable. 

Tomorrow will be a long, and possibly tough day. We will be doing practice sets with more popular and busy areas. uch as Crystal Palace, Ariel's Grotto, Tinkerbell's Nook and maybe one or two more. I am happy to get this experience now so I feel more prepared for next week.

Every sunday, schedules are made available to us for the next week. SOOOOOO here is who I get to work with:

-GASTON!!!!! (Yes I fangirled when I saw it)

-Cinderella and Aurora in Princess Fairytale Hall

-Goofy at The Osborne Family Spectacle of the Dancing Lights 

-Holidays around the World, in Japan at Epcot

-Chip, Dale, Pluto, Goofy, and Stitch at CLUB 626. 

Entertainment is also sometimes unpredictable and subject to change, so this may not be definite. Although I hope it is!!!! And yes, I will be working 3 parks next week. Woo hoo! 

Ta Ta for now Folks!