This Week at 204B

That's my apartment number ;)

This past week went by pretty darn fast.  Monday I had all three classes then went out with my room mates because Emily's friend John was visiting from Gainesville, it was fun.  Tuesday morning I had Entertainment, Arts and Events which is always my favourite! To be honest I currently cannot remember what I did with the rest of the day besides work out.  Wednesday I had all three classes again (including an exam) and then worked out with Emily twice! We went to her Gold's Gym because they have a movie theatre! There is a ton of cardio in a big dark cold room and then a huge movie screen! Public Enemies was the movie of the day, and was a big gun happy for my liking.  It was a really neat concept though, I'm a fan!

On Thursday I had class with Professor Logan which brings me to our weekly

7 Facts I have Learned from Professor Logan This Week:

• At Walt Disney World they had to rebuild the Liberty Square bridge to be able to support the weight of the carousel float in SpectroMagic
• Disney had to take TweedleDee and TweedleDum out of the parks and parades for a period of time because it was politically incorrect to call someone 'dumb.'
• LiteMagic was a short run parade at Disneyland that followed the Main Street Electrical Parade.  Jane Eisner, Michael's wife, was very into RiverDance at the time and told Michael to insist the parade was set to Irish Dance music.  It was a major flop. 
• The spitting Camels in Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom are originally from the tongue-in-cheek Aladdin Parade that ran in Hollywood Studios.  Frank Wells loved the camels!
• Gavin Greenway created the music for Illuminations, Tapestry of Dreams AND the Vancouver 2010 Olympics! 
• Ron Logan originally tried to become a violinist, however he didn't like that he could hear the violin right beside his head, so he switched the the trumpet and life took off!
• If you're moving (dancing) you're lip syncing! Rarely rarely can people ever dance and sing at the same time.
• Bonus: Warren Beatty was apparently a shluck/jerk! He stuttered, was a pain in the ass and didn't care to follow a program.  He may be nicer these days ;)

After class I was lucky enough to get to sit down with Professor Logan for an hour to discuss my future, his past/present and everything in between! It was absolutely incredible and I came out of it with the hugest grin on my face and so much excitement! He is such an intelligent, wonderful person and I am very eager to work on everything he mentioned.  He did tell me that I shouldn't watch reality TV, especially mentioning the Kardashians, as if he secretly somehow knew I was super excited about the Khloe & Lamar finale tomorrow night! My last reality show - promise? I'm trying.... Don't worry, I never actually admitted to Professor Logan that I have/do watch reality shows.

After this great great discussion my friend Doug picked me up for a fun day exploring! We went out to Cocoa Beach and the Disney Dream was docked! Just seeing it brought me back to when I went on my first and only cruise on the Disney Wonder in November 2009.  I am so excited to someday sail on either the Dream or the Fantasy! We drove over for a close up of the ship :)

Space Cadet Kate?

As we were crossing a causeway we saw a ton of dolphins!!! It was so exciting!!!

Doesn't he look like he's either Roaring or yelling BOO!

$46 a day

Next we headed over to Merritt Island to explore a little NASA! We didn't go into the Visitor's Center because I can get half price tickets from school, plus it wasn't the plan! But we looked around and saw rockets, a shuttle, and the fuel tanks that fall off the shuttle! We then check out the Astronaut's Hall of Fame a bit which had the Police Hall of Fame across the street....with one of these:

No comment is probably the best comment :)

We went to the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge and drove through these really cool trails that were in the water. I don't know how to explain it...check out the pictures:

There is water all around you and the path is just wide enough for a truck

It was beautiful!

I want to fly like I'm eagle, to the sea...

..fly like an eagle let my spirit carry me. (Yes I know these aren't eagles)

It was a bright beautiful day, you could see forever, it was gorgeous :) We were trying to find alligators but only saw the tip of one of their noses! After the drive through the water, we went to a canal that all the Manatees that go in and out of the river have to go through.  We waited a little bit but didn't see any so we went to Manatee Park and there were a ton!! They were hard to see/take pictures of because they kind of just looked like smooth rocks peaking out of the water, but every now and then they would breath or move their fins around and it was pretty neat!

The Manatee Canal

MANATEE

AKA SEA COW

Cocoa Beach from the Pier! Sooo nice!

