Well Here's My [Bib] Number, So Race Me Maybe - a Sept 2012 TR! P

enchanted_belle · Oct 14, 2012

Of course, being Disney fanatics... it took a LONG time to get to the front of the park! We kept stopping for pictures left, right, and center of us and of the area around. I think there was a bit of dancing that happened too (and by think, I mean know

).

First stop:

I'm so excited that I get to work with this guy in just a few short months! He's the sweetest... and standing next to him makes my arm look really tan

With the Pascals!

So a little bit of a background story time... James is a completely adorable guy, even for just being 19. I've kinda dubbed him as my "puppy" for DCP, so he and I are always joking about how I need to get him one of those children leashes so I can walk him around the parks, especially MK. We have a whole group of us (our "Ohana") that's like a family, so we joked that on family outings we will need to bring the puppy along. Now, whenever I text him I just call him Puppy instead of James even.

But... that's the reasoning behind this next photo.

He needs to wear the Pluto hat while he's on the leash!

I love making new Disney friends, they're the best ever.

It was about 6:55pm by now, so we really needed to (slowly) make our way to the front for James to leave us.

Casey's area all lit up

Oh hey, crowd. How's it going?

We saw some pretty awesome costumes while there... including a guy as the Magic Mirror. He wore all black, painted his face silver, and made the outline of the mirror out of cardboard. I wish I was that creative in life! Sheesh!

We lost Claire at some point because she stopped to say hi to more people she worked with, so James and I took a few minutes to dance to the music on Main Street like cray people. Which was great. And we kinda marveled in the fact that in 100 days from that moment, this would be our life. We'd be living and working Disney every day. It was a pretty powerful, overwhelming moment.

I never seem to see the balloons in front of the castle, so I figured in front of the train station would do for now?

James taking pictures

Something about this screamed magical to me.

One of my FAVORITE pictures from this whole trip!

sweetpee_1993 · Oct 14, 2012

enchanted_belle said:
I'm going to be selling Merch. I'll have to keep you updated on the details once we get closer and closer!

Make sure I know where you are, too! Looks like my bunch may be in the World for a single, solitary day in January! Woot!

enchanted_belle · Oct 14, 2012

sweetpee_1993 said:
Make sure I know where you are, too! Looks like my bunch may be in the World for a single, solitary day in January! Woot!

I definitely will!!!

I'm so excited to see how many wdwmagicers I can meet in the spring lol.

sweetpee_1993 · Oct 14, 2012

enchanted_belle said:
I definitely will!!! I'm so excited to see how many wdwmagicers I can meet in the spring lol.

I have a feeling you'll be meeting a LOT. LOL!

And I gotta say, I loooove your report title! That's so cool! That's such a catchy song but then there was a group of teens recently on a Wonder Alaskan cruise who made a video to that song on their last night. They were so creative running around the ship shooting their music video, dancing and singing that song. So now, in my house at least, it's taken on this whoooole other life! Love it! So when I read your report title I get all excited...and ready to gooooooo...

Can't wait to read about your run! So proud of you! I know you worked so hard for it. You, lady, are an inspiration! Now to just get my "business shoes" back on & restart...again... **sigh**

enchanted_belle · Oct 14, 2012

sweetpee_1993 said:
I have a feeling you'll be meeting a LOT. LOL!

And I gotta say, I loooove your report title! That's so cool! That's such a catchy song but then there was a group of teens recently on a Wonder Alaskan cruise who made a video to that song on their last night. They were so creative running around the ship shooting their music video, dancing and singing that song. So now, in my house at least, it's taken on this whoooole other life! Love it! So when I read your report title I get all excited...and ready to gooooooo...

