Fun With Leslie

On Tuesday, Leslie and I indulged in our 40% cast member discount on certain restaurants. We picked The Whispering Canyon Cafe, at the Wilderness Lodge. It was an open cafe style room on the main floor of the hotel. It was pretty, and beautifully decorated. Our waitress was loud and funny, and totally fit the western style.

We promised each other months ago that we would go out to eat every other week. Really enjoy the perks of our jobs. So now we've picked Italian at EPCOT for our next dining adventure, but back on track...

I ordered the most devine barbecue pulled pork sandwich with fried and baked beans. I meant to take pictures of it, but once the guy set it down, I completely forgot and inhaled the whole thing. Here's a pic of my plate though.

Leslie ordered barbecue pulled pork spring rolls. Again, we didn't get any pictures of the food. Here's her plate

Then we splurged on the most tasty sugar cookie crusted apple pie. So. Good.

After lunch, Leslie had work, so I spent the rest of my day at Magic Kingdom hanging out with my performer friends Naomi and Connor.

Such a good day!!!
~Courtney

Are You New?

I swear, every Attendant I've had has asked me that question. And then I say "Yeah, It's my (2nd, 3rd, 4th) day."

They respond, "Yeah, I can tell."

It breaks my heart every. Single. Time.

I'm new! Yes! Stop commenting on it!  I am trying my best, I'm ignoring the pain, I'm smiling ear to ear inside that musty head!  Give me a friggin break already!

It makes me want to cry. It makes me want to go home to Utah. Or at least pop my costume head off and go cuddle up on my ridiculously uncomfortable bed at Chatham. 

Being a character performer is hard. It's even harder when you can feel disapproval being radiated at you by the number one person who's supposed to be there supporting you. 

I haven't heard any of the people I was in training with complain of this problem, so it must just be me.

Maybe I'm not cut out for this?

Until next time,

~Courtney

T -I -double guh- rrrrr

Today I went to EPCOT to see Tigger

Tigger was in a very bouncy mood today.  He couldn't stand still. It made me smile, and all the little girls just loved him.  Pooh Bear was also very good today, but slightly more timid than I would have anticipated.

Anyway, once Tigger said goodbye to the family in front of me, I got the biggest hug from him. He was bouncing and it made me laugh. Luckily, the grouchy photopass photographer took a ton of pictures to capture the following Magical Moment

The surprise on my face is so funny!  Tigger totally sandwiched me! 

Then Tigger points to himself, makes a heart with his hands, and points to me.

AWWWWWW!

Tigger's such a flirt.

I sort of love it. :D

~Courtney

oops

You may recognize this duo as Goofy and his son, Max.

Anyway, today I was friends with Max. He's got some awesome 'swagger' going on, that's for sure. He likes to rock out to air guitar whenever he's got time to spare, and he's always got some sort of music playing in his head. He's super embarrassed about his hair and short height compared to his dad.  Overall, Max is pretty dang awesome.

Today, He was greeting guests along with a few other characters. It was his last day of training, so that means he'll be on his own from now on (scary!) It was the last set of the day, and Auriel, his trainer, told him he had to go finish his homework.

So Max goes skipping off to do it, and he decided to wave to a group of people. He looks back over his shoulder, waves energetically, and the runs right into a tree.  Smacks into it, stumbles, slips in his big bulky shoes, and face plants it onto the cement.

The whole group sees this happen, so Max flipped over to his back right away so no little kids worry he's hurt.  Auriel then rushed to his side and tells him he's starting to act just like his dad.  Now, Max loves his dad, but doesn't want to end up like him, so he sits up immediately, and starts shaking his head no. Auriel helps him up, and it's obvious Max is really embarrassed. He's hiding behind his ears, and laughing at his clumsiness.

What a day! Tomorrow is my first day off, and I will be spending it in the Magic Kingdom.

Loves to you all,

~Courtney

{Whirlwind}

CRAZY

I'm sorry readers, but I can not indulge in any details of this past week. And right now, I am incredibly tired, so I  can't even form a complete, cohesive, coherent sentence. I promise on my next day off, I WILL tell you about my check in experience and Welcome to Entertainment experiences. Though, most of that info is privileged. So don't expect much.

I'm tired. But I wanted to reassure everyone I'm alive and loving life.

I'm loving Disney, and Don't want to leave. Ever.

~Courtney

Just a Smile!

Picture Dump!

 At the airport

 Just before I left to go through security

 Standing in line at 7:30 am Florida time, meaning 5:30 Utah time.

 The check in line in front of us. 7:30 seemed a great time to show up. There were lots of parents in front of us. That meant there weren't really THAT many people checking in ahead of us.

Taken just after receiving my let down of a job sticker. Leslie's said, for example, Quick Service Food & Beverage- Captain Cook's. Disney Food & Beverage.

Mine said: Character performer. 

That's all. 

 Scale model of the Castle. Absolutely stunning in person. It's inside the casting building.

 Recognize this from Alice in Wonderland?! These two doorknobs are the only two in existence.