By this time it was dinner time so we went to one of Doug's favourites in Cocoa Beach, Florida's Seafood. It has fish tanks all around it and was pretty cute.  We agreed our server must have been on something though, she was a little crazy to say the least.

The Blues Brothers Are Coming!

The next day (Friday) I decided to take my phone back. I had a Sprint Blackberry which cost 69.99 a month, plus a $10 mandatory data package, and a $4.00 international calling package that just made calling Canada cheaper, not free. So then I was going to have the additional fees of calling (which in 2 weeks were already 20 dollars) and then the taxes, so it didn't make sense. I had Sprint last time but I guess I just didn't care how much my bills were.  I'm a little more thrifty/realistic now, and took the phone back within the 30 days and got a full refund and don't have to pay for the time I used.  I went for a Metro PCS blackberry instead.  It's 70/month flat with unlimited calling and texting to Canada so it seems to make a lot more sense.  However I've been having a few problems with it sending emails so I'm a little weary still. Here's hoping it works out alright!

The Car!

After the phone situation we went to Universal Studios!!! I got the annual pass on the flex payment plan so it's $12.00/month.  I was going to get a pass once my Disney program starts anyways so I thought I might as well just do it now.  We had a really fun day and rode a lot of the rides, including Rip Ride Rock It twice in 10 minutes! Soooo sweet!

My favourite ride! Especially when you sit in the font!

I don't really remember what I did Saturday! haha. I know it involved school work though :)

Ash "petting" a swan

Sunday I went to the farmer's market with Ashley and her friend Megan! It was so nice! I absolutely love it and it makes missing the market at home not so bad.  I even bought my first loaf of bread ever! Yes I've eaten bread before, but I've never bought it for myself, so that was something new.  It's a garlic and asiago cheese load that was made fresh that morning and now lives in my freezer! haha. It is delicious though. After the market we went to the Flea Market and then walked around Old Town! Then I did schoool work! Yeeehaw!

Sunbathing turtles!

Monday I was suppose to go to Islands of Adventure as I thought I had all my school work down but at the last minute realize I had to do something for class that my professor changed from in class to online at the last minute, so instead I did that then went to the Shingle Creek pool with my room mate Emily and her friend before going for sushi with Emily and her mum! It ended up being a nice day after I thought it was going to be a flop.  

This is from the Simpsons Ride at Universal

This morning we were given our class project for Entertainment, Events and Arts! We have to put together the gala for the National Association of College Auxiliary Services (NACAS) Convention! We are in groups of 6, have a 60,000 dollar budget and the best presentation/event gets hired on as interns and actually put together the event! My group has some people that seem to have some good contacts in the area so that's good, should be interesting! I'll keep you in the loop!

Alllll right, that should do it for now! 

Hidden Mickey Forest!

I saw this on Facebook and thought it was kind of awesome! Enjoy!

Surrey, BC

Paraphrased from my financial accounting textbook: "When she got a job doing accounting for Foster's Restaurants, Tanis Anderson had almost finished her degree at Simon Fraser University.  She managed the payroll for The Mug and Musket, a popular destination restaurant in Surrey, British Columbia."

Since when has Surrey been a popular destination? And this restaurant is definitely closed.

Love the BC shout out though!! I'm off to get some dinner ingredients! It's so hot here, I just worked out and I need some easy healthy yummyness before finishing an assignment and watching some CANUCKS HOCKEY!

A better update soon...I have learned many many sneaky sneaky secrets lately ;)

Last Week at a Glance

You may recall this little thing I was doing called the 30 Day Disney Challenge.  Somehow that Challenge has turned into the 60 Day Disney Challenge.  But I'm going to try and creep the rest of them in here along the way, as I'm sure hearing what I learn in class everyday isn't going to be all that entertaining (although it will save you tuition fees ;) ).  Actually I find my classes super interesting and I enjoy going to them, even though it means I have 8am class 4 times a week, I wouldn't miss one for the world.

Sign at Lake Eola

Alrighty, we're going to run down the last week quickly and then I'll focus on keeping more up to date.

Monday
This was my first day of classes! I was nervous walking over for my 8am class, but that is when I met Professor Logan.  He is a really interesting guy and tells some pretty incredible stories about himself and Disney.

