I love Traditions!

Today was pretty much AWESOME.
..and there's more awesomeness to come hehe.

But I'm going to start with last night.

After all the formalities of the day we were free to do aswe pleased. So I had a little rest and then went to the pool! The pool is lovely! The water is just warm enough to not freeze you, and I ended up having the pool to myself after about 5mins. :)

Andrew came and joined me there and he explained all the different ideas for a group dinner. In the end there were 2 groups of us that split off. Andrew's group went to a seafood place, and I went with the dinner + mini golf people.

The deal was dinner + mini golf for $9.99. That seemed to be a good deal, and it was! :) We enjoyed the buffet, and I'm pretty sure there was at least one item that was new to everyone! Apple crumble pizza, anyone? :S

Then there was mini golf. The poor guy who was taking the money. We really should have paid separately but it got super complicated and confusing since he made it a total (and with about 11 of us not all paying exact....).

I found it crazy how even the mini golf sold Disney memorabilia! Oh, and you could buy legitimate american notes that had faces on them like Justin Beiber and Jacob from the Twilight series! It was $5 tothe note worth $1, but it was interesting anyway....
There are actually so many variations on the currency here. I have no idea how I'm supposed to know if something is fradulent... :/

Anyway, so I started of pretty averagely in mini golf. Then I got kind of bad. ...but I eventually started getting better, and I got 2nd in the end, woo! People didn't even consider me a threat. ;) hehe I snuck up on them .
Unfortunately thugh, this means they might be more careful next time... my cover is blown! haha

-

Onto today.
Today, I had Traditions. It's basically this training/fun class that EVERY cast member in the whole wide WORLD has to do. It meant I had to get up at 6am and get a bus to Disney University. So that wasn't fun.
But it was worth it.
I enjoyed it a lot. :)

The beginning was just a lot of rules and standards, but it got more entertaining (it ended at 12.30ish so one would hope it'd be somewhat entertianing and not make us fall asleep, right?).

Basically today you could go in with a positive or a negative attitude.

Negative = this is long and I had to get up early. The jokes are bad. It's cheesy. This is the same for everyone, and I don't feel special at all. I'm bored/tired...etc.

Positive = you know what? I don't care if I'm just one of many who has to take this. This class is an important part of what the Disney company is about. Today should be a fun day, one to be remembered. Not something to be all blah about. Laugh at the bad jokes, even if they really aren't funny. Answer the questions and get a little critter thing. Participate. Listen. Take it all on board. Learn things. Have fun! Without this class you would feel less prepared.It is like the major "welcome" that we get. Would you prefer to have started work already?

Needless to say I favour the positive one. Hence I had fun. :P There was also no form to fill out, so that has to be good, right? ;)
Yay for positive Disney spirit! Ya'll without it should join me!
You know you want to.... ;)

I want to emmit the Disney way. I want to "create happiness" for guests. Truely. I mean I'm working for one of the largest (if not the largest?) companies in the world! They are amazing. They make little kids smile and their wildest dreams come true. Not too many people on the planet haven't heard of them.
Sure, they are a buisness, but as they kept repeating, that is not their number one priority. Doing what is right, is. Doing what makes people happy, is. I think Walt (and his brother Roy, who helped him with the economic side) had a wonderful vision. People want to feel young at heart. They want to experience 'magic' and feel safe and happy...

Right. erm. Went off track a little. I guess I'm somewhat inspired. :) I just want to smile and say "welcome!" and tell a little girl that she is a princess and looks beautiful. You know? Making a guest's day is going to make my day, and I'm looking forward to that. :)

During Traditions they had these 'critters' that they gave out to people who answered questions. I got 2... but that's only because I answered a lot of questions and after 2 they wanted to spread them around a little more. ;) I was keen, what can say? haha
Oh and I was the first one to answer a question too. The lady found out where I was working and was excitable (not only for our accent, which she repeatedly got excited about) because she works there too! At the end she said she's going to keep a lookout for me. Awesome. :P No one else got such person treatment. hehe. Maybe also it's because in the breaks I was asking questions to -her- as well. For example, I asked how they chose the 11 places at Epcot. She had no answer for that one unfortunately. :/