 Lego Malificent. I kid you not. Completely out of Legos. Absolutely amazing

 Lego Snow White and Dopey

 Lego Buzz and Woody strapped to a rocket. Pictures don't do it justice.

I don't get all excited over Legos, but today I was just amazed at what people can do when they put their mind to is. That Woody even has ANDY in black Lego pieces under his boot. The picture didn't turn out well, but it's totally there. Special thanks to the Disney employee inside who told us to take a look, which resulted in my laying on the floor to take the picture.

Super slow internet today. I'll add more pictures later!  Bed time!

~Courtney

I'm Not In Kansas Anymore...

Toto, I'm not in Utah anymore.

Every one of my (very, very nice) roommates woke up this morning in volleyball shorts. You know what I'm talking about, short short short shorts.

And the TV is on to a channel I've never heard of, but is very popular with all the girls' hometowns.

They seem nice. I haven't had a big chance to talk with them.

Anyway, Casting got my Social Security card this morning, so I need to go get it from them. I'll have to figure out the bus system to get there. The lady that called me said I'd need to request the F bus to take me to Casting. She didn't say anything about getting back...

Hmmmmm.

Off to Casting!  Then it's off to Downtown Disney!

~Courtney

Rough Start

You know that phrase "you've got to taste the bitter before you enjoy the sweet"?

That describes today 100%

Leslie and I aren't roommates.  It seems unlikely we will become roommates.
BYU and Disney combined are to blame.
I don't go to BYU, so I don't get to be Leslie's roommate because of it. There doesn't seem to be any way around it.

BYU says Disney started this rule to avoid BYU suing them over anything. A very 'stick the Mormons together and we won't have trouble' mentality.

Disney says BYU started this rule. They haven't given an exact reason why.

So differing opinions means small chance we will be roommates.

I'm very upset. I've been looking forward to this with her for months, and dreaming about this for years.

It's frustrating, but will get better.

I know it will, I know it will, I know it will.
I think it will, I think it will, I think it will.
I hope it will... I hope it will... I hope it will...

~Courtney

Half Way There

You know that Disney movie, Tangled? And how Rapunzel lived her entire life inside a tower? Then she finally goes outside for the first time in her life, and she has serious mood swings for a few hours?

That's me. I cried a bit on the plane. I was overwhelmed with the fact that I was leaving Utah on my own, for an extended amount of time.  Then I couldn't help but let out an excited laugh as the plane took off. And now I'm sitting in New Mexico, wishing I had some food, or courage to leave my seat to go get some.

Oh wow, I'm not in Utah anymore.  Six girls just walked by wearing practically nothing. Hmm. That'll take some getting used to.

Anyway. Back to my analogy. Rapunzel sings a cute little song in which she states

 "and for the first time ever, I'm completely free"

That's me. I'm free of school work, essay writing, nursing school stress. I'm free to make my own choices, and free to learn from those choices.

It's really hard to wrap my head around, actually.

"Now's when my life begins!"

Not that I haven't had a life before, but now the exciting, amazing, view changing part of my life begins.

The flight went well. No turbulence, no one sitting right next to me. I got an excellent widow seat on the right side of the plane that gave me amazing views of the Bingham Copper Mine and the majestic mountains I will miss so much.

I had a very handsome flight attendant who looked very similar unto George Clooney.  Yummy.

There was a section on mountainous plateaus in Utah? Not sure where I was at the time, but they looked like a cross section of a set of lungs. I'm serious. I look out the window and see lungs in the lines of the plateaus.  Unfortunately, they didn't photograph well, and the sun was reflecting off my window which made the picture that much worse. 

Seems we will be boarding the flight to Orlando soon. I'll post later.

Now's when my life begins!

~Courtney

Oh My Gosh

I fly across the United States TOMORROW.  From Utah to Florida. And I don't have a return plane ticket.
It's so surreal.
It's slightly intimidating.
It's really nerve wracking. I'm moving to Florida. Without my parents. Thank Heavens Leslie is coming with me. I think I'd be way, way more nervous if it was just me, myself and I.
I'm going to be completely on my own from about 10:50 to 7:20 tomorrow, and it will be my first time alone in an airport.

Can you tell I'm a tad nervous?
Can you tell I'm having a hard time realizing this is really happening?

Tomorrow, I move to Florida. And I don't know when I'm coming back.

Tonight, I mailed off all my nursing school applications.
I'm completely done.
No more stressing over my essay.
I can stop endlessly checking to see if I have everything I need.
I did miss that I need to call Weber about my student status. I guess I'll call from Florida...
Getting them mailed gave me a serious stress headache. Now I'm paying the price. My head wants to explode.

Now I can just enjoy my new adventure, and let the nursing schools make their decisions.  My parents will give me a call when each letter comes in, and I'll have them skype me and open the letter.  Fingers are tightly crossed. Very, very tightly crossed.

I just can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow. It's so unbelievable.

I've been waiting for tomorrow for months now.  Here goes nothing!
~Courtney