7 Facts I have Learned from Professor Logan This Week:

-The Osmond Brothers were discovered at Disneyland by asking the Dapper Dans if they could sing for them.
-Cary Grant had a cockney accent and his real name was Archibald Leech
-Hollywood Studios was originally planned with the Hollywood 'actors' (The gossip, the Director, the star etc) as the only entertainment.  Now the park is over 50% entertainment.
-When Disney executives produced a parade for Carnival in Rio some of them got guns pulled on them in a car, but were all right once the gunmen realized they weren't who they were looking for.
-(I should have figured this one out myself)  Parades were scheduled when the rides were busiest (to shorten lines) or near closing (to keep crowds from leaving).
-If you wanted to see and be seen by the hollywood elite you would go to Morton's East Hollywood, where you could always find Bernie Brillstein at his usual table; one of the most successful Hollywood agents and the author of "Where Did I go Right? You're no one in Hollywood unless someone wants you Dead"
-Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade floats are made in South Dakota

Stay tuned for Next weeks edition....;)

Next up was Financial Accounting. My professor seems pretty good as long as you do everything she wants and she likes you. haha.  I've heard from many people that it all depends on if she likes you because she has a lot of discretionary assignments.  I answered a few questions in class and showed I actually did the work, so hopefully that works in my favour.  There is an accounting club you can join, but I would only be able to go to one meeting, so I'm going to hold off until I return to school.  Also she is writing her PhD exam (apparently it's 8 hour days long) so she will either be super happy or super unhappy after that.

My final class is Human Resource Management.  My professor is very kind and from Korea.  He makes some pretty hilarious jokes/comments. Such as "Why do you call it going South when things go wrong? Hopefully it doesn't come from the civil war. In Korea the South is good and the North is...anyways, I just don't understand." He also told us a cute story about his 16 year old son getting invited to a few Sweet 16 parties and how he thought it meant he was popular until he realized the girls invited everyone in their class to the parties. hehehe.  The course itself is interesting.  Everyone got in a big debate over whether employers should be able to dictate if employees can smoke cigarettes or not, and if they should have to pay higher wages.  My homework assignment was about obesity and if the American Disabilities Act should/does count obesity as a disability and therefore they should get coverage.  (The ADA actually only covers morbidly obese Americans, that is people who weigh 100% more than their ideal body weight).  See I'm learning ;)

Baby Swans at Lake Eola!

Besides class I have been trying to adjust to running in the Florida heat.  Dang does it hit you hard.  No matter how much water I drink I get dry mouth like no ones business part way through.  (Because you all wanted to know that! TMI!) But I'm getting better so that's good. I need one of those running water bottles with the hand grippy thing. My roommate Emily has p90x so we're going to try doing that in the mornings before class. Yikes! Apparently it's going to kick my a** so bad I won't be able to walk/sit/move. Sounds great :)

I've been trying to enjoy the sun a bit, and have been spending time with my roommates, who are amazing! They were so welcoming and kind and fun.  This morning Emily and I went to the Lake Eola Farmer's Market, walked the mile loop around the lake, talked to all the vendors, I ate wayyy tooo many plantain chips, and we both nearly cried from the spice of some sauces.  It was a gorgeous day and so much fun.  We went early but apparently they have live music and an organic beer and wine garden around noon! It just has such a great vibe :)

Swans at Lake Eola!

Last Thursday I got to hang out with my friend Kristin! We went to Downtown Disney and got ourselves a Baileys iced shake, which I'm going to tell you, is the greatest thing ever! I really don't like dairy, but I'll make an exception for this drink.  It's a huge treat, and a once in a long while thing, but worth it.  It's from the Hole in the Wall pub beside Raglan Roads and if you are heading down there anytime soon....get one!! We took them with us over to Earl of Sandwich and it was the best meal ever. Earl of Sandwich is the bomb. They always have the longest time, and it's very obvious why. After dinner we headed back to Kristin's to hang out and relax.  I ended up staying over because we got hooked watching old episodes of Weeds, and when I got home the next day my roommates said they almost texted because they didn't know where I was. It was cute, I think they like me :)

Showing Carrie my bad hair! I curled that whole thing and nothing!

