window shopping at the Disney Store

This weekend I explored City Creek for the first time ever. I went with Leslie, and our Disney friend, Kenzi. We spent 4 hours at least in only 3 stores. I bought a fabulous mustard colored sheath at Forever 21, and refrained from buying the cutest brown and pink plaid trench coat from H&M.

Then we went to the Disney Store. And I died. And cried a little, but mostly I just wandered around feeling sorry for myself and wishing I were still in Florida. But after I got over myself, I decided it would be fun to do a window shopping post, like my favorite blog, younghouselove does with lots of different stores. So here we go! Disney window shopping!

This $150 Cinderella stunner immediatley caught my eye. I was soo happy to see a Cinderella dress with good quality hip puffs. Of course, it's 150 bucks, but I couldn't stop staring at it.

This Cinderella mug was so cute! If I were a Cindy fan, I probably would have bought it.

I drooled over the Flynn Rider doll in his wedding clothes, and wished there was a short haired Rapunzel in her wedding dress.

Cinderella's wedding dress was cute, but I guarantee a little girl would be itching (literally) to get out of it as soon as possible.

This Pascal cereal bowl made me smile and think of my Disney roommate, Chelsea, who adores him.

It's Charlotte LaBouff!!! From Princess and the Frog! I died. I think she's the funniest character in that movie, so it was awesome to see a doll of her.

Merida's ceremonial dress was so pretty! I was also impressed to see it's a lightweight dress, so a little girl could easily wear the dress around Magic Kingdom with no problems.

This adorable T-Shirt had me rooting through the pile to find one I could fit in, unfortunately they were all little kids sizes.

Tramp looked awfully cute in his stuffed animal cuteness. Sadly there was no Lady to be found.

And of course, no Disney window shopping adventure would be complete without a pic of Mickey Mouse. He was so cute I cried. Seriously.

We all miss Disney so much. It's all we talked about pretty much.

~Courtney

Tink Gets Some Much Needed Love

I went to Walmart today to get some distilled water and Command Hooks. I walked out with a craft project.(and distilled water and Command Hooks too).

So I walked out with:
     a bajillion paint strips
     3 large paint chips
     2 8 X10 canvases
     yellow paint
     3 sponge brushes
 

I have a good sized collection of TinkerBell pins from over the years and past boyfriends. I realized when I was unpacking my stuff that I would really love to make them into some sort of art display. I didn't know how, but I knew I did NOT want to pull the posts off the back of my pins.

I thought maybe I could stick a block of foam in a shadow box, but canvas hadn't occurred to me until I was in Walmart browsing around. So I went for it. And I snatched a pretty yellow color to paint the canvas as well.

So I ran home and got to work.

first off, I laid out my pins, then stuck them into a sheet of paper for a template.

I painted my canvas and let it dry for 2 hours

Then I flipped over my template, pulled the backs off my pins and marked which holes NOT to use with an x

Then I trimmed my template to fit in the wood frame of the canvas and used a metallic blue pen to show me where to poke.

I took a safety pin and poked away, and then put in my Tink pins, and secured the cute little Mickey backs.

And the finished product...

I left space for future pins that will inevitably join my collection. I wish the lighting would be better, but hey, I  live in an apartment that mostly relies off of natural light. So now I've got my pins to display, and if I wake up tomorrow and hate it, I can pull the pins off, put them back in a box, and do something else with the canvas.

~Courtney

{Those Magical Moments}

As a Disney Cast Member, the word magical is a part of our everyday language.  Pair magical, with moment, and you get a unique experience. Maybe it's a special meet and greet, or a Cast Member providing excellent service to a guest.

My favorite Magical Moments are when Cast Members provide amazing service to fellow Cast Members.

Now, here's my story.

For as long as I can remember, I've loved Tinker Bell.  Loved her.  My massive Tink pin collection proves my point. Along with my Tink stationary, lamp and statues. I've had my eye on this stunning book all about the Never Fairies since I got here, and was thrilled to find it at the Cast Member discount store last week.

The cover was a little worse for wear,

but the book itself was absolutely perfect!

It's SUCH A CUTE BOOK!!!!  The artwork is beautiful and just makes my Pixie loving heart flutter.

The book also has little bio's about some of the Never Fairies. I was a little bummed to see that they didn't do bio's on most of the fairies in the movies. There were bio's for fairies I'd never heard of before, and they left out Iridessa, Rosetta, Fawn and Silvermist. Lame.

I brought my book to work today, and got Tink, Terence and Vidia to sign their bio's.

This is when the magic moment comes in to play.  The character attendant captain noticed me and my book, and offered to take it up to Rosetta, who was on break.  I readily agreed to this, and waited for quite a while for her to come back.

When she did, she informed me that Iridessa, Fawn and Silvermist all signed the book too!

MAGIC MOMENT!!!!

Stay tuned for part two of my Never Fairies adventure!
~Courtney

Can You Hear It?

I have adjusted almost flawlessly to saying nothing while working.  There have been a few slip ups. A few laughs, a few "oh!"s.
Being quiet is just natural now.  It's fun to interact by saying nothing.
Most times, the guests do the speaking for us,
sometimes it's our attendant,
maybe even a chatty PhotoPass.