Can't wait to read about your run! So proud of you! I know you worked so hard for it. You, lady, are an inspiration! Now to just get my "business shoes" back on & restart...again... **sigh**

haha, my friends and I want to make a video of it around Disney during our first few weeks.

and I'm hoping to get into LOTS of TRs in the spring, since I won't be able to write my own anymore (unless we figure out a way to do a Confessions thread for it... hmm, that's not that bad of an idea actually... uh oh, wheels turning).
Getting back into the running AGAIN after the race was the killer for me, as well as the past few months... but I'll get to that part in a little bit in the TR, I promise. I definitely learned a lot through the experience.

enchanted_belle · Oct 14, 2012

Main Street view of the crowd tonight.

Around this point, we realized that while we had gotten my Sorcerer's cards, we haven't actually played yet. That had to be fixed... and since Claire started me at the train station, we were at the perfect spot!

My face looks so happy right now.

That was fun... time to wander?

Partners at night = love.

Walking to the Hub, we noticed that the villains were out and I was determined to meet a certain muscular man. Actually, that was my goal for the whole weekend, especially at the Villains party the next night after the race: I wanted a picture of Gaston and I holding up our guns together, and it would be epic bonus points if I had my medal on.

Instead, I found this guy:

My face looks creepy... But it was so neat meeting Frollo!

And this guy:

If PhotoPass ever lets me in to view my pictures, I'll be able to get the ones of Jafar letting me play with his beard. It was quite the moment.

And then we followed these ladies with a skip:

I love how they interact, always wonderful

We saw Gaston out with people, but we weren't allowed to get a picture with him since his line was closed. And never got back for the next mingle

Oh well, maybe I'll have better luck at the bash?

If you don't remember from the last TR... I love night pictures of the castle!

Until next time everyone

I'll try not to make it as long of a wait... we're still stuck on the first day! oops!

Ariel484 · Oct 14, 2012

imagination30 said:
i just now got what she was talking about so funny!.. shannon you hate carely i take it!

Nope, no hate! That song is just so darn catchy.

WDW_Princess24 · Oct 15, 2012

a HUGE congratulations on your acceptance into the college program, i wish i had known about it when i went through school! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

skeletor1990 · Oct 15, 2012

Congrats on your CP acceptance!!! I did the Spring 2012 program and I also worked merchandise. So I am biased...but you definitely got one of the best roles! The CP was seriously the best experience of my life. I miss it every day. Also, so exciting that you have made so many connections already and that you have made friends with people who will be down there with you.I am sure you are going to have the greatest time! Good luck!

Looking forward to reading the rest of the report!

enchanted_belle · Oct 15, 2012

skeletor1990 said:
Congrats on your CP acceptance!!! I did the Spring 2012 program and I also worked merchandise. So I am biased...but you definitely got one of the best roles! The CP was seriously the best experience of my life. I miss it every day. Also, so exciting that you have made so many connections already and that you have made friends with people who will be down there with you.I am sure you are going to have the greatest time! Good luck!

Looking forward to reading the rest of the report!

I'm so sad that what I posted didn't show originally!

I haven't heard about what it's like to be a merch cp... Any details? Hints? Suggestions?

joanna71985 · Oct 15, 2012

enchanted_belle said:
I'm going to be selling Merch. I'll have to keep you updated on the details once we get closer and closer!

Merch is fun! I did that for my first CP.

enchanted_belle · Oct 16, 2012

joanna71985 said:
Merch is fun! I did that for my first CP.

Ahhh tell me more! Lol. I'm starting to get nervous about my program already.

jesemeca · Oct 16, 2012

enchanted_belle said:
I love making new Disney friends, they're the best ever.

This is my favorite picture so far! You both look so happy. You have to let me know where you will be working. I will be back again in January to celebrate my 30th birthday. Would love to stop by and say hi! I was there the same time you were. Haven't started my trip report yet, but it should be coming up soon.

Can't wait to see more!

skeletor1990 · Oct 17, 2012

enchanted_belle said:
I'm so sad that what I posted didn't show originally! I haven't heard about what it's like to be a merch cp... Any details? Hints? Suggestions?

