Six months down, six months to go!

Hi there! Did you miss me? I guess it’s been awhile since I last updated the ol’ blog. The last time I wrote was the beginning of January, at this point almost three months ago….. OOOPSIEEEEEE. I’M SORRY OKAY PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! Keeping up with a blog down here is hard, especially with everything I have had going on since then! So I’ll start by telling you about the biggest change I have had over the past three months. When I left off in January, I had mentioned that I would be going into training to become a server! This training process takes about three weeks and it was extremely challenging but I am proud to say that I am now a server at Le Cellier! Now that I am in a tipped role, I will switch between food running and serving in the restaurant. While serving can be much more challenging, I am definitely loving the change of pace. Podium was great because it wasn't overly stressful, popcorn was great because I was out in the park, but serving gives you so many more opportunities to interact with guests and really leave a lasting impression on them. I have talked before about “magical moments”, and as a server I have the opportunity to really get to know my guests and make magic that is tailored towards them. For example, last week I met a family from Illinois with two little girls. One of the girls was wearing bridal wedding mouse ears because she just happened to love them, and the other girl told me that she really loved Duffy the bear but doesn't have one. So to make some magic for them, I got the one girl a bridal Minnie Mouse to match her ears, and the other girl her first ever Duffy bear! The girls were so excited when I told them that I had told Mickey all about them and he wanted me to surprise them with those things, and I got big hugs from the girls and their mom. After this experience I was glowing for the rest of the day because the joy on their faces was contagious. Another magical moment that I did just yesterday was for a husband and wife who had just learned that they were going to be having a baby! The mom told me that I was only one of like three people who knew because they had just found out, and it was going to be their first! So I surprised them with a Winnie the Pooh stuffie and they were over the moon. Making magic at Disney is still my favourite part of the job and it can be as big as giving a stuffie or as simple as giving a fast pass or a free poutine. A few weeks ago I met a mom and daughter visiting from Canada and I decided to surprise them with a fast pass because they had been telling me that they wanted to go to the Magic Kingdom after they were finished dinner but were worried about the long lines. Just giving them a fast pass was enough to make a lasting impression that they even posted about it on social media! A friend of mine happened to find it and passed it along to me! How cool right?!

So anyways now that I am a server, I am finding it's even harder to keep up with this blog. I have more regular hours now, but the work is more challenging so before work I just want to take it easy and relax, and after work I just want to eat then sleep. My days off have been absolutely amazing though! Now that I am six months into my program, I have really found my niche here in the Canada pavilion. I have some really amazing friends and we always have really amazing times together! Bonding with the Canada pav as a whole has been a really great experience too. We are one of the only pavilions that regularly plan group outings and do stuff together. One thing we love to do together is go to Cowboys, a country bar in Orlando! Cowboys is so much fun, we usually go twice a week and it's just a really great time hanging out with friends and line dancing. Usually when we go, we have a group of around 20 people but a few weeks ago we had approx 40 Canadians go! It was amazing seeing so many of us come together for a great night out.

Besides Cowboys, I also recently did some drinking around the world with a group of Canadians to celebrate Tyler’s birthday (who is coincidentally from the same hometown as me!) and work recently put on a group outing to an Atlanta Braves spring training game at ESPN Wide World of Sports. These outings have given me an opportunity to spend time with people outside of my regular friend group and I think they really help us to bond as a pavilion. We aren’t a perfect family and as I have mentioned in previous posts there can be drama and sometimes lots of it, but it's been amazing getting to know people from all over Canada.

On the note of getting to know people, I am also finally at that point in my program where people who I have made real bonds with are leaving because their programs are ending! At the beginning of my program a few people’s programs ended but I didn't know them long enough to have really connected with them. Since January though we have had quite a few people leave who I had gotten to know quite well, so seeing them go was heartbreaking. The farther into my program I go, the harder it is to say goodbye to these people who I have met, and I can't even imagine how hard it is going to be for me to leave in six months time. So what else have I been up to over the past three months… Well for one thing I have been fortunate enough to do some more staycays! In January, I stayed at the Beach Club Resort with Eileen, Darien and Melissa! We stayed club level too, which means we got complimentary food and drinks (including alcohol) throughout the day. The Beach Club has been my favourite staycation thus far… The decor of the hotel was gorgeous, they have a sand bottom pool which overlooks Disney’s Boardwalk, and the food was amazing too! Definitely would love to stay there again in the future. We also stayed at Port Orleans Riverside in one of the royal rooms and we stayed at the Boardwalk Inn, also club level. The Royal room at Port Orleans was cute, especially because it was all decorated with princesses and the details were impeccable, but moderate resorts really don’t compare to the deluxe resorts we have been staying at. Loved the Boardwalk hotel though, the theming of that resort is also gorgeous and being right on the Boardwalk and so close to Epcot was super convenient.

Being in service at Le Cellier has also afforded me more opportunities than I had before… Like finally getting my Universal annual pass! Universal is so much fun and I have been three or four times already so getting the annual pass is definitely worth it. For Eileen's birthday, which was at the beginning of March, we decided to take a break from Disney staycations, and try out a Universal hotel! We stayed at a resort called Loews Pacific Royal Resort, which is Polynesian themed, and it was absolutely gorgeous! Of all the staycays we have done so far, this was by far one of my top three favourites! Staying here also gave us express passes for the two days we were there, meaning we could basically skip the lines at the parks! At Universal you usually have to pay for express passes so this was a major advantage for us. We loved it so much we definitely want to stay here again before the end of our program!

Back in January, I also stayed at the Art of Animation resort for the first time with my family when they came to visit. My mom came with my grandparents, my aunt and my cousin. It was my cousin Peyton’s first visit to Disney, and seeing her experience Disney for the first time was such a joy! It was a hard week because it was also my first week of training to become a server so I was working long hours, but it was still really great to see my family and get to spend time with them.

Other cool things I have done over the past three months were going on a backstage tour of the Haunted Mansion ride, ate at Hollywood & Vine at Hollywood Studios, and going to the Spirit of Aloha dinner show! The backstage tour of Haunted Mansion was awesome because we got to walk through the ride and then we got to take the first ride of the day. I love backstage tours because it gives me a chance to see the ride from a new perspective that I would never be able to have as a guest. Hollywood & Vine was a dinner to celebrate me getting into service, and it is a buffet where you also get to meet Mickey and the gang in their red carpet outfits. The food there was pretty good and with a buffet you definitely can't go wrong. The Spirit of Aloha dinner was super cool though! Even though the food wasn’t that great, the entertainment was awesome! They had a special discount for cast members until the end of February so we were able to get front row seating for a decent price. We went to celebrate Eileen and Darien getting into service (they got in right before me), so basically the past three months have included a lot of partying and celebrating!

April is going to be a crazy month as well (when is my life not crazy?!). Next weekend on Friday I am going to Fort Lauderdale with Eileen, Darien, Melissa, and Brittany for a country music festival! While they are going for the full weekend, I am only going for the Friday because on Saturday Matt is coming to visit! He will be here for about a week, which is super exciting since I haven't seen him since I went home in January. Then a week or so later, my family is coming again for nine days! When Matt is here and when my family comes we are staying at Coronado Springs, so I’ll basically be living there for a full month. Even though it is a moderate resort (I’m pretty bougie now with all the deluxe resorts I have been staying at LOL), the rooms look quite nice and overall the hotel does look pretty sweet so I’m hoping it will be a good time! I guess that's all from me for now. I honestly can't make any promises as to when you will be getting another blog post from me but I’ll do my best. As always, I love hearing from you so please feel free to send me a message here on the blog, or on Facebook or Instagram anytime! Until next time xoxo