I think that pretty well sums things up except for Saturday night which was incredibly special.  On Monday morning Professor Logan told us about a foundation event he was playing trumpet for/MCing on Saturday and asked for volunteers.  I gave them my name and am so glad I did.  We arrived around 430pm and helped finish setting everything up, then I was a greeter and welcomed the guests.  The event was for The Pink Ribbon Princess Foundation which raises money to help local Orlando cancer patients pay for the incredibly crazy medical bills they get.  It was the foundations first event and I think it went incredibly.  They had a raffle and a silent auction, the yummiest cupcakes ever and the star of the event was Debbie.  She is an incredibly courageous and radiant woman and was the belle of the ball.  Please check out their website, they have a brand new one that is up/should be up soon!! Many cancer survivors shared stories and testimonies which were incredible (one lady lost three siblings, and her husband to cancer before being diagnosed herself), it's such an epidemic, it blows you away the strength these people have.  Another highlight for me at least, was when I walked into the room and all the volunteers were dancing to "Oh when the Saints Go Marching In," we were clapping and having fun and an older gentleman popped in and starting singing! So then Professor Logan said "Follow Me" and led us in a parade around the room through the guests playing his trumpet! It was really cool.

I have an early morning tomorrow so I'm going to pass out, I hope everyone else had an amazing weekend (especially because it seems as though the world didn't end on Saturday) and let me know if you have any questions, comments, or things you want me to find out! 

UCF Orientation & The Weekend

 Orientation started around 10am.  I got there a little early, okay they were running a bit late, and this girl with very bright red/pink hair started talking to me.  She had already finished a degree in psychology at UF and was now taking micro engineering or something like that.  She currently however was a server at a Sushi restaurant where they "got to" dress up like Harajuku Girls aka Japanese Girl Dolls. It was an interesting 4 minutes... I'll never see her again yet know so much about her....

Since I did part of my orientation online we got to go straight to the Rosen College part.  All of the new Rosen students were brought upstairs to a room and talked to about the history of Rosen.  Here is the inside scoop:   


Hospitality use to be part of the Business School at UCF, but 8 years ago Harris Rosen (who owns many Hotels, golf courses and resorts) went to the head of the hospitality department and asked how much it would cost to build a Hospitality College in the tourist area of Orlando because the area really needed it and it would be great for the students.  The head of the department said $18 million and Mr. Rosen pulled out his cheque book and wrote a cheque that day.  In Florida the state has to match large donations, so they had 36 million dollars to build the campus and attract professors, plus Mr. Rosen donated the land, and that is how Rosen College was created. :)

Then we registered for classes.  In Florida you have to complete a General Education Program, taking certain classes from English, Science, Math and Social Sciences to complete a certain amount of course hours.   Upon arrival I thought you had to complete this General Education Program before taking any hospitality courses, therefore I had planned to take class and live on the main UCF campus.  However during orientation they told me I didn't have to complete all the general courses before I took hospitality courses as I had assumed, so I decided to register for hospitality courses and live at Rosen.  It wasn't just that simply though.  I didn't think I could just suddenly change everything, but I asked one of the girls doing orientation who lived at Rosen and she said there were definitely rooms available.  So during our lunch break I called my parents for a conference (yup, even 3000 miles away I still need their thoughts on big decisions), and then called the housing people to see if it could happen.  Turns out they had space for me, so 2 days before moving in, I changed my housing location! Then I was sneaky and called my Dad to register me in my classes while everyone else was eating.  This actually worked out great, I was in 3 classes, one that had only had 2 spots left at the beginning of the day, and was all set. Until I went with the rest of the new students just to double check everything and found out I didn't have the prerequisites for one of the classes, even though it let me register for it.  I kind of freaked out because nothing else seemed to be able to fit in my schedule that didn't have prerequisites.  Finally I talked to another girl who said if the class lets you in, you're in and said she was in a class called Entertainment, Arts and Events, which fit in my schedule. So I signed up. And went to buy my books.  The three courses I'm taking are Hospitality Human Resources Management, Hospitality Financial Accounting and Entertainment, Arts and Events. 

When I went to the book store to pick up my textbooks my heart started pounding and my jaw dropped - My coursework had Mickey Mouse on the front of it!!! 

My Entertainment, Arts and Events class is taught by Ron Logan, an ex-executive vice president of entertainment at Disney World, as well as one of the people who opened Disneyland Paris and he also helped produce and direct Lion King on Broadway!!!!! Among many, many other things if you read my last post.  I'm so excited! The course is a retrospective look on Disney Entertainment from 1955-2000.  My other classes text books weren't as friendly looking..and were sooooo pricey! Gross. 