I think you will love merch! There is lots of guest interaction which is really great and the work is not too monotonous because there are plenty of tasks you can do like working the register, stocking, etc. I don’t want to spoil all of the excitement of the first week for you, but a lot of the training is about having fun “playing” with the merchandise and talking to guests. One of my best friends on my program was a girl I trained with and we always say we wish we could go back to that first week. Mostly because we got much longer lunch breaks during training haha, but also because we had a lot more free reign to walk around, pin trade (one my favorite parts of the job!), give out stickers…all the fun stuff!

Truthfully, I think the extent to which you enjoy your program definitely depends on your mindset going in and your work location. I really lucked out with my location. I worked Future World North at Epcot (Strollers, Gateway Gifts, the Camera Center, and Giftstop) and then I worked merch for the Flower and Garden Festival. Both experiences were different, but I really loved them both. Having my location split was great because I got to experience working in all parts of Epcot and I ended up working with a lot of different (and really great!) people. I also loved my work locations because I worked with a lot of other CPs and we almost always worked the closing shifts. So we definitely had a lot of fun together backstage! Also, I am not going to lie, when the stores were slow we also had plenty of time to talk to each other, play games, etc. From what I know, the number of CPs assigned to a resort gift shop are usually small (probably about 3 in comparison to the at least 20 I worked with in both of my locations) and the resorts can get quiet during the day. So with that being said, merch can be very different depending on your location. But as I said before, your program is absolutely what you make of it.

Now that I am back at school, I never get to talk about any of this anymore so feel free to ask me any other questions!

sweetpee_1993 · Oct 18, 2012

The CP sounds like so much fun. They need to have a MP (Mom's Program) so us moms can run away and work at WDW for a little bit. Heck, I'd scrub toilets all day if I didn't have to listen to the incesessant bickering between my offspring...

tiaragirl · Oct 18, 2012

Aw, puppies are so much fun to have.. they always make you happy! Person form pups are the best, because usually they make you laugh and give you HUGS.

I love it.

Also enjoying this TR, lady! Creeped all the pictures already obviously but nice to hear the stories to go with! Love ya!

joanna71985 · Oct 19, 2012

enchanted_belle said:
Ahhh tell me more! Lol. I'm starting to get nervous about my program already.

Awww, don't be! I think you will do just fine

I worked in Fantasyland (which I loved because I got to see Wishes every night). There were 5 shops and 4 carts (plus another shop that you had to be trained to work in) that we rotated around. So it was nice having variety. The costume was...interesting (but there were definitely worse ones). Merch has lots of guest interaction, and I enjoyed pin trading.

enchanted_belle · Oct 22, 2012

The Ending of Night One (FINALLY)

This is the longest drawn out first day I think I've ever seen.... sorry about that! And for the delay as well, I really try to get on here and do lots of stuff but... it's mostly a when I get home I pass out kinda deal these days.

So... where we left off at...

Claire and I decided that we wanted to walk closer to Frontierland, so we made are way to HM area... and got stopped by another parade.

Boo to You and You and You....

And since I had wanted something to eat (a la Popcorn at that moment), we were literally in the front watching the whole parade. Kinda awesome if you ask me!

Of course, my camera liked the light behind the characters so a lot of my pictures were fuzzy... or bright.

And, knowing my luck with MK and my camera... the battery was dying, so I pulled out the trusty (and dying) iPhone for a few shots as well of the parade!

We decided after the parade was over to hit one of the rides I didn't get to do back in February since it was closed, and Claire doesn't get to do because of her fiance's ex working as a CM on that ride and him never wanting to go over there (drama drama!)....... BIG THUNDER! BTMRR has been one of my FAVORITES since I was really little, and is one of the first memories I have of Disney. Another is being too small for Space, but... we won't go there.

Our goal of the night was the three mountains, but... Splash was closed, and then it opened after we got off the ride to a 2 hour line and I wasn't having that when I just wanted to go to bed.

Us girls on Ride #2 of the weekend.

And obviously I got my camera's battery to work for just a bitttt longer that night.