When we got to the middle of Traditions we then got to go on a bus to the Magic Kingdom and explore a little whilst looking out for good customer service and safety there. We got to go through the underground cast only tunnels (they are meant to be 'secret, but they aren't really since I'm sure a lot of you knew about them already, for instance. I certainly knew about them before I came). It was pretty cool. Not what I expected, but we couldn't take pictures there since its a Disney secret (I notice somehow photos have leaked onto the internet - whoever did so could find themselves in a major lawsuit....).

It was hot in the sun in formal dress. We must have looked like security guards in training or something because we were all given these neat radio things with ear pieces that worked even when the person wispers! :)

We then went back to Disney Uni and after some more presentations there was a knock on the door. Guess who it was?
Why, Mickey Mouse of course!
He is a pretty busy mouse so it was nice of him to come say hello (there is only one, didn't you know? ..and he *magically* zips around.. ;) ). He bought a present with him too! It was our name badges, which he enforced could only be given to us at the 'right' time. (ie. the very end.)

We did some group exercises after his visit, and then at the end it was time for our badges! Woo!
Mine is awesome. I love it. :D On the bac I want to write "we create happiness", so that everyday when I go to put it on, I can be reminded of the goal and purpose of me being there. What do ya'll think?

On the way back from Traditions I made plans to meet up with a girl called Hayley (I'm learning names, go me!) to go to Downtown Disney. She's very nice and we have similar ideas on a lot of things. She also burns fast like me. Woo, not the only one!

Downtown Disney is nothing like the version in Cali. This one is bigger and far more interesting.
I didn't know there was a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutque
in the World of Disney store!!! I knew there was one in the Magic Kingdom Castle, but I didn't know about this one! That place is so cute. The little girls get pampered and are turned into mini princesses. They are all proud of themselves and want you to compliment them. :)
The lady outside the store was like "would you like some pixie dust?"

"Sure!" we replied. :P
So I am still covered in pikie dust. Suits me fine. I am a sparkle girl, after all. ;)

I think I need to go back to Downtown Disney at night. The place looks geared up for it. There are lights all over the place.
I loved the design a t-shirt store (yay I could actually have an ariel t-shirt in my size, which didn't exist in Disneyland (they were all for like 5year olds..))

Cirque de Soleil looks interesting, and with staff discount it's about $40.
Disney Quest (indoor interactive themepark) is about $21 with cast discount. :) So eventually I'll make use of that!

The water parks looks awesome! Must go at some point - especailly when it is free!!!

There's so much to do!
Tomorrow (thurs) I have a day OFF! So I'm going to explore the Animal Kingdom! :D Looking forward to that. I want to ride Everest and go on a safari ride the most.

After our trip from Downtown Disney we went to Walgreens (like a pharmacy/small supermarket). I bought this 24pack of water because it was on special and the Florida water doesn't taste the most appetising. It was a good idea at first...until I realised how heavy it was and that I had to lug it back to my apartment.
Yeah. Workout right there....

Now I am relaxing and writing this (yay!).

The next 2 days (friday and sat) are training for my job! I need to try and figure out the buses....


Random thing.
My Puerto Rican flatmate is definately interesting to be around. She's louder and more expressive than even I am when I'm on the phone! She gets super excitable and is jumping around practically screaming on the phone (in a happy way).
She laughs a lot. A LOT. It's so loud and it makes us laugh too because we have no idea why she is laughing!

Anyway. I'm enjoying the experience of living with different people. Everyone is really nice. Sure, the cleanliness bugs me a little, but I understand they work long hours and probably can't be bothered/have no energy to clean everything all the time!

Right. I'm going to go retrieve my washing.
Here's a random thing to leave you with...

Remember ya'll - it all started with a mouse. ...and maybe also a man. ;)


Hugs and remember to SMILE! :D

xx
PS
here is the link to the newest pictures :)