After orientation I met up with my friend Doug and he helped me return my rental car.  As we were driving I heard a severe weather warning on the radio for 60 mile and hour winds, hail and rain by the airport...exactly where we were going.

I honestly couldn't see for more than 3 seconds when the windsheild wipers would first go across.  It was super intense. We pulled over for a while (that's when I took the video) and then had to get the car back before 8.  We ended up getting there perfectly fine, and took some back roads to get away from the bad tourist drivers....slash that's the way the GPS said to go.  There were puddles so high the waves went all the way up my car! Yikes!!

That night we went out to Alehouse with Ashley and Yelitza which was super fun!  We just shared a pitcher and chatted and had a blast.  We also saw a girl that was seriously 6'7...and then looked tiny compared to the guy she was with who must have been close to 7 feet tall!!! 

The next morning we did something I super love.... Breakfast!! I lived near the Golden Coral for a year and never went, even though a bunch of my friends would.  I have a weird thing with buffets...where I want to eat everything..all of it...three times!  Let's just say they are too tempting, so I never went.  However on this bright beautiful morning Doug and I decided to go and it was actually really yummy.  I didn't over indulge (my worse was a corn bread muffin, but common, those things are magic!) but was really stoked on the whole place.  I dare anyone to argue that breakfast isn't the best meal of the day! 

Then we got to do something really exciting.....wait for an hour and a half at the Car Rental place! I did something utterly dumb in the rain storm the night before...and left my credit card in the car! I was on hold to cancel it when Doug suggested I call the car place.  They had it in a safe that I could go pick up.  So we went to get it, and unfortuantely they hadn't mentioned that there were only two people who had access to the safe...and neither were working.  They called one in early (although he was half and hour later than she said she would be) and so we got to sit and watch Monsters Inc...the whole movie!  I enjoyed it. hehehe. Then we got to go to ....EPCOT!

We were lucky enough to have my friend Nick let us into Epcot and we went to visit Ashley in Canada who was greeting for the restaurant.   

All Star Greeter

She didn't want this picture taken :)

She called up Janice who I haven't seen in so long and we got to have a great chat! I miss her, she's such a great lady.  Sometimes a bit crazy about cleanliness of the popcorn cart, but a really good person, she use to give me great chats. We went into the Pixar Weekend event in the World Showplace but there were crazy lines for the characters so I just snapped a few shots of them and strangers ;)

It's true, My heart DOES beat for the Canucks <3

They had some great walls/signs up with Pixar info

They mentioned all the things that were in each movie...Like a Nemo toy in Monsters Inc
and the mobile over the Dentist's chair was from Monsters Inc.

The Luxo Jr. Ball is in every Pixar movie!

The old man who plays Chess with himself in the short is the restoration guy when Woody gets beat up!

Andy's neighbour Sid from Toy Story is the garbage man in Toy Story 3!

There were more but my other pictures didn't turn out so well...

He pretended to fix his hearing aid

They were outside in a Flower and Garden garden

I didn't realize Pixar puts so many little details in their movies connecting them all. It's pretty incredible.  Then we ventured over to see Yelitza in the UK before heading to France to watch the movie.  Originally the plan was to say hi, then go to Animal Kingdom then Magic Kingdom, but our passes didn't let us into MK (they had blocked it out), so we decided to go around Epcot and then Animal Kingdom.  I'd never bothered to see the French movie before and although it was very beautiful, it seemed kind of pompous... We travelled from France to the America Pavilion where I finally agreed to see the American Adventure show.  We stubbled upon the Voices of Liberty group and they sang K-k-k-katie, the song my Grandma and Grandpa use to sing me when I was little.  They use to take us out individually so we got to have our own special time together and they would always sing me this song:

I loveee it. 

The American Adventure was an experience and a half.  I will admit I was laughing at one point, but overall it was good. I wouldn't watch it again, and they brushed over a lot of American History details that weren't so favourable but it was fine.  When we came out our Animal Kingdom hopes were somewhat squandered because we found this:

African Outpost hiding from the rain

 DOWNPOUR! We tried to brave it and make it to Mexico but it was too much by the time we got to Africa and we had to hide out for a bit.  Eventually it let up and we got the best thing going in Epcot...Margaritas! and headed for lunch in the land.

