Up Where They Stay All Day in the Sun

It was a busy weekend (Thursday Friday) for me! Two waterparks in two days! Going back to work is almost a relief.

Gorgeous and free for Cast Members until mid-June. 

Yesterday, I went to Typhoon Lagoon with Brooke and Katie (whom I work with in Canada at the store). We met another Canadian, Chris, there. We started and had multiple rides on Typhoon's lazy river (Castaway Creek). It was a little chillier because we started out a little earlier, but still just lovely. We did all three tracks on the Crush 'n' Gusher, the fruit-themed water rollar coasters (they go up, since when does water go up?!). I say fruit-themed because a) they're supposed to be themed around an abandoned produce shipping plant and b) they're called Banana Blaster, Coconut Crusher and Pineapple Plunger. So much fun! There was also a family ride called Gang Plank Falls (not as great as Blizzard Beach's) and a wave pool called Surf Pool (6 foot waves, no tubes, kind of terrifying). I wasn't as tired as I had been for Blizzard Beach, so we pretty much just cycled water slides all day. I was quite tired after that, and I think I burned the soles of my feet on the sand. Worth it! Water parks in March, how about that?

Typhoona Gator (Typhoon Lagoon mascot) and I.
Lilo and Stitch also show up sometimes (but not in March). 

I checked the mail when I got home and found that my main gate pass had arrived! It's a super special blue card that lets me bring in up to three guests at a time for free. Who wants to be my friend now? That's what I thought. Seriously, though, come visit me!

The power! The absolute power! Mua ha ha ha ha ha ha!

I went back to work today at 1530. I'm going to get mostly closing shifts from now until the seniority list changes, and I honestly do not mind at all. I was informed that costuming ordered more culottes for me. This is the one and only time I will be happy about anything to do with culottes. There were a lot of guests from England today, and lots of birthdays! I also performed my first Canadian Junior Ranger ceremony today! The story is that five furry friends (an owl, a bear, a moose, a beaver and a husky) got lost in our store and whoever finds the friends gets declared an official Canadian Junior Ranger, and gets stickers and a cool little certificate. I put that one class I took in public speaking to good use when I announced our new Jr. Rangers to the entire store. There were a lot of people. I'm awesome. So are Jr. Rangers!

TTFN

Note: There were random ducks following children through Canada today. It was bizarre and so Disney in real life. 

Thanks to: Kim for the mail on Tokyo Disney stationary! Amazing!

Darling, it's Better Down Where It's Wetter

I haven't posted in days, but I haven't died!

But I did find a boat at the Orlando Premium Outlets (Megan did too).

On Wednesday, there were so many lumberjacks in Epcot Canada that I was tasking for the first half of my shift. I did some actual stocking and useful things, etc, but after all that was done I found a large Canadian flag and held it in the wind on the promenade (the path that connect all the pavilions in World Showcase) while a family asked me to provide them with some Canadian trivia. I talked a lot about the Rideau Canal (I really hope it's the longest outdoor skating rink in the world). Wednesday also marked the arrival of a new group of Cultural Representatives. I know, so soon! Wednesday evening was the Canadian "Throw-In", which is a big welcome party thrown by the old Canadians for the new Canadians. They sang us the national anthem, introduced themselves and assigned us all a sibling to whom we could ask any questions. It was a little late for me to be thrown in, but the vast majority of my arrival group missed our throw-in, so...whatever!

Patricia (from Germany) and I at Blizzard Beach.
The park was surprisingly devoid of actual guests though.

Early early this morning, my arrival group piled on a bus to head to the social security office. It opens a few hours early for Disney employees so we can all get our social security numbers and go back to work. I'll have one in three weeks-ish. After a brief nap, a bunch of us headed over the Blizzard Beach, one of two Disney World water parks. Cast Members get in for free until peak season starts (mid-June). So much fun! We did a waterslide in a big family raft a few times to start off (it was called Teamboat Springs), then Toboggan Racers, in which 8 people have 8 separate slides and we race (I won, by the way). They have a lazy river called Cross Country Creek that's 3/4 of a mile long (that's 1.2km), and we did it twice. It was lovely! There was also an enclosed slide for single-person tubes called Runoff Rapids, as well as a wave pool called Melt-Away Bay that's an acre in area. It was great except the waves made a few of us (me included) a bit seasick. We sunbathed for the rest of the afternoon and had to leave when the park closed at 5. I used an entire bottle of sunscreen (which won't come off my skin!) and didn't pick up any colour at all. I'm totally responsible.

This is where Ice Gator, the Blizzard Beach mascot, skied through one of the cabins. 

TTFN

Note: One Mr. Twining of Twining's tea is visiting Epcot shortly! I'll bet he goes for the tea tour in the United Kingdom pavilion.

Thanks to: That one Shell gas attendant for the Disney discount on gas! YES!

It's Off to Work We Go

Hallo! I think it' going to be tougher for me to find pictures to go along with my stories, as I generally can't take and/or publish pictures of myself from on or backstage, but I'll try my darndest to get a few.

So, yesterday I earned my ears. YAY ME! I took an assessment and everything. 92%, y'all! I'm totally meant to be a lumberjack. My "Earning My Ears" ribbon can stay on as long as I want it to/ whenever a manager rolls his eyes at me and tells me I'm ready. It's still on. After I took my assessment, I officially went into rotation like a real person. I pretty much rotate every hour or so between the two indoor (Post 1 and Post 2, for the two registers in The Trading Post, our store) and two outdoor (Cart and Engraver) positions. I can also be "tasking" which is pretty much being busy without being on a register. I interpret this to mean, "Lindsey, go hand out stickers to children." Gotcha. Oh! And I saw Duffy on my way out of the park! I waved and said "Bye, Duffy!" and he waved back and then got bowled over by a five-year-old girl. Hilarious!

Amanda and I, as well as my car, still sporting Ontario plates. 

I spent most of this morning by the pool tanning under SPF 50. Yeah, I have a tan. You're soooooo jealous. But so many freckles. Amanda, another lumberjack, and I left for work around 1445, and spent most of the extra time (we started at 1530) walking from the backwoods of the parking lot to Costuming. So much walking. Luckily, hiking boots! I was in rotation all day, just like a real person, and it felt like an incredibly long day although it was only a 6 hour shift.
Apparently every Monday, a fellow Canadian hosts a games night, so I baked some cookies (from a tub of cookie dough, which they sell here) and headed over with Amanda, Briana and Megan (all Canadians). It was Wii Just Dance 3 night, and I'm pretty darn good, it turns out. I may have also found a few more Doctor Who fans. YES!

Megan and I. Whovians (ahem, Doctor Who fans) always find each other.  

TTFN


Note: I shared my cookies with my roommate, Nozomi from Japan, and her friends, and they were thrilled and said I made a Magical Moment (that's a real thing here).

Thanks to: The impeccable timing of IllumiNations to distract the Guests and allow me to close the cart. Thanks, IllumiNations!