Friday, October 7, 2016

We are Part of a Pattern about to Unfold

Hello friends,
Everyone I know and care about in central Florida is safe and sound for like the millionth time this year. Much rain, many wind, Hurricane Matthew, WOW, we're all good here. It's pretty cool to be here for park history though; we've only been closed something like four times since we opened in 1971. I'm enjoying my lazy time, although I wasn't supposed to work today anyway. 
Moving on. I know it's been awhile. Let's blame the hurricane for this one, and bless it for giving me the time indoors to work on it. At least, that's what I'm going with. 

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

Pre-Hurricane Princesses taking on Toy Story

Nicole and I spent the entire evening indoors with more snacks than were absolutely necessary, and basically it just rained all evening and we woke up to a lot of wind this morning. We're now allowed to leave our housing complex if we so desire... but I don't.
The highlight of my day before the storm (October 5th) was braving Target after work with fellow merchie Nick. About half the customers in Target were in their Disney work costumes like us and it was basically super chill, except there wasn't much bread left. You should've seen the Walmarts and Publix though. Eerie. I also was a champion and filled my car with gas while it was still cheap. So clever, so prepared.

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

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

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

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

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

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

On September 25th, I returned to Blizzard Beach for the first time since the Spring. Shane, Louise and I were there mostly for lazy river and tanning purposes, but we did sneak in a few rounds of Teamboat Springs, and Shane braved Summit Plummet without us. We packed up when it started to rain. It's always starting to rain.
It's been several months and this hole still hasn't been fixed...

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

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

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

Kara puts the FUN in FUNERAL.
(Did I use this last time for Kevin?)
Shall we stand like Irish dancers?
Yes, please!
Luckily, the day before, we were able to have a half-proper last Magic Kingdom all together. I mean, it was bucketing down rain as it usually is, but we had dinner, we rode a few rides, we caught like half of Wishes since they were delayed, we got a bunch of great pictures, and we didn't have to be at work to be doing it.

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

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

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

The sign says something about "Wet Britches" and is correct. 
You better believe we were the first two in line.

Fingers crossed for the end of inclement weather!

See you real soon!

Lindsey

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

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








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