The Best thing about Epcot is not Soarin', nor is it Test Track, Illuminations (although it's pretty close), Spaceship Earth, or the countries.  The best thing about Epcot is The Circle of Life movie in the Land.  I think every single person who enters Epcot should have to watch it, actually every 5th grader in the world should have to watch it! It gets the message about conservation across very well and very simplified (not that I think some people need simple) and it's also beautiful.  I will admit I cried the first time I saw it and have been dragging people in there ever since.  I think it's important, and made me respect Disney even more.

We also rode the Living with the Land boat ride and then headed to the Sea where I stared down this little guy:

So cool!

Next we headed to Hollywood Studios and took in some good ole fashioned Great Movie Ride.  I try every time to get the Cowboy, but they never have his/her scene going! I need to wait in one of those crazy long summer lines I guess...

On our way to the Studios we saw this little babies..

and these ones!

When we got off the Great Movie Ride we didn't know what to do and it hit me to ride Star Tours.  I wasn't sure if it was open yet, or what was going on, but I really wanted to check.  When the ride came into sight I got crazy excited because it was the first day of soft openings!!!! I couldn't believe it!! Immediately we jumped in line.  This ride is so good. Let's repeat that...this ride is SO GOOD! It's 3D now and has 54 different ride sequences you could end up with.  I guess there are different segments, and the computer system randomly puts them together to create a different experience each time, therefore making guests want to ride over and over and over again...the brillance of Disney, gets me everytime ;)  In our ride there Darth Vader, an Alliance (those are the good guys right?) spy on board that we had to protect and deliver somewhere (they took a picture and showed it of a little boy onboard) and an amazing holigram of Yoda is how we knew to protect him! Chewbacca was in the ride, a huge city, some Ewok, it was amazing! The only thing is it kind of felt a bit short - I never wanted it to end. New Star Tours? A++

We headed back to Epcot to watch Illuminations: Reflections of Earth....which I loveeee!!! They say the best place to watch them is from inbetween the two towers at the entrance to the World Showcase, but the two times I've watched from there we've gotten so much smoke and firework debris in our eyes/hair/clothes...

Sunday afternoon Ashley came over and drove me to Rosen College Apartments to move in! Once we found the room we went in and found Kelly, one of my new roommates. She was super nice and welcoming and got rid of all the girl who was here before me's stuff that she has left.  I was pretty nervous, moving in with two girls that were good friends, but so far everything has been great! They are so helpful and friendly and fun, so it's great. Kelly is freshly 24 and from Tampa, and my other roommate Emily is 23 and from Cincinnati, Ohio/has lived in California as well!

 This is where I was going to move into:

Lake Claire Apartments at UCF

This is where I live now:

Rosen Apartments at Rosen College

I think I made the right choice ;)

Do you know where this gazebo picture is taken?

I am Insanely Hopped Up On Disney Lovin'

How cool is this?!

Oh my goodness!!!!!! As the title says I'm so hopped up on Disney Lovin' you can't even believe it.  You wouldn't think my excitement for Disney Parks could possibly be any higher, but right now, I'm flying way above the ground.  I am lucky enough, somehow to be in a class taught by Ron Logan! A Disney Living Legend! I owe you all an update about my UCF Orientation from last Friday, a super fun day at Epcot and Hollywood Studios on Saturday (including a Star Tours ride on the first day of soft openings! and Pixar Weekend!) and moving in to my apartment at Rosen College and meeting my roommates on Sunday! Not to mention the first few days of class.  I don't have class Friday so I will update everything then and then nightly give little updates, suggested blogs/posts, etc.  For now check out this list of productions Professor Logan worked on:



PROJECT PRODUCTION (SAMPLE LIST)
Disneyland Resort in California
• Disneyland Park
• Fantasmic!
• Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage!
• Pocahontas Stage Show
• One Man’s Dream
• The Lion King Parade
• Disney’s Mulan Parade
• Disneyland’s Very Merry Christmas Parades


Walt Disney World Resort in Florida
• Magic Kingdom
• SpectroMagic Parade
• 25th Anniversary Parade
• 15 Years of Magic Parade
• Walt Disney World’s Very Merry Christmas Parades
• Walt Disney World’s Happy Easter Parades
• Mickey Mania Parade


 Epcot
• Epcot Center Grand Opening Ceremonies
• Laserphonic Fantasy
• IllumiNations
• Illuminations 25
• IllumiNations 2000: Reflections of Earth
• Tapestry of Nations Parade
• Skyleidoscope
• Surprise in the Skies