There are those interactions when the guest doesn't say anyting at all. It's rare, but not a big deal to us performers.

Yesterday, while I was friends with Minnie at Magic Kingdom, a cute little girl walked up to us holding a Mickey Mouse doll that was almost the same size as her. She started pointing at the doll's nose, then to Mickey's nose, and did the same thing with the ears and buttons. Then she pointed at the doll's yellow shoes and looked super confused with Mickey's black shoes.  My Mickey scratched his head and looked at his shoes, that was when I jumped up with my hand in the air and pointed to my yellow heels. The girl smiled, and we jestured to have her stand and take a picture with us.  Keep in mind this entire interaction was silent.

We get her into position, and I finally look up to the parents. This is when I notice the mom standing over in the corner ASLing up a storm. Then it dawns on me, "Oh my gosh! This sweet little girl is deaf!"  We take our pictures, and then I kneel down and throw the ASL sign for I Love You out there, and her face lights up! She returns the sign, and did something so sweet. She touched her ASL I Love You to mine, and then did the same to Mickey.

It was so incredibly sweet. Such an amazing experience.

Then, I kid you not, ten minutes later, we get a small boy with a Cochlear Implant. His mom and dad are also signing to him, though they are speaking to him as well. I did the I Love You sign with him, and he smiled and nodded.

It was such a great set, and it also made me realize how much I appreciate my hearing ability.

Have a Magical Day!
~Courtney

Minnie Mouse Photo Shoot

Yesterday I worked til 1:30 AM. I brought my camera along with me, and had a little photo shoot during a dead set.  Here is Town Square Theatre at Magic Kingdom, where I spend most of my days.

Special thanks to my attendant who was so willing to have a fabulous photo shoot, and thanks to my Mickey who was equally as willing. We had so much fun thinking of poses.

Happy Saturday!
~Courtney

{Love, love love}

I know I just recently did a post on how much I love my job. Sorry that this one is a more specific version of that post.

Two days ago, I was friends with Mickey at Animal Kingdom. This little 7 year old approaches me with a red notebook, and a nervous look on her face. she hands me the book, and I motion for a pen so I can sign it for her.  This is when her dad pipes up and says "the book is for you, Mickey. She's been working on it for 2 months".  So I clap my hands and motion for her to open the book up for us to look at.  She slowly opens the book and we flip through a few pages. I would have sat down and read each and every page, but due to limited interaction (she was incredibly star struck) and an extremely long line, I only took a few minutes to look at it with her.

I huged the life out of her, and sent her and her dad on their way. My attendant took the notebook and I finished off my set.  After the set ended, and I was backstage, my attendant and I took a few minutes to look at it in depth. She wrote the cutest sentences! Not to mention her adorable spelling errors.

Here's a sample of the notebook:

"Disney is a dremeing plas. Disney is a genyis, you know that rit Mickey. Oh by the way merry christmis. Disney is where my dreams com chro (true). Youre my BFF you know that rit."

SO CUTE!!!!

So as I'm oohing and aahing over the notebook while I eat my lunch, I realize her mom had written her daughter's name and address on the first page.  Genius mom!!

Me being me, I decided to write Izabella a letter from Mickey Mouse, thanking her for her notebook present.
It's going in the mail tomorrow. I wrote it using Mickey's personal handwriting, and used my Mickey Mouse stationary.

I hope this is the Magic Moment to end all Magic Moments for this little girl.  She was so sweet, and I hope this keeps Mickey and all his magic alive for her for years to come.

~Courtney

{Happenings at Work}

Today, a young woman got down on one knee and proposed to Donald Duck.

No joke.

And Donald was so surprised that he had no idea what to do with himself.

And on the exact same day, Donald saw two of his friends, which was very exciting for him.

But then one friend posed a question that he honestly couldn't answer.

Which was embarrassing.

And better yet, on the still same day, an adorable little girl almost fell asleep on his lap.

So incredibly precious.

Can anyone tell I love my job?

Almost every day comes with incredible moments. Some don't seem so incredible in the moment, and some just scream "isn't this amazing, Courtney! Don't you love life here?!"

Two days ago, Mickey was asked to autograph the photo of a newlywed Japanese couple. The picture had the bride and groom in their beautiful white attire, and Mickey and Minnie hugging them. They were married at the Disney Wedding Pavilion, which has the most amazing view of Cinderella's Castle, and a huge price tag. I felt so honored to be the one signing that picture. Sorry, Mickey felt honored. Let's clarify that.

Every day I meet Make A Wish children and their parents, and I just want to spend hours with these kids. Sometimes the kids I meet have disabilities, and they are so sweet! The characters are real to them, and it always gives me a fresh burst of energy. 

Most days, when my attendant says "5 minutes left, Mickey!" I don't want to end my set. I could spend hours at a time out meeting people. Granted, the sweat rolling down my back and the headgear burrowing into my scalp aren't so pleasant. But really, I can't complain. The magic moments completely make up for it.

Much love to you all!

~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