We decided that since the fireworks were gonna be soon, we'd walk up towards Casey's and get.... DUN DUN DUN (you'll never guess what it is!)

Heaven in a cup!

So, with our dw's in hand, we made our way towards Main Street... and stopped in front of Crystal Palace as our watching area for HalloWishes.

The castle all Halloween'd up.

A picture of Claire taking a picture... Pictureception

So, I'm really mad, and here's why:
After the fireworks, we went Emporium shopping. I got awesome new sweatpants (yay yoga ones), and Claire got some presents. So we decided we were done and went to head out the front gate back to our hotel so we can sleep. But, we saw the Princess sign for meet and greets and decided to stop. Because I wanted a picture with Belle.

Of course, Belle wasn't there. I failed this weekend on getting and Beauty and the Beast pictures, let me tell you.

But... this guy was:

Aka Jess's Flynn

Right after I snapped ^ that picture, my camera died. So I was like, oh oh well, I have the PhotoPass card, I'll just get them on there and ~~steal them from the site~~ look at them when I'm home.

THEY. DON'T LOAD. <~ thus my upsetness.

And we got awesome pictures of Flynn freaking out over Claire's Pascal being bigger, and me asking if it's Eugene or Flynn. And we got pictures with Snow and her Prince, and then Cinderella and her Prince. And it was a wonderful time. And Prince Charming asked me if I was going to work in his kingdom, and then he told me there was a place for me at his royal table for dinner, so Cinderella said I could be their guest. And then he asked Cinderella if she would get an apron like Claire's.

And Rapunzel learned the Time Warp.

but none of it is on film because my PhotoPass card isn't working and it expires next week. I'm heart broken.

Moral of my first day: charge the camera twice.

Up next is a day that's going to take even longer: WWOS complex, Animal Kingdom, DHS, and the Tower of Terror 10 Miler!

enchanted_belle · Oct 25, 2012

Saturday September 29, 2012 - Probably going to be the largest set of TR updates ever!

Well... it was here... race day. Angel and I decided the night before that we needed to get to WWoS for the opening of the expo since we both needed to get our bibs, and had other stuff we wanted to do. Of course, breakfast has to happen first... so Claire and I went down to meet up with Angel/Jerzy.

And I had to get some pictures along the way because of how much I love Beauty and the Beast.

The road to Broadway!

And, since this is me, no trip is complete without my absolute favorite breakfast:

This is the closest you will get to Food this time... blame not having a Dining Plan and being broke!

Claire decided not to join us in our trip to the Expo since she had a lot of student teaching work to get done, so Jerzy, Angel, and I made the trek by ourselves. The coach was waiting for us out front of the hotel, and there were only a handful of people on there at all. Hopefully, this meant the line wouldn't be too bad to get in.

Wide World of Sports

I felt awkward being with Angel and Jerzy and taking pictures of everything around us, so I tried to refrain a bit if I could. I did manage to get a picture of the line in front of us:

We were in line for about 10 minutes and then they opened the doors. Good timing on our part!

I snuck a picture on the way in:

My first expo!!!!!!!!!!!

Time to go get the bibs!

In line for mine

Angel in line for hers!

Bibs and new shirts... I look like a demon from being so tired!

This is probably a good spot to note: I got about 3 hours of sleep that night, and wasn't really functioning correctly Saturday morning.

Jeff Galloway!

The countdown clock

So we got a little shopping in, and then we were done at the expo

I wanted to hang around for a while longer, but wasn't a fan of being there by myself. I should have waited because Darolyn and I missed each other by about 5 minutes! We started texting that morning in determination to meet up at the expo since we thought our times would overlap... butttttt they didn't

Bus mirror picture just for Holly!

mamamouse · Oct 26, 2012

are u on the bus to come meet me? or is that coming up later? HEEEEEEE I'm excited!!!

Well Here's My [Bib] Number, So Race Me Maybe - a Sept 2012 TR! P

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