Disney-MGM Studios
• Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park Grand Opening Ceremonies
• Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage!
• Sorcery in the Sky Fireworks Spectacular
• Aladdin’s Royal Caravan Parade
• Voyage of the Little Mermaid
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame - A Musical Adventure
• Disney’s Mulan Parade
• Fantasmic!
• Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show


Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Disney's Animal Kingdom Park Grand Opening Ceremonies
• March of the ARTimals Parade
• Festival of the Lion King
• Journey into Jungle Book Stage Show
• Tarzan ROCKS!

Tokyo Disney Resort
• Tokyo Disneyland Park

• • One Man’s Dream
• • Disney's Fantillusion Parade
• • Disney Carnivale Parade
• • Mickey Mania Parade

• Tokyo DisneySea

• • BraviSEAmo
• • Porto Paradiso Water Carnival
• • Mystic Rhythms

Disneyland Resort Paris
• Disneyland Park

• • EuroDisney Grand Opening Ceremonies
• • Le Livre Magique de Mickey (Mickey Castle Book Show)
• • Fantasia in the Sky
• • Beauty and the Beast
• • Disney ImagiNations Parade
• • Tarzan’s Encounter

• Walt Disney Studios Park

• • Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular
• • Disney Village
• • Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Dinner Show

Disney Movie Premieres

• • Pocahontas - Central Park, New York City
• • Hercules - New York City
• • Hunchback of Notre Dame - New Orleans
• • Pearl Harbor - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
• • Armageddon - Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Other Special Events

• • Pan-American Games - Indy Speedway in Indiana
• • SuperBowl Halftime Shows (5)
• • DisneyFair - U.S.
• • DisneyFest - Asia (Singapore & Taiwan)

Think of the impact some of these shows have had on your life and love of Disney Parks throughout your life. I know many, many times when our family sat out for hours waiting for Fantasmic! to start along the Rivers of America.  Or the first time I saw snow fall with the Disney Christmas fireworks.  Or taking my cousins to see the Festival of the Lion King and feeling so proud of the show myself, even though I had nothing to do with it, just because I was a Disney Cast Member and Disney had made this incredible show. Disney Entertainment, there isn't anything like it. Also he tells us some pretty incredible stories in class about business at Disney, as well as today he pointed himself out playing trumpet while Annette Funicello sang during Disneyland After Dark, a Disneyland Sunday Night episode.  I owe the episode myself and had seen it many times, so it was pretty neat. Night Everyone!

Trip To Orlando and Orientation Day 1

The flight from Vancouver went well. I was sitting in the bulk head (front? Right behind the rich people where they constantly were making sure the see-through curtain was closed?) which meant no where to put my bags..but more leg room! The two men beside me were talking a lot to each other about the most bizarre things.  The middle gentlemen was older and had packed sooo many snacks! It was pretty cute!  He offered me nut mix and those little cheese and cracker kits with the red sticks? I took some nut mix because he wouldn't take no for an answer. I know I know, never take food from strangers, he did offer candy at one point even…The older gentlemen was also from Victoria and use to vacation in Comox at a cabin with his family when he was young. He now lives in Vancouver. Usually I really don't like talking to people on flights but this guy was pretty nice.  Plus I only talked to him once I had to take off my headphones. 

The Phoenix to Orlando leg was about 4 hours.  I was in the same row but the other side of the aisle and there was so middle person to that was nice. I just slept a bit and read. 

Stepping off the plane in Orlando always feels so good. The rush of humidity and warmth that hits you is only second to landing in Hawaii, because they also have the incredible smell of tropical flowers.

Trips to Orlando only seem real once I get on the monorail (sky train? Tram? I’m not even sure what they call it at the airport), its when I feel like I’ve really arrived. Although walking out to a Harry Potter Universal Store, a Sea World Store and of course, A Disney Store also helps.  Luggage took a bit of time and then I went downstairs and outside to catch the shuttle to Payless Car Rentals!  I’ve never rented from them before (I’ve done Budget a few times and Dollar) but they were a lot cheaper than the other ones because it was off airport property so they were the choice of the day.  When myself and a few other younger people got on the shuttle the driver made sure we know where we were going, and another lady said I should be flattered I don’t look old enough to rent a car…. It was kind of awkward. Haha

The rental lady was super nice though and the process was easy for pick up.  I’ll let you know if there were any secret evil fees or anything when I return it tomorrow night!!

I drove away in my beauty Kia Forte SX 

It's a pretty decent car! Vroooooom!

 and headed for Downtown Disney!  I am staying with my dear friend (and old manager Yelitza) until Sunday morning when I move into housing! However she didn’t get off work until 1230am so I went to DTD for a little stroll about and to see Water for Elephants!  I bought the book after the love of my life this nice guy I met in Winnipeg when I was blizzarded (it’s a word…) in recommended it.  It was an amazing book, I, just like him, couldn’t put it down!! I would highly recommend it to any and everyone, and if I hadn’t given my copy to my Mum I would have given it to you!  The movie was pretty good, although they changed a few details…like cutting out the guy who actually ran and owned the circus Al I believe his name is…but overall it was good.  The book was leaps and bounds better, but I dare you to tell me a movie that is better than the book it’s based on.

Yelitza and I from my Disney Grad!

After the movie I headed over to Yelitza’s and after a little mix up on apartments (whoops!) we chatted a bit and headed to bed. It was a long travelling day!!

Wednesday I just used as a day to get things together. I had a great catch up with Yelitza before heading out and getting a cell phone organized. I also went to UCF to drop off proof of health insurance so they would take their block off my account.  I walked around a bit and the excitement crept through me again! I couldn’t stop smiling thinking this is all real.  I also checked out the exact building I’ll be living in. Looks like typical residence, it’s only 6 weeks, I’m not worried!  I met up with Ashley later on and it was a bit surreal being signed into the Commons! We caught up for a bit and then went to Oscar and Kristin’s (where we stayed on our road trip) and picked up my suitcase! It was sooo nice to have clothes again! My suitcase I just brought down was pretty much all bedding and towels so it’s nice to have something to wear.  Ashley is spieling her menu this week so she was practising in the car.  Some of the meals are the same as when I was here before (besides the obviously cheese soup) so that’s pretty nice, some of it was coming back to me!  I’m going to try and steal a menu off Ash before I head back to Canada pre-Disney post-school to study study study!

Today I had International Student Orientation!  I arrived around 830, signed in and we started at 9am.  The people who put on the presentation were really friendly and actually made boring visa/immigration/taxes information seem interesting.  We played a few games including Jeopardy!  The lady asked if anyone had watched the show before and I said yes, as I thought everyone had, but I was the only one! That made my team (our table) decide to name our team Team Kate which added no pressure at all. Haha. Luckily we ended up winning due to pure genius on our part and I didn’t let down my fellow Canadian, Alex Trebek.  We won a UCF USB 2GB stick so that was pretty sweet. We played Bingo at one point too but I didn’t win which was sad because the prize was a cool UCF penchant for the wall…and we all know how I enjoy branding myself with whatever I’m doing at that point. Haha. See I can be honest about it.

I whipped back to the apartment to see Yelitza before work and then went suntanning at the Polynesian!  I wanted soo badly to go to a park, but I feel too guilty asking a friend to use their main gate (except Ashley who offered once she gets hers and I’m sooo excited!), so instead of a park to feed my Disney itch I parked at the Polynesian and walked around.  It was a beautiful day, there were tons of kids in the pool splashing around and dancing with a lifeguard, parents and drinks everywhere.  I borrowed a few towels and went to the secret beach on the side of the Polynesian. It’s the greatest beach on property and so under utilized. I use to go here a bunch on my last contract and there were never people there.  As I was laying out Dream Along with Mickey could be heard over the Seven Seas Lagoon, it was pretty great.   I even fell asleep for a little cat nap under the shade of a few big leafy tree bushes! I strolled around the shops at the resort checking everything out (I think I found a birthday present for my Dad! And a dress I could wear to two of my weddings this summer!) and then made the best decision ever…and got Dole Whip!!! So far this vegan thing is a total fail not going as well as planned, however I made it very clear from the start that Dole Whip resides above everything else in the food pyramid.  I also may have checked out the other MK resorts a bit J I miss Disney World.

Tomorrow morning I have regular new student orientation at UCF and I should be registered for classes by the end (thank goodness!).

Check this picture out:

The quality isn't too good...but I think you get it.

Hehehehe.